Simply frightening!

I read a quote from Charles Darwin (1809-1882) recently, which went as follows:

"I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my father, brothers, and almost all my friends, will be everlastingly punished. And this is a damnable doctrine."

Hmmm......really? This sounds like someone who is afraid to go to the doctor's office, in case they might find something wrong, rather than being anxious to get it corrected, and move on. Mr. Darwin (at one time, an aspiring parson) makes it sound as if there is no hope contained within Christianity. As familiar as he was with the doctrine of eternal condemnation, he completely leaves out the part about being saved unto eternal joy:

1 John 5:10-12 (NET):

"(The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son.) And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this eternal life."

John 3:16-21(NET):

"For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.^"

Believe in the only Son of God and be saved. If you already have done this, terrific! It's always nice to meet another member of the family of God. If you have not, ask yourself how much longer you want to go to bed each night wondering.....could it be true? Am I in danger? Is this the day I want to find out for sure?