In Reply to: Re: Bible Questions posted by Rocky on February 19, 2006 at 05:50:57:
Rocky, you say "To me it has always been the words of Jesus that have kept me from chucking the whole thing away"
What is your take on Jesus' claim that he is the only way to God, that no one "cometh unto the Father but by me" and that those who don't believe in him are doomed to hell. Are you comfortable with such an exclusive religious stance, with that kind of black and white thinking? No one on this board or anywhere else has been able to give me a satisfactory explanation of that moral failure of Jesus.
From Why I Am Not A Christian: "There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ's moral character, and that is that He believed in hell. I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment. Christ certainly as depicted in the Gospels did believe in everlasting punishment, and one does find repeatedly a vindictive fury against those people who would not listen to His preaching -- an attitude which is not uncommon with preachers, but which does somewhat detract from superlative excellence."