Locke's Toleration is an amazing letter that perhaps speaks just as great of volumes now as it did then. I completely agree with his argument in defense of denominations. "A church seems to me to be a free society of men who voluntarily come together to worship God in a way that they think is acceptable to Him and effective in saving their souls." He then goes on to show that we have not been acting the way that we should as Christians. "If someone strays from the right path, that is his misfortune, not yours; and your belief that he will be miserable in the after-life is not a reason for you to give him a bad time in his present life." I believe Jesus worded it better when he said, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. Matthew 12: 25. Here he is not only talking about hell but every kingdom, including heaven. We need to stop attacking people who have different theology than us. all that really matters is do they love God. The best example of this is the thief on the cross. But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23: 40-43. It doesn't matter your theology or interpretation of the Bible all that matters is your love of God.
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interpretation matters. cause loving God doesn't get you into paradise. accepting him into your heart and giving yourself up to His will is what gets you into paradise.