For reasons I won’t bore you with, I’ve been re-reading Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”:
That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.
Anyone out there been to a church lately where the preacher tells you the only reason you aren’t burning in the fiery pits of hell right now is the restraint of a God who is furious with you?
Me either.
These days, the megachurches are packing them in with the gospel of prosperity and upbeat messages telling you to cast your cares away, because everything’s just fine the way it is, including you. They’re not what anyone would call particularly demanding (except possibly when passing the plate).
On the other hand, they’re not advocating the burning of witches or the bombing of Jewish schoolbuses, either. There’s a lot to be said for equanimity—even if it doesn’t lend itself to thunderous sermons.
Reader Comments:
That was funny, Larry!
No one can deliver thunder, lightening and the smell of sulfur like the old time Baptist preachers! Some people get around that by professing a belief in Heaven but not the Hell that goes with it. I suppose you have the right to pick and choose your beliefs if it makes you less fearful of an angry, veangeful God. Not to offend anyone, but I’ll leave them both.
“That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone…the dreadful pit of the glowing flames…hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of,“
Uh…Bart…I don’t think that’s a church sermon. I believe that’s an excerpt from Global Warming Theory.
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