From what I can gather, a fair amount of those who know me believe that, unless I rejoin their club, am destined for a literal eternity of torture, brought about by my rebellion and refusal to accept the free gift of salvation. (Whether or not someone can accept salvation a second time after having "given it up" once is up for debate, I imagine.)
Here is one of my problems with this idea.
Reference to God as Father is a common metaphor in Scripture, as is the idea that God is Love. Evangelical Christians want me to accept the idea that God is a loving father, who has the best interests of his creations at heart.
The sentence of eternal torture goes against this metaphor, and only some insane theological gerrymandering can make one think the problem is resolved.
If God loves me, why would he torture me? Is it because he is perfect, and therefore cannot abide my sins? If he cannot abide my sins, why not put me in Hell now? Is it because he is patient? Okay - so he's patient now, up until the moment of my death and we go from patiently waiting for 30-100 years to an ETERNITY OF TORTURE. Well that escalated quickly! It's like he's bipolar or something - excessively patient or the other extreme.
Calling this kind of god good goes against the definition of the word good. Are you trying to tell me that the better a person I am, the more I will feel the desire to eternally torture people who aren't? How the hell is this a good plan?
Hey Mark, I've enjoyed reading your last few blog posts. Evidently you didn't just wake up one day and decide to leave the club; a lot of thinking has preceded your transition.
ReplyDeleteI remember you had a post awhile back inviting your readers to ask your opinion on any given topic. I've been thinking about it and finally came up with a question but when I came back the original post was gone. :( I'm going to ask my question anyway because I'd love to hear your perspective on it. :)
The bible and evolution. Compatible? Why or why not?
Thanks for your comment and and question, Shanon! I definitely don't think the answer is a simple yes or no... Let me think about it and reply in a post in (hopefully) the near future... Cheers!
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