Giving us the fast food version upon the death of someone puts an ugly face on Christianity. You do come off as condemning someone, regardless of your protestations. It's cruel, especially to the loved ones left behind.
Giving us the fast food version upon the death of someone puts an ugly face on Christianity. You do come off as condemning someone, regardless of your protestations. It's cruel, especially to the loved ones left behind.
The truth of salvation is plain, and can be expressed in a straightforward manner using a few select verses (such as the "Roman Road" - Romans 3:10-23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9-10).
Naturally, reading and studying the entire Bible will yield tremendous benefits and greatly increase one's understanding of God and man. Still, it does not change the basic message of the Scriptures, which is summed up for us in John 3:16. There are many people who claim that the Bible is too mysterious to be understood, or who, like yourself, want to make it out to be something so lofty that only dry scholars can understand it, and the common man is left in the dark. But the Bible speaks to all of us, whether we be rich or poor, famous or obscure, wise or simple.
What I object to (and in the light of Scripture, I am compelled to object to this) is the attitude held by so many that entrance into heaven is some sort of automatic birthright that naturally occurs after we die, especially if one has been "good". As if heaven was the default destination for everyone, except maybe the most evil among us, such as Hitler or Mao or Stalin. That is a deadly mindset that has sent many people to hell.
Chris Reeve was very outspoken about his lack of belief, why should other people not be the same?