It’s a gift to be simple.
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Matthew 7:13-14
IIRC Rahner got chastised by the Vatican for his affirmation of salvation in other religions. I found that out when reading his work on the Trinity, some of which was pretty radical. But he also had a long chapter on the application of the doctrine of the Trinity to ordinary spiritual life, with some rather scathing remarks about ‘Protestants’ who apparently have no clue Who they’re praying to, their prayers are so sloppy (I had to agree with him; I’d heard altogether too many prayers that effectively called Jesus “Father” or had the Father dying on the Cross, or even the Holy Spirit dying on the Cross – I even corrected a pastor or two on occasion). He argued quite well for all prayer having a standard Trinitarian framework that should be learned by all Christians so they pray well, not for just the sake of being doctrinally correct but because screwing up prayer screws up a person’s spiritual life. He shared with Francis Schaeffer the idea that how we pray affects how we believe, something the Orthodox are very firm on.
Anyway, once upon a time I would have been filling in slots between Pinnock and Rahner.
edit: after watching the video I decided his chart is a mess; there’s no logical progression in it that I can see! at the very least he could have used binary ranking to order them, so 1 - 1 - 1 would be at the top, 1 - 1 - .5 next, then 1 - 1 - 0, etc.
Then there are those who get distracted in examining the gates. 
That stone you stepped on the second time – did you stumble over it or did it stumble you? 
I think you get purgatory wrong. It’s not like people from hell rise up to purgatory and then heaven rather than the people that are to heaven must go trough purgatory because our human nature is flawed . So it’s not a universalist restoration per say. The people in hell still face hell. They never get to experience the cleansing of purgatory and the fruits of heaven
I agree–I think your description is the orthodox one, @NickolaosPappas . I’m not sure what he was referring to, but I think that there are some that think that hell is reversible if we repent after entering. In that case, CS Lewis wrote, the punishment that led to our repentance could be considered a purgatory of sorts, because it wound up sending us to Heaven (not that more purgatory wouldn’t be needed). However, I think that you’re describing the orthodox view.
I hope you are keeping warm. It’s snowy here! (and beautiful)
According to my view this wouldnt make sense because anyone then would have repented after entering hell and he would have been reconciled with God. If that was true however would have Jesus said it? I remember Jesus talking about repentance here in this life rather than the next one. It wouldn’t really make sense I mean who in their right mind wouldn’t repent after entering hell right? But that’s just me.
As Dante said in his description of hell" Abandon all hope ye who enter here"
I see the story of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar as a parable, in short, I don’t think when Christians die they end up in Abraham’s bosom. Abraham’s bosom is nowhere in Scripture, something made up and slipped in during the centuries Israel did not have prophets. Also the description of hell comes straight from Greek mythology. Furthermore, in context Jesus is scoffing the the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, verse 14.
Of course it was a parable. Doesn’t change the fact that the point of that parable, which was after death some face suffering which they cannot escape.
So… your Bible has Luke 16:22 taken out of it as well as these others added in.
And I don’t think hell is a fiery furnace either. Language includes all kinds of expressions which mean something other than the literal words.
Indeed… and the Greek understanding of hell as a punishment inflicted by the gods is not something I am advocating either. Nevertheless I see hell on the earth in the way some people treat other people. It is a reality and it is a consequent of the destructive habits of sin. If you are going to believe in a get out of jail free card giving you an escape from the consequences of your choices then the atheist option is the most sensible version of that.
You mean like Protestants are lovers of money? Or is it anti-semitism you are going for… saying that Jews are lovers of money? Or are you referring to way all people love money so they can buy food and shelter and thus survive a little longer.
No. The Pharisees refer to rabbinical Judaism – focused on studying the scriptures rather than temple sacrifice (as well as their belief in resurrection). The meaning of the term has absolutely NOTHING to do with a love for money.
Now… there are those protestants who ARE lovers of money to excess and they no doubt scoff at many things which condemn them when they go too far in the pursuit of wealth such as preaching or buying into a prosperity gospel. And I am likely to scoff at them also. But it would be pretty silly to do this by threatening them with mere fantasy and say that Harry Potter and Gandalf are going to get them for what they are doing.
Luke 16:14 - The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him [Jesus].
I am not an Universalist nor an anti-Semite.
So do you tell people they will suffer eternal torment if they fail to listen to the Torah and the prophets, as it says in the text: “29 `Abraham saith to him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them”?
This literalist reading of a parable is not in keeping with the redeeming love of God in Christ, whom Paul says we should believe in. When I read, “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57:15) I think that this is what he is talking about in that parable, which is preceded by Jesus saying “`Ye are those declaring yourselves righteous before men.”
It is this disparity that is being discussed in Luke 16:14-31.
I read, “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57:15)
You read selectively and out of context, avoiding my question. No surprise.
I am in context with what you were commenting upon. You chose to bring other unnamed texts into the discussion that you consider are severe warnings.
That was to you, too, Mitch. To what are you referring?
It’s not quite that beautiful here. We had freezing rain last night with occasional sleet mixed in; this morning I could see out most of the house windows because they were iced over. Earlier there was a police car parked half a block away and the red and blue lights showing through icy windows was pretty, though. The wind was so strong earlier I could open the door to let Knox out and it didn’t lessen until maybe an hour ago. Off and on during the day that wind has brought sleet and snow which stay put on grass but on roofs and pavement it mostly just blows across the ice until something stops it.
Thanks to ice and wind we were without power for over an hour, in fact almost two hours. With the icy cold wind I could feel every draft where doors and windows aren’t sealed quite tight,which played a part in the indoor temperature dropping from 64° F to 48° before the power came back and the furnace kicked in (which tells me the insulation in the walls has settled and probably needs attention).
I wish it would just switch to snow and drop a foot on us so things would be as beautiful as in your picture!
I know a lot of people whose response wouldn’t be repentance, it would be anger and hatred. I think a lot of people would be that way and though they might get willing to say the words their hearts would still be set against God. That’s one reason that while I lean towards the above being true I wonder if hell would ever actually get empty.
I was commenting on your reply to @mitchellmckain about Jesus’ warnings which you downplayed essentially dismissing:
Please note what you wrote: you chose to bring up Paul and “other unnamed texts”, and subsequently disingenuously tried to sidestep by saying I did. I merely pointed back to where you already had.
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” -Colossians 4:6
This is a place for gracious dialogue about science and faith. Please read our FAQ/Guidelines before posting.
