Well my i-blog got as much response as a sermon at an Anglican church… was I a fool to think that apathy wouldn’t leech into cyberspace? (Feel free to leave comments on this question)

For those still lacking the energy to scroll down the page to the previous entry, I posted two questions…

i) With so many religions and “gods” out there, how do we know that we’ve picked the right one, and how can we show others ours is the right one?

ii) Does God have to make use of a “Hell” to be a just God?

Well to summarise my own feelings, with those of Wilson, O. this is my reply to the questions.

i) With every “evangelistic” preacher I meet they state their belief about what makes Christianity unique to other religions. I’ve heard that incarnation, grace, the cross, Pentecost and the Holy Spirit are the single reason why our faith is different from “the others”. Perhaps we should audition them on a Pop Idol/Britain’s Got Talent Contest to see which one is truly the unique reason why we’re different. The point I’m making is that it doesn’t matter; God is there not to fill a want but to fill a need. Shopping religions just doesn’t make sense to me, if you are trying to tailor make or find a faith for yourself then you are doomed to fail. Our emotions, decisions and state of mind change so often that they can’t be relied on. Thankfully God doesn’t alter and is faithful, and faithful to those who seek Him. My own belief system is based not on science but my experience of God. As a gospel song goes, “I know my saviour lives, because I spoke to him this morning” I have enough faith in the promises God makes that if you search to fill the need your spirit/soul has… you’ll find the God of the bible. What makes our God unique is that he is God.

ii) I think the second question is a lot easier to answer, O. Wilson (via C.S. Lewis) simply put it “If God will not force man to accept salvation, there will always be the possibility of a man not being saved, and so he cannot be in the eternal presence of God”

The way that I was actually asked the question was “if God exists and sends people to Hell, maybe I don’t want to follow him” I have never understood, or try to understand devil worship… but those who acknowledge that there is a Hell, yet still give two fingers to God I think have major screws loose in their head. You can argue theologically, philosophically or just say God can do what he blummin’ well wants to do and you come to the same conclusion… Hell can exist. William Barclay says that we have two choices in evangelism… to show people the Glory of God or hold them over the fires of Hell. It’s up to us to choose which we think is more loving.