in all honesty, one verse reigns supreme out of the entire text to me -- verse 30. "let both grow together until the harvest." within the call to love God and love people, there is no room for humankind to judge. at the time of the harvest (whatever that means), a ridiculous amount of things may happen. sure, there may be fiery furnaces. sure, there may be gnashing of teeth. this all seems of little importance though when the mind is focused on living out the first and second commandment.
i don't think it is insane, or doing any violence to the biblical texts, to realize that the texts were written by people. divine inspired? sure. but don't put it past a human writer, regardless of inspiration, to push their own agenda.
are the references to fiery furnaces and gnashing of teeth simply metaphors? of course not, there is no such thing as a simple metaphor. but what's important here is to remember that only in the fullness of time will we truly understand the end times. until then, i firmly believe that there are two concerns -- loving God and loving people.
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"If we uproot the unrighteous, then none of us will remain. We are all amidst the weeding and the weeds. I suggest we stay together and grow from our common heritage, regardless of our differences," Bishop De Chickera.
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