You say on page 275: “…what happens if your faith wavers before you die? Do you still have eternal life?” Are you aware that the Bible does indeed answer this? See Hebrews 6:4–6.
Good point to bring up. Yes, I am very familiar with those verses. For those unfamiliar, here are the verses from Hebrews 6:4–6: “For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, since on their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are holding him up to contempt.”
Boy they didn’t mess around in the old days, huh? That’s quite a burden for one to bear. Actually, I wrestled a long time with whether or not I should bring up the verses from Hebrews. At one time I had it in a footnote, at another time it was actually in the text. But I have a few reasons why I did not mention it. First of all, I didn’t find it pertinent enough to distract the reader from the point I was making. The point made from Hebrews appears only the one time in the whole New Testament. Secondly, when you delve into the scholarship concerning Hebrews, it is one of the books—one of the letters claiming to be written from Paul—that we know was not actually written by Paul. The writing style is very different from the other Pauline letters’ writing style, and the content tells us that it was most likely written long after Paul’s letters, as it addresses questions that came up over the decades as Christian beliefs evolved, such as the question at hand: What happens to one who doesn’t believe anymore?
But most importantly, in my opinion, the statement seems a bit harsh doesn’t it? Is that who you feel in your heart Jesus to have been or to be? Jesus in the Gospels, specifically in John, tells you over and over again to believe in him for eternal life. Yet he doesn’t one single time think it important enough to mention that if you believe, then stop believing, you are then doomed for all time, never to be possibly saved again. If Jesus, or the Gospel writers, or the Church Fathers who put the Bible together did not think this point important enough to address, why should we then give supreme authority to this one time it is said in a book that is not a Gospel or a letter from Paul himself? My heart tells me the forgiveness of Jesus’ is eternal, and if one of the flock should lose their way, much like the prodigal son, he would be welcomed back with open loving arms. After all, Jesus said, “What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoiced over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray” (Matthew 18:12–13).
I hope that helps.
