Apparently VLC on Windows, which I have used to apply metadata for years, has been ruining podcasts. But only some listeners had problems while others did not. So once again, I have resampled and uploaded a new file, as of 11:30 AM on the 22nd. Thank you for your patience!
It is Enough to be an Israelite, But Enough for What?, Part 1
The medieval Roman Catholic paradigm relating to salvation and heaven, or judgment and hell, has been ingrained into all modern Christian theology to such a degree, having been imbued into our thought from perhaps as long ago as 1,800 years, that it may be one of the most difficult errors of Roman Catholicism to overcome. But it really cannot be overcome at all, until one learns the proper differences between the wheat and the tares, the sheep and the goats, and can identify the good race of fish in the parable of the net. While Bertrand Comparet did know those differences, in my opinion he nevertheless had not fully thought them out in other areas of Scripture, and especially in this area. But we can forgive him, since the subject of salvation and the common perception concerning salvation is probably the deepest rabbit hole in Scripture. No matter how many times one may read the promises to the fathers and the words of Christ, there is always that one verse by which one may imagine that a child of God may ultimately and eternally be cast into the pits of hell, or the Lake of Fire.
But in this light we must ask ourselves: Are the promises to the fathers unconditional guarantees, or are they merely the offer of an opportunity to men?
Then, if they are a mere opportunity: Are we subjected to vanity for our edification, as both Solomon (Ecclesiastes 1:13) and Paul of Tarsus (Romans 8:20-21) had attested, or as a business venture which we may win or lose at any given time?
For example, a man may be a perfectly pious Roman Catholic for many years, never having sinned, having a pious wife and raising pious children, and then one day his neighbor's wife begins hinting at him and making advances, hoping to tempt him into adultery. So the man resists his temptation for many months, and when he is finally about to give in, when he is weak, something happens and he is stricken dead. Just think of the odds. If he had been struck one day later, he may have had his neighbor's wife that afternoon, and spent an eternity in hell! But if he had been struck one week later, he may have had his neighbor's wife, felt sorry after the act and repented, gone to church on Sunday and confessed, and then in a few days he would enter into eternity in heaven! So long as he dropped some cash in the basket and said whatever prayers he was told to say for penance.