I've yet to go to Hell and back -- Hell, Michigan that is!
With that bit of humor I thought I'd weigh into the big debate surrounding hell and universal salvation that has been stirred up by Rob Bell's yet to be released book entitled Love Wins
(Harper One, 2011). I've yet to read the book, so all I can go on is the video, which I've already posted, and the Harper publicity efforts that promise a provocative read (one thing people need to understand about the publishing industry is that if they hope to sell books in this day and age, then publishers have to get provocative).
With that said, I'd like to ask a question: Why are people making such a big deal about Hell (not the village in Michigan this time)? Why do some people think that without a doctrine of Hell the Christian faith crumbles?
If you read the New Testament closely you'll notice that they give at least some attention to an afterlife. Resurrection is an important doctrine in early Christianity. The promise of union with God in the heavenly realm figures prominently in the gospel proclamation. If heaven is part of the equation, so is judgment.
From the earliest days of Christianity there have been differences of view regarding God's ultimate purpose for humanity. Some voices seem to hold out the promise of a universal reconciliation (e.g. Rom. 5:18), while others believe that at the very least those who do not believe in Christ will cease to exist (annihilation) if not eternal torment in hell. I won't go into details here about the nature of all these positions, lets just all agree that there are texts in Scripture that promise judgment and punishment (whatever that may entail). I will only add that the picture that is in the minds of many as to what this eternal punishment owes more to Dante's Inferno than to Scripture.
I understand that there are texts that seem to promise eternal punishment and that theologians have taught it down through the ages. I've been part of the conservative evangelical community. But, having that said this, I want to ask the question: why all the fuss about Hell?
The answer most will give has to do with God's justice or God's honor. Some might even ask why Jesus even needed to come to earth if there is no hell to rescue people from. When I was teaching this to college students years ago, one of the responses was simply -- if there's no hell then why bother being a Christian? I mean if there is no threat of punishment why bother with religion?
The answer most will give has to do with God's justice or God's honor. Some might even ask why Jesus even needed to come to earth if there is no hell to rescue people from. When I was teaching this to college students years ago, one of the responses was simply -- if there's no hell then why bother being a Christian? I mean if there is no threat of punishment why bother with religion?
I'll confess here and now that I don't believe in hell and I've not believed in hell for close to 30 years. I abandoned this belief a long time ago (back when I was studying at an evangelical seminary) for several reasons, one of which was that I didn't find the idea of an immortal soul present in Scripture. Therefore, if one experiences judgment, and then fire, then shouldn't you cease to exist? But ultimately there was another reason why I could no longer abide the idea that God consigned human beings to eternal punishment in hell. I could not square this belief with the confession that God is Love.
So, although I've not read the book, I'm in agreement with the title of Rob Bell's book -- Love Wins. Think about it for a moment. Jesus tells us to love not just our neighbors but our enemies (Matt. 5:38-48). If God expects us to love our enemies and do good to them and for them, then should we expect less of God? If we believe that a parent's love should be unconditional (yes there's room for discipline, but discipline is designed to restore not exclude) then should we expect less of God? I simply cannot fathom the idea God's sense of honor or justice is somehow enhanced by the eternal punishment of someone for simply because they either didn't hear the gospel or didn't find it compelling (because of our lives and presentations of it). If Jesus rejects the "proportionate justice" of an "eye for an eye" then what manner of evil does it take on our part to deserve eternal punishment in a place called Hell? How does this enhance God's majesty or glory or honor? If this is heresy, then so be it?