I am writing in response to the editorial by Jeff Zweerink, in Monday’s Daily (Apr. 7), claiming that he knows “the truth.”

While I claim to have no answers myself, I find it disturbing that he thinks he does. Particularly troubling is his assertion that “God’s truth is available to all, no matter what their status in this earthly life.” Is “God’s truth” truly available to everyone? Mr. Zweerink believes it is, he was lucky enough to find it in the Bible. But the question I have is this: Is the truth as set forth in the Bible truly available to everyone?

Did anyone born in North or South America before 1492 have the benefit of the Bible to reveal “the truth” to them? I suppose, some of them would have, such as in the belief of the Latter-day Saints. But the fact is most Christians don’t believe Mormon teachings. So what happened to the souls of these millions who died before the Americas were “enlightened?”

Did God condemn those millions for not following the laws he set down in a Bible that was not available to them? Are they to burn in the everlasting flames of hell? Or are they stuck in eternal Limbo? Would a just, loving God really do that?

Even today, it would be absurd to claim that everyone has the benefit of the teachings of the Bible. Does a child born in a small village in Mongolia, Pakistan, India, the jungles of the Amazon or countless other locations around the globe, truly have access to the “truth of the Bible?” In reality, most are going to go through life without any significant, meaningful contact with the Christian teachings of the Bible.

Even more troubling is the sizable portion of the people who will never even know that the Bible or Christianity exists. Again, are these people condemned to eternal damnation simply because of geographic or social isolation? Why wouldn’t God give the gift that is the Bible to all peoples of the world? Wasn’t Christ’s death on the cross supposed to open the gates of heaven, to all those who accept his father? Acceptance that can only come after some meaningful contact, which for almost all comes through the Bible?

Again, I claim to have no answers, but I am searching. I urge everyone to seek out the answers behind this gift of life, but don’t let blind faith in teachings that were merely passed on by your family or community get in your way. We need to start from the beginning and question everything when we seek the truth.

Finally, we need to accept that not everybody is going to reach the same answer, and that many others may not be fortunate enough to find any answers at all.

Jeff Timmins

Junior

Political Science and History