I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
–Jesus in John 14:6 (KJV)–

The devil that deceived them
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and the false prophet are,
and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
–Revelation 20:10 (KJV)–

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging:
and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
–Proverbs 20:1 (KJV)–

Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts,
but rather that ye may prophesy.
–1 Corinthians 14:1 (KJV)–

Now bring me a minstrel.
And it came to pass, when the minstrel played,
that the hand of the Lord came upon him.
–2 Kings 3:15 (KJV)–

—

There are people who do not accept the full Christian doctrine about Christ but who are so strongly attracted by Him that they are His in a much deeper sense than they themselves understand. There are people in other religions who are being led by God’s secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it. For example, a Buddhist of good will may be led to concentrate more and more on the Buddhist teaching about mercy and to leave in the background (though he might still say he believed) the Buddhist teaching on certain other points. –C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 178

I cannot give pederasty anything like a first place among the evils of the Coll. There is much hypocrisy on this theme. People commonly talk as if every other evil were more tolerable than this. But why? Because those of us who do not share the vice feel for it a certain nausea, as we do, say, for necrophily? I think that of very little relevance to moral judgment. –C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy, p. 109

Why do I struggle so much with the Biblical concept of Hell? Maybe it’s because I don’t like to see my comrades suffer. You have trouble with Hell? I do. I cannot enjoy contemplating for one minute any human being in Hell. A lot of times people say to me, “Do you believe that Hell’s a lake of fire, literally?” I say, “No.” And they say, “What do you think it is?” I say, “‘I think it’s separation from God.’ And you know what their usual response is?…‘Whew, man am I glad to hear that.’”
–R. C. Sproul, “The Problem of Hell.”–

The lady said, “Oh no, nobody here drinks. We’re Christians.” I came so close, so close.
I didn’t, but I wanted to order somethin’ like a double scotch on the rocks.
–R. C. Sproul–

I’ve never felt the presence of God.
I don’t even know what that means.
–John MacArthur–*

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Dr. John Gerstner, Repent or Perish: With a Special Reference to the Conservative Attack on Hell (Soli Deo Gloria, 1997).

Dr. John R. Rice, The Double Curse of Booze (Sword of the Lord, 1960).

Dr. Jack Deere, Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (Zondervan, 2020).

* I disagree with MacArthur’s deistic view of the Christian life. I have always hated and will always absolutely denounce the cessationist conclusions he’s drawn in The Charismatics, Charismatic Chaos, and Strange Fire, while at the same time admitting that he also did a really good job at pointing out charlatans and false teachers in the charismatic camp. His book The Gospel According to Jesus was also a really important book that defined a Biblical gospel presentation in a day and age when most evangelicals have gone the way of Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life. I’d say that the Wesleyan counterpart to it would be Harald Lindstrom’s Wesley and Sanctification (Francis Asbury Press, 1998). Dr. MacArthur also exposed Warren’s Purpose Driven Church ideology in his book Ashamed of the Gospel. He’s written some really important and useful theological books, but I’ve also seen other things I just can’t agree with, like his views on psychiatry and church discipline. All of this is to say that we just always need to MAKE THE BIBLE NUMBER ONE; and make teachers, preachers, dreams, visions, books, and words of knowledge SUBORDINATE to the Bible as the Word of God. –J.B.