> I don't particularly want to get sidetracked on the "sins of the father" issue, partly because I don't think it's terribly important and partly because I am simply not educated in the philosophical side of that area. I don't know how that works (maybe Issachar does?), but I believe that that conception is at least in part, if not in whole, simply to convey that we are born with a sinful *nature*. Every biblical reference that I can find on the subject indicates that children who die before they attain any sort of moral understanding go to heaven. God judges according to our capacity and opportunity to understand, as far as I can tell. That seems to be what the Bible indicates, and beyond that I have the faith that God is just and would not condemn anyone incapable of discerning right from wrong or comprehending what Jesus Christ did. But this is neither here nor there, because I assume it doesn't address the specific situations of anyone present.
>

I do not understand. I will never understand. I have family members who will never understand. If these things you state are true, I was not born with the means with which to understand, and thus believe them. And boy did I try as a child. As I recall it was a painfully confusing and demeaning experience. I'd also go so far as to say most of the folks I know who claim to understand, to believe, really haven't a clue either. And finally, there are some who do seem to know something beyond my understanding and believe it wholeheartedly. I can't help but feel alien when discussing it with them, as though my mind simply has no passage into that knowledge. Whatever it is that allows them to accept it, I don't have. Why is there a heaven? Why is there a hell? Why would God create, himself, imperfect creatures and then punish them for their imperfections? But I get the idea that I am not thinking of this on the right level...he is not human and therefore cannot be dealt with on a human level. And yet I am human, and I can only understand on a human level. It is a circle where no real understanding and peace is possible for me. To accept God is to deny my mind and to do so is to deny it is impossible.

Sincerely,
Tyler