Chapter 21: Myth—Everybody Gets To Go

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Myth—Everybody Gets To Go

One can hardly think of a 50/50 mix as representing the idea of “many

and few” taught by Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14. Many will enter by the wide gate and wind up in Hell. Only a few will enter the narrow gate and obtain life. This teaching of Jesus is similar to the question he poses in Luke 18:8. “When the Son of Man comes, will he really find any faith?” The ideas of

being able to “find any faith” and that “only a few find life” are shocking concepts when it comes to eternal life. Both of them are incompatible with 50% of Christians actually gaining entrance to Heaven. Therefore, I believe it will be much worse for Christianity than what is presented in this chapter.

Why could that be? Consider for some additional illustration the standards of the Amish as exposed in a recent ABC News special. 36

The ABC News Magazine 20/20 aired a follow up special on a young Amish woman named Mary who endured a childhood of repeated rape by

her brothers. Her mother was made aware of this, but did nothing to stop it. The Amish culture teaches everyone to tell the truth and then to confess his or her sins. After a public confession is made, the church community shuns the sinner for several weeks and then everyone is required to forgive and

forget. “Dan Miller, a local Amish bishop, told ABC News that the Byler brothers received the most severe punishment under Amish tradition. Both were banned from church activity for several weeks and made to publicly ask for forgiveness.”

“Through the years, by Mary’s account, she was raped by several different attackers. But one abused her more often than the others—her brother Johnny. Johnny, one of Mary’s eight brothers, began assaulting her

when he was 12 and she was 6. The assaults continued into her teen years, she said. I couldn’t go to the outhouse because there was always somebody waiting there. I couldn’t go anywhere alone.”

I relate this story of the Amish, because it illustrates very well the Christian mythology that all should forgive and forget. When does God forgive? After repentance occurs. When one repents, he or she turns the other way and never again does evil. True repentance has not occurred

unless the wicked behavior ceases. The Amish like many Christian factions lack the ability to discern and purge evil from among them. This is evil!