How could a God of total love and eternal vision create billions of people throughout time, knowing most would be forever denied salvation because they did not embrace one specific faith pathway? Might such consciousness be blasphemy? Yet that has been the historic teaching of the Christian church in its various denominations and remains the belief of fundamentalists. Dissension within the ranks of Christendom is greater than at any other time. Members the world over have walked away from practice of the faith because they cannot reconcile the message of Jesus to the dogma and politics of church, or because they cannot trust the inconsistencies and conflicts of the Scriptures. Untold numbers, skeptical and doubting, remain perfunctorily obedient for fear of eternal damnation. Others have been tragically marginalized, ostracized, or even excommunicated from congregations and denominations that draw their charter from the Lord of Love, non-judgment, and forgiveness. A lifelong Christian whose consciousness no longer identifies with organized religion, Rev. Batson now enjoys a new and more profound relationship with Jesus, who remains the Lord of his life. His testimony offers comfort, affirmation and hope to many. To others, he is a heretic. He hopes, however, that this book will offer all readers a shift in perspective. He who has an eye, let him see. He who has an ear, let him hear. Jesus I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. Galileo Galilei (15641642)
