I appreciate each one who has taken time to comment here and in private messages. Thank you for being respectful and not calling names or attacking churches. My prayer is that some will seek out answers for themselves based on Scripture and that the questions they have will be satisfied through their own study of what the Bible says.
I am really gaining from this discussion and again, I appreciate it.
I was reading the post you put up on Hell Fire. I was surprised at how how he explains what happens when someone dies. He explains that we, who are physical and spiritual people, do not have a soul that leaves us when we die. When a loved one dies, who is a christian, do we not say she/he is in heaven? If the one who dies does not go immediatly to heaven, where does the soul go if not to heaven? Now for the wicked; when one dies the same thing happens as to the christian. Their soul goes to hell immediatly. One proof text for this is I Cor. 15:42 ff. This text is speaking of the christian's resurrection, but the same happens to the unbeliever. The dead wicked body will be raised to meet with his soul to be cast into everlasting (forever) hell.
ReplyDeleteAs I read further he compares God who is all knowing, all powerful, Holy, etc... to mere feeble man who is sinful in everything that he does. God can do what he wants when sending one to hell or one to heaven, because we all deserve to go to Hell b/c of our sins. Romans 9:20-22; 'Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?' Is God unjust for doing this? In Romans 9 we read 'No' in v 14.
Now the question that seems to loom before us with the teachings of Rob Bell. I have not read the books, and I won't either. I believe I can make a proper assumption of what he believes through his sermons, You tube videos, and whatever else he has on the internet. He is questioning the reality of Hell. One question for everyone is "Is there really a Heaven?" Are we going to start questioning that as well? If there is a Heaven, then there is a Hell. There is a Heaven that is described Physically in the Bible so we can understand it. There is also a Hell described physically so that we can understand it, because we are physical people. There is a place for the righteous and a place for the unrighteous. If one denies one, they deny the other. If one is with God on earth he will be with God in Heaven. If one is seperated from God on earth he will be seperated in from God in death...in Hell. Psalm 73.
If there isn't a real Hell where the unrighteous go when they die, why would have God sent His only Begotten Son into this world to die on the cross? Why would Christ have to go thru all that he did on this earth if everyone is going to heaven anyway. There would have been no reason. BUT he did all this to show his POWER! What a Great and Faithful God we serve, that he would send His only begotten son into this wicked and sin-cursed world to save a wretched sinner as I!
If you have not & will not read the book, you should not make any assumptions.
ReplyDeleteDo not judge....
You do not know what Rob believes.