In an earlier thread (“Singing the Praises of the Imprecatory Psalms”) I said to David Houston: “by your logic the unimaginable torment of those in hell is a cause for delight. And many Christians from Tertullian to John Piper have agreed with you.” David was happy to find himself in this venerable tradition. And so […]
damnation
“He said he would prefer to go to Hell…”
Here’s another golden oldie. This little number shot to the top of the charts in the summer of 09′. Now back digitally remastered and better than ever, here is “He said he would prefer to go to Hell…” *** Belief and disbelief are often more complicated than we would like to admit. Consequently, drawing a […]
Hell we go again
Linda responds to my Calvinist critique as follows: “No matter how you slice it, the Bible is clear that many will go to Hell. Is not the real problem is [sic] that many go to Hell, yet God could of made it where all go to Heaven?” Not according to the traditional Arminian free will response. On […]
Must Hitler burn forever?
In case you’ve been thinking about hell a lot lately, or even if you haven’t, have I got a rather sobering treat for you. Today I am making available for you free of charge a thirty-three page chapter I wrote on the doctrine of hell for a book manuscript called The Crazy Things We Believe. […]
Is Mother Teresa in hell?
About a month ago I gave a speech at a public function. At one point in the speech I mentioned the catalogue of saints that have come before us and who even now labor shoulder to shoulder with us. Among those individuals I mentioned people like the Apostle Paul, Augustine of Hippo, Catherine of Siena, and (in […]
The very worst reason to reject universalism
While at “The Christian Post” I came across a blog article by an apparently popular Christian author / speaker named “Ray Comfort” who claims to have written more than seventy books and who apparently hosts a TV show with Kirk Cameron, the one-time child sitcom star who grew up to become the protagonist in low-budget […]
Burned before you know it
There is a popular idea among Christians that there is some age of accountability before which point a person who dies without having made a cognitive confession of faith in Christ still gets to go to heaven. But after that point failure to pray the appropriate prayer will result in eternal damnation. Here’s an illustration […]
Good Lovin’ Revisited: A Footnote to Calvin and the Rascals
As I was sitting here having just completed my last blog post I detected a critical hole in the argument. I don’t think the governor loved his son in my example. That’s not the problem. The core problem lies in my criterion for what it is to love someone: to love a person means that, if […]
How exclusive should Christianity be?
Many Christians are exclusivists by which I don’t mean that they are social snobs or against racial integration. Rather, an “exclusivist” is one who believes that certain things are essential to being saved by Jesus. Catholic Community Exclusivism Historic Catholicism (i.e. prior to Vatican II) tended to be exclusivist about membership in its own institution. That is, […]
