The Paradox of Mainstream Christianity

The paradox of mainstream christianity is its view of God - the God of love, forgiveness, mercy and grace - whom it claims to represent.

It's interesting, no, downright embarrassing, to compare the Biblical view of God with the one portrayed by mainstream christianity.

Over the next few days, I'll give some examples of how this paradox works itself out.  I'll add them as comments to this post.

Here's the first to get the ball rolling ....

Jesus told us to love our enemies and do good to them. 
In this way, he said, we would be showing that we were children of God, who is equally kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
He then instructed us to be merciful, just as God is merciful.
[ Luke 6 : 27 - 36 ]

This is the Bible's picture of God as described by Jesus, the person most qualified to know his father's character and behaviour.

Why then does mainstream christianity teach that God will torment his enemies forever in a place called hell or in a lake of fire, if Jesus said God is the model of kindness and mercy we should follow?

Blessings, Barry

The Garden of Eden

Had some interesting thoughts on the Garden of Eden recently, which I am currently exploring.

First, before eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve had no knowledge of evil OR good.
I had always assumed they had no knowledge of evil, but hadn't realised they had no knowledge of good either.
How could they know good, if they'd never experienced anything else? 
You would just think that what you constantly have is IT.

This is true for lots of things.
We never know what good health is until we experience illness.
We never know what wealth is until we experience poverty.
..... or fine weather until it rains for a month .....
..... or a happy marriage until it becomes a nightmare .....
You get the picture.

We only know something is good (or bad) AFTER we have experienced the opposite.
Aussies who return from an overseas trip often comment they didn't realise how good things are here until they had seen the horrible conditions under which so many others have to live.
I am sure Adam and Eve learnt how good things were in the Garden of Eden after they had been expelled and had to work for their food, had to cope with a murder in the family, etc.

Second,  the Garden of Eden may not have been the paradise I first imagined.
Adam and Eve lived in the company of God AND Satan.
They had the choice whether to listen to God or to Satan every day of the week.

While they were listening to God, enjoying fellowship with him, and following his instructions, they had nothing but good.
But as soon as they made the choice to listen to Satan, it all fell apart.

It has occurred to me that maybe the Garden of Eden was not as unlike the conditions under which we live as I used to think.
We live in the company of God and Satan.
We have the choice whether we listen to God or to Satan every day.
Listening to God, living in fellowship with God and following God's instructions is still the way to go.

But let's be honest about this comparison.
Things are harder for us than they were for Adam and Eve,
They did not yet have the sinful nature they eventually passed on to us.
Or did they? 
Was that already built into their DNA that guaranteed their disobedience?
Were they like us in the sense that they could not not sin?
After all, God has said that he has bound everyone over to disobedience (so that he may have mercy on all).

And they probably had fewer sources of evil and temptation around them than we have.
We have so much around us; they only had one snake to deal with.

Third, I wonder how the living conditions in the Garden of Eden would compare with those in the coming kingdom?
At least in that kingdom, Satan is bound.

What do you think?

Blessings, Barry

Church Leaders Hostile to God's Plan

Hi Glenn
Thanks for your question.  It has given me a great day today.
I had never even thought about such a question before you asked it last night.

I have previously considered and made decisions about the lesser question - 
why can't people, especially church leaders, see what God is going to do for all mankind?
-  but I have never considered why they are so hostile to the plan.

Why is God's plan to save all so abhorrent to most Christians, and especially to church leaders?

So ...... I have spent much of the day waiting on God, in prayer and in His Word.  
I've had a wonderful day.
I won't go into any of the details of my journey through the day, but simply say that I believe "God's plan to restore all" challenges mankind's real god at the deepest level.

Most of mankind's real god is self, and their most prized possession is their free will.
This is true of most Christians as well.

Man prides himself on his right and ability to make his own decisions as a free agent, as do most Christians. 
Most Christians are proud of their decision to choose Christ, to be saved, to become a disciple, to join the church, or whatever.
I became a Christian when I .....
I was saved when I .......
I was appointed a church elder or board member when I ........
I led this person or that person to Christ when I .......
And on it goes.

They believe their wise and/or clever choices have given them "rightly deserved" advantages over those who haven't been so wise or clever, and they should get the credit for that.

When the idea that it is God who chooses who and how many will be saved, and when and how that will happen, most Christians, and particularly church leaders, are threatened to the core.
Things aren't under their control as they thought and they can no longer take credit for the good things they have done.
Their choice to invite Christ into their hearts or to enter the ministry or to accept the appointment or position they now have is no longer considered to be their doing.

Self, their god, has been brutally challenged and dethroned - and they want none of it.
Don't talk about it. Don't even think about it. It's heresy. It's dangerous. It will get you into trouble.  Don't associate with people who talk like that.

They will happily preach on the sovereignty of God, as long as you don't take it to extremes or suggest it applies to everything and everyone.
For them, God is a lesser sovereign than self.
For them, God's plan for salvation only works when we agree to it.
And if you suggest that we might not have the final word on this, look out.

The second chapter of my book is on the sovereignty of God.
That should guarantee it will never be recommended to those in mainstream churches.

Blessings, Barry