Thinking outside the box—like God.

Battle lines are drawn. Sides are fixed. Arguments are exhausted. From the time of prominent early Church fathers, nothing has been resolved or scripturally reconciled—until now. And, yes, the stakes are high. But something is lacking.

When questions of the ultimate and eternal destiny of billions upon billions of un-evangelized and Christ-rejecting nonbelievers hang in the balance, more is demanded than human opinions, rote repetition of traditionally held beliefs, or the continuance of theological debates. After all, if we have received, accepted, and are now passing along erroneous answers, we may be misleading people, resulting in tragic and eternal consequences.

So as we continue to re-explore the possibility that God’s grace, mercy, love, justice, and wrath may be far different and more extensive than our limited earthly view(s), let’s re-address how we might be able to honor all the demands of Scripture bearing on this issue and harmonize and reconcile them via a solution of synthesis into one consistent, coherent, Christ-honoring, Scripture-authenticating, and faith-validating view.

Regrettably, we humans tend to box ourselves into narrow mindsets. Nowhere may this be truer than in the topic of the eternal afterlife destiny of all people. Let’s also remember we are delving into a mystery! (Rom. 11:33-36). Thus, we must not confine or limit ourselves to a traditional, boxed-in way of thinking and believing. Thinking “outside the box,” so to speak, means that we think outside the limit of this earthly life and into the unlimited realm of the afterlife. Who of us would doubt that this is how God thinks and acts?

Sources:

1 Hell Yes / Hell No by John Noe