Posted by Jeffery M. Schwehm [JefferyMSchwehm] on March 31, 1999 at 08:10:53 {ohFII14TUc7mGcjg8rgIMdud7girzQ}:
In Reply to: **Chat with a fundie posted by Jaypeeto on March 31, 1999 at 07:36:30:
Hi Jaypeeto-
You wrote the following:
"The early Fathers like Justin Martyr understood very clearly that many, many people prior to the Christian era had walked WITH the Logos (word) by living reasonable and decent lives in accord with however much or little revealed knowledge that they had."
I could not have said it better myself.
Many Christians for some reason do not realize that each of us individually will be judged according to what we know.
For example, if a child was hungry and had no other option but to steal a piece of bread from someone, would this mean that God would torture that individual in some eternal hell for this? Or, the Jewish person who died in the Nazi concentration camps, would a loving God then send that poor individual to a place of torment worse than what they had already suffered through? I do not believe so.
I believe that God is more righteous, just, and loving than any of us humans could ever be even though we humans do have some sense of righteousness, justice, and love. If we can make levels of punishments that fit the crime, I am certain God could do it and he would be much better at it than we are.
Jeff S.