Re: Lambeth Conference

Tony Gillam wrote:
loiner2003 <loiner2003@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
<snip some interesting insights>
To think
that this life alone must and will determine our eternal fate seems to
me to deny the power and grace of God.

I'd be interested in your take on "it is appointed unto men once to die and then the judgement" then.

I'm sure we could both play the game of fencing with texts. But that makes assumptions about the nature of the bible which I don't accept (and which i doubt that you do either). I do not believe that the Bible is infallible, even in matters of doctrine. I do not believe that all books, and far less all individual texts, have equal value or are to be assumed to be correct when quoted on their own. We have to look at the whole picture including recognising, in my view, that some texts are simply not compatible with each other without introducing distortions to make them fit. As I have indicated on other occasions, some texts imply that only a few will find salvation; but others suggest very differently. The Bible is a collection of works presenting differing understandings of God.

So much for a general comment.
As to the specific verse
- have I ever argued that we die more than once? I think not. We die once, as the verse says.
- have I ever argued that the judgement takes place *before* our death? I think not. The judgement comes *after* our death, as the verse says. So I have no problem at all with the verse!

What the verse does not say is that the judgement comes immediately after our death or that it is based on our spiritual condition at the moment of death, or even on a balance of how our life has been lived throughout. That idea is something some people read into the Scripture.

What the verse does not say is that the judgement, made supposedly after our one death, is final and determinative for all eternity; why should the judgement not be, for example, that we need a spell in purgatory before being ready to enter the eternal presence of God?

Some Christians believe that, on death, we sleep a long (or timeless) sleep until a final resurrection. Why should "after that" have to mean immediately? And what does "immediately" or "later" mean in the context of a God who is outside of time?

So, i'd be interested to learn why you think, as apparently you do, that throwing that text at me should cause me to change my understanding of the infinite mercy and grace of God, which continues after our death as before it, and which has no end.


--


Revd. Eric Potts

"Go in peace, in the power of the Spirit
to live and work to God's praise and glory."
.

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