Woman stood before God, with the middle breast in hand,

Look at it this way. Their salvation is your salvation. Only by forgiving them are you forgiven. Now if you truly forgive them then what can you have against them? I don't mean to say that for example theives should be encouraged to steal. It's possible to condemn an action while loving the offender.

As someone who actually gets paid for writing fantasies, my imagination can't swallow the idea of a Bible that contains key doctrines--reincarnation, and universal salvation--that are hidden, as it were, in plain sight. That's really much too Gnostic for me.

For the sake of anyone who might be reading these exchanges, but who might not be very familiar with the Bible, I must point out that your interpretation of the verses cited above is, shall we say, exotic and unconventional. These verses don't mean what you say they mean. For instance:

I Corinthians 15:18--the phrase "to sleep (or fall asleep) in Christ" is a euphemism for "to die or to be dead." By using this euphemism early Christians distinguished between themselves and the pagans, whose concept of death was without resurrection and without hope.

I Cor. 19--"If in this life only we have hope in Christ" has nothing to do with reincarnation. It states Christ's power to save us beyond death.

v.20, etc--"the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" does not teach reincarnation. It means that Christ's physical resurrection is the first of its kind, and that someday all Christ's people will be resurrected from the dead.

v. 21-23--"in Christ all shall be made alive" does not mean that you and I and everybody else is actually Christ, any more than you and I are also Mario Andretti. It means that the power of Christ, and the substitutional atonement of Christ, are the basis of eternal life for all who believe in Him.

v. 30-31--Paul means his own resurrection and eternal life is made secure by Christ. He is not trying to tell us that he is Christ.

v. 50-55--If there is no Hell, then what is Jesus talking about in his frequent references to a place where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, etc? Why does Revelation describe the worshippers of the Beast being cast into the lake of fire with him?

Your theology of reincarnation, universal salvation, and everybody being Christ, as I see it, seeks to absolve you (and everybody else) of all moral responsibility--and nullifies the laws given to us by God. I pray that you will reconsider your position.

Yes, it takes a lot of imagination to miss it. The church has done a great job of conditioning people. Like I said it's all a matter of interpretation. If you add a word here, change the meaning of a word there, you get a different picture.

<<<<<playground player>>>> I Corinthians 15:18--the phrase "to sleep (or fall asleep) in Christ" is a euphemism for "to die or to be dead." By using this euphemism early Christians distinguished between themselves and the pagans, whose concept of death was without resurrection and without hope.>

The majority of early Christians accepted universal salvation. It was the dominant thinking in early Christianity taught by many of the original founding fathers and four of the six theological schools.

The term "sleep" is not a euphemism for "hell" or "death" it is a synonym. As the evidence shows words such as "hell" and "eternal" are mistranslations that have political motives. As sleep is a temporary condition so is hell:

<<<<<Psalm 16:10>>>> For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.">

or

<<<<<Psalm 86:13>>>> For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.>

"All men" will turn to and be saved through Christ.

<<<<<1 Corinthians 3:22>>>> whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours>

All in the world of death are God's children as well.

<<<<<1 Corinthians 15:45>>>> So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.

<1 Corinthians 15:22-23> For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. <23> But each in his own turn>

Again pretty self-explanatory.

<<<<<playground player>>>> "in Christ all shall be made alive" does not mean that you and I and everybody else is actually Christ, any more than you and I are also Mario Andretti.>

Actually, it does. Mario Andretti has Christ in him, and it's just a matter of time before he realizes it if he hasn't already.

<<<<<Matt 25:42-45>>>> For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, <43> I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' <44> "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' <45> "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'>

Even the least is Christ.

<<<<<Matthew 22:37-39>>>> Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' <38> This is the first and greatest commandment. <39> And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'>

Christ's only enemy is ignorance of the truth. As far as the ungodly are concerned they are in the most need of help. Does a doctor heal the healthy or the sick?

<<<<<Matthew 9:12>>>> But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.>

<<<<<playground player>>>> Your theology of reincarnation, universal salvation, and everybody being Christ, as I see it, seeks to absolve you (and everybody else) of all moral responsibility>

It's not my theology although I wouldn't mind taking credit for it. Actually, it's just the opposite. According to the orthodox church anyone can be forgiven if they repent. That means that I could go out and rob banks and hurt people, and basically do anything I want, repent, and then I'm saved.

The doctrine of Universal Salvation tells us that we must work through our misdeeds. Our salvation is assured, but we must be ready to recieve it. A fellow like Hitler would not have gone straight to Heaven when he died because he was not ready to love people as he loved himself, but one day he will be. Did Saul not become Paul?

<<<<<playground player>>>> I agree with Pope Benedict XVI that the concept of collective salvation is demonic.>

If this is true, what happens, in the Book of Revelation, to all those persons who worshipped the Beast and took his mark on their bodies?

If this is true, why does Christ Himself so frequently refer to a "judgment" of the dead? Why should He waste His time judging anybody, if everybody is really just Him and is going to go to Heaven no matter what they did in life, and no matter what they believe in?

If God is not willing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance, why should St. Peter have written this verse if nobody, really, is going to perish?

Why should God, through the various prophets, have so often implored the people of Israel and Judah to repent and change their ways, or else be destroyed?

Why did God, through a prophet, rebuke Jehoshaphat for helping Ahab in his war, and say it was a sin to help the ungodly?

Why does the Bible praise the midwives in the Book of Exodus for disobeying Pharaoh and thwarting his attempts to wipe out the next generation of Israel? Should these midwives not have obeyed Pharaoh, and helped him carry out his plan? After all, Pharaoh and his victims and the midwives all wind up in Heaven anyhow.

Why so often does God distinguish those who love Him from those who hate Him?

Christianity is not about you, personally, having a happy life. In this world you will have tribulation: Jesus said so. It's not about the believer's personal happiness, but about his service to God--love of God, obedience to God, fear of the Lord, and service to God.

That's not what I said. You may recall me mentioning something about working through our misdeeds and preparing ourselves to enter Heaven? I mentioned it more than once.

Judgment is probably the biggest obstacle to overcome. You would have your brothers and sisters burn forever because they may not believe in Jesus, or if they do maybe they don't believe in him the way you do, or if they do maybe you don't like the way they lead their lives, or if you like the way they lead their lives maybe they bring a guitar to church. Maybe they do things that cause you to label them as "The Ungodly" and "The Enemies of Christ." Maybe they give into temptations that you think disqualifies them from entering Heaven, and so you cross them out of your book of life and consign them over to eternal torment.

What you don't realize is that it's impossible to judge anybody without judging yourself. When you condemn them, just as Jesus said in Matt 25:42-45, you condemn Christ, and since you are Christ you condemn yourself. The only one who can ever spiritually condemn you is you Matthew 7:1-2, Luke 6:37.

Giving up the judgment of other people is paramount to making it into Heaven. If you love others regardless of what they do and forgive them because you realize that they are just asleep in Christ, then what you are doing is forgiving yourself and acknowledging that YOU are Christ. Practicing that kind of acceptance and forgiveness is what awakens people to their true self and gets them into Heaven.

Mother Teresa was one of the greatest Christian saints of whom I have the utmost reverence for. She spent over 45 years of her life ministering to the poor and sick in India. She took care of Hindus and Muslims among others. She didn't care if they were criminals or not. She didn't care what they had done or what they believed in. She "passively helped" many whom you would label as "The Ungodly," and "The Enemies of Christ." Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Here are a couple of quotes from her.

"Each one of them is Jesus in disguise." -- Mother Teresa

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." -- Mother Teresa

She was the embodiment of what Christianity should be.

<<<<<playground player>>>>The churches have done an atrocious job of teaching Christian doctrine,>

I completely agree. They've been doing it for over a thousand years.

You mentioned a lot of biblical passages without giving any references. Thanks, but I don't feel like spending hours researching it all.

A few factual points you may want to consider are that words such as "hell", "lake of fire," "eternity", "Everlasting", "forever and ever," are all mistranslations and are in the process of being phased out of the scripture completely. Many of the newer versions of the Bible don't use those words at all or if they do only very little.

The more we research the old translations the more we realize just how wrong they are in the use and context of such words. If you read over my posts you'll see I give multiple examples of where the scripture contradicts itself by saying something is eternal or even eternally damned in one place and then saying it's not in another.

<<<<<playground player>>>> Christianity is not about you, personally, having a happy life. In this world you will have tribulation: Jesus said so. It's not about the believer's personal happiness, but about his service to God--love of God, obedience to God, fear of the Lord, and service to God.>

As long as you judge you will never know happiness. If there is no eternal punishment and all are saved in the end then what is there to fear?

I'll give you one example of what I'm talking about. The "Lake of Fire" that the book of Revelations talks about is actually The Valley of Hinnom located in Jerusalem. It's where the ancient Israelites among others burned their children as a sacrifice. It was one of the rituals that Jesus preached against.

The Valley of Hinnom was a place of sorrow and death that was hated by most. According to ancient Jewish folklore the valley had a gate which led down to a molten lake of fire where souls would go for 12 months to be purified through fire. Every sabbath day they would get a vacation from the torment.

Of course no such lake of fire has been found which is not surprising since there are no volcanoes near Jerusalem. Here's a link to it.