Ultimate Reconciliation? The Hell With It!
Wayne and Brad plow through a potpourri of topics that listeners have recently asked about. They start with a delightful story about how God’s gifts can frustrate us in the early stages, but only because God is preparing for the growth he is working in us. They talk about spiritual warfare and why they don’t seem to talk a lot about the devil. Then they climb on the third rail of Christianity today by probing the reality of hell and the possibility of ultimate reconciliation. In doing so they discover once again that God wants to invite us into his reality, not answer all of our questions about things we cannot see from our current vantage point.
Wow I really liked the bike analogy. I loved the still doing the Sunday thing but living outside the box.
Helps me answer that question both directions, those who have stopped going to church and think they are better than… and those that think I am in the desert and that is why I am not going to church.
The rest of the podcast was exhausting. Honestly, where I am today, I feel like if the “body” expended the energy that is spent on arguing about heaven and hell, on actually “being” the church life on this side would be very different.
My former Ind. Baptist pastor said more than once, that if he didn’t believe that Hell really existed, then he wouldn’t be preaching. I think that is really sad.
I enjoyed this podcast. The voice of reason.
Amen!
Dear Wayne and Brad,
I listened to your broadcast on ‘Ultimate Recociliation’ and although I was a bit disappointed in your rather jovial and carefree attitude toward the the subject ( have you really given much thought to the unbearable anguish the subject of ‘eternal torment’ has brought to so many people?), I, at least, have to commend you both for being as open to the subject as you are (most of mainstream Christianity are totally closed to it).
I have no doubt that are both sincerely open to Truth. That being said, I believe you’d both be greatly benefitted by taking a closer look at this subject. If you’re really willing, as you say, to think ‘outside the box’ I really feel it would be well worth your time to reexamine the subject of Univeral Reconcilliation more closely.
There are all of the ‘rational’ arguments, of course, such as “If Jesus came to be the “Savior of the world” and He failed to do just that, then He ‘missed the mark’ I.E. He SINNED! He failed in his goal to save the world!
Or how about this one… If Jesus suffered the penalty for our sin, and that penalty was ‘eternal torment’, then why isn’t He presently being tormented in hell?
Then there are the arguments of history…the early post apostolic Church Fathers (I. E. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and many, many others…all believed in and taught Universalism) It wasn’t until the Roman church was in full blown apostasy in 523 A. D. that it finally pronounced the teaching of Universalism anathema. It’s obvious they needed a “FEAR” element to keep the masses of unregenerate peoples ‘In check’.
Finally, there’s the argument of scripture itself… an objective study of the original Greek and Hebrew languages will bear out the real meanings behind some of the questionable words,(such as ‘hell’ ‘eternal’ and ‘everlasting’ and ‘torment’.
Guys, there are many good books available on the subject, I would encourage you to pursue the subject further:
“THE INESCAPABLE LOVE OF GOD” by thomas Talbott
“HOPE BEYOND HELL” by Gerry Beaucemen
“CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM” by Eric Stetson
These are just a few of the good books available. If you are truly ‘Thinking outside the box’ you owe it to yourslves to at least examine the subject further.
Lastly, just some food for thought… once you insert a ‘FEAR’ element into the Gospel (TURN OR BURN), it ceases to be ‘Good News’. For God to solicit our affection with the threat of eternal damnation, if we refuse is… shall I say it?…RAPE!!!
I love you guys! I praise God for your ministry! I know you have hearts for Him. AMEN!
Rob