There is a real contradiction in Christian thought.
Eternity will be a few saved righteous people, over looking billions in eternal torment in Hell.
Where is love and loving God in this? Where is consistency between old and new testaments?
In the old testament evil men are destroyed and not remembered. Simple.
All their goods are destroyed and burnt or if they are not too evil, taken by others.
Along came intimidation and exploitation. You are about to die, and be doomed to eternal torment
so buy you way out by giving to the church, doing penance, showing you will balance out the evil
with good behaviour today. The bigger the torment the bigger the fear and the payment return.
It was such a good story, bishops were wealthy powerful people who ruled whole areas.
The problem with following Jesus is it is about repentance and love, living and simple life and helping
others, not exactly something you can exploit or take advantage of. It is little wonder those who knew
scripture persecuted and killed those heretics who preached what the Lord actually said and intended.
Hell has also a massive problem. If life starts are conception, then unborn children are eternal in torment
for something they never did or could even know about. It becomes absolutely absurd unless you begin
with a mortal spirit that is fully developed put within a body. If you remove perception from the equation
and start to talk about salvation is perceived relationship with the Father is eternal life and the rest is
eternal extinction, the parables of wheat and chaff make sense.
Interestingly the beginning of life from conception to birth is a good example of our life dilemma. Where
does the rights of the mother begin and end and that of their baby? A simple line is when the baby can
survive is born, and anything before that is the mothers body and up to them. The pressure to call abortion
murder is provocative and justifies violence of one group against another, when the question is of life and
survival of both mother and child. And the problem is at a society that fails to love both, in a real understanding
way when pornography and sexual immorality is rife and causing great harm to all concerned.
But it is always easier to shout headlines and get angry and condemn the evil sinners who dare to preach against
our chosen views? They should rot in hell and we will put them there. Do you feel the anger and contempt, and
total abandonment of responsibility or empathy. In the reformation 25% of Europe died, because these words
and ideas linked to brutal behaviour created real hatred and anger which is seen in some communities even to
this day.
I find it interesting some who claim they are saved through grace no matter their lack of repentance and love,
where prepared to see me killed because I disagreed with their views. These are not empty ideas as we can
hear right wing groups calling for violence and action. God bless you
