To a friend who asked whether God gives adults the freedom to accept/reject him and live with the eternal consequences of that choice, I wrote…

My inference is that in terms of knowledge/ignorance of the cosmic consequences of our choices the best analogy is that of a small child, not an adult – unless the adult is mentally retarded, or grossly ignorant: like, for example, the beliefs in sub-Saharan Africa that having sex with an often/mostly unwilling virgin will cure AIDS. Should we enact laws to prevent the latter? This week I had to be involved in a person’s being visited by a CAT team to over-ride her desire to commit suicide. Is that restriction of this person’s freedom justified?

He replied:

My answer to the two questions you pose is: Yes. Are you saying that no one is responsible for choices they make regarding belief in God?

My response:

My quick response would be to cite a little-known but astonishing clause from an ex-Pharisee about Gentiles and their conscience: *’or perhaps excuse’* – see Romans 2:15.

‘Judgment’ – consequences beyond this life of our good deeds and sins here – is/are real. But I would ask for a more nuanced view of the reality of heaven and hell (otherwise we fall into the trap Lesslie Newbigin talks about in The Gospel in a Pluralist Society of preaching the gospel motivated by the desire to ‘staunch the avalanche of souls into hell’.)

Rowland Croucher

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