Bill O’Reilly versus John Jay?

One of our founding fathers, a guy by the name of John Jay, was very open with his belief in Jesus and the Bible. He also happened to be, at one time or another, the president of the Congress, a diplomat, the author of the Federalist Papers, the original Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and the governor of New York.  That’s quite a resume. He once wrote:  “The Bible will also inform (people) that our gracious Creator has provided for us a Redeemer in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed – that this Redeemer has made atonement ‘for the sins of the whole world,’ and thereby reconciling the Divine justice with the Divine mercy, has opened a way for our redemption and salvation;”

You don’t hear that from the Supreme Court very often, even less from the governor of New York, but John Jay believed in a Creator, in Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins, and in the need for everyone to be forgiven and saved from judgment.   God’s judgment.

These days, even conservatives and professing Christians like Bill O’Reilly won’t go that far. 

An Eternity of Torment?

Franklin Graham said it recently during an interview with MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, “There IS a hell”  Graham said as he tried to explain how he came to believe in Jesus in answer to O’Donnell’s question on whether or not Graham had given up everything to follow Jesus.  In his round-about answer, Graham warned that people would go to a literal hell if they rejected God.   The idea of hell and/or eternal punishment is a traditional  doctrine of Christianity, one that has fallen out of favor in today’s culture.  In fact, the very thought of it, is an obstacle to many in considering the Christian faith.  For them, hell makes the whole story a bit too unreasonable.  Is it? 

Rob Bell Rhymes With Hell

But he doesn’t believe in it, not in the traditional sense. I am currently reading Rob’s book “Love Wins,” and in it, he argues against the traditional idea of a place of eternal suffering for everyone who does not believe in Jesus. Although I am in danger of misrepresenting his beliefs before I am completely through with his work, my understanding so far is that Rob believes a God of love would not condemn people to a literal hell of His own making. Instead, Rob seems to view the afterlife as a place where people are able to see their own evils in contrast to God’s mercy and the only real hell is when people refuse to let go of the prejudices, hate, and well… evil… in light of God’s truth and love. Rob is a captivating writer, and for any believer in Jesus, there is food for thought in those pages as he discusses and exposes how Christian’s attitudes come across to others, and as he eloquently describes God’s awesome mercy.

There are problems however with Rob’s conclusions which I believe are wrong. Serious ones. And yet, there are thought-provoking questions which I am glad he brought up. First the problems…