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Does Hell Exist? “Hell, No!!” What About Heaven?

Does Hell Exist? “Hell, No!!” What About Heaven?

Last updated on: August 26, 2026 at 9:34 am by Larry Jordan

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Does Hell Exist? “Hell, No!!” What About Heaven? 2026-08-26T09:34:19-05:00 Larry Jordan

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When someone asked progressive firebrand Bishop John Shelby Spong if hell exists, he reportedly exclaimed, “Hell, no!!” Death is almost certainly our greatest fear, our most fundamental anxiety. So, we are eager to embrace any belief system that promises that we can conquer death and experience eternal life.

We are eager to embrace any belief system that promises that we can conquer death and experience eternal life. Immage from Gemini/Ai-generated, in the oublic domain

We are eager to embrace any belief system that promises that we can conquer death and experience eternal life. Image from Gemini/AI-generated, in the public domain

Certainly, it is comforting to think that we might see grandma again someday. Personally, I hope that I will. Practically, I doubt that I will.

All religion is cultural, and all theology is speculation. This article is speculation, too. The intent is to ask clarifying questions. It is NOT to defend my beliefs or to denigrate anyone else’s beliefs. Reasonable people can disagree. As always, you might be right.

Death Is Our Greatest Fear

Hell is usually the first domino to fall for most people who deconstruct from Christianity. How could a just and merciful God condemn humans, created in His image, to eternal conscious torment? And how could anything any of us ever did, said or thought (or failed to do, say or think) justify such a terrible punishment? What type of Father would treat his children this way?

Most people who deconstruct Christianity do NOT question heaven. But how could a just and merciful God subject humans to suffering in this life if it does NOT have any bearing on any next life? So, if we can NOT do or say or think anything that would justify eternal damnation, how could we do or say or think anything that would justify eternal salvation?

Yes, of course, “It’s grace.” But is there such a thing as “grace” if everyone receives it? If everyone receives it, we would call it “life,” not “grace.” It’s just normal stuff.

It seems reasonable to think this life is our only life and that we do NOT get punished or rewarded when we die. But it seems less reasonable to think that this life is a test. Or that it is NOT a test, but we still receive a reward. So, why would God “test” us if everyone receives a passing grade? Why wouldn’t God skip the suffering and start the salvation already? Death is our greatest fear.

In The Way, I wrote, “If we write down all that we ‘know’ about God, we produce a blank piece of paper. We know nothing about God, including whether God exists. All theology is speculation.” And if we do NOT know anything about God, then we can NOT know anything about God’s law, God’s judgment, or God’s punishments and rewards, either.

Heaven is a Good Example of a Doctrinal Daisy Chain

In a doctrinal daisy chain, one belief leads to another belief, which (in turn) leads to another belief, and so on. I wrote about doctrinal daisy chains here. Death is our greatest fear. Recently, an article about heaven defined death as “the separation of the soul from the body.” (Merriam-Webster defines death as “the permanent cessation of all vital functions.” That seems clear enough.)

Does it make sense to define death as the separation of the soul from the body? This definition presupposes substance dualism. This is the idea that we have souls and bodies that can be separated. Some Christians reconcile substance dualism and physical resurrection with a “heavenly two-step.” Our bodies and souls separate when we die. Our bodies and souls reunite at the end of time.

Do we even have souls? What do souls do on earth, when bodies and brains seem to do all of the heavy lifting? What do bodies do in heaven, when bodily functions are seemingly unnecessary? Some Christians reconcile heaven and a New Earth with another heavenly two-step. Heaven is merely a cosmic waiting room, where we “park” our souls until they can reunite with our bodies.

Yes, of course. “Heaven moves to the New Earth.” How is being with God on the New Earth (with a body) better than being with God in heaven (without a body)? How is the New Jerusalem with “streets of gold” helpful to its residents who cannot suffer? If there is no sin in heaven or on the New Earth, do we still have free will? Then why was free will so important for us as mortals?

Have we limited God when we take God out of space and time and place God into space and time? If God is everywhere, why do we need a heaven or a New Earth? And if God was hidden here, where we suffered, why would God be present on the New Earth, where we would NOT suffer?

I wrote about the challenges that UAPs/UFOs suggest to Christian theology here. This is another one. If there is intelligent life on other planets, does everyone spend eternity on the New Earth, even if they never lived on the old Earth? Or are there several New (insert your planets here) where everyone who lived on the old (insert your planets here) spends an eternity?

Will this universe be replaced by a New Universe comprised of New Earth and New (insert your planets here)? What exactly is the need for physical bodies if there is no aging, illness or suffering? How large will the New Earth have to be to support the 120 billion people who once lived on the old Earth?

Heaven is a Good Example of Projection

I embrace Eastern philosophy, mysticism and science. In the East, there is an Absolute aspect of reality, outside space and time, and a relative aspect of reality, within space and time. (Presumably, heaven exists outside space and time, and the New Earth exists within space and time. Why would we ultimately return to a physical place, within space and time?)

We know the ultimate realm as Brahman, the Void and the Tao in Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism, respectively. And we know the relative realm as maya or samsara, form and the 10,000 things in Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism, respectively. We ultimately merge with the Absolute in these traditions. (Theologian Paul Tillich might say that we reunite with the Ground of Being.)

In The Way, I wrote, “Throughout this book, I made a concession to Western readers by repeatedly saying that ‘Everyone is related, and everything is connected,’ as if there are many persons and many things. Ultimately, it seems to me that there is only one person, and He is not a person, or there is only one thing, and It is not a thing.” Essentially, there is no separation.

That is, terms such as “compassion,” “connection,” “love” or “relation” make more sense in the relative realm than in the Absolute realm. If we merge or reunite with the Absolute, who do we love, and with whom are we connected? Jesus might have been alluding to this in Matthew 22:30, when the Sadducees asked about an often-married widow, “Whose wife will she be?” in heaven.

Jesus replied, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” Perhaps we are projecting when we suggest that we will return to a New Earth. Or that we will connect, love or relate in heaven. “As below, so above,” we seem to be saying, when we project the conditions of our actual mortal lives onto our imagined eternal lives.

Does Heaven Exist? “Heavens, No!!”

If we merge or reunite with the Absolute or the Ground of Being, then there is no separation. No doubt, it is difficult to imagine an eternal life without separation. Still, why do we think that heaven makes more sense than hell? Why do we engage in doctrinal daisy chains and heavenly two-steps? Why do we project the conditions of our actual mortal lives onto our imagined eternal lives? And why do we resort to our own made-up definitions of concepts like “death,” which are commonly understood? Why do we try to reconcile seemingly contradictory ideas about the afterlife?

Why would we think that this life is NOT enough for us? Again, we do NOT know anything about God. All we can do is to apply our experience and our intellect to make the most sense of our lives. Maybe we should be grateful we had this wonderful opportunity to spend this wonderful life on this wonderful planet with these wonderful people. Isn’t that enough?

Bishop Spong had something to say about heaven, too. Spong believed that salvation means “to be made whole.” He did NOT believe that we revert to a perfect state that we lost in a Bible story. “You can’t fall from perfection if you’ve never had perfection,” Spong said. “You can’t be rescued from a fall that never happened, or be restored to a status you’ve never possessed.”

Imagine that we could still ask the late Bishop Spong if heaven exists. I suspect that he would exclaim, “Heavens, no!!” Death is almost certainly our greatest fear, our most fundamental anxiety. So, we are eager to embrace any belief system that promises that we can conquer death and experience eternal life. “As below, so above,” we seem to be saying.

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The Way received a 2024 Nautilus Book Award.

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About Larry Jordan

Larry Jordan is a follower of Jesus with a Zen practice. He wrote “The Way,” informed by the Eastern religions, the mystics, and the quantum physicists. "The Way" won a 2024 Nautilus Book Award. You can read more about the author here.

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