Confronting Christianity (Chapter 12 - How Could a Loving God Send People to Hell?)

Introduction:

This is the hardest question of the book

Has Science Murdered Sin?

Sam Harris, “The idea that we, as conscious beings, are deeply responsible for the character of our mental lives and subsequent behavior is simply impossible to map onto reality.”

“Harris’s scientific determinism scratches away at our deepest beliefs: that there is a moral fabric to the universe, that right and wrong are more than dreams, and that you and I— weak and contingent as we are— are capable of love, just as we are capable of cruelty.”

The #MeToo of Judgement

“The #MeToo movement has exposed a painful truth: that there is no ultimate ‘them’ and ‘us’ when it comes to exploiting power over others; there is only a sliding scale.”

Longing to Be Known and Loved

“You do you.”

Found Out:

God knows our hearts and our thoughts

Yet he looks at us as lost children

Read Luke 15:11-32 (The Prodigal Son)

The Logic of the Cross

Read Luke 22:42-44.

Why was Jesus so afraid?

The image of the cup of the Lord

“The idea of the wrath of God seems alien to us-a psychologically famaging relic from a bygone era. But just as we cannot absolve people of moral accountability without also erasing their ability to love, so God’s love and God’s judgement cannot be pulled apart.”

“… and the more that we love, the more easily our anger is kindled.”

“Imagine that this kind of love-motivated anger is so deeply entrenched in the heart of God that your own commitment to justice is like a drop in the ocean, like the justice of a child dressing up in a police outfit compared with a high-court judge.”

Read Ex. 34:6.

The Real Meaning of Heaven and Hell

Freedom, Life, and Love

The Scandal of Grace

Read Matt. 16:24-25.