One God, Millions of Views
The process I utilized to discover clarity regarding my quest for relativity in today’s culture was searching various authors, titles and doctrines to gain knowledge. I spent a lot of time churning internally with God about this issue of God’s nature of love, hell and how to do church in this culture without becoming watered-down. I compared those with traditional views of a literal, eternal hell to those whose views tend toward Christian universalism by considering the voices of the early church fathers to some voices of today. This helped me to also consider the questions ecumenically and be able to appreciate our differences and find our commonalities. I found this to be overwhelming because once I was convinced of a certain belief, the next section made me question the whole path once more. The details of this conversation will, I think, remain a mystery until my own face-to-face meeting with God, but I feel it is essential to begin rethinking hell and how we communicate about it in this modern world.
In Everything Belongs, Richard Rohr explained, “What we know about God is important, but what we do with what we know about God is even more important. Too often people think it is necessary that we all see God in the same way (which is impossible anyway), but what is really necessary is that we all follow God according to what God tells us…God is not threatened by differences. It’s who we are.”[1] I feel this statement is an anchor for this dialogue because my heart is to explore the best way I can follow what I feel God saying to me for the sake of the people I am called to minister to in my own unique path. I believe the body of believers works best when we are not conforming to each other, but rather being transformed into the image of Christ within us!
Views on Hell
In All You Want to Know About Hell, Steve Gregg researched hell through three main streams. He explained, “The traditional view, according to which the damned will suffer everlasting punishment for their sins; the annihilationist (conditionalist) view, according to which the damned will simply be put out of existence forever; and the restorationist view, according to which all human sinners will in the end be reconciled to God.”[2]Additionally, the Four Views on Hell, a compilation of different voices surveyed hell through four unique views: literal, metaphorical, purgatorial, and conditional. They explained that the literal view is comparable to the orthodox beliefs that the wicked will suffer an eternal punishment with no relief. The metaphorical view is like the literal view, in that it is believed that the wicked will not inherit redemption or blessing, but their sentencing of judgement is not taken literally as referred to in the Bible. The purgatorial view is most identified with the Catholic church and offers a period for those with unconfessed sins to be purified and readied for Heaven’s gates, although still some are eternally punished. The fourth view they described was conditional, in which hell may be either temporary or a place of total annihilation, where there will not be consciousness of suffering, but those who are wicked will simply die. [3]
Voices on Hell
Rob Bell’s sentiments about hell were in contrast to traditional theology. Bell stated, “Hell is our refusal to trust God’s retelling of our story.”[4]He explained, “It (the story) begins with the sure and certain truth that we are loved. That in spite of whatever has gone horribly wrong deep in our hearts and has spread to every corner of the world, in spite of our sins, failures, rebellion, and hard hearts, in spite of what’s been done to us or what we’ve done, God has made peace with us. Done. Complete. As Jesus said, ‘It is finished.”[5]
In Erasing Hell, Francis Chan shared as a sharp contrast to Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins. Chan holds a traditional view of hell, taking the scriptures literally in every way and took despair in resolving that those who do not repent will suffer eternal torment. Chan minimalized Origen, one of the first century leaders who believed in the end all would be saved through Christ, “The most famous proponent of Universalism was an early church leader named Origen (ca. AD 185–254.) Chan continued with defenses against him stating, “…Origen’s beliefs were later deemed heretical, but this didn’t stop others from embracing the view that everyone will be saved—though advocates were always a minority. In fact, for over 1,600 years, hardly any major theologians argued that everyone will be saved. This all began to change in the 1800s, when several thinkers resurrected Origen’s beliefs and put them back on the table.”[6]Although, I disagreed with Chan in many ways, I appreciated how passionately and compassionately he shared his views which came from a genuine wrestle with the texts and with God.
Historical Shifts
One of the most interesting variants I found dealt with a survey conducted in 1968 by Lee Sigelman on the religious beliefs of various nations. The findings revealed that people in the United States and westernized nations had a higher rate of belief in hell, the devil and an eternal punishment compared to those in European countries who had similar beliefs in God.[7]This confirmed the reality that as Christianity moved west; fear, damnation and eternal punishment attached to the glorious gospel of grace. The rhythms of grace and love were overtaken by power and control which slowly began infecting an invitation to dance with God into a religious form of fire insurance and control. Rohr, in Everything Belongs explained that the early church fathers believed in universal restoration and proclaimed, “The real meaning of the resurrection of Christ was that God’s love was so perfect and so victorious that in fact in would finally win out in every single person’s life.” [8]It was later in history that this became skewed as the surveys revealed to us. Again, I wonder, what happened to the soul of Christianity?
Alone or Together?
Lloyd Ratzlaff noted that we have lost our sense of community and have become hyper-individualized even when thinking about our own salvation. He explained, “The popular evangelical conception of salvation as an almost exclusively intra-personal phenomenon was shown to be the result of a shift in Christian thought which fails to do justice to the emphasis of the Apostle Paul. Paul's concern was demonstrated to be the integration of the Gentiles into the messianic community…and not merely to posit by means of Law-justification theology the solution to the problem of a plagued conscience and assurance of personal acceptance by God.”[9]Similarly, Howard Burkle examined the reality of Christ’s work being done for all, that God chose to become one with humanity and there is a responsibility to that reality as it is now a part of our history.[10]I found this to be an interesting way of thinking as incorporating collectivism vs. individualism into the argument around the salvific experience because we are becoming an ever-increasing isolated culture. As I consider the church of the present and future, I feel this is a significant consideration for how we convey the message of salvation. I feel that our culture has become “all about me” and has lost sight of neighbor and lost a village mentality in exchange for self-preservation. I feel strongly that moving forward we need to come back to caring for one another and all of creation! Imagine that you are in a town that receives abundant resources during a time of need and you know that there is another community desperate nearby, but you think to yourself, “I am saved, so nothing and no one else matters! It’s all good, because I am good!” In the same way, Jesus did not die for one, but made provision for all and there is more than enough for every heart to experience this gift! Imagine how this might impact our methods of evangelism…
Is God a Hypocrite?
Several authors noted that Jesus commands us to love our enemies consistently throughout the gospel to which they brought out an interesting point: if Jesus commands us to love our enemies, how much more does God do the same thing to those who consider themselves enemies after death. Talbott argued that he found it impossible to follow a God who was less kind and loving than his own parents.[11]Steve McVey shared his sentiments, “The grace of God will continually appear to become bigger and more beautiful as we grow. Grace is the expression of Love Himself, and since he is infinite, it seems reasonable to assume that we will spend time and eternity discovering more and more about the vastness of the subject. Will we ever cross the finish line when it comes to knowing grace?”[12] I do not think we will, as the scriptures throughout promise us grace upon grace, mercy and love everlasting! I believe God will be true to God’s own commands, and not only true, but will perfectly fulfill them!
Yes, there is a hell…
Eric Stetson, in Christian Universalism: God’s Good News for All People provided helpful explanations of the heart of Christian Universalism. He explained his perspective on the purpose of hell and I am beginning to agree with this point of view. He stated, “…hell is temporary, a reformative punishment rather than vindictive and eternal. It is a question of the purpose of hell, not the existence of hell…Or is hell a way that God purifies us for our imperfections, destroying the sinful nature within us to set us straight, putting us through some necessary corrective experiences such that we may understand and can improve ourselves and be made ready to enter heaven…Nobody wants to go through any type of hell, but hell is real for unrepentant sinners; it’s just not a permanent state of being.”[13] I believe as some scholars have made the connection that hell is God’s purifying fire that will burn away any remaining dross that keeps humanity from embracing and receiving God’s pure love. I believe this fire will destroy all things that are wicked and will ready all people to be made alive in Christ one day! I believe wholeness and restoration will happen for all people, but after a time of purifying in the fire of God’s consuming presence. Of course, it is better to repent and deal with our sins before so we can experience quality of life and not only have eternal life!
No Love Like God’s Love
Vernon Grounds wrote and utilized Barclay’s theology when discussing God’s great love towards humanity. He explained, “There are no incorrigible sinners; God has no permanent problem children…The Good Shepherd insists on finding the hundredth sheep. The mercy of God, says the Bible, is everlasting and love never fails…I believe that it is impossible to set limits to the grace of God. I believe that not only in this world, but in any other world there may be, the grace of God is still effective, still operative, still at work…I believe that the grace of God is as wide as the universe.” [14]I wonder how evangelism might explode in our cities if we carried this message to the lost? Stetson agreed and simply said, “God never gives up on anyone; he has a plan to make all things right.” [15]This is what love looks like and this what good news sounds like! Imagine the magnitude of renewal if we proclaimed this deep love to all we met!
I Believe (at least for now)
I believe and confess that God is truly a loving God, not only loving in action but love is who actually God’s core nature for as the writer in 1 John said, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love(1 Jn. 4:8, NIV). In The Divine Dance, Richard Rohr explained,
“God does not decide to love…and God’s love can never be determined by the worthiness or unworthiness of the object. But God is Love itself. God cannot not love, because love is the nature of God’s very being.”[16]I believe that in the beginning God created humans in God’s own image for the purpose of inviting us into community, the perichorisisor circle dance of love, traditionally known as the Holy Trinity. In the moment of creation, God opened God’s own heart to us, and ultimately through Jesus on earth, who would be God in human form with us and the promised Spirit, who now dwells within us. All throughout the biblical text, history and my own personal experiences I believe God, in everlasting mercy and kindness has made a way for full restoration and for each one of us to belong in this community.
I believe and affirm the words of Paul, “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor. 15: 21-21). I believe that because we have all died in Adam, without choice, but due to the natural order of our spiritual lineage, so God will raise all of us in life through God’s own provision in Jesus. I agree with George Macdonald’s declaration in The Evangelical Universalist stating, “Paul does not think that this redemption is something that God hopes will come to pass in the future. He maintains that it is something already accomplished in Christ. In Christ the whole of creation is already reconciled!”[17]
I believe that spiritually all will be restored to fullness because of the all-sufficient love offering on humanity’s behalf through Christ. I believe that hell is a mystery, but I believe it is a place of God’s purifying love, which burns away the remaining echo of the old nature and readies every heart and knee to bow before King Jesus, for as the writers in Deuteronomy and Hebrews said, God is a consuming fire (Deut. 4:24, Heb. 12:29).
I believe that God’s love does not stop at hell, but it goes into the very depths of hell to restore all that was broken and makes us completely whole, therefore hell becomes not a place of eternal separation between God and some humans, but another provision of connection back to God, destroying all that is evil. I am becoming convinced in the same way as Paul described, “…that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35-39).
To be continued in part 2: "No Greater Love"
Footnotes:
[1]Richard Rohr. Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer.(New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 2003), 128.
[2]Steve Gregg. All You Want to Know About Hell: Three Christian Views of God? Final Solution to the Problem of Sin. (Thomas Nelson, 2013, Kindle edition), Loc. 28.
[3]Zondervan. Four Views on Hell(Counterpoints: Bible and Theology). (Zondervan, 2010, Kindle edition), Loc. 67.
[4]Rob Bell. Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.(New York: Harper-Collins Publishers, 2011), 170.
[6]Francis Chan. (Erasing Hell. What God Said About Eternity, and the Things We’ve Made Up. Colorado Springs: Kingsway Communications, 2011), Loc. 3762.
[7]Lee Sigelman. "Multi-Nation Surveys of Religious Beliefs.” (Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 16 no. 3, 1977), --.
[9]Lloyd W. Ratzlaff. “Salvation: Individualistic or Communal?” (Journal of Psychology and Theology, 4 no. 2, 1976), 108.
[10]Howard R. Burkle. “Jesus Christ and Religious Pluralism.” (Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 16 no. 3, 1979), 465.
[12] Steve, McVey. Beyond an Angry God.(Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2014), 21.
[13]Eric Stetson. Christian Universalism: God’s Good News for All People. (Sparkling Bay Books, 2008),68-69.
[14]Vernon Grounds, “The Final State of the Wicked.” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society, (24 no. 4 1981), 211,212.
[16]Richard Rohr. The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation.(New Kensington, Pennsylvania: Whitaker House, 2016), 185.
[17]Macdonald, Gregory. The Evangelical Universalist, Second Edition. (Eugene: Cascade, 2012) Loc. 1600.
When it comes to the belief in Hell there is another option to be considered since we have all been created in Gods image,
it goes to reason that we all have some of Gods creative powers and just as all of us have been given "Free Will" we also can create our own destinies,
since all scriptures have been created by man with some divine inspiration, this same Man also has a free will that may or may not be influenced by the superstitions and fears of each era that drives his beliefs,
so if you are inclined to believe that you have sinned to the point of going to Hell, you shall go there for a brief time, it will be one that you have created,
also believing that you sow as you reap will bring you back to another earthly experience to atone for any possible indiscretions in the form of reincarnation to re-establish the cosmic balance,
returning for another life in order to set right a wrong that you may have done may in itself be considered a Hell of sorts,
we are all God's children and we have been given the opportunity to learn on this planet and it is unreasonable to expect it to be done perfectly on the first try,
returning, again and again, is God's version of "tough-love" that we need to understand and embrace.
Posted by: Lance | July 05, 2020 at 05:20 AM