@chaney3 saidCherrypicking + adding to the bible = False doctrines
The caveat (warning) is in John 3:16.
One MUST BELIEVE.....or else.
Stop cherry picking. Instead read more of what Jesus said to get a complete and correct doctrine. Dont add. Proof of your adding is your constant reference to people burning in hell for eternity or going to heaven. The bible says no such thing.
-Removed-Because I don't believe that God attaches caveats to us.....in order for us to love Him.
Meaning..... that sending us to hell for not believing in Him is, in essence, forcing us to love Him, which I doubt very much is His character.
We may use our free will to decide, of course, but hell is likely not a valid alternative, because God is good, and bigger than that.
@chaney3 saidForcing people to love/obey God through fear sounds more like a human thing, than a God thing.
Because I don't believe that God attaches caveats to us.....in order for us to love Him.
Meaning..... that sending us to hell for not believing in Him is, in essence, forcing us to love Him, which I doubt very much is His character.
We may use our free will to decide, of course, but hell is likely not a valid alternative, because God is good, and bigger than that.
@ghost-of-a-duke saidAgreed.
Forcing people to love/obey God through fear sounds more like a human thing, than a God thing.
@caissad4 saidAny person who serves or worships such a despicable creature is to [be] reviled or pitied .
Any entity which would burn people alive for eternity is pure evil .Any person who serves or worships such a despicable creature is to reviled or pitied .
I know what you mean but for me this exhortation goes a little too far. I don't care about what may or may not be the thoughtcrimes of others, preferring instead to look at the actions they take as a result of their beliefs.
Holding the belief that being burned alive for eternity [for a lack of belief] is "perfect morality" simply highlights the moral emptiness at the very core of such a person's thinking.
No matter what morally sound actions such a person might take, their moral compass is broken, to my way of thinking. Touting eternal torture as the "ultimate" morality, to me, is human darkness at its darkest - so dark that all the waxing lyrical in the world about the goodness of Jesus cannot redeem it or illuminate it.
The ludicrous torturer God philosophy, such as is espoused by tragic figures like sonship, in and of itself, does not harm me or impinge upon me. So "reviling" it goes too far, for me.
Seeing as I have used the word tragic, maybe "they are to be pitied" is nearer the mark.