Page 171 … on dangerous Ground
Next you say that, “[my claiming that] Paul [was] a homophobe and that the church [is] supporting his lies is dangerous ground to walk on” … Well again, my Friend — it depends on what you mean by “dangerous”. If by “dangerous” you mean “inaccurate”, then I would disagree, as the Bible quite clearly shows Paul to be a man who responded quite melodramatically, quite aggressively, and often quite bigotedly towards all those he felt were disagreeing with him or who were disagreeable to him – and homosexuals were clearly one of these groups (1 Corinthians 6 is an extremely unfriendly chapter to many groups of sinners, I think you can admit) … Now if by “dangerous” you mean risking my Soul being tossed to Hell for questioning the holiness of Paul (or the sanctity of the Christian church’s dogma which was primarily founded upon the contents of Paul’s letters), then I think you are probably spot on. I admittedly find Paul to be far less than “holy” in his writings. Do I find him to be devoted? Yes, I do … And do I find him to be sincere? Yes – and passionate? Yes, again. And yet if by “holy” we mean in alignment with the teachings of Jesus Christ &/or in harmony with the all-Loving nature of Jesus’ celestial Father, then “holy” Paul most certainly is NOT!
Of course, if God truly is as unkind and as testy as you & Paul & his church claim Him to be – if this does prove to be the case, then I am prepared to meet that fate with gratitude towards God in my Heart (for the amazing life I have led up to now) and forgiveness for Him on my lips (for the radically unjust consequences He will have seen fit to administer – not only to me, but to all the other “sinners” & “heathens” He has allowed the minions of Hell to eternally torture & torment) …
But then again, maybe God’s Grace is far greater than that, my Friend – maybe “The Apocalypse of Peter” (a writing that was considered to be valid Scripture up until at least 200 years after the death of Jesus Christ) is correct – where it states that God eventually remembers His perfect Mercy and calls all those damned in Hell to come be with Him in Heaven; just like the Prodigal Son was welcomed home without expectation or condition (see Luke 15:11-32) … And maybe – just maybe – there is no Hell waiting for us whatsoever. After all, the Old Testament contains no concept of post-mortem damnation until the book of Daniel (one of the last Old Testament books to be written), and Jesus in the Gospels spoke not of “Hell” as you are envisioning it, but rather of Gehenna – which was an actual garbage-burning dump located outside the walls of Jerusalem in his day; one that symbolically adorned Jesus’ teachings & sermons quite well.
In closing, at least as far as Hell & Heaven are concerned, I guess we will all simply have to wait and see – and Love as many folks as possible – and serve as many of the downtrodden as possible – and forgive as many of our trespassers as possible in the meantime!
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