First off, I really appreciate your work. I became aware of it about a year ago. Before there were elements of Christianity as I understood it that I wanted to believe were true and elements that I thought I had to believe were true; even though the “had to” parts seemed in all honesty inconsistent with the “want to” parts. Now, I sincerely want all of Christianity to be true.
The way in which the traditional view of hell undercuts the moral authority of Christianity was brought home to me recently as I read of the growth of Christianity among the Dalits in India. Setting aside the objective evidence for the truth of Christianity versus that for Hinduism; on purely moral grounds, it is not clear that a Christianity which incorporates the traditional view of hell is superior to Hinduism. To the Dalit Christianity is better than Hinduism because it tells him that he is not subhuman and that he can enter into the Kingdom of God just like anyone one else. What is not mentioned is that in the Hindu view the Dalit is in hell now; and though his life is miserable it is not a life of continual torment as is traditional hell and it will end, while in the traditional view hell will not.
Thanks
Jim
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