Well, Christians should be enjoying life to the fullest, and yeah, some do. This was part of the Protestant reformation. Sola fide tells us that faith alone (that of a mustard seed) should be enough for salvation. Sola scriptura (by scripture alone) are we to determine our path.
It should be easy then. A protestant pilgrim can relax, knowing their faith is enough, that what they take from the bible, whether cherry-picking Paul’s cruelty or Jesus’ generosity is right, because the self is the ultimate arbiter in how to read scripture.
Except not so much. The conflict is with the ministries and apologists who assert they and not the common layman, decides how to read the bible, and according to most of them, faith is wanting and grace doesn’t fully bridge the gap. According to most ministries, a lot of Chistians are going to Hell. Especially so those of false denominations.
The exception is, of course universalists, but according to them, demon rimjobs take place in Heaven and everyone gets salvation. Period.
So, it depends on who you ask. The confident Protestant pilgrim will tell you that God is reasonable and sets a very low bar for salvation. A college try modified by your circumstances (say China’s 720 million nonbelievers) is adequate to escape hellfire. But according to the ministries, Heaven is empty except for a handul at the top of their leaderbard. And that excludes you as well.
So you might hope that Hell is more compex a place than a lake of fire and the dwelling of Ammit the Devourer.
Well, Christians should be enjoying life to the fullest, and yeah, some do. This was part of the Protestant reformation. Sola fide tells us that faith alone (that of a mustard seed) should be enough for salvation. Sola scriptura (by scripture alone) are we to determine our path.
It should be easy then. A protestant pilgrim can relax, knowing their faith is enough, that what they take from the bible, whether cherry-picking Paul’s cruelty or Jesus’ generosity is right, because the self is the ultimate arbiter in how to read scripture.
Except not so much. The conflict is with the ministries and apologists who assert they and not the common layman, decides how to read the bible, and according to most of them, faith is wanting and grace doesn’t fully bridge the gap. According to most ministries, a lot of Chistians are going to Hell. Especially so those of false denominations.
The exception is, of course universalists, but according to them, demon rimjobs take place in Heaven and everyone gets salvation. Period.
So, it depends on who you ask. The confident Protestant pilgrim will tell you that God is reasonable and sets a very low bar for salvation. A college try modified by your circumstances (say China’s 720 million nonbelievers) is adequate to escape hellfire. But according to the ministries, Heaven is empty except for a handul at the top of their leaderbard. And that excludes you as well.
So you might hope that Hell is more compex a place than a lake of fire and the dwelling of Ammit the Devourer.