THE GREAT CONTRADICTION

How is it possible for evangelicals (who are without doubt in most instances among the most loving, generous and caring people on the planet) to propagate a view of divine relationship/salvation which not only makes God appear some sort of vindictive, petty, pedantic tyrant, but which forces on the post-resurrection ascended Jesus a complete change of character, turning him from the loving welcomer of those with both fuzzy morals and fuzzy doctrine, into someone equally as tyrannical as his Father?

THE GREAT DILEMMA

It is precisely because most evangelicals are such genuinely loving caring people that so many find themselves struggling to the point of deep embarrassment over exclusivist salvation doctrines which assign the vast majority of the world to eternal hell.

The reason they will, if pushed, still appear to fully endorse these narrow teachings, despite their inner misgivings, is because they genuinely believe that this is in fact what the Bible teaches, and they feel obligated to adhere to what they believe is biblical truth.

Such people believe that this is the sum total of what Jesus taught on how to come into relationship with God. They think that this what they have to believe, because if they dared let themselves think any differently they could end up as ‘apostates’ and in danger of forfeiting their own salvation!

Most, I feel certain, would love the way of salvation to be more generous, yet as they read their Bibles, conditioned as they are by two thousand years of Christian tradition which declares this to be tried and tested ‘correct doctrine’, all they can see is confirmation of this most narrow way. Even when they come across the many passages which raise serious questions about the orthodox view, they are so locked into traditional interpretations that they are unable to let the Bible speak in a more generous tone.

The purpose of this article is to say to my loved evangelical family that the Bible does teach a vastly more generous wideness of salvation. There is much biblical evidence, especially from the lips of Jesus himself, that shows a much broader basis for salvation than we have thought possible. This means that we can understand verses such as "I am the way, the truth and the life….." in ways that do not require the assigning of ninety percent of humanity to hell.

My plea is, at very least take the time (and it will take some time) to read carefully, thoughtfully and prayerfully what I share. Look up the scriptures and "consider whether these things be of God."

THE GREAT DEBATE

Increasingly among evangelical scholars debate rages about ‘the broadness of salvation’ or, as I prefer to describe it, ‘how we live in right relationship with God’. It will be one of the most important debates that the evangelical church will engage in over the coming decades. What’s more, the way these key issues evolve will determine the character, effectiveness and possibly the very survival of Christianity.

It is by no means just a Christian debate. All major world religions are struggling with their own exclusivists and fundamentalists and their own versions of ‘we have the only truth’ doctrines. The current world wide convulsions emanating from radical Islam and their desire to create a universal ‘Islamic State’ result from fundamentalist Islam’s own version of ‘we have the only approved way to God’.