As some of you know I have recently come back to the faith. The reason is because I have found solutions to a couple of problems that have bothered me. I have confidence now that if there are solutions to these problems then there will be solutions to the others that will come up in the future even if I don’t know what the answer is at the time. Because of this I have decided to handle things in a more mature manner when these problems come up. Here’s the two problems I was having. I was decieved into believing that the God of the Bible was a bloodfreak and sadistic because of the atonement. The thing that God was pleased about in the cross was the fact that justice was satisfied, evil was defeated, and the grace and compassion the Son was showing for His people. It wasn’t the evil, suffering, and blood in and of itself that God was satisfied with. It was what Christ and the blood accomplished on the cross in cleansing sin and showing self-giving love that pleased the Father. The reason the suffering was so severe was because Christ was carrying the sins of all His people. That’s quite a bit of sin. No wonder the suffering was so severe. I trust God that the punishment was in direct proportion to the crimes. Also, hell is not a torture chamber. It’s where God’s holy justice will be executed on deserving sinners who stay unregenerate and continue to sin for all eternity. I trust God that the punishments will be fair and just.