2.3. Conclusion
3 - Conclusion
Pride, control, money, prestige, anger, wrath, vengeance, self-righteousness, etc. are NOT things most of us, especially religious folks of all persuasions, are willing to let go of easily or without a big fight. Are you willing to let go of these things? We all know how hard it is to let go of these things -- but let go we must -- if we are to go on into a deeper relationship with our Creator and Father. Unless we let go of these traditions, our image of God is nothing more than an idol, a false image formed in our minds from false information. The greatest form of idolatry is not bowing down to a stone or piece of wood -- it is holding our very life to a false concept of God in our hearts and minds. Ezekiel warned of such idolatry in the fourteenth chapter of his book. Do not be deceived -- the image of God as one who created a place in which He is either going to annihilate or torture many of the human beings He created, is an idol of the magnitude of Moloch, or Baal -- nay, it is an abomination a thousand times worse. The plain fact of the matter is that most of Christianity has been and presently still is bowing down to this hideous image. And we wonder why the world is in the confusion that it is. We wonder why the church is so full of hypocrisy. The answers become very plain and simple when we become honest enough with ourselves and our belief systems to look at the facts regardless of what it will cost us.
Jesus said that to follow Him would cost us our lives. Will you lay down your inherited traditions so that the True Image of God may rise in your hearts and minds and find expression through your being? I warn you, just as Jesus had to come against the very people who claimed to represent Him and His Father, you too, will find yourself standing against a huge army of tradtionalists who refuse to allow the True Gospel (which will set creation free) from coming forth. You will understand what it means to "suffer for His Name’s sake." Jesus and His Father have been greatly maligned by the traditional view of Christendom. God is raising up an army of men, women, AND children who will strike this false image at its feet and destroy it forever (Daniel 2:45). I hope the reader is given the grace and boldness to join in the cause.
Dear honest Christian, please study this out. Ask some Greek experts why some English translations have the word "and" between the two "aions"? Oh, make sure you find an expert who knows what the word "is" is. You may discover there are as many spinmeisters in theology as there are in politics. Ask them why they don’t make "ever" plural like it is in the Greek. Let them explain what "foreverS AND everS" or "foreverS of the everS" means. "Forever and ever," the present English form in many of our Bibles would make absolutely NO sense to those who were inspired to write these words in the first place over 1900 years ago. When we get honest enough with ourselves to examine whether our beliefs are based upon tradition or the Truth, we will discover that "forever and ever" makes no sense period. We will discover we have been duped. Paul warned 1900 years ago that many wolves would enter the church after his departure. John, the apostle warned that even during his time there were MANY anti-christs. The fact there are over 30,000 denominations of Christendom should attest to their warnings. There is only ONE body of Christ, not 30,000 of them. Paul warned about following after men in his letters to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 3:1-10). Today, we have literally thousands of denominations each built upon the teachings of some man or woman. We have Lutherans, Wesleyans, Calvinists, etc. We have those who swear allegiance to the Pope or a Patriarch. It is this error which has caused us to fall from the truth and be trapped in systems of tradition which make the word of God of no effect. Do you know that the Bible speaks of something more powerful than the Word of God? "Thus you have made the word of God of no effect by your TRADITION. Hypocrites! Well, did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ’These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines commandments of men’" (Matthew 15:6-9). Are we going to stay true to the "tradition of the elders" or are we going to become faithful to the Spirit which inspired the writers of the New Testament? If we desire to be true to the Spirit of inspiration, then we will have to abandon this tradition, and many others that are outside the parameter of this article. The reason why some scholars, Bible publishers and preachers have not already abandoned this false translation is because of what it would cost them should they translate these words correctly. If they pull further on this thread we have just exposed, and unravel it completely by translating it honestly, the whole concept of a hell in which people are tortured endlessly (forever and ever) completely falls apart! Many in Church leadership simply haven’t caught on to the fact that Love will draw a lot more people than fear. Perfect love casts out fear. We become what we worship. Look at church history and see what the doctrine of endless punishment has left behind...thousands of wars, Christians killing each other and killing non-believers by the tens of millions in the name of God. Jesus’ sword of His mouth has been replaced with the sword in the hand leaving behind a river of blood up to the horse’s bridle.
If we believe God is going to waste most of mankind, our actions in the world have and will continue to reflect our beliefs and the nature of the God we worship. We cannot rise to a higher level than the concept of the god we hold in our hearts. If our God hates His enemies enough to have created a place to do to them what no human on earth is capable of doing to another human being, then we will, in a measure, manifest some of that hatred. Look to church history. Those of us who read church history without applying tons of whitewash will find a very gruesome picture, regardless of whether they be Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant.
It has been said that when the Catholic Mary, queen of England, had thousands of Protestants burned at the stake that she said something like, "I only do here on earth what my God will continue to do to them perpetually." The wars, hangings, burnings, and drownings the Protestant denominations and the Orthodox branches have committed proves that ALL denominations of christendom which assemble under the banner of a god who will endlessly torture or annihilate most of mankind do NOT reflect the nature and character of the One who laid down His life for His friends AND His enemies.
"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." (Matthew 5:44) This is a far cry from what "traditional" christendom has manifested during the last 1600 years. I say, 1600 hundred years rather than 1900 years because the early church of the first few centuries did NOT believe in such a fiend. (Read "Early Christian View of the Savior" from Tentmaker Publications.) They knew this image of God was the false image all the OTHER pagan nations believed in. When the church was married to the Roman Emperor under Constantine, and the Roman Empire’s military arm became an instrument of the church used to destroy its enemies and its heretics and apostates, the death knoll sounded. The majority of Christians who believed in the salvation of all mankind was replaced by a new majority which advocated violence. The God of Christianity was changed from the Savior of the World to the Eternal Torturer of most of mankind. The God of Christianity was conformed to the tyrant murderers who controlled the Church. Those gentle-spirited Christians who believed in non-violence were either killed or they headed to the wilderness and became recluses.
After the church picked up the weapons of the Roman Empire as its own (military and law), it brought forth the darkness which we know today as "the Dark Ages." During this time, the doctrine of endless tortures was the main instrument church officials used to hold the masses in check. Did it produce holiness? Law-abiding citizens? Loving people? Study this time period yourself and you will find the greatest cruelty and superstitions that mankind has ever experienced.
Compare the effect the early church had on civilization with the effect the "Dark Ages" Church has had on the world. The first taught that God loved all mankind AND would redeem, restore, reconcile, and save all mankind. And they laid their lives down as proof of their belief. The "Dark Age" Church taught a cruel fiendish god who was so hard that even the Pope himself was not assured of his own salvation. And this evil church took other’s lives instead of following Christ’s and His early Church’s example.
Today, both churches still exist. The early church whose majority believed in the salvation of all mankind, which has only one head, Jesus Christ -- and the "Dark Age" church, made up of many thousands of denominations started by human beings, which still teaches the Dark Age gospel that God will only save a handful while torturing endlessly the great majority of the rest of mankind. Only a remnant of those who believe as the early church did has survived throughout the dark diabolical centuries -- but survive it has. And now it is time for this rock cut out of the mountain by the Hands of God to come forth and strike this false image at its feet (Daniel 2:45). As I said earlier, God does not need a majority to accomplish His work. Read about Gideon.
It is time for a people to arise who will be bold enough to set aside man-made traditions to follow the Truth. If the person presently reading this article is stirred to move in such a direction, the following books and articles will be helpful in their journey to follow the ways of Abraham who left behind the traditions of his ancestors to seek a city whose Maker is God (Hebrews 11:10). If your heart yearns for all that the New Jerusalem, the mother of us all represents, then the following books and articles will be found helpful to you. They may all be freely downloaded at the Tentmaker site. Some of them are available in hard copy from Tentmaker Ministries at the address below.
"Time and Eternity" by G.T. Stevenson
"Aion" by J.W. Hanson
"An Analytical Study of Words" by Louis Abbott
"The Power of a Four Letter Greek Word--Aion" by Gary Amirault
"Bible Translations that do not teach Eternal Torment" by Gary Amirault
"The Bible Hell" by J.W. Hanson
"The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment" by Thomas Thayer
And many more
We also have many of the books and articles in print form as well as audio and video tapes. A list of them can be had by requesting it from the address below.
Tentmaker
118 Walnut Hermann, MO 65041 http://www.tentmaker.org tentmaker@ktis.net "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw (drag in the Greek) ALL mankind unto Myself."
Spoken by Jesus the Messiah in John 12:32.