—It sounds like your fellow church member is not the only one with a “my way or the highway” attitude.—
From what post did you glean that? I ask because my whole premise was that neither of us KNOWS for sure and that both sides have good arguments. His position is that he is right regarding his position.
And even the pastor liked that I was challenging it. i.e. I was not saying I am right and he is wrong. Rather, I was saying that he may not be as right as he thinks he is and that he just may want to re-evaluate his take on the scripture he uses as proofs.
In no way did I ever suggest in that conversation that I am right and he is wrong, regarding the final conclusion of our belief. In fact, all I ever really did was propose another option and ask questions.
So, I ask again, from where did you get your impression?
I got it from what you said:
I thought it was funny at the time, though I didn’t dare crack a smile. The whole reason I brought it up was to give an example of a bit of theology that reasonable Christians can disagree on because both sides have merit. That guy would have none of it. It was LITERALLY like arguing with a liberal. I’ve got him in my sights if, for no other reason, than to use him as an example to the rest of the congregation. Hopefully he may change his mind on some of this stuff. I’m not talking about him changing his position but, rather, on “non bullet doctrines” realizing that his interpretation is not necessarily the equivalent of God’s divine inspiration. This is especially true when he refuses to consider what scripture actually says. He’s not familiar with the greek or hebrew lexicons and is one of those “King James Only” believers. I hate to pigeon hole him and fought it for months, but man, he fits it to a T. I hope we can be friends some day. Seriously. If only he can figure out that I’m not trying to attack his position, but only his “my way or the highway” attitude about it.
Maybe if you read it again, you would understand my point. I happen to agree with the "other" guy that Hell IS a real AND eternal place that the condemned will suffer in eternity. It isn't a pleasant thing to comprehend and some people refuse to believe such a place exists, preferring the idea of "annihilation" instead. I believe this IS one of the major tenets of the Christian faith that CAN be proved by Scripture.
My comment had to do with your assertion that you were the one showing tolerance. The words you used to describe the other guy did not sound all that tolerant to me. Words like:
reasonable Christians can disagree
LITERALLY like arguing with a liberal
use him as an example to the rest of the congregation
“non bullet doctrines” realizing that his interpretation is not necessarily the equivalent of God’s divine inspiration
is one of those “King James Only” believers
he refuses to consider what scripture actually says
He’s not familiar with the greek or hebrew lexicons
I just read those and didn't see such a tolerant attitude as you claimed. I'm not attacking you, just trying to demonstrate that a tolerant person would not use some of the terms you did for someone who disagreed with him. That's all.