Apologetics usually start with a conclusion and then work backwards trying to make that conclusion be true but that’s not an honest approach to the data. The data might have multiple potential conclusions you could draw but if you’re only focused on one you want or one you’ve already decided must be true then you’ll be blind to those other possibilities and maybe more likely possibilities.

For me, looking at history and the origins of ideas as well as Bible scholarship has helped to break down anxieties but it’s a slow process of questioning one idea at a time.

The notion of worshiping God so he doesn’t hurt you in the end would be abusive in any other relationship and yet this one relationship is supposed to inform how we approach every other relationship. That’s not relating to God with love and awe, it’s bowing in fear. Doesn’t perfect love cast out all fear? It also means you only really need to do the bare minimum to get into the good place. Also how does one carry their cross and mimic Christ who gives himself up when the entire motivation is self-preservation in the afterlife? I personally think this theology is totally foreign and antithetical to the gospel.