Series: Theology

Who is God? The Secret of the New Covenant

I've begun noticing a sort of central theme throughout the New Testament, a concept that seems to undergird most of the basis of the New Covenant. That theme is obvious, yet obviously a unique realization that has far-flung impact. That theme is:

God is Spirit.

Simple, yet subtle. As Jesus said in John 4, God is spirit, so those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. Let's follow his argument:

The Problem of Evil, part 1 - The Unanswered Question

Continuing the thoughts processes brought to the forefront by my recent read of "The Physics of Christianity", I would like to look at how to solve the Problem of Evil with modern physics.

The Problem of Evil is this: if God is both
1) All-loving, and
2) All-powerful, then

The Problem of Evil, part 2 - The Multiverse vs Gnosticism

In the previous post, I've tried to establish that the given answers to the Problem of Evil are not only incorrect, but they almost always lead us towards dangerous philosophies that directly oppose the bible and Christianity.

To complete the picture, I want to address two more things - one is another proposed answer, the other is another brick to pile on our list of "problems" with God.

The Problem of Evil, part 3 - And God Saw The Multiverse, And It Was Good

If the multiverse, with the collection of all possible histories, really does exist, what does that mean for the Problem of Evil? Why does that solve it, or tell us anything about it?

At first glance, it may not help much. After all, if there are an infinite number of worlds with different histories than ours, we must assume that the amount of evil and suffering in creation is not just huge, but infinite. God created trillions of human beings only to suffer through short and horrific lives.

(A Few) More Thoughts on The Problem of Evil

It's been a few days since I published my answer to The Problem of Evil, and I've gotten some interesting responses. I didn't realize when I set out to write it how much it would affect me.

What is Identity?

"Bob isn't the man he used to be."
"You aren't the same person I fell in
love with."
"What happened to that little girl I used to hold on my knee?"

There Is No Hell (part 1)

There is no hell.

Period. The bible never once mentions it. It's simply not there. Instead, we have clear indications of what DOES exist, and it's not at all like hell.

Now, by "hell", I mean the idea of eternal conscious torment for the wicked.

The bible teaches that the final state of the wicked is complete destruction. There may be punishment of the wicked before their final destruction, but destruction is always the end result.

I'm going to show that the bible simply doesn't mention the prevailing doctrine of hell.

There Is No Hell (part 2) - The Scriptures, Waiting Around

The Scriptures

Let's take a quick but complete look at the scriptures that people use to prove hell. Since translations sometimes like to blur the distinctions between the words the original writers chose, we're going to highlight the original words in the text.

There are three basic words translated "hell" in the New Testament: Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus. There is one word sometimes translated "hell" in the Old Testament: Sheol.

There Is No Hell (part 3), The Scriptures, Getting Destructed

GEHENNA

Gehenna is the greek word for the Valley of Hinnom, a burning rubbish pit outside of Jerusalem. It was used to burn up trash and refuse. Jesus uses the metaphor of Gehenna to talk about the horrible consequences that were coming upon some of his Jewish countrymen.

Matthew 10:28
"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in GEHENNA."

There Is No Hell (part 4), The Scriptures, Outer Darkness

WEEPING AND GNASHING, or WHO TURNED THE LIGHTS OUT?

Matthew 8:11-12 (also Mt 22:13; Mt 25:30; see Mt 13:42,50; Mt 24:51 and Luke 13:28)
11 "I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

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