Hell is a pretty much Christian concept. In the Hebrew scriptures, it talks about
punishment of the wicked, but it describes that punishment in strictly physical
terms. Christians point to Jesus and the
book of Revelation who speak of the eternal fire and eternal punishment.
The basic idea of hell is this: If you live before God, you
are safe from judgement. But if you
screw up royally in your life, then you spend eternity being tortured for your
screw ups. This is the justice of God.
Many have pointed out some difficulties with this concept.
Can this really be called justice? Let’s
take a pretty typical screw up: You sleep with your boyfriend before
marriage. Your body is filled with
sexual desire, and it is a naturally human thing to want to have sex, but God
says you need to wait for marriage, and so you screwed up. Because of this error, even if you had no
other error, you still screwed up, which
means that even if you never screwed up in any other way, you will still
be tortured for eternity for this one mess up, no matter how natural it seemed
at the time. And Christians call this
exchange of a single sin for an eternity of torture justice.
This crazy way of thinking isn’t why Christians are
wrong. It’s just a description of how
they think.
The reason they are wrong is because they just don’t
understand God. The most common
description of God in the Bible is this one: “Compassionate and gracious, slow
to anger and full of merciful faithfulness, forgiving to thousands of
generations.” In summary, God is
love. He isn’t a judging God who
punishes people because they look the wrong way. Rather, he is a kind Father who leads people
in the right way, and offering forgiveness for their sins. Jesus said that he didn’t come to earth to
punish people, but to show them how to love.
This doesn’t mean that the Bible doesn’t talk about God as
judgmental. He’s got plenty of room to
judge people. But it is interesting the
kinds of people Jesus says will be condemned.
Those who judge others. Those who
live out lives separated from love. Those who take innocent people, who don’t
know much better, and condemn them to such a degree that they will fall away
from love. God is love and God relates to people who show
mercy, and those who condemn and don’t forgive and hate are the people who God
will judge.
There is one other group that Jesus says will be especially
judged. That is hypocrites. A hypocrite, according to Jesus, isn’t just
someone who says one thing and does another.
A hypocrite is specifically a person who talks about God and God’s
mercy, but lives out hate and condemnation.
It seems that Jesus, when he talks about hell, is really talking about a
place for Christians. Maybe not all
Christians, but specifically the kind of Christians who talk about a God of
love, but condemn people for not being like them.
Seems like the people who talk the most about hell are
people whom hell is being prepared for.
Bible verses about God:
Exodus 34:6; Psalm 86:15; Psalm 103: 8,9; Psalm 145:9; Eze 18; Isaiah 30:18; Isaiah 54:8; Matthew 5:43-47; I John 4:7-8
Exodus 34:6; Psalm 86:15; Psalm 103: 8,9; Psalm 145:9; Eze 18; Isaiah 30:18; Isaiah 54:8; Matthew 5:43-47; I John 4:7-8
Jesus talking about who will be judged: Matthew 13:31-42; Mark 9:41-42.
There are some many reasons why Christians are wrong about hell, but it depends on who you ask (there is no hell, only ‘bad people’ go to hell, I believe Jesus existed so I am not going to hell, you can earn your way out of hell, you can work off your non-mortal sins in purgatory, etc.) . I think your article might be great for a discussion point, but isn't more beneficial to talk about the truth of hell, and how we can prevent people from going there?
ReplyDelete1) There is a hell: Hell is mentioned 167 times in the Bible, sometimes called Gehenna, Hades, the pit, the Abyss, or everlasting punishment (Prov 7:27, Luke 8:31, Luke 10:15, 2 Thess 1:9). Jesus spoke of heaven and hell as real places (Matt 13:41–42, Matt 23:33; Mark 9:43–47; Luke 12:5). The story Jesus told about the rich man and Lazarus was an actual event that demonstrated the reality of the two eternal destinations (Luke 16:19–31). Heaven is the dwelling place of God (2 Chron 30:27) where Jesus has gone to “prepare a place” for those who love Him (John 14:2). Hell was created for “the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41). But because every human being is a sinner, every person past the age of accountability has already been condemned to hell (Rom 3:10;5:12;John 3:18). We all deserve hell as the just punishment for our rebellion against God (Rom 6:23).
2) We will all be judged, both Christian and not: Those who do not believe in Christ will meet Him at at the Great White Throne of judgment (Rev 20:10-20) and be judged for there sins. Those who do believe in Jesus will meet Him at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Cor 3:11-15) and will be judged for their works after salvation, not their sins. Their sins were washed away because they had received Jesus as Savior.
3) Jesus is the only way not to go to hell: Jesus was clear that “no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:3). He was also clear that hell is an eternal punishment for those who do not obey Him (Matt 25:46). 2 Thessalonians 1:8–9 says that in the end God “will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” John the Baptist said about Jesus, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt 3:12).
4) Belief in Jesus is more than knowing about Him: John 3:18 explains in the simplest terms who will go to heaven and who will go to hell: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” So, those who go to hell are specifically those who do not believe in Jesus’ name. To “believe” goes beyond a mental recognition of the truth. To believe in Christ for salvation requires a transfer of allegiance. We stop worshiping ourselves, we forsake our sin, and we begin to worship God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:36–27;Mark 12:30).
5) God wants us in Heaven with Him: God desires that every person spend eternity with Him (Matthew 18:14;2 Peter 3:9), but He honors our free will (John 4:14). Anyone who so desires can go to heaven (John 1:12). Jesus already paid the price for our salvation, but we must accept that gift and transfer ownership of our lives to Him (Luke 9:23). Heaven is perfect, and God cannot take anyone there who insists on holding on to his or her sin. We must allow Him to cleanse us of our sin and make us righteous in His sight (2 Corinthians 5:21). John 1:10–12 shows us the problem and the solution: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
Sorry for not posting your comment sooner, I've been busy. :)
DeleteThat's a pretty thorough comment. Perhaps you already had it prepared or on another blog? If so, please post your link!
I agree that hell exists, but I don't think it is people who "believe" anything that go there. If you look at my next post "Why Christians are wrong about judgement" you'll see my points there.
I agree that "faith" is more than knowing, and that it has to do with allegiance. However, I think that most Christians don't understand that, or at the very least, don't act like that. But I'll discuss that more when I talk about faith. And I'll do one on heaven as well.
Thanks for the response