HelenM

Kevin,

How do you think your pastor would respond to a non-Christian who came to the class and said (for example) he/she was convinced the Bible was full of contradictions and/or the God presented in the Bible is too cruel for any sane person to believe in and/or hell is a barbaric unthinkable concept i.e. how would he respond to someone who came to his class as convinced as many people are here of such things as I listed, who was quite willing to tell him so, in class?

(I'm not saying they'd be inappropriately disruptive but I am saying they'd make no secret of their objections to Christianity)

So, how would he respond?

That's what I'd really like to know...

Oh, one other question. How will you inform non-Christians about the class and convince them it's worth coming to? I assume that most attendees wouldn't be current attenders of your church since those who attend already presumably consider themselves to be Christians so they wouldn't have a reason to attend a class like this.

I hope you don't mind me asking...

Helen

spurly

If people came to the class and raised such objections, he would probably ask them to study the subject with him some more.

the people who come to the class will mostly be those who have ben attending the church for a while but have not yet made a commitment to Christ.

Kevin

spurly

I do not know, because I do not know their hearts. Only the God of all creation does. His emissary to earth, Jesus, said that their would be thorns and weeds mixed in with the pure kingdom of God. These people might be thorns and weeds.

One thing I do know is that their behavior is not Christ-like or spirit filled. Jesus didn't treat sinners with this type of hatred, he loved them and embraced them. The only people who received the "wrath" of Jesus were religous leaders who were living hypocritical lives. That is a big reminder for me (as one of those religous leaders today) to really watch the way I live out my faith.

Kevin

HelenM

Thanks for the response, Kevin .

Helen

Bree

Are you admitting that what you said earlier ("From my best study of Scripture, that [coming to God through Jesus Christ] is what it takes to get in the door...] could be your interpreting the Scripture incorrectly (since you contradicted yourself)? Or is that no matter what Scripture says, God has the final say? If the latter is the case, then how can one have the hope of Heaven, if God has a hidden test for salvation that isn't printed in the Bible?

Calzaer: to quote someone better than I: "I hear bagpipes."

spurly

Nope. I was not saying either one of those Bree. I was saying that only God knows for sure whether or not they have come to him through faith in Jesus Christ or not. I was saying that he has the final say, not me.

Kevin

Bree

So, if only God knows for sure, how can we mere humans have any hope for Heaven at all?

spurly

Okay, let me try again. I don't know the hearts of others who claim to have faith in Christ. Only God can know, and thus he is the perfect judge. However, I can know my own heart. I hope that helps clear things up. I am not the judge, God himself is.

I can look at their actions and see that they are not Christ like, but I can not look at their heart.

Kevin

Starboy

Bree, good point. Claims to certain knowledge with no evidence should be suspected automatically. The scary part about it is that if a person learns to abondon all reason in one area of their life can other areas be far behind?

Defiant Heretic

So spurly, hypothetically speaking, what happens if they have accepted Jesus in their heart?
What if Phelps, Hitler, et al have done what they have because they honestly thought they were doing what Jesus would have wanted? Do they get in?