Thanks for your response......
As a justification for hell, I do not find the free will defence very convincing. If the divine values free will why should it be given for a mere three score years and ten - if we are lucky! - and then withdrawn for all eternity? Often I have heard the words........"hell is the truth realised to late". Why should it ever be "to late" for truth in relation to an eternal spirit who inhabits eternity?
Also in Christianity, as I understand it, it is only the free choice of accepting Christ that seems to be valued. Within the Buddhist faith every choice, every thought, every act.......contributes to our karmic inheritance and will bring its consequences. It does seem to me that from the perspective of Christianity - at least in its conservative expression - such everyday choices are often seen to be without significance for those "outside of Christ" (again, from a Pure land view, no one is ever "outside" of Amida's grace and compassion)......it seems only the choice for Jesus that has significance. A human being who has not accepted Christ - or even rejected the Christian message - yet who chooses kindness rather than harshness, love more often than hate, respect for the creation rather than contempt........all such free choices seem of no consequence? Apparently such choices, being "outside of Christ" stink in God's nostrils - as the Biblical saying goes! For me, such choices ARE Christ, irrespective of any acceptance of anything, being the product of Other Power......disguised as self power!!
As far as trusting instincts and feelings, from my perspective a Christian does no more. I would also say that with a free and gradually opening mind, trusting ourselves becomes in part a development of self-judgement, a life based upon experience. Personally I have recognised many times that I have been wrong, unaware of the true reason for choices being made, not having been honest with myself...........I would have thought that any eternal spirit worthy of the name would be infusing all life and guiding it with a loving hand, working tirelessly for the welfare and salvation of all, throughout eternity.
As Taitetsu Unno says in his books "Bits of Rubble Turn into Gold".....
"Buddhism is a path of supreme optimism, for one of its basic tenets is that no human life or experience is to be wasted, abandoned, or forgotten, but all should be transformed into a source of vibrant life, deep wisdom, and compassionate living. This is the connotation of the classical statement that sums up the goal of Buddhist life:"Transform delusion into enlightenment" "
