If there is a God who will damn his children forever, I would rather go to hell than to go to heaven and keep the society of such an infamous tyrant. I make my choice now. I despise that doctrine. It has covered the cheeks of this world with tears. It has polluted the hearts of children, and poisoned the imaginations of men. It has been a constant pain, a perpetual terror to every good man and woman and child. It has filled the good with horror and with fear; but it has had no effect upon the infamous and base. It has wrung the hearts of the tender, it has furrowed the cheeks of the good. This doctrine never should be preached again. What right have you, sir, Mr. clergyman, you, minister of the gospel to stand at the portals of the tomb, at the vestibule of eternity, and fill the future with horror and with fear? I do not believe this doctrine, neither do you. If you did, you could not sleep one moment. Any man who believes it, and has within his breast a decent, throbbing heart, will go insane. A man who believes that doctrine and does not go insane has the heart of a snake and the conscience of a hyena.
LOL. That’s a passionate plea!
Church doctrine has been polluted from its infancy. It really began with the introduction of sects into christendom; the Catholic religion being the first enduring sect. Every sect has flaws and vision impairment. The power of the first sect is that it forever influences all that follow. Everyone is still affected by Catholicism in one way or another. Hell-fire is a residual teaching passed down through this first sect, and the ball was picked up and run with by other sects which followed.
I am not against Catholicism, Orthodox, Anglican or Protestant. These all represent the churches which sit in the palm of Christ’s hand. Practically all of these churches were told to repent because they have destructive doctrines and false teachings - yet they still belong to Christ! God knew that the infant church would derail, and it did. We now have the task of finding our way back to a more pure form of the teachings that were first delivered. This is a very large task owing to the social and education influences that we are now under. We are so thoroughly influenced by the secular in all we do that the path back seems almost impossible. It is not though. Little by little we can undo errors and advance in purity. This is the task that God has set for us; so in that sense, it is a privilege given to us.
Little by little.
Steve
Wrong. The doctrine of eternal suffering is the most insane idea ever conceived by man for obvious reasons.
I still like the church though even if they are wrong.
Ok
I love the church too.
Steve