Who Has Hell To Pay? Just Put Your Sins On Credit

Last updated on: April 26, 2017 at 7:33 pm by Paul Louis Metzger

Who Has Hell To Pay? Just Put Your Sins On Credit 2017-04-26T19:33:38-07:00 Paul Louis Metzger

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.

Stefan Lochner, The Last Judgment 1435, Creative Commons

One of the best ways to avoid getting bad credit scores and credit hell is to pay bills on time rather than moving financial burdens around and putting off payments. While many of us know such financial counsel is important, we all too readily defer payments and max out our credit cards. We may even think that someone will either bail us out, or that somehow we will be able to defer on our irresponsible consumer debts ad infinitum to eternity. Those of us who hope for endless deferments would likely experience some form of ‘assurance of salvation’ if we could simply put our ‘sins’ on credit forever. And if by some chance we had to settle accounts, we might simply resort to trying to acquire a new credit card to pay off an old card’s bill.

Something similar happens in the spiritual realm. The only difference is that many of us don’t really think we ever have to settle accounts with God. The thinking goes Who has hell to pay? Just put your sins on credit. After all, Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” has gone out of fashion in Moralistic Therapeutic Deistic circles. It has been replaced often enough by “Consumers on the Lap of a Feel-Good God” (See my use of this phrase in Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church, page 106).

Consumer capitalism is in the societal air we breathe and water we drink. It even shapes our doctrines and expectations of God in various ways. Here I am reminded of Zizek’s point:

Think about the strangeness of today’s situation. Thirty, forty years ago, we were still debating about what the future will be: communist, fascist, capitalist, whatever. Today, nobody even debates these issues. We all silently accept global capitalism is here to stay. On the other hand, we are obsessed with cosmic catastrophes: the whole life on earth disintegrating, because of some virus, because of an asteroid hitting the earth, and so on. So the paradox is, that it’s much easier to imagine the end of all life on earth than a much more modest radical change in capitalism (Taken from the movie Zizek!).

While it may be easier to imagine a cosmic catastrophe than a capitalistic apocalypse, it may be even more difficult to consider a moral apocalypse when God demands payment in full. With this viewpoint in mind, Hebrews 9:27 appears like a very foreign and obsolete currency: “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (ESV).

Against this backdrop, I find surprising, though not disturbing, the perspective of Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad. In discussing the “moral vision” behind the highly acclaimed series, Gilligan says,

“If there’s a larger lesson to ‘Breaking Bad,’ it’s that actions have consequences,” Gilligan said during lunch one day in his trailer. “If religion is a reaction of man, and nothing more, it seems to me that it represents a human desire for wrongdoers to be punished.

“I feel some sort of need for biblical atonement, or justice, or something,” he said between chews. “I like to believe there is some comeuppance, that karma kicks in at some point, even if it takes years or decades to happen,” he went on. “My girlfriend says this great thing that’s become my philosophy as well. ‘I want to believe there’s a heaven. But I can’t not believe there’s a hell.’”

In light of Gilligan’s musings, maybe Jonathan Edwards can jumpstart his career. Now that Breaking Bad has a prequel (Better Call Saul), perhaps Edwards can get a job assisting Gilligan as a screenwriter for the sequel. Here’s hoping it airs before Judgment Day.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

April 24, 2017

At the Crossroads: Medicine, Ethics and Religion, Part 1.

Next Post

April 28, 2017 How Often Do You Take Prayer Requests for Mental Health?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month June 2025 April 2025 March 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 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz