You can access my website through Google by typing in Rodger Tutt.

Because my testimony is helping so many people, I am posting it here so it will stay on your front page for awhile if that's ok with you. The many entries in my guest book that is accessible towards the bottom of the front page on my site, and the many positive emails in my email file folders, show that the content of my testimony is helping many people.
http://greater-emmanuel.org/Hope4You/
(nothing for sale on this site)

Or, you can access my website through Google by typing in Rodger Tutt.

MY TESTIMONY


The idea that God lets any creature suffer endlessly has caused me more suffering than all other problems of my life combined. By the time I had reached the mission field I had hoped to have found a satisfactory answer that would justify God allowing this to happen. I didn't find such an answer. Surrounded by thousands of people, dozens of whom were dying every day and beginning an eternity of suffering in hell was too much for me.

In 1966, at age 28, it caused me to have a nervous breakdown. For several weeks I was confined to my bed in a state of terror night and day. The terror was caused by the fear of what a God I could not love or respect would do to me after I died. It took me twelve years to fully recover from the breakdown. I quickly became agnostic, for the Christian gospel and the Bible were no longer any comfort to me at all. Many evangelical friends tried to help me. They meant well, but in the end they all had only words of condemnation towards me. This added more suffering to my already intense suffering.

Gradually I began to learn that there have been, in centuries past, and still are today, a few people in the world that see a different kind of God in the Bible. They see a God who will not let any creature suffer forever. They see a God in the Bible who will change every second of everyone's suffering into something better that it happened, including the sufferings of Satan. I learned that a correctly (literally) translated Bible teaches universal transformation, not endless suffering in hell, or even annihilation. I read dozens of books, and listened to hundreds of tapes by men who believe this way and I gradually became converted to believing this way myself.

Since 1981, through my newspaper ads and my telephone ministry, I have sent out many hundreds of packets of literature explaining why I believe as I do. I have also sent this evidence to hundreds of pastors and Bible school teachers. None of them have told me that they are able to refute it. I have also read eight books that were supposed to refute the evidence in favor of universalism, but none of them do. Because of this evidence, my panic attacks became less frequent until twelve years after my breakdown they ceased altogether. Now nothing gives me greater pleasure than to make this evidence available to others who have suffered because of the same problem I had even though they have embraced Christ and His gospel for themselves, and I use a substantial amount of my money and time to this end.

Because of the enormous amount of suffering the idea of "endless hell" causes in this world, I am asking you to consider the possibility that you should stop endorsing the idea that the Bible teaches it. Or, at least, let others know that there are (and have been in centuries past) people who do not think the Bible teaches it.

Many of the responses from pastors and teachers range from a mild: "The majority don't agree with you so you must be wrong", to the vicious "For every week you leave your ad in the papers, God will increase the temperature of the fires of hell for you personally".
Most are somewhere in between these remarks. But none have told me they are able to refute the evidence. And, until they can, they will not be able to stop me from sharing the good news that a correctly (literally) translated Bible teaches universal transformation, not endless suffering in hell, or even annihilation.

A website that answers all the arguments that seem to support the idea that the Bible teaches endless suffering in hell is TENTMAKER. Although forum rules prevent me from posting forum links, you can easily Google it up. The “scholar’s corner” under “research” deals with every aspect of the subject. The more than 600 page search engine at the top of this same TENTMAKER front page is also very comprehensive regarding this subject. Just type in a key word or phrase from any argument or scripture passage, and ten articles will appear that refute the eternal hell and annihilation doctrines.

I am also going to guide you all to the testimony of a man whose experience was almost identical to mine. Even the thought processes that took him into, through, and out of his breakdown are the same as mine. Only he is much more eloquent in telling his story than I am in telling mine. His name is Charles Slagle.
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Absolute-Assurance-in-Jesus-Christ.html

Or, you can also Google up ABSOLUTE ASSURANCE

You can access my forum through Google by typing in Rodger Tutt.

It may well be that a few members of this form or surfers will be able to benefit from the testimonies of Charles and myself.

May God's blessing rest with your spirit!
From Rodger Tutt in Toronto, Canada
“That God may be All in all” 1Cor.15:28

My name is Rodger Tutt. I am 68 years old. I could have avoided a horrific twelve year nervous breakdown had I known as a youth about the following information concerning what a correctly (literally, not interpretively) translated Bible teaches

You can access my website through Google by typing in Rodger Tutt, or
My website is http://greater-emmanuel.org/Hope4You/

You can also access most of the following writings through Google by typing in the title.

BOOKS THAT SHOW THAT THE BIBLE TEACHES UNIVERSAL SALVATION, THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF WHICH CAN BE READ ONLINE

1. HOPE BEYOND HELL - Gerry Beauchemin (recently published)
http://www.hopebeyondhell.net/index.html
2. CHRIST TRIUMPHANT - Thomas Allin
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/ChristTriumphant.htm
3. THE BIBLE HELL - J.W. Hanson
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/TheBibleHell.html
4. THE ORIGON AND HISTORY OF THE DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT â€" Thomas Thayer
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/OriginandHistory.html
5. THE OUTCOME OF INFINITE GRACE â€" Dr. Loyal Hurley
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/infinitegrace.htm
6. JUST WHAT DO YOU MEAN "HELL" - J. Preston Eby
http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/savior-of-the-world/hell.htm
7. ONE HUNDRED SCRIPTURAL PROOFS THAT JESUS CHRIST WILL SAVE ALL MANKIND - Thomas Whittemore
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/ScripturalProofs.html
8. TWENTY-FOUR SERMONS ON UNIVERSAL SALVATION â€" John Bovee Dods
http://www.tentmaker.org/Bovee2.htm#Top
9. THE SECOND DEATH AND THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS â€" Andrew Jukes
http://www.tentmaker.org/restitutionindex.htm
10. ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY REASONS FOR BELIEVING IN THE FINAL SALVATION OF ALL MANKIND â€" Erasmus Manford
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/150reasons.html
11. THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS â€" J. Patching
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/RichManandLazarus-Patching.html
12. BIBLE TRANSLATIONS THAT DO NOT TEACH ETERNAL TORMENT â€" Gary Amirault
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/GatesOfHell.html
13. AION â€" AIONIOS â€" John Wesley Hanson
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Aion_lim.html
14. BIBLE THREATENINGS EXPLAINED â€" John Wesley Hanson
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/BibleThreateningsExplained.html
15. THE CASE OF JUDAS, ETCETERA
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/asw/Chapter16.html
16. THE PROBLEM OF EVIL â€" John Essex
AND THE ROLE OF THE ADVERSARY â€" James Webb
http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/TheProblemofEvil.html
17. HIS ACHIEVEMENT ARE WE â€" James Coram
http://concordant.org/expohtml/HisAchievement/index.html

I am very sorry that the idea of eternal suffering has caused you anxiety. It is a horrifying thought, but that is why I must speak the truth about what the Bible teaches. Hell is real. I wont try to hide it from people to make them feel better. I must tell them the truth so that by the grace of God they may come to know and accept the truth so that they may not perish. You may be trying to help people or make them feel better, but you are denying the truth that will set them free. You are aiding them in spending eternity in hell. Our God is a loving God, but He is also holy and He must punish sin. If He didn't punish sin, it would mean one of two things, that either He likes sins...which is a scary thought, because that would mean we have a God that enjoys watching us do evil to one another. Which that would be more horrifying then a God who would punish people for wrong doing. Either that, or it would be a God who didn't care that we sin, which would mean that we could do whatever we wanted and get away with it. It would be saying that somebody could molest their own child and God wouldn't care enough to do anything about it. God has to, and will punish sin...and most importantly, we must realize we deserve hell! I deserve hell because I am completely evil. I disobey God's commandments which only shows that I am in rebellion to Him. Same with you, and same with everybody else...we have all spent a life in rebellion to God and therefore deserve hell. But God is merciful and provided a way out for us by sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins so that some of us may not recieve the punishment we deserve. God is good and we must praise Him for what He did on the cross and not accuse Him of doing wrong to man. WE are in the wrong. Do not mislead yourself or other people just to justify the sins of mankind...don't think for one second that you love all the people more then God does! Did you give your life on the cross for them? I pray that God will open your eyes to the truth and I pray that God will not allow your heretical message to turn other people from the truth and lead them directly to the thing you wish to save them from.

But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Luke 12: 5

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. Romans 2: 5

What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath•prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory Romans 9: 22-23

--------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus is the joy of my heart!

To me the important issue is that there is irrefutable evidence that a correct (literal) translation of the Bible teaches universal reconciliation, not endless suffering in hell, or even annihilation.

The writers of the following material all believe that a correct (literal) translation of the Bible teaches universal transformation, not endless suffering in hell, or even annihilation.

First of all there is the TENTMAKER site http://www.tentmaker.org/
In the middle of the front page is THE SCHOLAR'S CORNER. It will
help you deal with every argument against the Bible teaching universal reconciliation.

On the left-hand side is access to several writings that thoroughly refute arguments that support the doctrine of never ending suffering in hell.

At the top, is a very comprehensive search engine. For example, type in the word "eternal". You may be surprised how many pages come up, each page listing ten different articles by teachers of universal reconciliation. There are a total of more than 600 pages each containing access to ten articles per page that refute the idea that the Word of God teaches endless suffering in hell or annihilation for any creature, INCLUDING THE ARGUMENTS IN YOUR POSTING.

Another great UR (universal reconciliation) site is at
http://www.godstruthfortoday.org/
The section called IN THE GARDEN (accessible from the front page) contains so many eloquent, inspirational, Christ-glorifying articles by teachers of universal reconciliation like William Mealand and Donald Hayter, etc.
Then there is THE MAIN LIBRARY (also accessible from the front page) which is LARGE, and contains the writings of MANY teachers of universal reconciliation.

Four scriptural expositions supporting UR are found at
http://concordant.org/expohtml/HumanDestiny/doubts.html
http://concordant.org/expohtml/HumanDestiny/1cor15.html
http://www.godstruthfortoday.org/Library/knoch/ReplyToUniversalismRefuted/refuted1.htm
(copy and paste on address bar in two sections if necessary)
http://concordant.org/expohtml/TheEons/index.html

One of the important tools for believing that the Bible teaches universal
reconciliation is to use a correct (literal) translation of the Bible. Here
are several. The ones on line you don't even have to pay for.

CORRECT TRANSLATIONS ONLINE
CONCORDANT http://www.concordant.org/version/html.html
YOUNG'S LITERAL http://www.auburn.edu/~allenkc/rylt/rylt.html
URIM-THUMMIM http://bibleprophet.com/indexPUTV.html
OTHER CORRECT TRANSLATIONS NOT ONLINE LISTED AT
http://www.members.cox.net/tmurr10/aswundivided.html#10 and
http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/Hell_is_Leaving_the_Bible_Forever.html
I think the Concordant Literal Translation is the most accurate.
Of the versions not online I like ROTHERHAM'S EMPHASISED BIBLE the best.

Here is a chart that you can print off that display what believers in
universal transformation believe that the Bible teaches.
http://www.saviour-of-all.org/ChartOfJudgments.html

Lastly, there is my own personal site. If you click on LINKS on my menu board, it will take you to dozens of UR sites. Some of them are especially good like THE SAVIOUR OF ALL FELLOWSHIP, and THE CONCORDANT PUBLISHING CONCERN. My url is
http://greater-emmanuel.org/Hope4You/

I would also like to mention four scholars that have been an enormous help to me through the years. They commit a large portion of their time on the internet helping people who have problems relating to the Bible teaching universal transformation. You might wish to contact them directly, because they know so much more than I do about the subject.

One is Tony Nungesser at THE SAVIOUR OF ALL FELLOWSHIP tnungesser@adlmi.org
Another is Richard C. Condon at email@godstruthfortoday.org
Another is James Coram at THE CONCORDANT PUBLISHING CONCERN at email@concordant.org
And the fourth is Gary Amirault at TENTMAKER gary@tentmaker.org

We agree that "salvation is fully by the grace of God through faith in Christ Jesus."
But we also believe that EVERYONE will eventually benefit from this grace and will exercise saving faith in Christ according to God's perfect timing for each individual.

From Rodger Tutt in Toronto, Canada
"That God may be All in all" 1Cor.15:28

I am not surprised by the fact that there are others that believe what you believe nor impressed by it. Many people believe what is contrary to Scripture on many different levels. Some by not believing Scripture is God's Word, and others just by completely misinterpreting it. There are more people who don't believe what the Bible teaches then there are that do, but that makes sense considering, "...For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt. 7: 13). If you are trying to say that the Bibles that we can read today, such as the NASB, NIV, ESV, etc. are not translated well enough for us to understand the truth then you do not acknowledge the Sovereignty of God and His ability to get the truth to His people. If you dont believe God is capable of getting the truth to His people then you serve a weak God. The Bible clearly teaches that we should fear God because He will punish sin! It also teaches that we deserve to be punished because we have lived in rebellion to Him. We deserve to be punished and that is the bottom line...that is why we should praise God for saving us! For you to think that God isn't going to punish sin, you are only arguing from the stand point that sin shouldn't be punished. You must not have been convicted of your sins, and you must be very proud to make the argument that God would have no right to punish people for their sins. If God didn't save anyone of us from hell and punished all of us for eternity it would be fair! That is why I praise Jesus for saving me and want others, including you, to know the truth.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus is the joy of my heart!

IMHO, "HIS ACHIEVEMENT ARE WE" by James Coram is the most powerful of all of the many writings in existence that show that a correctly, (literally, not interpretively) translated Bible teaches universal salvation, not eternal torment, or even annihilation.

It can be read in its entirety online at http://concordant.org/expohtml/HisAchievement/index.html

Or, it can be Googled up by typing in HIS ACHIEVEMENT ARE WE

It has seventeen chapters, each chapter having it's own highlighted heading followed by a short introduction.
Just click on the highlighted heading and the entire text of that chapter will appear.

Since I have read many writings, the sum total of which contain every argument in existence in support of the idea that the Bible teaches eternal torment, I am confident that if anyone were to read "HIS ACHIEVEMENT ARE WE" in it's entirety, they would change their mind about their belief that the Bible teaches eternal torment or annihilation.

But, as the saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."

Why are you trying so hard to turn people away from the truth. If we were all going to be saved then it wouldn't matter what I or anyone else believed so why are you trying to turn me from what I believe. Can't you see that Satan is using you to turn people away from the truth so that they might perrish. The most powerful writing of all time is the Bible, and God is the author of that. You should trust God and not man. As far as Bible translations go, I am a Bible college student and my life is spent on studying the Bible. I don't know how to read Greek or Hebrew yet, Greek comes next year; but I know people who can. They can read straight from the original writings and they believe what the Bible teaches. You need to repent, because you are excusing others from repentence and following Jesus and preparing the way for them to spend eternity in God's wrath.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus is the joy of my heart!

The only thing that I really care about Bourne is that all of the arguments in support of the belief that the Bible teaches eternal torment or annihilation that I have ever heard or read during my 68 years of living have been refuted on the tentmaker site posted below. And I’m quite sure that there are no arguments that I have not heard or read.

http://www.tentmaker.org/sitemap.html

I am acquainted with many people who are in various stages of nervous breakdown over their inablility to love a god who would let anyone suffer forever. All of these people are trusting in Jesus for their own salvation, but they cannot help but wonder what God is going to do to them after they are raised from the dead for not being able to love Him.

I try to post my testimony on many forums every day. Consequently I limit my responses to answering the first two or three messages on each board. Please note that the search engine at http://www.tentmaker.org/ is very comprehensive and will probably guide you to an answer to all of your questions when you type in the key word or phrase of each argument or Bible verse.

There are many articles on this TENTMAKER site that demonstrate that the Bible teaches universal salvation, not endless suffering in hell, or even annihilation.

The scholar's corner in the middle of the front page is also very comprehensive, as are Hanson's writings on the left hand side. If none of these satisfy you, you could write to either one of the following four guys.

All four of them have helped me a lot over a period of many years, and probably are able to give you a more satisfying answer than I ever could.

One is Tony Nungesser at THE SAVIOUR OF ALL FELLOWSHIP tnungesser@adlmi.org

Another is Richard Condon at email@godstruthfortoday.org

Another is James Coram at THE CONCORDANT PUBLISHING CONCERN at email@concordant.org

And the fourth is Gary Amirault at TENTMAKER http://www.tentmaker.org/

Regarding the most common argument that the same word for "punishment" is also used for "life" see the following:
All three of these articles should be studied with care, especially the third one.

http://concordant.org/expohtml/TheEons/eon1.html
http://concordant.org/expohtml/TheEons/eon2.html
http://concordant.org/expohtml/TheEons/eon3.html

also see:

http://concordant.org/expohtml/TheEons/aion.html
http://concordant.org/version/tranprin.html

I also would like to leave you with one more link. I am going to guide you to the testimony of a man whose experience was almost identical to mine. Even the thought processes that took him into, through, and out of his breakdown are the same as mine. Only he is much more eloquent in telling his story than I am in telling mine. His name is Charles Slagle.
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Absolute-Assurance-in-Jesus-Christ.html

It may well begin to change your thinking about this whole subject.

The url of my own site is http://greater-emmanuel.org/Hope4You/
God bless you in your study!
From Rodger Tutt in Toronto, Canada
"That God may be All in all" 1Cor.15:28

I want to tell you a little bit about my testimony. I did not become a follower of Jesus until I was 25. Before that time I hated God. One of the reasons I hated God is because I didn't believe that God loved us. I didn't believe it because of how cruel and horrible this world is, and also because I believed that I was on my way to spending eternity in hell because there was no way I could love Him because I hated Him for creating this world. I thought God was an evil and cruel God. My mom is a Christian, and she would talk to me about God. I told her that I would rather spend eternity in hell then to spend 1 second near God. I hated Him that much. She then told me, "Don't say that. It hurts God when you say that." My response was, "Good, that's payback for Him hurting me." I hated God so much that I wanted to spend eternity in hell just to cause Him pain. I figured that was my only way to get back at Him. You see, that is why I deserve hell...it's what I chose. All of us, because of our sin nature are hostile to God, in rebellion to God, and completely disobedient to God. We choose hell every single day. Everything good in my life was given to me by God. Everything bad in my life was from all the other sinners on this planet and mostly from my own sinning. But I was choosing to blame God and diliberately choosing to spend eternity in hell. I deserve hell, and I am sorry to say it, but so does everyone else. God is more merciful for choosing to save some of us in spite of the fact that we would never have chosen Him on our own. It is completely by His mercy, which I know you say you believe. The difference between you and I is that I believe I deserve hell for eternity. I see how evil my own heart is. Many people have misinterpreted what the Bible says, I am just taking God at His Word, and I am not concerned about how other people twist what it says to fit their own agenda. I know that I may sound like a jerk, but I don't mean to. I know I don't seem to care about other people's feelings, but it is only that way because I care more about where they spend eternity. Holiness is more important then happiness. Our happiness then comes from knowing God. Knowing God is the source of true happiness. I have many friends and family, including 2 brothers, who are not followers of Jesus. If they were to die right now they would spend eternity in hell. That breaks my heart, and that is why I must not waste time worrying about everyone's feelings and tell people the truth straight from God's Word. I don't alter it for the sake of people's feelings not because I don't care, but because I do care. I care about you as well. If you can't love Jesus because He promises to punish sin, even though He loves us so much He died on the cross for us to give us the opportunity to be saved, then it only shows how evil your heart is. Is it God's fault that we choose hell? Is it God's fault you and others choose to hate who He truly is instead of telling others the real truth so that they may be saved. I don't say all this to offend you. I am saying all of this so that you may come to know the true grace and mercy of Jesus Christ so that it may be your heart's only desire to worship and praise Him for His goodness! In your belief you have exaulted mankind at the expense of God's glory and you have cheapened His grace. I pray that you may see the errors of your ways before it is too late.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus is the joy of my heart!

So much suffering is caused by the horrific false doctrine of endless suffering in hell, that it gives me great pleasure to guide people to the evidence that a correctly (literally, not interpretively) translated Bible teaches universal salvation, not endless suffering in hell, or even annihilation.

We agree with fundamentalist Christians that we should not believe things that go against Biblical teaching. We don’t.

I'm 68, and I am acquainted with many people who are, or were in various stages of nervous breakdown over their inability to love a god who would let anyone suffer forever. Even though they have embraced Christ and His gospel, they are afraid of what God might do to them after they are raised from the dead for not being able to love Him. The information in my testimony has helped many of these people.

If any member or surfer on this forum is suffering because they are unable to successfully emotionally cope with the idea that God is going to let any creature suffer forever, they can Google up the more than 600 page search engine at the top of the TENTMAKER front page. Just type in a key word or phrase from each argument or scripture passages and ten articles will appear that refute the eternal hell and annihilationist doctrines.

Most fundamentalist Christians are not even aware that there are two sides to the argument about what the Bible teaches.
I have exhaustively studied both sides myself. This debate always ends with the words, "My Greek scholars are more reliable than your Greek scholars," and the result is a stalemate.

If your readers think it glorifies God more to believe that He is going to let some of His creatures suffer forever, then they should keep believing that.
But if they think it glorifies God more to eventually meet everyone on the level of their greatest and deepest need, which is a change in their stubborn will, then I would like them to know that that is exactly what the Bible teaches that God is like.

I am a Concordant Christian. I have read and recorded gleanings into my more than four thousand page personal journal from most of the back issues of UNSEARCHABLE RICHES that has been published back to 1909. Every argument that I have ever heard against the Bible teaching universal salvation have been repeatedly dealt with in these magazines.

Largely, but not exclusively, because of the contents in these magazines, I am convinced that the evidence in support of the Bible teaching universal salvation is irrefutable. That is why the argument that we should teach endless suffering in hell just in case it might be true is unacceptable to me. IMHO the greatest of all manifestations of God's grace in action on this earth is that anyone can believe in "eternal suffering" for anyone and not have a nervous breakdown thinking about it.

Here are several Concordant websites.
http://www.concordant.org/
http://www.saviour-of-all.org/
http://www.godstruthfortoday.org/
http://www.godstruthfortoday.org/Library/index1.html
www.gracetruth.com
http://www.tentmaker.org/

From Rodger Tutt in Toronto, Canada
“That God may be All in all” 1Cor.15:28