(June 22, 2010 at 3:18 am)tackattack Wrote: Everything I'm aware of in existence has the basic condition of acceptance. I naturally rule that one out otherwise the word unconditional has no meaning. If you'd like it better, the only condition of recieving god's love is accepting god's love. We can word hack all night but it won't get us any closer to anything.
Everything in existence “exists” whether you accept it or not. And unfortunately, “unconditional” does have meaning – it means “not conditional or limited”, “absolute”, “unqualified” (sorry about all of this “word hacking”). But I think I am clear on your stance: the Christian god loves us unconditionally unless we don’t accept his love, in which case he withholds it. Of course, this means that all people of religions other than yours, who don’t accept the love of your god, are doomed to an eternity in hell.
tackattack Wrote:I have no idea what universalism believes, but the NIV and KJV Bible are actually very vague on what happens exactly after death.
I think this passage from the KJV bible makes it pretty clear what Jesus thinks will happen to unbelievers i.e., people who don’t accept god’s love, after they die:
Mark 9:43-48
43And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
44Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
45And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
46Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
48Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
tackattack Wrote:There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry. -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post
I think I have a term to designate the followers: Conditional Unconditionalists.
"If there are gaps they are in our knowledge, not in things themselves." Chapman Cohen
"Shit-apples don't fall far from the shit-tree, Randy." Mr. Lahey
"Shit-apples don't fall far from the shit-tree, Randy." Mr. Lahey