Hm. That's not the feel I got from it; rather, it appeared to me the message was "this all seems like it's pretty much hopeless and pointless unless you come on up to the house."

(shrug)

I'm hardly an expert, but I've always vaguely thought the 20th-century gospel message was pretty self-improvement-y. The whole "complete dismissal of this life in favor of the next" thing reads more medieval/early-modern to me.

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
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Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.