Where was I before life intervened for a moment?

As I was saying, at some point I decided to strike out on my own (well, not entirely on my own. I do have a degree in biblical studies, patiently--if at times futilely--taught to me by some very nice and generally intelligent professors), and see where I got to. I suppose it is my good fortune that this blog does not have a wide followership (about 1700 page views thus far), giving me the liberty of wearing a theological lampshade on my head with no one noticing.

I started off with one of the two more controversial positions of orthodox Christianity, the doctrine of eternal punishment (aka Hell, the Lake of Fire, Gehenna, and so on) for the damned. Associated with this is the belief that Hell is the default position for every individual unless they consciously accept the Christian faith.

[The other position I refer to above is the problem of evil and suffering and how it can be consistent with the belief in an all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful, and merciful God.]

I concluded, along with such heretics as Billy Graham, that knowledge of Christ or the Christian message is not a necessary requirement for entry into God's kingdom. Further, I confirmed the belief that I have had for a long time (as did other questionable parties like the late John Stott) that Hell is to be understood metaphorically. These posts were written during the month of April 2011.

I went even further in May and June, concluding that kingdom of God membership is our right as God's created beings. In other words, being a part of God's kingdom is not something we have to earn through the exercise of faith. Quite to the contrary, it is a privilege we would have to forfeit through something else.

What that 'something else' is was explored in August and September (July being a bit of a write-off due to a couple of lovely vacation periods) where I try to imagine what it would mean to commit the 'unpardonable sin' of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

Somewhere in there (well, in the month of June if I have to be specific) I discussed why one would bother to be a Christian at all, or encourage others to become one, if most people are going to "make it" anyway. I think I came up with what I hope is a sufficiently compelling answer that we should continue to take Jesus seriously when he tells us to go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel (imagine not taking Christ seriously!).

All of this speculation led me back to daily living. If God does not really hold Hell over our heads as a combination of stick (you're going there unless...) and carrot (this is what I've saved you from, so you'd better start acting like this...), then how does he hold us accountable for all of these free choices he permits us to make?

That led me in October to look at issues of accountability. This is where I was stuck in the usual theological goo when the civic election intervened and I digressed a bit into issues of letting one's faith influence one's political decisions in a secular and pluralistic school system.

I guess it's time to get back to that topic. Praying that the quicksand won't take me down, this is where I will now spend a little more time.