The rise of the fundamentalist right in America

[MrWookie]

Brad,

First, I agree. However, as I mentioned in my last post in this thread, there's a difference between teaching the scripture and enforcing the scripture, and there's a difference between teaching about Hell and threatening Hell. I don't take issue with the teachers. I take issue with the enforcers and the threateners.

Second, though, I would argue that even if a church misses the mark and doesn't teach the parts of scripture about Hell, if it still gets its members to obey the two most important commandments, little is actually lost. When it comes down to it, Hell is largely irrelevant to someone who obeys the first two commandments. They certainly won't be going there, and even if they followed the two greatest commandments perfectly, they wouldn't be the ones to decide who goes there and who doesn't. Is a Christian education without any knowledge of hell incomplete? Yes, of course. Is the lack of knowledge about hell on its own a significant barrier to a relationship with God in this world or the next? No, not really.