well, daniel, we could have some really long discussions about it, especially since you're reformed.
I find myself somewhere between liberal christianity and evangelical christianity. I don't think eithe camp has it all right. If you research the doctrines on hell, you will find some really interesting stuff. First of all the OT ideas of "hell" actually just meant where people go when they die. they didn't really believe in an afterlife with God, or a place of punishment for those who weren't Jewish.
I don't know what I believe about it basically. I don't think the whole idea that God would be having a party with one group of people while another group is in torment really fits with the scriptures, nor do I really think that universalism is quite the answer.
I just dont' know. And I'm ok not knowing.
Daniel, I'd recommend you reading "a new kind of christian" (and the two books following it in the trilogy) by Brian Mclaren. I doubt you'll agree with it, but the books have really changed my life. I was at a place in my faith where what I'd grown up believing didn't make sense. But not believing in Jesus didn't make sense either. The worship minister at my church talked to me, and told me I should read these books, adn they've made me excited abotu beinga Christian again. I think that Christianity has become so caught up in the rationalism of the post enlightenment world that we've turned God into something he's not. I think everyone does this to an extent, and the danger is, when you make God look just like you, God won't stand up to questioning, because you're infallible.
Do a google search on "emergent church' and you'll understand a little more where I'm coming from.
I find myself somewhere between liberal christianity and evangelical christianity. I don't think eithe camp has it all right. If you research the doctrines on hell, you will find some really interesting stuff. First of all the OT ideas of "hell" actually just meant where people go when they die. they didn't really believe in an afterlife with God, or a place of punishment for those who weren't Jewish.
I don't know what I believe about it basically. I don't think the whole idea that God would be having a party with one group of people while another group is in torment really fits with the scriptures, nor do I really think that universalism is quite the answer.
I just dont' know. And I'm ok not knowing.
Daniel, I'd recommend you reading "a new kind of christian" (and the two books following it in the trilogy) by Brian Mclaren. I doubt you'll agree with it, but the books have really changed my life. I was at a place in my faith where what I'd grown up believing didn't make sense. But not believing in Jesus didn't make sense either. The worship minister at my church talked to me, and told me I should read these books, adn they've made me excited abotu beinga Christian again. I think that Christianity has become so caught up in the rationalism of the post enlightenment world that we've turned God into something he's not. I think everyone does this to an extent, and the danger is, when you make God look just like you, God won't stand up to questioning, because you're infallible.
Do a google search on "emergent church' and you'll understand a little more where I'm coming from.
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