There seems to be a battle raging on FB and elsewhere ... at least in my own circle of friends on whether fear of hell should be a driving force behind The Message.
Phil Harrelson, noted con, wrote a blog entitled "Hell's Disappearing Act" on the matter just this month, writing:
Quote:
Hell has disappeared! Hell has been sanitized from the modern theological mind. Hell has become an off limits message for most pulpits. The sheep have either stated so publically to the other sheep or the sheep have privately inferred to the shepherd that this is not what they want to hear. The reasoning of the sheep goes in this manner, “We are so stressed out! We feel the pressure of moving from pasture to pasture. We are having babies and they are demanding our time. We are worried that the drought is going to wither and destroy all the grass. We have a shepherd who is always trying to lead us where we don’t want to go. The last things we want to hear about are ravenous wolves, bad waterholes, poisonous grass, and worrisome flies that will drive us mad. ”
Some shepherds have a tailor made view about this too. They say, “Keep it upbeat! Tell the sheep about the still waters, about the overrunning cups, and the mercy that chases the sheep.
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More here ....
http://barnabas14blog.blogspot.com/2...aring-act.html
I have my definite views on hell and believe that our message needs to lean heavenly on our hope and salvation without disregarding the various things God says in his Word regarding hell ... I do think we need to make the same distinctions the writers made between death/Hades/Gehenna/ Sheol/ etc.
but can we please stop using
Jude 1:22 and 23 as proof text to say that fire and brimstone preaching and fear of hell is what the apostolic writer had in mind when he wrote this passage ... or somehow endorsing a "saving through fear" approach:
Quote:
And have mercy on some, who are doubting;
save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.
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Harrelson seemingly proof texts and misquotes it when he writes:
Quote:
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Jude. . . said it like this. . . . others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire.
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... and another recently on Facebook used it to defend the "fire and brimstone" stance.
In context, this is a command on how to we should deal with those devoid of the Spirit/apostates/mockers of the Gospel ... who corrupt their garment with this world.
This does not an endorsement make for a message riddled with condemnation and fear.
When will these guys get that their proof texting drowns out their message and tears down any credibility they do have?
Sorry Phil ... the apostolic writer did not say that ...
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