I wrote some things about a rabbi once long ago. His real name was Yonah. He has since died. The conversations I had with him back in the early 90s continue to bear fruit in my life. He may well have been the smartest man I ever met.
He said something to me once that changed the way I read the scriptures. Changed it PROFOUNDLY. And like a great rabbi, it was so easily stated. He said:
"Gordon, there are no higher moments in the scriptures than when we stand up to God. Like Abraham arguing with God about Sodom and Gomorrah. God wants us to develop our own moral sense. God wants us to stand on our own ethical legs, even to challenge him. He loves it when his children grow."
You might appreciate this clip from a BBC 2 series called God on Trial. Other clips are also at Youtube.
This is the fourth and final video in the hell series. I offer some thoughts and suggest a different way to think about the issue. It is my opinion that we shouldn’t waste time talking about hell in detail, other than in speculative conversations. I don’t think we have enough information about heaven to speak much of it either. Christians should concentrate on this present life, leaving questions about the after-life aside.
Forgive the off-the-cuff manner of these videos. I didn’t have scripts, and I did them in one take. No cutting and splicing. I know that in the
Here is my second video in the series on hell. In this video, I simply want to record what the New Testament has to say about hell. I give no personal interpretation on the matter. In going through all of your emails and my own study, I created a spreadsheet which you might find helpful. You can get a .pdf version here.
Note: I chose not to deal with a number of passages where, at the end of parables or teachings, Jesus refers to a place of darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. My thinking was this: If you are going to come to an understanding of
I recently wrote about hell and asked for your input. I got a lot of emails. I've gone through all of them. This is the first of three videos in which I'll discuss what I've discovered and my final conclusions.
As is my tradition, I've limited this video to 6 minutes.
