THE DILEMMA
Most Christian based denominations teach us that we all have a moral obligation to our Creator. Since none of us could ever live up to what our loving Creator expects of us, a sacrifice was offered in our place, namely the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Because of this act of love, the responsibility for our salvation has now been shifted to us. We can either choose to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and in the process attain to eternal life, or we can reject Him and be sentenced to an eternity in hell. But is it true? Before attempting to answer this, I would like to bring to your attention a few passages of Scripture and ask some tough questions.
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.’” (Isaiah 46:10)
According to this passage, God has already declared the end of ALL things from the beginning. In other words, God in His foreknowledge has already declared the end of you, the end of me, the end of our families, neighbors and friends, the end of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. So if the doctrine of eternal torment is true, does it bother anyone to know that a loving God has sentenced untold billions upon billions of people to an eternity of suffering from the foundation of the world? Would it not have been better if they had never been born? THINK ABOUT IT!
“For by Him [Christ] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.” (Colossians 1:16)
ALL THINGS were created for Him from the foundation of the world, His counsel SHALL STAND, and He will do ALL of His pleasure. Once again, we are faced with the dilemma of trying to reconcile the fact of how a loving God could sentence billions of people to an eternity of suffering for His pleasure? Is our loving heavenly Father really this sadistic? THINK ABOUT IT! But what do the Scriptures really say?
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, WHO WILL HAVE ALL MEN TO BE SAVED, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:3,4)
This is God’s will for His creation, to have ALL MANKIND be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Now, will God’s most heartfelt desires be realized, or will He prove to be an utter failure?
“That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” (Ephesians 1:10,11)
Now let’s recap what we have just learned:
- God is working ALL THINGS after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11)
- God’s will is for ALL MANKIND to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (I Timothy 2:3)
- God’s counsel WILL STAND, and He WILL DO ALL His pleasure (Isaiah 46:10)
PROBLEMS
However, there are many statements in God’s Word that clearly contradict this belief that God’s will is to be done “on earth as it is in heaven,” a few of which include:
“And these will go away into everlasting punishment…” (Matthew 25:46)
“These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power…” (II Thessalonians 1:9)
“And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night…” (Revelation 14:11)
And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 2o:10)
In most denominations, “hell” is taught to be an eternal place of punishment where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. However, God’s Word clearly states the following:
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain; for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)
In Revelation 20:14 the lake of fire is referred to as the “second death.” So how can the lake of fire, or the “second death,” be an eternal place of punishment when God’s Word clearly tells us that “death” will come to an end in Revelation 21:4? (see also I Corinthians 15:26) PLEASE THINK!
Something else that had always puzzled me were these statements made by our Lord:
“But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. (Luke 10:12-14)
What on earth is Jesus saying? According to the church, the ultimate fate of all of the above mentioned is sure to be eternal punishment in literal hellfire; if this is true, then exactly how can it possibly be “more tolerable” for one group than for the other? Does this really make any sense whatsoever? PLEASE THINK!
“The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself… Almost inevitably, he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable.” — H.L. Mencken American Writer 1880-1956
Over and over I have given the admonition to really think about these things and ask questions. Why? Because most people are not trained to think for themselves, they instead rely upon others to do their thinking for them.
“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Physicist and Professor, Nobel Prize 1921
The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates taught his students that the pursuit of truth can only begin once they start to question and analyze every belief that they ever held dear. If a certain belief passes the tests of evidence, deduction, and logic, it should be kept. If it doesn’t, the belief should not only be discarded, but the thinker must also then question why he was led to believe the erroneous information in the first place, and for what purpose. Many political leaders throughout history, including our own, have always sought to mislead the thinking of the masses for reasons both “good” and “bad.” The ruling elite of ancient Greece, who could more easily manage a dumbed- down, superstitious, and fearful electorate, did not look upon this type of teaching with much favor. Socrates was tried and found guilty of “subversion” and for “corrupting the youth.” He was then forced to take his own life by drinking hemlock.
“The doctrine of blind obedience and unqualified submission to any human power, whether civil or ecclesiastical, is the doctrine of despotism, and ought to have no place among Republicans and Christians.” — Angelica Grimke (1805-1879) Source: Anti-Slavery Examiner, September 1836
It has never been easy to be an independent thinker, but I am very thankful to be living in a nation that does not (yet) openly kill people for pursuing the truth. Those who dare to question government policies today are simply labeled as “unpatriotic” or “extremists,” and some even run the risk of having their careers and reputations destroyed in the process. For many, that’s a fate even worse than drinking hemlock! And likewise, if someone dares to challenge the prevailing doctrine of the church, he is labeled as a brainwashed “cult” member, and is quickly dismissed.
Multitudes of people today have fallen under the hypnotic spell of Christian television “talking heads” and “experts” whom they worship as authority figures. Unaccustomed to thinking for themselves, no amount of truth can sway them from their preconceived prejudices and conditioned reactions. Individuals that have been so conditioned can only parrot those opinions which have been implanted in their minds by outside suggestion. In effect, millions of American minds have been reduced to the intellectual level of a CD player, spinning an implanted disc designed by outside forces of which the intended target has no awareness. They soon become victims of a psychological affliction known as “the lemming effect”. Lemmings are small rodents who have been observed to follow each other as they charge to their deaths into raging rivers or even off of cliffs. Here I am reminded of these immortal words of our Savior:
“Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?” (Luke 6:39)
The apostle Paul encourages us to “entreat with sound teaching as well as to expose those who contradict” (Titus 1:9 – Concordant Literal New Testament). So if there are things in the Scriptures, according to fundamentalist church doctrine, that contradict and do not make sense, then we should all be asking questions as to why.
BEWARE THE LEAVEN
“Then Jesus said unto them, ‘Take heed and beware of the leaven
of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.’” (Matthew 16:6)
“Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump?” (I Corinthians 5:6)
I have been told that the rat poison you buy at your local hardware store is 99% good food, and 1% strychnine. When the unsuspecting rodent comes into contact with the poison, it has no reason to believe that what it is getting is not good food. After all, it looks good, smells good, and tastes good. It believes with all its heart that it has just come across another hearty meal, but what it is about to consume will prove to be deadly.
And just as it is in the case of the unsuspecting rodent, so it is likewise in the case of the majority of those who fill our churches every Sunday. Most all are wonderful people who faithfully attend to worship our Lord and Savior with songs of praise, honor Him with their tithes and offerings, and hear the Word of God. And I have no doubt that a great deal of what is taught week in and week out is good, wholesome “food.” But just like our four-legged furry friend, the undetected poison, or leaven, will eventually work its way through the body until it kills. Jesus Himself warned us of these things, as well as did the apostle Paul:
“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone day and night with tears” (Acts 20:29-31).
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” (I Timothy 4:1,2)
Peter reiterated Paul’s words to Timothy when he wrote the following:
But there were false prophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.” (II Peter 2:1,2)
A FOUR-LETTER WORD
“The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.” — Aristotle
It didn’t take very much leaven to change the whole nature of the Word of God. The little four-letter Greek word aion, which in its original sense ALWAYS meant an indeterminate period of time, or an age, over the course of time was changed to mean endlessness, or eternal. This perversion of the Greek language has done much harm to seekers of truth, and has kept people in fear and bondage to a system bent on keeping its vassals under their thumb for political and economic purposes.
If you are a first time visitor to this site, and desire above all else to know the Truth (Remember, Jesus said that HE IS the Truth!), then please be sure to watch the video clip (approximately 83 minutes) of the interview with Greek scholar Louis Abbott. He offers very valuable insight into the study of certain words in the original languages, such as hell, eternal, everlasting, forever, etc. Once you understand that a loving God does not punish unrepentant sinners endlessly for sadistic purposes, but that He punishes them for a period of time for the purpose of correction, then you will be well on your way to fully realizing the true nature of our loving heavenly Father.
If you are still having a hard time grasping all of this, then I want to leave you with one final thought. Do any of you have children of your own? Do they ever get out of line and need discipline? How do you discipline your children, and why? Don’t you punish your kids for the purpose of trying to correct them? Or if they do something really bad, do you lock them up in the cellar and deprive them of food and water forever and ever? Well of course you don’t! And yet, this is what most denominations tell us that God will do to the vast majority of the human race! Oh, the blasphemy of it all! Are you now beginning to get a picture of what the book of Revelation is referring to when it talks about the beast having “two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon?”
PLEASE THINK!