BLOG

God’s Power B (Listen or Read) God Can Change Anyone Does God merely do the “best He can for every man” as our tradition implies? Thomas Allin, D.D., historian, author, and clergyman of the English Episcopal Church North London (late 19th and early 20th centuries), wrote in Christ Triumphant: If the best an Almighty...

God’s Power A (Listen or Read) CHAPTER TWO: GOD’S NATURE I will sing of Your power… I will sing aloud of Your mercy. (Ps. 59:16) What is God really like? Is the ultimate destiny of the majority of the human race tragic? Our only hope as a race and as individuals lies in the...

Free Will D (Listen or Read) The Myth of “Eternal” Rejection We know in part…we see…dimly. (1Co. 13:9-12) No one has complete or perfect knowledge of God. So when a person rejects a given concept of God, they are not in truth rejecting the true God, but only their partial or flawed understanding of...

Free Will B (Listen or Read) Please carefully reflect on these passages. ¨      God will circumcise your heart to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul (De. 30:6). ¨      I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted (Job 42:2 RSV). ¨     ...

Free Will A (Listen or Read) Free Will This last pillar is not difficult to resolve. What father holding his little girl’s hand crossing a busy street would ever let it go? The more she pulls, the tighter he squeezes. There is no way she is going anywhere! Is God any different? The argument...

Destruction B (Listen or Read) Scripture Interprets Itself Often in Scripture, two statements are made side by side that together shed greater light on a given theme. Consider 1Co. 1:19; Ro. 2:12; 14:15, 20-21. “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; I will bring to nothing the understanding of the...

Destruction A (Listen or Read) Apollumi (Greek for “destruction”) The third pillar, death and destruction, is thought by most Christians to refer to an eternal hell of suffering or to a state of annihilation. Thus, they are understood to be a permanent state. I think if we closely compare Scripture with Scripture, line upon...

Gehenna Fire (Listen or Read) Fire of Gehenna The second pillar in support of the doctrine of everlasting punishment is Gehenna. It is one of three words translated “hell” in the New Testament. It is the most common, used twelve times. Hades is used eleven times, and Tartarus only once. William Barclay stated: Gehenna…means...

Eternity E (Listen or Read) Alternative Views Aionian (eternal), when associated with God, may simply refer to that which comes forth from Him and relates to His purposes; a quality of essence rather than of duration. Is this not what our Lord intends in John 17:3: “And this is eternal life, that they may...

Eternity D (Listen or Read) Matthew 25:46 contains an additional clue confirming the temporary nature of God’s judgment. The Greek word, translated “punishment,” is kolasis. William Barclay, world-renowned Greek scholar, translator, and author of the popular Bible commentary, The Daily Study Bible and New Testament Words, noted: The Greek word for punishment here [Mt....