The Skeletons in God's Closet: The Mercy of Hell, the Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War
How can a loving God send people to hell? Isn’t it arrogant to believe Jesus is the only way to God? What is up with holy war in the Old Testament?
Many of us fear God has some skeletons in the closet. Hell, judgment, and holy war are hot topics for the Christian faith that have a way of igniting fierce debate far and wide. These hard questions leave many wondering whether God is really good and can truly be trusted.
The Skeletons in God's Closet confronts our popular caricatures of these difficult topics with the beauty and power of the real thing. Josh Butler reveals that these subjects are consistent with, rather than contradictory to, the goodness of God. He explores Scripture to reveal the plotlines that make sense of these tough topics in light of God’s goodness. From fresh angles, Josh deals powerfully with such difficult passages as:
- The Lake of Fire
- Lazarus and the Rich Man
- The Slaughter of Canaanites in the Old Testament
Ultimately, The Skeletons in God's Close uses our toughest questions to provoke paradigm shifts in how we understand our faith as a whole. It pulls the “skeletons out of God’s closet” to reveal they were never really skeletons at all.
Top Highlights
“God’s purpose is not to get us out of earth and into heaven; it’s to reconcile heaven and earth.” (source)
“Annihilation minimizes the scope and power of Jesus’ resurrection.” (source)
“Jesus is the Savior who reunites heaven and earth.” (source)
“Revelation envisions the consummation of world history with God’s holy city ‘coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.’19 Notice the direction of movement. God is not bringing us up out of earth into heaven. He is bringing heaven ‘down’ into earth, through his holy city. God’s purpose is to redeem the earth, not to abandon it. His goal is to heal the rupture, not to let it win. God’s promise is not to whisk us out of earth into heaven, but rather to usher in his heavenly kingdom to reign on earth with us forever.” (source)
“In God’s story for the world, however, land and sky are spiritually loaded, charged with the presence and purposes of God: heaven and earth.” (source)
Product Details
- Title : The Skeletons in God's Closet: The Mercy of Hell, the Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War
- Author: Butler, Joshua Ryan
- Publisher: Thomas Nelson
- Publication Date: 2014
- ISBN: 9780529100559
Reviews
1 rating
Patrick
1/19/2022
What I like about this book is its balance between truth and grace. It is biblical and present biblical truths - truths that are obscured by popular theory rather that Scriptural truth; even by Christians. The author isn't presenting any new truths here but is presenting the topics of Hell, Judgement, & Holy War in a way that isn't the cartoon version that has imbedded itself into the collective consciousnesses. The author asks hard questions of what we think we know about heaven, hell, God's judgement, holy war, and many other topics associated with those main points. And like Scriptures attests of itself, God is not shown to come back void. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in these topics. Final Grade - A