The Triumph of Death c. 1562 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. "The painting shows aspects of everyday European life in the mid-sixteenth century."

Jim West’s post and even more his commenters have driven me to it. They are all so confident. Each of them know the Almighty’s mind so clearly and fully. For some of them it is simple, even [insert name of your most hated murderous and cruelly heartless dictator] must be saved, because God is too nice to condemn them, let alone send them to a pit of eternal fire. For the others it is equally simple, if someone has not expressed faith in Christ (and here there are some slight differences, so except those who have not “heard” the gospel, others somehow make no exceptions) they are condemned to hell.

But I wonder, Scripture (at least if read with an eye even a little attuned to the colourful ways of human speech) is less than clear on the subject, yet they all – on both sides – know.

As for me, unlike my Calvinist friend with whom I discussed these issues in college chapel last year, I believe in the sovereignty of God, so that God is not bound by any simple rule that humans express. And I trust the Almighty to do a better job of peopling and managing the afterlife than I or any of the commenters could.

Yes, it would be comforting to think of some people (Sen. Gen. Than Shwe springs to mind though he’d hardly be alone) “burning in the fires of hell” but if God, who in Christ hung out to die for you and for me, can arrange to save his poor twisted creature, who am I, or who are you, to object!