Hell
Oh this is the topic, for me it’s been one of the hardest topics to wrestle with. I’ve put off reading McLaren’s book “The Last Word and the Word After That,”which deals largely (in fact almost solely) with the topic of Hell. Before I began reading the book I spent some time giving thought to my opinions on Hell. (I stop here to wonder if I should capitalize Hell)
I grew up of the opinion that Hell was a physical place where those who didn’t confess Christ as Lord and Savior here on Earth would spend Eternity in torment (physical anguish, fire, etc…). As I grew up a little bit, this just seemed cruel, somewhere around my freshman year in college I changed my opinion to think Hell meant eternal separation from God. I was happy with this opinion until around two months ago. It’s kind of a scary thought, the prospect that a large part of your belief system isn’t quite what you thought it would be.
There are a few things I have noticed about Hell. Scary things. Not the burning in darkness scariness, but the life changing scariness. Before my opinions changed, I spent time thinking about what Hell has become. One of the largest revelations of this said journey came from my realization that Hell, not God, not Heaven, not true life, has become the source of Christian power.
Oh how heretical of me.
So true isn’t it? When we control the futures of people, we not just in essence but in true pure reality control those people. I’m not blaming this on one group, one time frame, or one church, but I’m stating it as an over time revelation that has changed the face of our religion.
Nothing scarred me more as a child then the prospect of going to hell. My God, how terrible that place must be. But, I grew up baptist, so hell fire and brimstone was a regular part of the dialect there, and once surrounded by it, I began to enjoy it.
Yes, I enjoyed it. It’s a common theme among Christian churches (evangelicals even more so). You see, it starts out as our form of vengeance. “This person is treating me wrong, I don’t think a Christian, put two and two together and this person is going to burn.” Thus begins the path down a journey that doesn’t stop unless you put some effort into it.
We move from this status of it’s just where they’ll end up to an idea that we get to pick and choose those who end up “with us” and those who end up “down there.” This turns into a sort of exclusivism that is inherently dangerous toward the very ideals of Christ.
Back to fear. If we cause enough fear in someone we can use that to convert them to our religion. An interesting idea to look at, considering the original truth was love. Christ, when talking to others, he used imagery of love and passion, of hope and redemption.
I’m sure there will be more to come on this topic, but I am headed to class and just needed to throw down a few of my thoughts. Sorry for the incoherentness and disorganization. You’ll have to forgive me.
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