One of my “soap-box” points, on which I am continually harping, is the importance of the pastoral implications and applicability of doctrine, and of theology. If there is a particular point about the nature of God and of our relationship with Him that is intellectually stimulating and recreationally pleasing to fondle, but has no true impact on my life, then I think that is a pretty fair description of what it means to “take the Lord’s name in vane” (No, it doesn’t mean saying “OMG!” as tiresome as that is). Continue reading
Tag Archives: Damnation
Simul justes et peccator (and how it relates to me and my marriage)
Filed under ALL, Christianity, Heaven and hell, Marriage, Theology
Why I am a Christian
Again, I am going to cross-post from Tough Questions Answered I thoroughly encourage you to visit Bill Pratt’s site, and interact a bit, it is the best in its class that I know.
I was asked point-blank why I believe the Christian account is true, by a lapsed Christian calling himself “Willy G.” I think my explanation should be on this blog. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Christianity, Heaven and hell, Theology, Uncategorized
More about judgement:
I’ve run into a lot of voices, from old-line Christians to liberal Christians, to tired and wounded semi-Christians to agnostics who all have a strong reaction to the idea of damnation.
As a new and thoughtful contribution to this continuing discussion I commend Keith Goodwin’s blog here.
http://keithgoodwin.wordpress.com/2008/12/20/salvation-and-damnation/#comments
Filed under ALL, Christianity, Heaven and hell, Theology
More on damnation v. universal salvation
Since I first wrote this post on the doctrine of damnation, and why it seems to me inescapable, I’ve stumbled upon a number of other conversations on the subject, with many voices from the universal salvation perspective. I have read defenses of that position from both liberal and conservative Christians, but to my mind, they all fall short on either or both of two fronts. Sometimes the view of Heaven seems not fully thought through. What is the nature of eternal life, and does it admit even the possibility of the admission of the unwilling? I contend that this would be like insisting that a circle be made with more corners.
The second error seems more peculiar. I contend that the universalist’s view of humanity is too low. For God to produce what I think He intends in us, it is necessary that we have a free will which is efficacious. God cannot trump it without denying and defeating His own purpose. A think that is a lot of the point of the story of Noah and the flood.
For those interested in the question, I suggest the following two discussions, along with my own post below.
-Blessings
http://interspiritualchristian.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/on-the-nature-of-scripture/#comment-3
and
http://chadholtz.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/the-universal-good-news/
Filed under ALL, Christianity, Heaven and hell, preaching, Theology, Uncategorized
How can a loving God damn people to hell?: a response
I won’t attribute the source, since I can’t now find it; but in the blog of a friend of mine the question of damnation came up as an example of a religious dogma which cannot be accepted.
I beg to differ. If one accepts at least for the purpose of this discussion certain propositions about God, and heaven (I will reference these propositions as we go along) then some sort of doctrine of damnation is inevitable. The only other alternative is for our independence and autonomy to be an illusion.
Orthodox Christians may object that my argument is very short on appeals to the Bible. That is by design. In our current climate, appealing to Holy Scripture is mostly preaching to the choir. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Christianity, Heaven and hell, Theology
Random Musings 