Must all Theologians go to Hell?

There are no such persons in heaven as theologians. Nowhere in the Holy Scriptures is such a vocation mentioned. In both the Tanakh and Testaments of Jesus: ADONAI demands two things of those who are called to lead His children; in the Tanakh to teach His Commands and Laws to His chosen people and in the Testaments, to preach His Word.

No human, man or woman, can interpret or postulate upon the “meaning” of the Word of G-d. Each person, hearing the Law taught and the Word preached, will either accept the Law and the Word or reject it.

The notion of wise and enlightened men making clear to mankind what G-d “means” is fallacious and riddled with vanity. No one on earth is capable of understanding the Nature of G-d beyond that which is revealed to us through the Holy Scriptures. No one has “discovered” one fact, one new text, one new word, one new revelation since the time of the life and death of the Apostles and Disciples who lived with Jesus or the Risen Jesus. No One!

We are called to be Shepherds or Preachers, and rarely, both. We are not called to write endless tomes about the “Nature or “Person” of G-d.” We may willingly and hopefully effectively preach the word through exegesis, that is, through explaining how the Word should be obeyed in context with our life;  by sharing our experience of the Word in our life. But we can never “explain” the “meaning” of a text, simply because G-d intends each person to hear the Word in His voice in their heart and soul.

Free Will means not only choosing to follow the Will of G-d, but choosing not to follow His Will. Volition is not about making “choices” between things you want, or “options” you have, it is simply the act of your choosing to accept, or reject, G-d’s Will. And G-d’s Will is pointedly clearly revealed in the Word, in the Holy Scriptures. The exercise of Free Will exists only in a moral dimension. Every act of will that requires a moral decision is a gift to you from G-d, every act of Faith in choosing to accept His Will is our gift, our sacrifice of thanks and praise offered to G-d.

No Preacher, no Pope, no Bishop, no Priest, no Pastor, no Elder, and certainly no philosopher or psychologist or theologian should ever say, about even one word of the Holy Scriptures: “Let me tell you what that means.” That is the speech of Lucifer, of hubris, of vainglory, of pride.

What we, as shepherds, may say, and should say, is: “When you read the Bible, when you hear the Holy Scriptures quoted, what do the words you hear mean to you? What is G-d saying to you? How will you obey His Will, in the context of your life?

The Word never changes. It remains always and forever the immutable, infallible Word of G-d, our Creator. What always must change is our context, our behavior.

The Roman Catholic Pope Francis is quite correct in his recent assertion that we who are called to obey and serve, and guide and preach are shepherds. And he is equally correct in asserting that we must love sinners equally with saints, for as they are our neighbors,  we are commanded, “to love them as ourselves.” And since we are all sinners, we are commanded by G-d, through the mouth of Jesus Christ to love adulterers, fornicators, homosexuals, profligates, murders, thieves, blasphemers, and even theologians as we love ourselves. This love is why I will preach until my death that homosexuals are the children of G-d, and like the adulterer and fornicator I have been, they need only repent of their physical sin, they need only to pray for the strength to resist temptation, they need only to ask their Father in Heaven for forgiveness through the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ Jesus.

Make no mistake about what I am saying. Homosexual behavior, specifically acts of male homosexual behavior, are an abomination. This is the Judgment of G-d, not man. Yet it is not a judgment of the man, but of the specific behaviors, the specific acts, the specific sins. Whether your belief is that such behavior results from natural causes, genetic deviations, or is learned, and presumably taught, from and by homosexuals, is of little importance. While the road to hell may be paved by good intentions, it is paved equally by foolish actions. Trying to “accept” socially the sinful acts of men, and explain them away is as wrong as our judging men for their sinful acts and condemning them. Theologists that seek to reconcile sin with the will of G-d blaspheme, for it is not the Will of G-d that humans sin, but rather the will of man that chooses  sin.

Any person seeking the Grace of G-d, the Kingdom of Heaven, must repent of their sins, work diligently to change their behavior, and seek always to obey the Commands and Laws of G-d. This is no easy task for heterosexuals, and certainly no easy task for homosexuals.

Am I always comfortable in the presence of “effeminate” men? Do I understand why homosexuals are attracted to members of their own gender? Yes, biologically, genetically; but no, I do not emotionally. And yet, what is to fear? If G-d is on our side, nothing.

I urge you to open your hearts and minds to those who are different, unusual, strange. Our Church must be a refuge for all sinners, a place of hope and comfort. We are meant to join together to strengthen the weak, heal the sick, feed and clothe the poor, care for and love all of God’s children. We are meant to praise and worship God through this love, through this loving-kindness to all other humans. There is no place for hatred or condemnation of any sinner in G-d’s Church. Only G-d can judge, and only G-d can condemn. How can we save those who fear us, how can we offer the Word to those we hold at arm’s length, those we push away, those we will not love?

Perhaps Pope Francis intended that we re-focus on those seven deadly sins, vices thought to lead to all other sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride.

Thinking about it, not at all a bad idea.

G-d Bless Us All, Everyone.

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To answer the title question, they should, for it is vanity to think you can explain the word of God or comment on his nature beyond extant Divine revelation. But as the Blessed Martyr Cranmer wrote:

But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy.

Always encompasses, with Love, any soul who seeks the Mercy of God, even shepherds who lead their flocks astray.

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