Hell: Challenging a somewhat delicate doctrine

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:09 pm by Richard Ostling

Hell: Challenging a somewhat delicate doctrine 2015-03-13T22:09:11-04:00 Richard Ostling

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

PETER IN N.J. ASKS:

(Regarding Rob Bell’s book about hell) I was wondering to what extent his views are or are not new across prominent Christian traditions

THE GUY ANSWERS:

Conservative Christians might have thought “hell’s bells” upon hearing about Bell’s hell. His “Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived” (HarperOne) generated a “Time” magazine cover story, a “New Yorker” profile, and a heckuva reaction. It’s no big deal when liberals pooh-pooh traditional teachings. But Bell won buzz as the pastor of an evangelical megachurch in western Michigan’s Bible Belt who had studied at Wheaton College and Fuller Theological Seminary. He has lately left Mars Hill Bible Church, which suffered some attrition as he shifted leftward, resettled in California, will soon issue another book, and is exploring other projects.

Hell’s torments and the last judgment receive far less attention in the New Testament than Islam’s Qur’an (“on that Day the weighing of deeds will be just. Those whose scales are heavy will prosper; but those whose scales are light are those who lost their souls…”). Analogs are found in the quite different worldviews of Buddhism, Hinduism, and other world faiths. Apparently the need for divine re-balancing after earthly life is a virtually universal idea.

Christian belief about everlasting hell for the ungodly originated with Jesus himself. There’s debate on the relative role of faith and deeds in salvation but most of Christendom officially affirms Jesus’ words. For instance, the Lutherans’ Augsburg Confession (1530) states that Jesus Christ “will give to the godly and elect eternal life and everlasting joys, but ungodly men and the devils he will condemn to be tormented without end.” The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” (1992) declares that “to die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him forever by our own free choice.”

The Gallup Poll reports that 69 percent of Americans believe in hell vs. 81 percent who believe in heaven. But in practice, hell ain’t what it used to be. Its horrors and mysteries inspired poets Dante and Milton, painters like Bosch, composers like Verdi, and preachers like Jonathan Edwards. But today, hell is a rare pulpit topic among conservatives and liberals alike, in line with Johnny Mercer’s sermonic song lyric, “You’ve got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.”

Bell’s sketchy book emphasized that it’s hell on earth when people limit God’s love. He didn’t flatly deny some sort of eternal damnation but hurled doubts: How can God claim to be loving but create millions who spend eternity in anguish? If God wants salvation for everyone but that doesn’t happen is God a failure who doesn’t “get what God wants?” (The orthodox answer is that individuals exercise free will.) As for evangelicals who think God condemns people even if they had no chance to learn about Jesus in this life, Bell quipped, “What if the missionary gets a flat tire?”

Mars Hill denies that Bell advocated “universalism,” the Hitler-in-heaven heresy that says all are saved regardless. Such hopes are nothing new. The pioneer 3d century theologian Origen speculated that God’s love might mean everyone ultimately is redeemed. In the 19th century, the Rev. Starr King defined two liberal groups he served this way: Universalists think God is too good to damn people forever, while Unitarians think people are too good to be damned. Six leading conservatives answered such Bellish thinking in “Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven?” (Zondervan).

Variations: Sidestepping eternal punishment, Jehovah’s Witnesses, among others, assert that in the long run God simply annihilates the unfaithful. Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”) retain an eternal hell but it’s thinly populated due to opportunities in the afterlife to embrace the true faith. Retired Eastern Orthodox seminary dean Thomas Hopko (a high school friend of The Guy) cites theologians who say the “fire” Jesus spoke of is the radiant splendor of God that unbelievers experience as hellish torture while at the same time it’s welcomed by the faithful. “The Great Divorce” (HarperOne, also in Kindle), a clever 1945 fantasy by noted Anglican C.S. Lewis, depicts unbelievers who catch a bus to heaven and can hardly wait to flee God’s presence and return to their hellish humdrum existence.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 18, 2013

Is the Episcopal Church really all that important?

Next Post

February 1, 2013 More on Mormons & Mitt

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: John is the only Gospel that records Jesus washing the disciples' feet.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE