Introduction to the main article
Traditional teachings about an eternal hellfire and today as the only day for salvation has caused
much damage and turned many away from Christianity. Some examples illustrate why I say that.
My favorite recreation is reading mystery stories. In one mystery, the author had the character
say something like this, "I could never be a Christian because I refuse to believe
in a God that burns babies forever in hell." I marveled to find such deep thinking in a fiction novel.
The prominent evolutionist, Charles Darwin, wrote
in his autobiography that he could not believe in a God that would condemn all disbelievers to eternal punishment because
included would be his father, brother, and almost all of his best friends.
My dad, although he did not attend church, was an exemplarity
husband and father. Nevertheless as good Lutherans, mom and her two oldest boys worried about dad. Why? He had never been
baptized. We knew what the Bible taught in Mark 16:16, "He that believes and is baptized shall be
saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." When he was about forty years old, mom and her two boys breathed
sighs of relief when dad was finally baptized.
But
if mom and her two boys had thought about it, did all that worry about dad really make sense? Let's say dad's baptism
was scheduled for May 15th but he died on May 14th. Was dad really lost forever? Did it really
make sense that prior to the magic day of the 15th dad was doomed to burn in hell forever, but after that date
dad was destined to go to heaven forever? Does a fair and just God have rules that are so nonsensical and so patently
unfair? More important, is such a god one we want to follow?
I worried about my first two children. Why? The Lutheran custom was that they be baptized a few weeks after birth.
But what if they died before then? I worried constantly until the time passed and they were successfully baptized. But would
a loving God really have burned my babies in hell fire for all eternity if they had died before being baptized? I
thought so then, but I came to see that belief was wrong.
Today's situation
At this very minute, as you read this, there are sincere and dedicated Christian missionaries
braving incredible hardships as they struggle to carry the name "Jesus" to remote parts of the world. Their motivation
is found in Acts 4:12, "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Millions of people living today have never even heard the name of "Jesus".
Are they really going to burn in hell for all eternity? What about the billions of people who have
lived and died over the centuries without being baptized or hearing the name "Jesus". What about your own relatives
who lived good lives, yet they were not churchgoers? Traditional Christianity says they are lost, but is that right? Like
the mystery author, does it make sense to you that they burn for all eternity?
My change
At age 33, I became interested in a group that was outside of traditional Christianity. Strangely enough, they
claimed they had a better understanding of many Bible teachings. One of those was, "What happens
to the unsaved?".
I spent months studying
their literature. They kept saying, "Don't believe us, believe your Bible." My intensive studies changed
my understanding about many traditional teachings. One of those was the matter of the unsaved. I came to see
the following:
1) A fair
and loving God is going to give everyone that has ever lived a chance for salvation.
2) The minority of humans that decide to reject God will not burn in hell fire for all eternity. (Such eternal
torment would be cruel sadism, as well as punishment far out of proportion to the offense.)
3) Those who reject God and His government means they refuse to live without hurting others. They will simply be
extinguished, they will cease to exist.
4) Since they refuse to live
peacefully with their fellow man, that is the kindest thing to do for them.
Another study you might like
This
introduction is a good place to make a second point. When learning about God, it is important to know, and to believe, he
is the creator of all things. We worship Him and follow His rules because ¨ He created us ¨ and knows what
is best for us, There are many sources available that prove creation. One you might try is my website, www.creationcorner.info. In addition to proving what happens to the unsaved, proving the creator should be a second vital part of
your studies.
With that introduction, we can go to
the main article that presents things from the Bible that changed my mind. (At this point, let me mention that
italics, bold, or underlining are sometimes added to quotes.)
C. Frazier Spencer