Have you ever considered how you would respond to an entirely new religion? What if someone (and by someone I mean someone respectable and believable) came along and told us that God had spoke to him and given him the real truth behind life and love and other mysteries? Obviously we can rule out people looking for spaceships behind comets, men wielding guns instead of knowledge and the guy at school who uses 'dude' as an exclamation point.
Most of you will read that first paragraph and answer that you believe God has already revealed the answers in the form of Jesus. And I would agree. But what if the traditional interpretations for what Jesus said were incorrect? I don't mean by a mile, although that should be considered as well.
If you care to continue with this logic, then you should probably pick up a copy of Who Really Goes to Hell? by David I Rudel. The subtitle, a lengthy one, says it all;
In essence, David tells us that we (those of living in the USA in 2010) have presupposed what 1st century Jews meant based on our culture. Sure, we understand that farming analogies given by Jesus weren't based on farms with combines, but what about our understanding of their viewpoints, their language and their beliefs?
A change here and perhaps a tweak there and we are left with some problems concerning the good news we share with people. Allowing this post to be a mere review is difficult, given the topic. David has admitted to writing a difficult book. But he supports almost every thought with scripture, giving us historical facts of Bible times as well as etymology.
While reading this book has been a struggle, due to its nature and content, David writes well and I highly recommend it. In the epilogue, he writes candidly that while many may not agree with everything he has written, a serious consideration of what he writes will create a more mature Christian as they study scripture and discuss with others what they believe. For my part, I am planning on breaking down several of his thoughts for you, my faithful readers, and I hope to have some good discussion as we go along. I'll even be bringing along a guest post from a friend with a copy of this book.
Who really goes to Hell? Don't you want to know?
David's blog: http://www.authentic-christianity.net/
The Gospel You've Never Heard booksite: http://www.whoreallygoestohell.com/
David's website on chess strategy: http://www.zukertort.com/
Most of you will read that first paragraph and answer that you believe God has already revealed the answers in the form of Jesus. And I would agree. But what if the traditional interpretations for what Jesus said were incorrect? I don't mean by a mile, although that should be considered as well.
If you care to continue with this logic, then you should probably pick up a copy of Who Really Goes to Hell? by David I Rudel. The subtitle, a lengthy one, says it all;
The Gospel You've Never Heard,
What a Protestant Bible written by Jews says about God's work through Christ
(A book for those in the church and those offended by it)
In essence, David tells us that we (those of living in the USA in 2010) have presupposed what 1st century Jews meant based on our culture. Sure, we understand that farming analogies given by Jesus weren't based on farms with combines, but what about our understanding of their viewpoints, their language and their beliefs?
A change here and perhaps a tweak there and we are left with some problems concerning the good news we share with people. Allowing this post to be a mere review is difficult, given the topic. David has admitted to writing a difficult book. But he supports almost every thought with scripture, giving us historical facts of Bible times as well as etymology.
While reading this book has been a struggle, due to its nature and content, David writes well and I highly recommend it. In the epilogue, he writes candidly that while many may not agree with everything he has written, a serious consideration of what he writes will create a more mature Christian as they study scripture and discuss with others what they believe. For my part, I am planning on breaking down several of his thoughts for you, my faithful readers, and I hope to have some good discussion as we go along. I'll even be bringing along a guest post from a friend with a copy of this book.
Who really goes to Hell? Don't you want to know?
David's blog: http://www.authentic-christianity.net/
The Gospel You've Never Heard booksite: http://www.whoreallygoestohell.com/
David's website on chess strategy: http://www.zukertort.com/
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