Quote:
Originally Posted by Igzy
ZNP,
Technically you have a point. But here's the thing. Most Christians don't care about those kinds of detailed distinctions for two reasons:
- They are hard to confirm.
- They don't affect their lives, anyway.
Whether the thief went to heaven or some place other than heaven, what differences does it make in the essential meaning and how you are to live your life? The point was the thief went to the place Jesus was going. The point of going to heaven is it is the place Jesus will be. Wherever that is has absolutely no effect on how you are to live, what type of faith you are to manifest or anything else practical.
Do you really think your kids are going to live a better manifestation of Christian lives if they know they distinction between heaven and paradise? I seriously doubt it. It's a detail. |
Well the reason I questioned this was because I wanted my kids to be taught Bible lessons based on the Bible. I was not involved in designing the curriculum. I don't care if they teach this or not, just so long as when they say the Bible says something they actually use the Bible. I think that is an important principle for the Christian life.
Second, I think that the gospel is important for how we live our Christian life. I think you have made this point repeatedly as an error of WL's teachings. This teaching leads some to equate Jn 14:2 with "going to heaven when we die". I think that is a serious error that leads Christians to erroneously believe that once you have received Christ that is it, and that definitely does not promote Christians living a better manifestation of Christ.
Third, I had already taught my kids that "we don't go to heaven when we die". So naturally this was the one thing they were excited to bring home from Catechism. I think being careless with the word has a very negative effect.
For example, they also taught that "if you don't receive Christ you will go to hell". This is based on the verse that says whoever receives Christ will not receive this judgment. To me this is a prime example of being careless with the word. To say that if you have received Christ you will not go to hell is not equivalent to saying "everyone who has not received Christ will go to hell".