Summary: The Bible is a masterpiece that reveals God. Like everything made with human hands, it has flaws. Rather than obsessing about this, we should tune our ear to what the Bible wants us to hear: the living Voice

The Magic Book?

I Love the Bible

The first time I heard God speak to me personally, it was through the Bible. I don’t remember the details of my teenage angst but I do remember the moment I heard the Voice. I had plopped down in a black bean bag chair. I was so depressed that I had resorted to desperate measures: reading the Bible. It fell open to a Psalm. Like me, the writer was feeling the absurdity of life and wondering if God had flown the coop. I felt a strange closeness with the writer. Suddenly, I heard God speak. It was comfort. It was hope. It was love. I nearly fell out of my chair, which is pretty tough to do when you’re in beanbag chair! 

That encounter created a lifelong hunger. I longed to hear that Voice again and again. It was more alluring than girls, more exciting than basketball, more rewarding than straight A’s. There was nothing like it. Peter’s words to Jesus were exactly how I felt: “You alone have the words of eternal life!”

This hunger drove me to get up early each morning. I put on classical music, opened my Bible, and listened for the Voice. Most mornings, I heard it. I never lost this love. It led me to get a Ph.D. in New Testament and to learn to read the New Testament in Greek. 

Over the years, my love for the Bible has grown. It is great literature that addresses life’s greatest issues: Job struggling with evil; David finding God in the desert; Isaiah foreseeing universal reconciliation; Jesus proclaiming the Kingdom; Paul explaining the New Creation. 

I love the Bible the way I love a good set of binoculars, because of what I see through it. But like all human creations, it is not perfect. In my evangelical tradition it’s against the rules to say this, but it is obviously true.

The Bible Is Not a Perfect Book

A few years ago I attended a scholarly conference on Biblical inerrancy. Speaker after speaker stood up and made the case for the perfection of the Bible. In scandalous tones, they referred to the heretics who had left the group because they dared to questioned this. As the talks droned on, I couldn’t help but feel kinship with the heretics. As wonderful as the Bible is, it is not a perfect book. Here are four reasons why. 

1. The Bible Is Not a Book

The first reason why the Bible is not a perfect book is that it isn’t a book at all. It is a collection of writings that spans centuries, some of which are collections themselves. 

In our day, it is hard to imagine anything other than the book form. But the book format (called a codex) didn’t emerge until about 200 A.D. Prior to this, writings were preserved on scrolls. The book of Luke is about as much text as you could get on a single scroll which is probably why Luke’s writing is divided into two parts, Luke-Acts. 

In the first century there was no question about which books belonged in “the Bible” since there was no such thing as “the Bible.” Instead there was a basket of scrolls. There was debate about which writings belonged in the basket, but by its nature, this was flexible. Not all writings in the basket were of the same value. Some were obviously inspired and were in everyone’s basket. Others barely made it in at all. Different Christian gatherings put different scrolls in their basket.

The first record we have of the 27 books we call our “New Testament” being defined as the accepted scrolls was in 367 A.D. in a letter written by Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria. This was still not the final definition of the Bible. The unification of the church under the power of Rome led to the unification the accepted books but controversy lingered. In fact, to this very day,

Summary: The Bible is a masterpiece that reveals God. Like everything made with human hands, it has flaws. Rather than obsessing about this, we should tune our ear to what the Bible wants us to hear: the living Voice

Three Ways to Get More From This Week's Podcast

Read the show notes below.

DO it, don't just HEAR it. Get daily devotionals based on the week's podcast.

Discuss it live with Maury. Anchorpoint Live starts again on Tuesday, October 10.

The Magic Book?

I Love the Bible

The first time I heard God speak to me personally, it was through the Bible. I don’t remember the details of my teenage angst but I do remember the moment I heard the Voice. I had plopped down in a black bean bag chair. I was so depressed that I had resorted to desperate measures: reading the Bible. It fell open to a Psalm. Like me, the writer was feeling the absurdity of life and wondering if God had flown the coop. I felt a strange closeness with the writer. Suddenly, I heard God speak. It was comfort. It was hope. It was love. I nearly fell out of my chair, which is pretty tough to do when you’re in beanbag chair! 

That encounter created a lifelong hunger. I longed to hear that Voice again and again. It was more alluring than girls, more exciting than basketball, more rewarding than straight A’s. There was nothing like it. Peter’s words to Jesus were exactly how I felt: “You alone have the words of eternal life!”

This hunger drove me to get up early each morning. I put on classical music, opened my Bible, and listened for the Voice. Most mornings, I heard it. I never lost this love. It led me to get a Ph.D. in New Testament and to learn to read the New Testament in Greek. 

Over the years, my love for the Bible has grown. It is great literature that addresses life’s greatest issues: Job struggling with evil; David finding God in the desert; Isaiah foreseeing universal reconciliation; Jesus proclaiming the Kingdom; Paul explaining the New Creation. 

I love the Bible the way I love a good set of binoculars, because of what I see through it. But like all human creations, it is not perfect. In my evangelical tradition it’s against the rules to say this, but it is obviously true.

The Bible Is Not a Perfect Book

A few years ago I attended a scholarly conference on Biblical inerrancy. Speaker after speaker stood up and made the case for the perfection of the Bible. In scandalous tones, they referred to the heretics who had left the group because they dared to questioned this. As the talks droned on, I couldn’t help but feel kinship with the heretics. As wonderful as the Bible is, it is not a perfect book. Here are four reasons why. 

1. The Bible Is Not a Book

The first reason why the Bible is not a perfect book is that it isn’t a book at all. It is a collection of writings that spans centuries, some of which are collections themselves. 

In our day, it is hard to imagine anything other than the book form. But the book format (called a codex) didn’t emerge until about 200 A.D. Prior to this, writings were preserved on scrolls. The book of Luke is about as much text as you could get on a single scroll which is probably why Luke’s writing is divided into two parts, Luke-Acts. 

In the first century there was no question about which books belonged in “the Bible” since there was no such thing as “the Bible.” Instead there was a basket of scrolls. There was debate about which writings belonged in the basket, but by its nature, this was flexible. Not all writings in the basket were of the same value. Some were obviously inspired and were in everyone’s basket. Others barely made it in at all. Different Christian gatherings put different scrolls in their basket.

The first record we have of the 27 books we call our “New Testament” being defined as the accepted scro...

Summary: What we call "church" is a product of western civilization that comes with a lot of cultural baggage. It is one way to follow Christ but not the only way. You can be a part of God's ekklesia without participating in a traditional church. 

Why I Stopped Attending Church

To begin with, I want to emphasize that I am not trying to discourage you from going to church. Churches do wonderful things. They feed the hungry. They promote healthy living. They are filled with wonderful people. I have great friends who are excellent pastors of first rate churches. If you are thriving in a church, keep thriving! 

I am not out to bash church. I have experienced the Kingdom of God in it. I love its music, its cathedrals, its liturgy, its history. The point I make in this chapter is that the traditional wineskin we call “church” is not the only way to follow Christ. I fear that if we cling to our western church model as the only legitimate form, soon an empty wineskin may be all we are left with. We will stand like a European cathedral, proud but empty.

My purpose is not to tell you why you should not attend church. My purpose is to explain why I no longer do. Concerned friends ask me where I attend church. I mumble something about our nomadic lifestyle making it hard. It’s a copout  Ever since I stopped being a pastor I have avoided church. Here’s the truth: The reason I don’t attend is that I don’t want to.

Dropping out of church created a five alarm crisis in my life. For starters, there is a fiscal crisis. To leave church means to cut off my only source of income and set fire to my resume. Worse than this, I have always seen church as the only way to follow Christ. To opt out of church is to opt out of God. Doesn’t the Bible require church? Am I even a Christian? To leave church was to be an unemployed pagan. 

I take some comfort in the fact that I am not alone. Many people sincerely love Christ but, for whatever reason, find it hard to swallow church. Like me, many feel guilty. It feels like treason. It feels like apostasy.

In this chapter I will tell you how I came to the end of my road with church. More importantly, I will present a church-free way to follow Christ that is fully consistent with the teaching of the Jesus. This discovery has set me free and reignited my love for God. It has been like being born again again.

How I Lost the Baby in the Bathwater

As a teenager, God was very real to me. I grew up in a log cabin nestled in the rolling Palouse hills of Eastern Washington. I got off the dusty yellow school bus, grabbed my shotgun, and traipsed across the wheat fields with my dog, Brute, feeling like part of the landscape. If I was lonely or depressed, I went outside, lay on my back, and stared at the stars. I reached up. They reached back. I heard the sweet sound of God’s voice in music and got a college degree playing french horn. It wasn’t the music I loved as much as the Voice. I thrilled to the Scriptures and shared my life and prayed with my friends.

If loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is what it is all about, I was on the right track. I could not imagine anything more wonderful than a life dedicated to this. That is why I become a Pastor. I assumed it would lead me deeper and deeper into the arms of God. Instead, the sweet sound of my Savior’s voice grew fainter. Slowly, over the decades, my living connection with God was replaced by a human institution. 

When I tell people that I have given up on church, they advise me not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. My problem was that there was so much bathwater I could no longer find the baby. 

Here is my top 10 list of church bathwater. The list depresses me. I know how dangerous it is to be negative. To fight this, Julie and I inscribed a slogan by the door of our trailer that we try to liv...

Summary: What we call "church" is a product of western civilization that comes with a lot of cultural baggage. It is one way to follow Christ but not the only way. You can be a part of God's ekklesia without participating in a traditional church. 

Three Ways to Get More From This Week's Podcast

Read the show notes below.

DO it, don't just HEAR it. Get daily devotionals based on the week's podcast.

Discuss it live with Maury. Anchorpoint Live starts again on Tuesday, October 10.

Why I Stopped Attending Church

To begin with, I want to emphasize that I am not trying to discourage you from going to church. Churches do wonderful things. They feed the hungry. They promote healthy living. They are filled with wonderful people. I have great friends who are excellent pastors of first rate churches. If you are thriving in a church, keep thriving! 

I am not out to bash church. I have experienced the Kingdom of God in it. I love its music, its cathedrals, its liturgy, its history. The point I make in this chapter is that the traditional wineskin we call “church” is not the only way to follow Christ. I fear that if we cling to our western church model as the only legitimate form, soon an empty wineskin may be all we are left with. We will stand like a European cathedral, proud but empty.

My purpose is not to tell you why you should not attend church. My purpose is to explain why I no longer do. Concerned friends ask me where I attend church. I mumble something about our nomadic lifestyle making it hard. It’s a copout  Ever since I stopped being a pastor I have avoided church. Here’s the truth: The reason I don’t attend is that I don’t want to.

Dropping out of church created a five alarm crisis in my life. For starters, there is a fiscal crisis. To leave church means to cut off my only source of income and set fire to my resume. Worse than this, I have always seen church as the only way to follow Christ. To opt out of church is to opt out of God. Doesn’t the Bible require church? Am I even a Christian? To leave church was to be an unemployed pagan. 

I take some comfort in the fact that I am not alone. Many people sincerely love Christ but, for whatever reason, find it hard to swallow church. Like me, many feel guilty. It feels like treason. It feels like apostasy.

In this chapter I will tell you how I came to the end of my road with church. More importantly, I will present a church-free way to follow Christ that is fully consistent with the teaching of the Jesus. This discovery has set me free and reignited my love for God. It has been like being born again again.

How I Lost the Baby in the Bathwater

As a teenager, God was very real to me. I grew up in a log cabin nestled in the rolling Palouse hills of Eastern Washington. I got off the dusty yellow school bus, grabbed my shotgun, and traipsed across the wheat fields with my dog, Brute, feeling like part of the landscape. If I was lonely or depressed, I went outside, lay on my back, and stared at the stars. I reached up. They reached back. I heard the sweet sound of God’s voice in music and got a college degree playing french horn. It wasn’t the music I loved as much as the Voice. I thrilled to the Scriptures and shared my life and prayed with my friends.

If loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is what it is all about, I was on the right track. I could not imagine anything more wonderful than a life dedicated to this. That is why I become a Pastor. I assumed it would lead me deeper and deeper into the arms of God. Instead, the sweet sound of my Savior’s voice grew fainter. Slowly, over the decades, my living connection with God was replaced by a human institution. 

When I tell people that I have given up on church, they advise me not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Summary: Our world is in agony but we live in hope of God’s triumph. In a way we cannot yet see, even evil will be used for good. In many evangelical circles, this blessed hope has been hijacked by an apocalyptic nightmare. 

Why I Left Left Behind Behind

It looks like this world will crumble beneath the weight of its own stupidity. Don’t be fooled. Christ is working in the chaos to bring about an ending that will make all creation stand and cheer. But when? How? These questions land me in the realm of eschatology. “Eschaton” means end, so “eschatology” is the study of the end. As with questions of the world’s beginning, questions about its end go beyond the scope of normal human experience. We must use stories and images to imagine it. When we describe these transcendent realities in terms of our present experience we create absurdities. The mystery of creation is reduced to seven 24 hour days. The return of Christ is misshapen into the Left Behind series. 

The early believers called the triumph of Christ “the blessed hope.” Ours is a groaning world. The blessed hope says our pains are not death throes but labor pains. Somehow, in the midst of our suffering, a new world is being born. How do cancer and divorce and my own sinfulness play into the coming world? How could God possibly bring good from this mess? I do not know. No one does. It has not yet been born. All I know is that right now, I feel a strange mixture of pain and expectation. Paul describes the tension:

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. (Romans 8:22-25)

I admit the absurdity of my existence but feel hope in something I do not yet see. Against all logic, I have hope. When I try to put this hope into words, it evaporates.“Hope that is seen is not hope.” Sadly, I grew up under a theological perspective that claimed to see the end of the world in chilling detail. The blessed hope was replaced by an apocalyptic nightmare. This world was a ticking time bomb. Any second, Christ would snatch the true believers from the earth and all hell would break loose.

Where Did Rapture Theology Come From? 

As a kid, I took it for granted that my branch of Christianity was “the historic Christian faith.” I knew there were other versions out there but I saw these as distortions of the real thing that I practiced. I was well into my 30s before I realized that my version of the faith was just one expression of a diverse array of beliefs and practices that stretched back for centuries. The more I saw the scope of this, the harder it was to believe I had been born in the center of the bull’s-eye. 

I was even more shocked to discover that, historically speaking, my version of Christianity was just plain weird. We followed a system called Dispensationalism. I never heard it called Dispensationalism. We called it “believing the Bible.” People who didn’t see it our way didn’t believe the Bible and probably weren’t Christians. But I have learned that Dispensationalism is a long way from the center of the historic Christian faith. It is a recent belief that developed in England in the mid 1800’s, promoted by a man named John Nelson Darby. In the 1900’s it was spread in the United States by the Scofield Study Bible. 

One Sunday evening in church in the late 70’s, my sister and I watched a movie called A Thief in the Night. It scared us senseless. We drove home ashen-faced, terrified that we might miss the rapture and be left to face the bloody horrors de...

Summary: Our world is in agony but we live in hope of God’s triumph. In a way we cannot yet see, even evil will be used for good. In many evangelical circles, this blessed hope has been hijacked by an apocalyptic nightmare. 

Three Ways to Get More From This Week's Podcast

Read the show notes below.

DO it, don't just HEAR it. Get daily devotionals based on the week's podcast.

Discuss it live with Maury. Anchorpoint Live starts again on Tuesday, October 10.

Why I Left Left Behind Behind

It looks like this world will crumble beneath the weight of its own stupidity. Don’t be fooled. Christ is working in the chaos to bring about an ending that will make all creation stand and cheer. But when? How? These questions land me in the realm of eschatology. “Eschaton” means end, so “eschatology” is the study of the end. As with questions of the world’s beginning, questions about its end go beyond the scope of normal human experience. We must use stories and images to imagine it. When we describe these transcendent realities in terms of our present experience we create absurdities. The mystery of creation is reduced to seven 24 hour days. The return of Christ is misshapen into the Left Behind series. 

The early believers called the triumph of Christ “the blessed hope.” Ours is a groaning world. The blessed hope says our pains are not death throes but labor pains. Somehow, in the midst of our suffering, a new world is being born. How do cancer and divorce and my own sinfulness play into the coming world? How could God possibly bring good from this mess? I do not know. No one does. It has not yet been born. All I know is that right now, I feel a strange mixture of pain and expectation. Paul describes the tension:

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. (Romans 8:22-25)

I admit the absurdity of my existence but feel hope in something I do not yet see. Against all logic, I have hope. When I try to put this hope into words, it evaporates.“Hope that is seen is not hope.” Sadly, I grew up under a theological perspective that claimed to see the end of the world in chilling detail. The blessed hope was replaced by an apocalyptic nightmare. This world was a ticking time bomb. Any second, Christ would snatch the true believers from the earth and all hell would break loose.

Where Did Rapture Theology Come From? 

As a kid, I took it for granted that my branch of Christianity was “the historic Christian faith.” I knew there were other versions out there but I saw these as distortions of the real thing that I practiced. I was well into my 30s before I realized that my version of the faith was just one expression of a diverse array of beliefs and practices that stretched back for centuries. The more I saw the scope of this, the harder it was to believe I had been born in the center of the bull’s-eye. 

I was even more shocked to discover that, historically speaking, my version of Christianity was just plain weird. We followed a system called Dispensationalism. I never heard it called Dispensationalism. We called it “believing the Bible.” People who didn’t see it our way didn’t believe the Bible and probably weren’t Christians. But I have learned that Dispensationalism is a long way from the center of the historic Christian faith. It is a recent belief that developed in England in the mid 1800’s, promoted by a man named John Nelson Darby. In the 1900’s it was spread in the United States b...

Summary: The Creation stories of Genesis 1-11 form an essential foundation for life in the Kingdom of God. They are true but are not part of human history. The enlightenment replaced these marvelous stories with the dull story of the eternal cosmos. The result is an emptiness that we all feel everywhere.

Did Adam Ride a Dinosaur?

Many evangelical Christians (around 40%) believe that Adam and Eve were the first human beings, created in a universe that is less than 10,000 years old. The problem is that there is overwhelming evidence that the universe is much older than this and that Adam and Eve were not the first two humans. The geological record reveals a world that is more like 4.5 billion years old and the Human Genome Project has shown that there is no way the diversity in the human population could have originated from a single couple such a short time ago.

Many feel backed into a corner by this. To accept the findings of science means to abandon their faith. To cling to their faith means to live in the Dark Ages. You must choose science or religion. As Albert Mohler, President of Southern Seminary, put it, “If other Protestants want to accommodate science, fine. But they shouldn't be surprised if their faith unravels.”

But it’s not science or religion. This conflict is caused by misunderstanding the nature of the stories in the Bible, particularly Genesis 1-11.

Creation Stories

Every culture has a creation story. The Greeks believed Gaia (earth) sprang out of chaos and gave birth to Uranus (sky). The Cherokee Indians say a water beetle came from the sky, dove into the water, and brought up earth. In a Hindu myth, four types of human beings emerge from the eternal Parusha. There are hundreds of stories like this.

Creation accounts are not part of human history. They are the basis of it. They are the ground beneath our feet. They provide a framework for life as we know it. 

Creation stories lie outside the realm of normal human existence. They take place in a far off realm in a distant age. They are filled with characters and events unlike anything we normally experience. They begin with phrases like, “a long time ago” or “in the beginning” which set them apart from human history as we know it. 

Although creation stories are separate from human history, there are bridges between the two, otherwise what would be the point?  In some stories divine beings interact with figures in human history. Genealogies are used to tie historical figures with pre-history. Towns and sacred sites are named for characters in the stories. Religious rituals commemorate events in the stories. Creation stories are of a different nature than human history but the two are vitally connected. 

Are creation stories true? If by “true” you are asking if they can be placed on our timeline the answer is no. If by “true” you are asking if they provide the foundational truths of our existence, the answer is yes.

The Genesis Creation Stories

Genesis 1-11 contains five creation stories: two creation accounts, the story of Cain and Abel, the tale of a great flood, and the Tower of Babel. These are interspersed with genealogies that build a bridge with human history. They contain elements like talking serpents, enchanted fruit, gods who have sex with human beings, giants, and a boat that can carry every created animal. These characters and events lie outside the realm of normal human existence.

The Bible makes no sense without its creation stories. They lay the foundation of everything that follows. In them we learn that… 

There is one God who created all things. 

Creation is good but something has gone horribly wrong

Human rebellion is the heart of creation’s problem

God does not give up on his creation

God can bring order from of chaos

Summary: The Creation stories of Genesis 1-11 form an essential foundation for life in the Kingdom of God. They are true but are not part of human history. The enlightenment replaced these marvelous stories with the dull story of the eternal cosmos. The result is an emptiness that we all feel everywhere.

Three Ways to Get More From This Week's Podcast

Read the show notes below.

DO it, don't just HEAR it. Get daily devotionals based on the week's podcast.

Discuss it live with Maury. Anchorpoint Live starts again on Tuesday, October 10.

Did Adam Ride a Dinosaur?

Many evangelical Christians (around 40%) believe that Adam and Eve were the first human beings, created in a universe that is less than 10,000 years old. The problem is that there is overwhelming evidence that the universe is much older than this and that Adam and Eve were not the first two humans. The geological record reveals a world that is more like 4.5 billion years old and the Human Genome Project has shown that there is no way the diversity in the human population could have originated from a single couple such a short time ago.

Many feel backed into a corner by this. To accept the findings of science means to abandon their faith. To cling to their faith means to live in the Dark Ages. You must choose science or religion. As Albert Mohler, President of Southern Seminary, put it, “If other Protestants want to accommodate science, fine. But they shouldn't be surprised if their faith unravels.”

But it’s not science or religion. This conflict is caused by misunderstanding the nature of the stories in the Bible, particularly Genesis 1-11.

Creation Stories

Every culture has a creation story. The Greeks believed Gaia (earth) sprang out of chaos and gave birth to Uranus (sky). The Cherokee Indians say a water beetle came from the sky, dove into the water, and brought up earth. In a Hindu myth, four types of human beings emerge from the eternal Parusha. There are hundreds of stories like this.

Creation accounts are not part of human history. They are the basis of it. They are the ground beneath our feet. They provide a framework for life as we know it. 

Creation stories lie outside the realm of normal human existence. They take place in a far off realm in a distant age. They are filled with characters and events unlike anything we normally experience. They begin with phrases like, “a long time ago” or “in the beginning” which set them apart from human history as we know it. 

Although creation stories are separate from human history, there are bridges between the two, otherwise what would be the point?  In some stories divine beings interact with figures in human history. Genealogies are used to tie historical figures with pre-history. Towns and sacred sites are named for characters in the stories. Religious rituals commemorate events in the stories. Creation stories are of a different nature than human history but the two are vitally connected. 

Are creation stories true? If by “true” you are asking if they can be placed on our timeline the answer is no. If by “true” you are asking if they provide the foundational truths of our existence, the answer is yes.

The Genesis Creation Stories

Genesis 1-11 contains five creation stories: two creation accounts, the story of Cain and Abel, the tale of a great flood, and the Tower of Babel. These are interspersed with genealogies that build a bridge with human history. They contain elements like talking serpents, enchanted fruit, gods who have sex with human beings, giants, and a boat that can carry every created animal. These characters and events lie outside the realm of normal human existence.

The Bible makes no sense without its creation stories. They lay the foundation of everything that follows.

Summary: Christ will redeem all created things. Judgment should not be seen as a final end but as a tool used to make the all things new.

Might Everything Come Out Okay in the End?

Most churches have some sort of written creed but this is not what they believe. If you want to know what a church believes, observe its behavior. What do they emphasize? What do they actually do? Viewed this way, very few churches believe that most people wind up in an eternal place of torment, no matter what their written documents say. 

This hit me way back in college. I remember the exact place I was sitting when I read these words:

… The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)

The way I understood it back then, this meant that everyone who did not receive Jesus into their heart was bound for eternal torture in hell. If this was true then I was the most selfish person in the world. How could I not spend every waking moment warning people of this and begging them to ask Jesus into their hearts so they would go to heaven? Evidently, since I had my place in heaven I was content to sit back and watched the rest of the world go to Hell. 

But I wondered if there was more to it than this. I went to funeral services for people who were clearly not followers of Jesus. Nothing was said about them being tortured in hell. Instead they were spoken of in glowing terms and every impression was given that they were smiling down at us from heaven. If we really believed in the doctrine of hell, most funerals would be weeping and gnashing of teeth as we contemplated our dear departed in eternal flames.

Christmas also puzzled me. It was the time of year when we celebrated Jesus, the Son of God, who came to our world to rescue it. A few people would be saved and the rest sent to hell. This was the “good news of great joy for all the people?” It seemed to me like very bad news. When the World Trade Center collapsed, most people died and a few were saved. No one called the collapse of the World Trade Center good news. Soon, God would blow up the world like terrorists blew up the World Trade Center. A tiny minority would escape to heaven. This was good news? But again, no one said this at Christmas. We ate cookies, drank punch and sang about peace, love and joy.

Why do we say one thing and do another? Because our hearts are better theologians than our heads. Truth speaks so clearly in our hearts that it is nearly impossible to live in contradiction to it. If our minds create some crazy belief system we simply ignore and follow the truth. If we want to be consistent, we must adjust either our behavior or our our creed. In this case it is our creed that needs the overhaul. 

In this chapter, I will explain why I believe in universal reconciliation. I will start by giving three common ideas of the fate of the wicked. Next, I will give the evidence that in the end, God saves everyone and everything and show how this might look. Finally, I will share the drastic ways that belief in universal salvation has changed my attitudes toward other people. 

Judgment: Endless Suffering, Annihilation, or Redemption?

As I pointed out in the chapter on hell, there is no way to erase the fact that the Bible not only contains thrilling inspiration; it is also filled with stern warnings of coming judgment. Here are a couple of well-known examples. Review the chapter on hell for more. 

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.

Summary: Christ will redeem all created things. Judgment should not be seen as a final end but as a tool used to make the all things new.

Three Ways to Get More From This Week's Podcast

Read the show notes below.

DO it, don't just HEAR it. Get daily devotionals based on the week's podcast.

Discuss it live with Maury, Sunday at 6:00pm Pacific Time

Might Everything Come Out Okay in the End?

Most churches have some sort of written creed but this is not what they believe. If you want to know what a church believes, observe its behavior. What do they emphasize? What do they actually do? Viewed this way, very few churches believe that most people wind up in an eternal place of torment, no matter what their written documents say. 

This hit me way back in college. I remember the exact place I was sitting when I read these words:

… The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)

The way I understood it back then, this meant that everyone who did not receive Jesus into their heart was bound for eternal torture in hell. If this was true then I was the most selfish person in the world. How could I not spend every waking moment warning people of this and begging them to ask Jesus into their hearts so they would go to heaven? Evidently, since I had my place in heaven I was content to sit back and watched the rest of the world go to Hell. 

But I wondered if there was more to it than this. I went to funeral services for people who were clearly not followers of Jesus. Nothing was said about them being tortured in hell. Instead they were spoken of in glowing terms and every impression was given that they were smiling down at us from heaven. If we really believed in the doctrine of hell, most funerals would be weeping and gnashing of teeth as we contemplated our dear departed in eternal flames.

Christmas also puzzled me. It was the time of year when we celebrated Jesus, the Son of God, who came to our world to rescue it. A few people would be saved and the rest sent to hell. This was the “good news of great joy for all the people?” It seemed to me like very bad news. When the World Trade Center collapsed, most people died and a few were saved. No one called the collapse of the World Trade Center good news. Soon, God would blow up the world like terrorists blew up the World Trade Center. A tiny minority would escape to heaven. This was good news? But again, no one said this at Christmas. We ate cookies, drank punch and sang about peace, love and joy.

Why do we say one thing and do another? Because our hearts are better theologians than our heads. Truth speaks so clearly in our hearts that it is nearly impossible to live in contradiction to it. If our minds create some crazy belief system we simply ignore and follow the truth. If we want to be consistent, we must adjust either our behavior or our our creed. In this case it is our creed that needs the overhaul. 

In this chapter, I will explain why I believe in universal reconciliation. I will start by giving three common ideas of the fate of the wicked. Next, I will give the evidence that in the end, God saves everyone and everything and show how this might look. Finally, I will share the drastic ways that belief in universal salvation has changed my attitudes toward other people. 

Judgment: Endless Suffering, Annihilation, or Redemption?

As I pointed out in the chapter on hell, there is no way to erase the fact that the Bible not only contains thrilling inspiration; it is also filled with stern warnings of coming judgment.