John 7:45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
The Pharisees were the Bible experts - and don't you forget it!
And being the experts meant they weren't big on the idea of lay people thinking for themselves or questioning their authority.
2,000 years after the Pharisees put Jesus to death, they are still making the rounds.
In a recent YouTube video, Kirk Cameron rejected the idea that hell is eternal conscious torment. He now openly calls himself an annihilationist.
The response has been sadly predictable. Many Christians are wringing their hands and praying for him to repent.
An embarrassing lack of critical thinking is on display for all the world to see. (Or would be, if the world cared what Kirk Cameron and a bunch of pharisaical Christians think.)
He's sliding into heresy! He is in the same camp as the Jehovah's Witnesses! This is a slippery slope - once you deny hell, what's next?
Why did Jesus even die if not to save people from Hell??
Many confidently assert that the Bible CLEARLY teaches Eternal Conscious Torment and says NOTHING which could support annihilationism.
Quite a few are asking, "Has Kirk Cameron lost his salvation? Was he ever saved in the first place?"
Why would anyone who actually understands the Bible think his salvation rests on having 100% correct doctrine?
Who among us has perfect doctrine?
I can guarantee you that the ones accusing Kirk Cameron of not taking the Bible seriously have never truly wrestled with the question of hell for themselves.
If they can't tolerate Cameron questioning the doctrine, there's no way they have allowed themselves to ever question it.
Anyway, this is a (much-needed) reminder that when it comes to interpreting the Bible, a healthy dose of humility is in order on all sides.
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