Here's what I hope and wish to be true: that God is WAY bigger than I have imagined, and that God is the umbrella over every one and everything. I want Jesus to say to everyone 'You will have endless chances to choose me--if not now, then you have all of eternity to decide, because I will not let one of you perish.' Or that when He returns, and the trumpets blow, and everyone in the universe sees Him for Real, they all recognize Him instantly--even if they called Him by a different name while they lived on earth. I want to believe that if God is Love, (not to mention All Powerful,) then no one would be out of God's reach. And that it would be against God's nature to send any of creation to be tortured in Hell for eternity.
Believe me, I hear all of the verses in my head that would prove otherwise. In fact, I hear them all the live long day and I'm pretty terrified that I'm going to find out they are 100% accurate in the way I have understood them. but I still have to tell the truth about my life. And the truth is, right now, the 'good news' I was taught in my conservative evangelical upbringing doesn't sound very good to me anymore. I want a new understanding of the love of God and the Grace that I keep hearing about. I realize that I can't just wish for God to be a certain way and then poof! He is. But I'm holding out hope that there is MUCH I do NOT understand about how God loves, and how God works.
I'm right there.
ReplyDeleteI love love love reformed theology when it comes to me -- I know that without God moving I wouldn't have turned to him, and it gives me such comfort to know that nothing I can do will make him love me any more or less, and that he has promised to finish the work he started in me.
I hate and fear it when I think of others, especially others I care about. What if they're not elect? Isn't it meaningless to talk about God loving the non-elect if he doesn't intervene to save them, too? Isn't it horrible to posit a God who can intervene to save all people and yet chooses not to, as if making an example of some folks were the only way to show his justice?
But Arminianism isn't comforting either, in its own ways.
And as much as I think Lewis' and Keller's idea that people pretty much choose hell for themselves is appealing, the biblical language does not seem to point that way at all. It talks about some being destined for destruction, or others being cast or thrown there.
My husband's latest thought is that the talk of elect and non-elect is for groups -- think mathematically -- there's a box labeled elect and another labeled non-elect, and individuals can move from one to the other. The free will talk is then for the individuals and this movement, this membership in one group or the other. I'm not entirely sure I get it, but it holds some promise.
I have a bit of a reputation for asking the awkward questions to which there are no easy answers. I am absolutely convinced that nobody goes to hell when they die.
ReplyDeleteTraditional theology has so much to answer for.
Let me ask you a question. Would a loving God send anyone to hell for not accepting some misguided teaching? If God is going to judge us He will surely judge us on our reaction the the real TRUTH - and that is something that I would suggest that we will never know in this physical life.
My wife and I have been through some traumatic experiences in our Christian lives. Both of our children are atheists and that honestly doesn't worry me one little bit. I know something of what they have been through as a result of misguided theology. They have rejected what they were taught as teenagers - and I agree with many of their thoughts. The big difference is that the experience has strengthened my faith and completely undermined theirs.
As a Brit I have a fair knowledge of the good works of the Salvation Army and other Evangelical churches did in the late 19th century. Many of these people were motivated by the preaching of 'hell, fire and brimstone'. I don't have a problem with that - that was a work of God - but I believe that life has moved on.
I have said at the beginning of my introductory blog, "If you are convinced that those who do not accept Jesus as their saviour in this life will go to hell when they die you probably won't want to read any further".
I'm not suggesting that anyone who believes others will go to hell when they die is any less of a Christian - all I'm saying is that I have been shown a different picture - that leaves me free from fear.
I'm always happy to act as a sounding board.
Pete--the picture you have been shown and the freedom you have from fear is something I want so badly for myself, but can't imagine right now. I don't WANT to throw the baby out with the bathwater--but sometimes the idea of giving up on Christianity sounds like it would bring me more peace than this constant wrestling and de-programing.
ReplyDeleteThough as I type this, I realize that it is not God who I am struggling with. My heart tells me that God is more loving, more inclusive, more gracious than I have ever experienced--and I want to hold out hope for meeting THAT God. It appears my real issue is with the 'misguided teaching' as you say, or doctrine or theology I have ingested over the years. That is where my fear lives. Thanks for being along for the journey.