For a Christian with doubts | exatheistfriend.org

For a Christian with Doubts

Dear Fellow Believer--or Ex-believer,

Though I've barely begun creating this page and will only have time to build it up very gradually, I'm going ahead and including it on Exatheist Friend. The reason for this haste is the sympathy and concern I feel for any Christian who is experiencing doubt.

Regardless of how much or little material there is below when you visit here, feel free to drop me a line at lee.in.ws@gmail.com.

Lee

Resources

The videos here on Exatheist Friend.
"Needless Obstacles to Belief," especially the section, "It's not about 'proof.'"
The websites, podcasts, and books recommended here, especially TalkAboutDoubts.com, The Confronting Christianity Podcast, and BibleThinker.org.

Miscellaneous Facts and Points

Hell There are three basic schools of thought in genuine, biblical Christianity on how to understand the passages in the scriptures about hell. Each Christian should adopt the view he believes to be correct after impartially considering the most reliable Bible scholarship.
The most widely held understanding is that hell is the eternal, woeful destination of the unsaved.
The second-most favored interpretation takes at face value verses like John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." In other words, immortality is a gift God grants to those who believe in Christ, and for those who reject him, life ends forever soon after the time of their earthly death. This view is sometimes called conditional immortality.
Coming in a distant third is the understanding that those who do not put their trust in Christ in this life will have continuing opportunities to do so after death, and everyone will do so eventually. In the meantime, those who haven't will be in a painful state of separation from God. This is called Christian universalism.
The conditional-immortality view has been gaining adherents. The universalist view is seen as much the most questionable of the three by most Christians, whether scholars or laymen. However, holding it is not incompatible with being a saved follower of Jesus.
I myself have become convinced of conditional immortality. It's the relevant biblical passages that persuaded me. At the same time, I must say I'm glad it appears to be true, since from our limited human standpoint it seems more in accord with God's overall nature for the unsaved to perish than for them to suffer eternally.
NOTE: The adherents of all three schools of thought are in agreement that Jesus made clear that deliberately rejecting him in this life incurs very severe consequences after death and that he urges us in the strongest language to avoid them.
The Bible Believing that the Bible contains no errors whatsoever is not required in order to be a saved follower of Jesus Christ. If God allowed one of the authors to make an error regarding something minor, that's no reason to think he allowed errors in important matters such as who Jesus is and how to be saved through him.
Why does God allow great evil and suffering? God hasn't revealed to us a clear or comprehensive answer to that question. However, we know that the answer is not that he doesn't love us. We know that because, for our sakes, he chose to become one of us and suffer and die on the cross.
The only beliefs necessary for becoming a Christian are, essentially, that Jesus Christ is the only Son of God, you need salvation, and Christ alone can provide it. Then you need to accept that free gift from him and become his follower, in spirit and how you live (there's more on this here).
But, while following Jesus needs to include reverencing all his teachings and striving to act in accordance with them, it does not need to include being able to understand the reasons for every teaching of his or feeling “comfortable” with every one of them.