I’ve actually written an entire book on this topic–Hell? No! Why You Can Be Certain There’s No Such Place As Hell, (for anyone interested, you can get a free ecopy of Did Jesus Believe in Hell?, one of the most compelling chapters in my book at http://www.thereisnohell.com), but if I may, I’d like to add one more point to yours–that there’s substantial evidence contained in the gospels to show that Jesus himself opposed the idea of Hell.

For example, in Luke 9:51-56, is a story about his great disappointment with his disciples when they actually suggested imploring God to rain FIRE on a village just because they had rejected him. His response: “You don’t know what spirit is inspiring this kind of talk!” Presumably, it was NOT the Holy Spirit. He went on, trying to explain how he had come to save, heal and relieve suffering, not be the CAUSE of it.

So it only stands to reason that this same Jesus, who was appalled at the very idea of burning a few people, for a few horrific minutes until they were dead, could never, ever burn BILLIONS of people for an ETERNITY!

True, there are a few statements that made their way into the copies of copies of copies of the gospel texts which place “Hell” on Jesus’ lips, but these adulterations came along many decades after his death, most likely due to the Church filling up with Greeks who imported their belief in Hades with them when they converted.

Bear in mind that the historical Protestant doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures applies only to the original autographs, not the copies. But sadly, the interpolations that made their way into those copies have provided a convenient excuse for a lot of people to get around following Jesus’ real message.

I certainly agree with you about the true “unconditional” nature of God’s love. You’re right. We can’t earn that favor. As for accountability, we’re certainly agreed on that as well. So, as the old hymn my father loved so well goes, “Let the lower lights be burning. Send a gleam across the wave. Some poor struggling, fainting seaman you may rescue, you may save.”

All blessings,

Gary Robinson

I can’t say that I “like” this…however, theological ponderings can obscure the most simple understanding of the Scripture. I am not sure why God the Father would ordain God the Son for such awful and undeserved suffering unless Christ was truly saving a people for Himself.

We misunderstand love. We think love means unconditional support for all that we do and all that we are. When people speak of the unconditional love of God, I have to question if this is biblically honest. God’s love is highly conditional…it is through Christ, and the grace and mercy the Trinity of God extends by Christ to undeserving mankind, that we are loved.

And, we misread our own miserable condition if we think that we can earn or merit such favor. So, in that sense it is unconditional. I think that the Bible does teach that we are held accountable for what we do and do not understand that can be attributed to our willful disobedience to the clear teaching of the Scripture.

And if someone has received a clear teaching about the realities of Heaven, Hell, and the Lake of Fire, and does not receive Christ, their soul…the Scripture teaches…is indeed in eternal danger. We cannot go further than this for there is much we do not understand. The secret counsels of God are beyond our purview. Yet, we cannot fail to attain this point of understanding which God has made within our ability and inclination to understand.

Here are mine: (so far, so good)

You Say You Want a Resolution? From http://www.bierkergaard.blogspot.com
Isaiah 28:10

“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”

The word for precept in the Hebrew is a small step, like a brick in building a wall, for the instruction of a child.

Here are my Top Ten resolutions for 2010…inspired by the “Baby-Step” concept from the film “What About Bob?” and Letterman’s “Top Ten.”

10) Don’t write as long blogs. Brevity in blogs is better. The only bloggers who can get away from being short are geniuses like Malcolm Gladwell. I have a goal to be a professional writer (at least avocationally). I am blogging to sharpen my skills primarily, to encourage myself, and to provide perhaps some thoughts that help others. I generally take 30 minutes to write a blog. My goal is to get it down to 15 minutes.

9) Eat healthier organic fruits and vegetables. For three out of the four seasons, we will have organic vegetables and fruits to eat from a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) family-farm. I have made the rounds locally and it will be just too time consuming and/or expensive to try and go organic in the winter. I am considering writing Costco to try and convince them to stock more organic foodstuffs. Only until major players get solidly behind organic food, will the prices come down. I also want them to find a way to buy local within season from local farmers.

We plan to eat less meat (and better meat), fewer simple carbs, and reduce the saturated fats. A gut is an indication of too much coming in of the wrong types of fuel–like the gas pumping nozzle still flowing after the tank is full. America’s battle with obesity is literally the sick elephant in the room that few politicians address in the Health Care debates.

I will not eliminate things that I enjoy that are not healthy but I will try to reduce the consumption of them.

Stop running and jogging. I have a bad left knee for years and common sense suggests if my knee is chronically damaged, it is wisest to modify my exercise plan. I have used running and jogging as a way of keeping weight off in the past. I need to cut down on eating. Shucks. I also like to run, so this is a loss. I am walking instead and this makes me feel elderly…oh well.

7) Drink less beer, but, better beer. I want to cut down on my quantity of beer consumption yet drink better beer when I do drink. Less is more…more taste and flavor, less calories. Lite Beer is the opposite of what I need. Drinking 4 Lite beers in search of satisfaction is looking for love in all the wrong places.

6) Try to be cleaner around the house. My wife Lina needs cleanliness on floors and counters. Some mess doesn’t bother me but it does her. Conversely, I don’t really hate cleaning the way she does…I just don’t always see the need for it. Me cranking up the cleanliness dial a notch or two is not a unreasonable goal.

5) Watch less TV and read more. Often, I have a gnawing emptiness after watching a spate of TV. My soul is pleading for meaning and I give it inane or otherwise inappropriate entertainment. Kind of how I feel after eating a bag of chips. Full but empty.

4) Be more neighborly. Recently, two neighbors shoveled the two-feet of snow off of our driveway while we were in California. Although I was hoping that it would melt before we returned, I was even more concerned that the local juvenile delinquents, who have been on a crime-spree, would figure out that we were gone and loot our house. Good deeds, not fences alone, make good neighbors.

3) Pray more…as I have noted in previous blogs, I don’t pray. I am not even going to say that I don’t pray enough. That would be too high an estimate. Even though we say grace at dinner, otherwise I communicate with God too infrequently. I recently downloaded a daily prayer from the I-Tunes App Store. It provides some written-out prayers with places to add my own reflections. Apparently, I need to be spoon-fed structure to pray. So be it.

2) Love people more. Not sure what this means in specifics, yet I find myself loving at a distance but not practically at times. Maybe have people over for meals more often?

1) Love God more….sometimes I seem to be more thankful that in Christ I am going to dodge the fires of Hell rather than looking at it more positively…that I will spend eternity with the One who loves me most. I am not sure why I have an imbalanced view of salvation. God is worthy of love…and honor…and glory…and worship.