What did Jesus Come to Save us From?

[Dichotomy Girl]

Originally Posted by n david

Hopefully I'm misinterpreting this...because what I get is you're comparing yourself to Jesus because you're not following the "rules," whatever they may be. Hopefully I'm wrong, and this isn't what you meant.

Yeah that's not what I meant at all! I was saying that I'm like the blind man who was given his sight. People can say to me "According to the Torah Jesus is a sinner because he healed on the sabbath" And all I respond with is "I was blind, but now I see".

I think the sentence was meant to say "Just because I do not always take the Bible literally does not mean that I don't think it contains spiritual truths," correct?

Yes.

So you take the view that any Biblical scripture about hell and eternal punishment are just allegories and parables not to be taken literally? There will be no universal reconciliation. Sorry, I know it doesn't tickle your ears, but it's the truth. Were there to be universal reconciliation, Jesus' death, burial and resurrection were done in vain.

I think the Bible is a collection of writings, written by several different men, over a period of thousands of years. I think that which books were allowed in and which were cut out was decided by various Church Councils. So I believe that the scripture should be filtered through the Spirit, and not the other way around.

I know that many people believe that the Bible was perfectly inspired by God, so that every Word is just the way that God intended it, and it is perfect and complete, nothing is missing, or included erroneously. Why do they believe this? Because the Bible says that it is inspired by God is not enough, many manuscripts claim this. Because God watched over the process, and persuaded the men who who writing the words, and the men on the church council to do His will? I confess to being skeptical. God CAN do a lot of things, but He chooses not to. He could have prevented the Book of Mormon, or the Qu'ran from being written. Or the Holocaust. Or Glenn Beck from being born. He could stop every false prophet. But he doesn't. So I think that it's logical (and in fact prudent) to be skeptical of anything that claims to speak for God. (preachers, other Christians, and writings)

If this includes people who have experienced salvation, it conflicts with scripture. Once someone repents, their past sins are washed away, never to be remembered. And those who haven't experienced salvation, the judgement is more than just seeing their lifetime sins played out before them.


So there's value in being a Christian....buuuuuuut it's not really necessary, since love wins and everyone will be reconciled anyway. Being a Christian is like being Mormon in my area - it's for the perks. Good business connections, elevated status in the community, endorsements, kickbacks, etc.

Again, if it doesn't matter, love wins, and we're universally reconciled...why did God make such a fuss about the Word becoming flesh, dwelling among us; the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost? I guess you'd just have to write off the Bible as a nice collection of parables and stories in order to believe this way.

I never said that the Death of Jesus wasn't necessary for the salvation of the world.