The Blog Is Moving

After much thought, I’ve decided to move the blog to a new blog called Drawn To Jesus. I will copy all the posts of this blog to the new site but will also preserve what currently exists. It will serve as an archive and if anybody is searching for the old posts they will remain where they are.  It will also help with preserving many of the links to the old blog site.

The reason I am doing this is because I wanted the blog to better reflect the direction I was going with my writing and content.  I was afraid new visitors to the blog would get confused because of the name which really doesn’t make since unless you understand the context of why the original blog was started.  This is a marker of growth for the blog and hopefully will attract a wider audience.

The new blog is at drawntojesus.wordpress.com. This is the last official post for Drawn To Torah and I hope that you will continue along for the ride at the new site.

Thanks!

 

Talking About Hell

When discussing the topic of hell, we should lay the groundwork down for different terminology used.  Despite what you may have been taught growing up, there are several different viewpoints, or theological opinions, on hell.  It’s important that before we get into discussions on those different doctrines that we establish what we mean when using terms and the general vernacular. Also, there are different facets on the topic of hell such as the nature of hell, who goes to hell, the nature of the soul, etc.

The Nature of Hell

Annihilationism – This view differs from the classical view in that hell is eternal in consequence, not duration.  In other words, the wicked who are cast into hell with suffer destruction and cease to exist.

Eternal Conscious Torment – This is the classic view that most everybody is familiar with and more often than not, most Christians (evangelicals especially) adhere to. It’s the belief that the wicked are cast into hell where they will experience eternal suffering.

Purgatory – This view holds that hell is about purification. It is that hell’s purpose is to burn away the bad stuff so that only good remains.

Who Goes to Hell

Exclusivism – This view advocates that salvation is only for those who have heard the gospel and responded to it consciously. It is a belief that salvation can only be found explicitly in the name of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t regard a person who has never heard the gospel. They are judged based on what they should have known.

Inclusivism – Where this view differs from others is over the assumption that a person knows about Jesus explicitly. In other words, a person is saved based on how they respond to whatever witness God has shown a person, regardless if they know by name it is Jesus Christ or not.

Universalism – This view is that Jesus Christ will ultimately save everyone who ever existed.

Postmortem evangelism view – This view is distinct from the others in that it adheres to a belief that people will have a chance to accept or reject Christ after death.

Nature of the Soul

Conditional – The view that the soul is mortal. Immortality is a gift of God that is granted through faith in Jesus Christ. It is usually tied with annihilationism in that the unsaved soul will ultimately be destroyed, or cease to exist.

Eternal – This view holds that the soul is immortal and God will not destroy an unsaved soul, but keep it alive to suffer the duration of eternity.

I hope this helps as we go further deeper into the study of hell. I will begin to share my opinion on hell in the next couple of posts. Maybe you can guess what it will be.  I will say this: I wouldn’t be sharing all these differing opinions if I held to a classic viewpoint. I would simply defend the traditional view point if that was the case  My beliefs on hell changed in my early 20′s and it has evolved and been refined as the years have gone by.  It’s important to question your beliefs and hold them in scrutiny. You have to weigh all the options and decide for yourself what you believe.

In Defense of Love Wins

I know I’m about a year a half late on all the controversy surrounding Love Wins by Rob Bell. I remember the controversy very well. There were negative comments all over Facebook and Twitter. Most of this coming from mostly the conservative evangelical crowd. I heard cries calling Bell a universalist, which is equated with heresy to many. But I didn’t really pay much attention to criticism and rhetoric because I also heard much praise from many people and voices I respect. At the time the book came out, it really wasn’t a priority to read as I busy with other books and projects at the time.

I got around to reading it about six months ago, long after the controversy died down.  I have high praise for Love Wins. I think it asks a lot of very important questions and brings the subject of hell and the doctrine of “eternal conscious suffering” to the forefront. The people who were so quick to judge this book, which I would argue that most of them didn’t read to begin with, are the ones who should be discussing the topic. I don’t believe Bell is a universalist.  Which by the way, even if he was, still doesn’t take away from the book and I would still highly recommend it.

The fact is that no matter what theological persuasion you have regarding the subject of hell, there is scripture you can find for backing up your belief. You can find proof for eternal conscious suffering, annihilationism, and even universalism. Which is exactly the reason this is a debatable subject, which is always the case when scripture seems ambiguous on a certain topic.  Love Wins empowers people to question the old perspective and consider new ones.  If you start out reading this book with an preconceived agenda, you will most certainly find quotes in the book in favor of your prejudice.

Jesus Is At The Center

The topic of hell is one I consider to be on that outside ring of concentric circles under the heading of “theological doctrines.”  Read my post Jesus Is At The Center if you don’t know what I’m talking about.  What I mean by that is that this topic shouldn’t divide us. Your faith shouldn’t be questioned or doubted based on what theological view you hold on hell. But there are many evangelicals who will do so.  Is it because they’ve placed their own theology so high up that it’s reached idol status?

I don’t believe Love Wins is a defense of universalism. It provokes questions and hints at possible answers, but doesn’t defend one definitive conclusion.  I plan on exploring some of these other views that exist and offer my own view. It may be met with rejection or condemnation but I hope that it be met with open minds. Just keep in mind that as long as Jesus is at the center, nothing else really matters.

Recent books I’ve read that I recommend on the subject of hell are:  Hell: A Final Word by Edward Fudge and Razing Hell: Rethinking Everything You’ve Been Taught About God’s Wrath and Judgment by Sharon Baker.

Genesis For Normal People

I’m planning on starting up a study group this year and I’ve been contemplating what we should use for material. I’ve got a few things in mind but I’m considering starting off the group with this book: Genesis for Normal People: A Guide to the Most Controversial, Misunderstood, and Abused Book of the Bible.

I read this book recently and found it would be perfect for a study group. It’s a very easy, accessible read, not technical, and would be helpful to the lay person. The chapters are concise and to the point.  The authors are Peter Enns and Jared Byas.  You may know Peter Enns from his book Evolution of Adam.

One of the reasons I like the book is that it doesn’t shy away from the typical questions about Genesis that can challenge a person’s faith.  There are issues involving science, evolution, the flood, etc that are not openly discussed in mainstream Christianity. These are issues that can’t be ignored and they much be approached with a much more open mind than what occurs within the confines of the church walls today.

What this book does is present the book of Genesis through “ancient eyes” as it was meant to be, the story of Israel. It gives the proper “context” for understanding  it as an ancient story, not a textbook and definitely not a science book.

Questions that are addressed: Who wrote it?  When? What was the intended audience? Why? If you find this intriguing and are interested in joining me in a study group setting to read and discuss this book, let me know.  I don’t know when the study group will start. I hope it will be in the next 2 months or so. There is plenty of time to think about it and buy the book.

Reflecting on 2012

I started this blog in February of 2012 as a platform to discuss how the Old Testament/Law/Torah (however you wish to refer to it) is relevant to Christianity. And a by-product of that journey was learning more about Jesus from a Jewish perspective.  There’s been some highs and lows. The blog itself is evolving into something much more than I originally thought.

As I’m growing in my theological interests, so is the blog. The blog is starting to expand to cover a wider variety of topics so I hope you will stay tuned to find out what’s coming up next.

I wanted to reflect on a few of the major milestones in my own theological journey this year and point out some of the highlights and also discuss some of the things I’ve learned along the way.

Torah Club Volume 1

I finished a year long study of all the Torah portions in 2012 following along with the first volume of Torah Club from FFOZ. I can’t say anything bad about this study course. It’s taught from a Messianic Jewish perspective and the material is top notch, nothing comes close. If that’s something you’re interested in, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. There are 5 more volumes you can take after the first one that go into different areas such as the Apostolic Writings, the Gospels, the Prophets, etc.  It was an intense year of study but the experience and education was priceless.

One way we incorporated studying the weekly Torah portion this year was to actually celebrate the Sabbath on Friday evenings (as much as our busy schedule would allow anyways). It was a great way to immerse yourself in the material. We would light the candles, say the traditional blessings over the bread and wine, eat, then have a discussion of the portion after the meal.  I would have been nice to continue the tradition but it’s not really practical with my family’s busy and conflicting schedules.  Try it some time, you will get a blessing.

Passover

Another thing we did as a family was to celebrate Passover with a seder. We used a “Christian friendly” and much abbreviated Haggadah to follow along with.  I would highly recommend doing this with your own family.

Hayesod

Hayesod is 10 week bible study, also from FFOZ.  It was one of the best bible studies I’ve done. It’s of the highest quality.  I even signed up to be a leader so I could start my own group, but I never could generate enough of an interest. I even brought it to the attention of my pastor to but it fell on deaf ears. So I guess you could say that was a low point.

The One-Law/Hebrew roots Movement is Toxic

First, I’ll say that I highly respect the FFOZ organization. They are a first class bunch of teachers. They realized years ago that the position they took known as “one law” was wrong. They corrected it, corrected their material, and in the process lost a lot of support from people who espoused that view.  And I have to admit, I was ignorant that it was even a viewpoint until I came upon a white paper discussing it on their website.

There are many “one law” teachers that have huge followings, especially on the Internet. Jim Staley and Michael Rood are two big ones. There were even 2 major live streaming networks that launched. I would stay far away from one law teachers, ministries, or churches. They are poisonous. It’s a form of supersessionism (replacement theology).  Just be careful when researching on the Internet because there’s a bunch of junk scholarship out there that can be dangerous for those who do not have a good grasp on sound theology.

Where Do We Go From Here

The blog will continue casting a much wider net on many different areas of theology.  I come from an evangelical background and my original intention was to introduce a Jewish understanding to an evangelical audience. I will continue that as well as introduce other ways of looking at different theological issues.  Many people have only been exposed to only one side of a doctrine, usually the one their own congregation or denomination espouses. I want to change that and expose people to other interpretations so their own beliefs can be held in scrutiny to see whether they hold up or not.  There are issues such as atonement, the providence and foreknowledge of God, the nature of hell, baptism, destiny of the unevangelized, the interpretation of Genesis 1 & 2, etc. that have multiple sides. These issues have been debated for centuries for a reason. Scripture can be ambiguous and it’s healthy to discuss these hot button topics.

In my own life, I plan to start up a small study group that will be a real-life extension of the blog we can come together and discuss scripture and fellowship. I don’t have any details quite yet but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Come along for the ride!

God Is Not A White Man

Check out the song “White Man” by the band Gungor.

The Purpose of Salvation is NOT Fire Insurance

It is NOT to keep you out of hell but to work with God and others to bring about the good news, the kingdom of God right here on earth, transforming lives with the Gospel. If the kingdom of God is now, then salvation is for NOW.