Former Pastor Ed Glenn's Note of Encouragement
With his permission here it is, below:
Hey John,
Just a note to let you know how much I enjoy your site. I have been a christian for the last 30 some odd years of my life, I was a pastor at 22 and have been a police officer for the last 12 years. I was heavily into apologetics and loved James White, Ravi Zacharias, Robert Morey and others (though I loathed Bill Craig and the whole Intelligent Design fiasco). I began questioning the truth of the bible and my CALVINISTIC philosophy (I was a High Calvinist) and the thought that eventually lead me away from god was that, according to the bible, he had to be the first cause of sin, evil and death. Poor adam and eve didn't have a chance...literally. god knew they would eat and damn everyone; IT WAS HIS PLAN ALL ALONG! What a shitbag!!! Anyway, after thinking about that for quite some time I knew that could not be true...and the only "christian" alternative was a completely liberal view of the bible and an impotent god...or worse; THE SADISTIC GOD OF THE O.T. So ultimately, I held god accountable by the very standard that he holds us to and the god of the bible fails miserably
Well, keep up the great work!
Ed
5 comments:
Some how i think i would much prefer and have much less fear to be slapped in handcuffs by this police officer today,than i would when he was a calvinist.And have no doubt id be much more likely to find i could have respect for him as well,being much more ready to help him also when needed.
Im sure he would rightly still expect folk to try to be decent law abiding citizens.But im guessing he maybe would better be able to atleast have some understanding of many folks as well,and his judgments of folks would be more balanced and kind and caring.
Personally i dont lay any blame on the god written about in the bible,to hate that god i would first really need to believe he asked people to write it that way or had anything to do with what people wrote.And i now doubt that very very much.
People could write many things about me and make me out to be the most nasty person ever heard of.If i was omnipotent im sure even today id make myself seen and heard of,so folks obeyed my demands and didnt mess with my real demands either along the way.
But if not omnipotent or even honestly real, how can i really help what some folk write and say about me.
I would like to thank former pastor ED Glenn for being intouch with you John.Thank him for his encouragement,and just simply encourage and wish him all the very best in life.May his path be as safe as possible.
It's nice to see another former "high Calvinist" reject the faith.
I have no idea(or proof)that any god exist,but I agree with Gandolf.The same old testament that describes God also talks about a jackass that argued with his master and world floods ,etc.If God does exist,why pin his personality on what the writers of the old testament wrote.
On a side note,there are talking jackasses that do exist.J.P Holding is proof of that.
and the only "christian" alternative was a completely liberal view of the bible and an impotent god...or worse
So basically, this man is unaware of a huge portion of church history extending ealier than augustine involving free will theism that finds support to this day amidst the most rigorous biblical (and other) scholarship and in large parts of the church from the laity to the scholars. You atheists can have him.
Rob R.
I am well aware of Arminian theology and that it is probably more accepted in today's mainstream christianity. The issue I raised plagues both calvinist and arminianist theology. It goes to the nature of the god of the bible. If you believe god is omniscient, then you believe that he knew beforehand that adam and eve would eat; and hence damn everyone. The bible, and all arminianist theologans, teach that this was according to god's plan of salvation. Now you may disagree that god is the first cause of sin, evil and death, as do all arminianists and most calvinists but that does not change what the bible claims of god. If god did not create the tree, no sin would have followed. If you think that the possibility of sin is a necessary prerequisite for loving relationships (ie. No free will without the possibility of rebellion) then what does the bible say about heaven... no more possibility of sin. Why do we HAVE to have free will on earth but when we get to heaven, bye bye free will. Of course the christian will say that either god will wipe away the thought of sin (resulting in no free will to rebel) or that we will learn our lesson on earth and no one will want to sin (which the bible in no way intimates about our existence in heaven). Furthermore, god has violated man's free will throughout the bible. Why can he do it to some people and then hold them accountable for the sin (pharoh, judas, etc). The christian always has to make excuses for what god does in order to make him out to be the god they were taught about as a kid...that loving grandpa god that “loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” (to quote the four spiritual laws). Of course, that plan for MOST HUMANS is ETERNAL PUNISHMENT IN FIRE! Thanks grandpa yahweh.
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