Jake Wilson #fundie seedbed.com
I am not sure if I’ve sent this already. Anyway, here goes – a few general comments relating to the above article:
I think the denial of eternal torment is simply a feature of fallen and degenerated mankind – they don’t like the prospect, so they explain it away. And that’s basically all there is to it.
Even if the Bible warned on every page about everlasting destruction and torment, they would explain it away (instead of submitting to God). And most people love it that way, it just sells better.
The real reason for denying eternal torment cannot not be found in Scripture, but lies in a combination of wishful thinking, humanistic conditioning, and being used by the adversary – in short, in having a rebellious heart. It is comparable to what the Nazis did when they lured one load after the other into the death chambers, telling them not to worry.
Modern man has created God in his own image, i.e. on his own terms and as a projection of his own alienated heart. If he can’t identify with God as revealed in Scripture, he simply creates a nicer one (e.g. “a God of love won’t condemn people to eternal suffering”). I can’t imagine that anyone who is born of water and Spirit (with the sign of tongues) would dare to explain away what Yeshua has warned us about again and again – it’s probably one of the most wicked things one can do.
Needless to say that the punishment will be much sorer for those who explain away the deterrent and thereby cause others to join them in the pit.I sometimes wonder what people think the Messiah suffered and died for. So we can walk on streets of gold and if we’re unlucky we’ll peacefully rest in our grave (I mean, how dumb can you get?)
Maybe people will have the chance to present the results of their exegesis or eisegesis on Judgment Day, who knows? They may explain to God why they thought the lake of fire was a relic of medieval thought, etc. Of course, if they have died in their sins, i.e. unregenerate, they’ll go anyway to hell despite their hermeneutics – they’ve had their warnings. Shalom,
Jake
We are not under the law [of sin & death], but under grace [to walk in the law]. Rom. vi, 15