Again you point to a supposed splinter in my eye whilst overlooking the plank in your own, brother. It would have been nice to hear your explanation as to why and how you think John 1:9 and your interpretation of Mark 6:11 as pointing to a Dante-style hell are both true. How can Christ give light to everyone when some ultimately won’t receive Him?
As for my reasoning why both verses are true:
Mark does not speak of the kind of hell you have in mind. The destruction of Sodom and Gomherra was an earthly one, so was the destruction of Judea during the Jewish-Roman wars. It probably was hell on earth to live in Judea in those times. But those who died back then still have as much hope to receive Christ’s salvation as those “who were disobedient (…) in the days of Noah” (1 Peter 3:20). Most Jewish towns did not receive Christ’s disciples and the Gospel they brought, and Mark tells us Christ predicted that He would be rejected. It’s part of the salvific plan (Mark 8:31). According to Paul this rejection was necessary for the sake of our (the gentiles') salvation. Yet Paul doesn’t see this rejection as ultimate. He is confident that
“all Israel will be saved”. Even those that
“were hardened”, did not
“stumble so as to fall beyond recovery” (comp.: Romans 11:25-32).
You see, ScottA, I just don’t think it’s possible to ultimately reject Christ. 1 Corinthians 15 makes it pretty clear all will receive Him. Christ doesn’t destroy people, but dominion, authority, power and finally death itself. And Paul tells us that in the end, when Christ has put everything under His feet, God will be
“all in all”.
Not everybody realizes yet that they belong to Christ, but personally I trust that eventually
“at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”
(Philippians 2:10+11, comp.: Romans 14:11)
You want to call your idea of eternal condemnation for the vast majority of mankind the gospel, i.e. “good news”? Really? When God, who is almighty, did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him, you think most men can thwart His will and Christ will only manage to save a fraction of the world? Sorry, but it seems to me that such faith is small. Don’t you think that Christians should at least hope that everybody will
“get saved and come to the knowledge of the truth“, when the Bible tells us that this is God’s desire (1 Tim.2:4)?