Is God Merciful?

Freethinking Faith writes a great post on whether the orthodox (traditional) understanding of God is truly merciful. Read it all here.

A few snippets:

Strict orthodoxy tells us that God will cast the overwhelming majority of humans who have ever lived into the fire. Millions and millions and millions feeding the ravenous appetite of gehenna, from the earliest Bronze Age hunter to the modern businessman, factory worker and mother.
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Swarms of humanity will go into the fire having lived exemplary, unselfish lives. People who walked sacrificially according to the precepts of their religions. Physicians who worked long hours to relieve the suffering of others. Old women who cradled the village children in their arms and spoke to them kindly about their ancestors. All will wake up in ghastly torment of which they will understanding little or nothing.
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Then there will be many, many professing Christians, those who chose theologically incorrect versions of Christianity. They were Roman Catholics or Unitarians or liberal Episcopalians. They didn't understand the nuances of justification by faith alone or the Trinity. Or they put some trust -- maybe just a particle -- in their own works. So they join heathen and infidel in the furnace.
For millions of Christians, this is the good news, glad tidings. It is sound doctrine that might even garner a Sunday school ribbon. Or a high accolade from one of the faithful: "Yes, he is theologically sound -- sound in the faith. How encouraging to hear someone speak the truth in this age of infidelity. Praise God."