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Archive - Spirit of the Word - Covenant Eschatology - Introductory Note - New Stuff
"Successful backfilers...unsuccessful backfilers..."Hi Christiana,
You said-->I would advise you to think very carefully about
>saying what you've said here to an ETer or
>Annihilationist. As an ex-both these things, I think it would
>weaken your effectiveness in restoring the whole gospel. You
>would be giving them reasons to reject your message.I would say it depends on the readiness of the ET believer for the whole gospel. If you're dealing with a person who is by nature a robust and successful "back filer" of the negatives of his belief structure... And if that one unconciously expects that all others should be and can be like him or her... (And even suspects that all truly born again Christians should be successful back filers)... Then, you are right. Such a person will be turned off to your message, because they will not be able to understand why you cannot live happily under two of the following propositions in denial (with the endless hell-negatives back filed):
1) you can count on God if He can count on you, and in the end only a few will have found the narrow way and therefore be able to count on Him. (Arminianism)
2) You can count on God if you can be certian that you are part of an elect few, and in the end only a few will have been chosen and therefore be able to count on Him. (Calvinism)
3) God expects that you love and trust and worship Him--sincerely and wholeheartedly--irrespective if "1" or "2" is true and he is supposedly burning alive forever your beloved grandmother who failed to be as diligent or loved by him (depending on the Arminian or Calvinistic paradigm you're rooted in) as you were.
However, if you meet another ET person that recoginizes that we must love God with all of our "mind", and is not a successful back filer of all the above stated propositions, then he or she understands where you are coming from.
And I've met several of these. There are several in our prayer group and they are increasingly opening up to this message of the whole gospel.I think one of the greatest abuses of churchianity in general is that there is NO ROOM for people who cannot live happily as "hell" back filers. Instead, there's room only for those who can live daily in blissful denial in the face of horrendous faith killers that are regarded as "essential tenents of the faith."
On the other hand, if my dear wife Paula hadn't been a successful back filer, she might have murdered me before I got healed, bless her!
Actually, it was her constant and unconditional love over the years that SHOWED me that God HAD to be better than propositions 1, 2 and 3.
Aren't you glad God made so many diverse temperments? He's hung up on that diversity subject, ain't he!
Love always--
CharlieSpirit of the Word - Covenant Eschatology - Introductory Note - New Stuff