A common thread in nearly all Christian denominations (what creates denominations in the first place).

Cartoons in which Andy and Goober go to Heaven, by John Rose, the Daily News-Record and Byrd Newspapers of Virginia.

A common thread in nearly all Christian denominations goes something like this: "We can't know what God's thinking, and we can't know your heart, but more'n likely you're not going to heaven if you don't do things our way."

I'm sure there are exceptions, but probably none that make heaven contingent upon a set of decisions or behaviors. In other words, if a community of Christians enjoy an ecumenism so encompassing that all paths lead to God, they can't reasonably call themselves Christians.

I suppose the insistence on certain subsets within the larger Christian framework is what creates denominations in the first place, so I shouldn't be surprised, but even so, there's a lot of certainty layered over some big questions, even among those who ask very few of them.

c0

Baptists often include this line in prayers for the unsaved: "Bring them to a saving knowledge of You (God)."

Sounds simple enough, but says volumes about the theology behind it. In this case, the catalyst to grace is knowledge, and from that comes an enormous obligation and string of necessities to fulfill it.

When grace comes through baptism, the focus is on bestowing and nurturing rather than educating and converting.

I'm not being critical of either side, just observing. The direction you lean on these determines the shape of all sorts of things - from the sanctuary to soteriology.

[2014-08-12]

c0