A Question about Martin Bashir’s Question | Jesus Creed.
You learning something new all the time. I don’t watch much MSNBC but Martin was very dogged about having Rob Bell answer the either/or question on salvation and personal decision. I had no idea he was an evangelical and to my own embarassment, I stereotyped him as a secular person. My bad – I didn’t think Christians were allowed in mainstream news departments.
However, the outcome is largely the same. A large stream of evangelical theology is based solely on an individual’s personal decision, not God’s, including the possibility of God giving second chances even after death. If there is, then evangelism based on the threat of hell falls apart that you have to consider that Jesus came for more than saving us from God’s wrath.
It sounds positively Reformation era. I seem to recall Martin Luther having a problem with a similar position held by the medieval Roman Catholic Church. But, of course, that was different. I don’t know why, but I’m sure telling people that they will go to hell unless they make a personal decision for Jesus, join a Bible believing church, and tithe to it/Benny Hinn/John Piper/the late Oral Roberts/etc.. is completely different from needing to buy an indulgence from the Pope that frees you/your relatives from Purgatory or Hell because Jesus’ death on the cross wasn’ enough.
Yeah, completely different.