[Brad1970]

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Brad, JAK,

I'll give you a more thorough answer later, but I do need to get back to work. The short answer is, what are the two greatest commandments? First is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength," and the second is, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." Those are spelled out in no uncertain terms, and to them, all else is peripheral. The other thing I bear in mind is that, at least to me, the words of St. Paul are secondary to the words of Jesus. St. Paul was a good man, but a man just the same, and he was generally tougher on the drunkards and the fornicators et al. than Jesus was. With that all in mind, if the church is to be spreading a message that misses Christ's mark, I'd prefer they spread one that is overly permissive, accepting and loving than a message that is overwrought with hate, division, and exclusion.

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Wookie,

After sleeping on this thread overnight, there is a rebuttal to your thoughts that came to mind. While I don't totally disagree with what you are saying, I believe that the 'ugly' facts of the Bible, if you will, such as the wages of sin is death and that Hell is a real place must be studied, taught, & preached in our churches. Sadly, at times, it is not. That is exactly what Satan wants...makes his job easier. The end result is you wind up with a crop of Christians who believe there is no hell & even if there was, God is a loving God & wouldn't send anyone there. I know another poster on 2+2 who claims to be a Christian but doesn't believe that Hell is real. I have spent countless posts trying to show him he is wrong to no avail. IMO, that fear factor/hardcore truth needs to be addressed right along with the warm & fuzzy parts that everybody likes to hear. Afterall, it is part of the gospel.