MY TAKE ON EVERYBODY’S TAKE ON ROB BELL’S TAKE ON HELL

OR…maybe not…maybe just my take on hell.  I was taught all my life to believe in a literal hell and a literal devil, and I firmly believed it.  I was angry when I read that people like Brian Mclaren had begun to question the doctrine of hell.  I thought that he was a heretic who would…bad as I hated to think it…go there.  I was outraged at the newer Bible translations that were “taking hell out of the Bible.”  I was as far from accepting a universalist position as could possibly be imagined.

But then, somehow I found myself questioning this doctrine of hell.  And, to even have these questions scared me to death!  When I found myself wondering about it, I’d try my best to ignore those nagging thoughts.  I’d shove ‘em to the back of my mind and try to not think about them.  I was successful for some time, but finally I came to a place where there was just no other option – it was imperative that I examine my thoughts and questions surrounding hell.  

Once my resistance was slightly lowered (very slightly, mind you), my first reaction was “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it wasn’t true?  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if nobody went to hell?”  Of course, I was still far from believing that, but still…what a joyful thought it was!

I began to tentatively read about the history of hell and the origin of the devil.  I read articles from Tentmaker and articles on the meanings of the different words used for hell and for everlasting/eternal here  and here.  I skimmed (didn't read the whole book!) The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment by Thayer. I read the argument that Universalism was the prevailing doctrine of early Christianity here. I watched a documentary video from the History channel on the origins of hell and a video by MSNBC that told of Carlton Pearson's journey To Hell and Back when he renounced the doctrine of hell.  But I remained far from convinced.  Sometimes when I’d come across something particularly convincing, it would scare me and I'd run back to the safety of majority opinion.  A person can't see something if they're not willing to see it, and at that time I was still not ready to be convinced! 

I'm still far from figuring it all out, and I certainly don't claim to have all the answers.  But one thing I can say is that, after much deliberation, I've come to a very different view of hell than I previously adhered to. 

The first thing that changed dramatically was my understanding of judgment.  I think there's Biblical room to see judgment as something that happens while we are in this life.   Jesus taught that we will reap the consequences of our own actions, and Paul said that we will be rewarded in this very body for the deeds we have done - good or bad (2 Corin. 5:10)!  I also believe that God's chastening is redemptive in nature. I like what Brian McLaren said here about the wrath and judgment of God:  

"...wrath means God's displeasure that allows people to experience the consequences of their negative actions....So if we neglect the poor, there will be crime and revolutionary movements ... If we neglect our children, they'll feel alienated from us, hurting themselves and us. If we neglect the environment, we'll suffer erosion and global warming....And judgment in the conventional narrative means God sending people to hell. But what if this is based on a mistaken understanding? What if judgment means "setting things right," or "restoring justice?" So for God to come as judge to bring judgment would mean God coming to stop the oppressors from oppressing, the polluters from polluting, the violent from plundering, the greedy from hoarding, etc."

I also began to see at a new level that heaven and hell are indeed very real; very literal.  But also that they are both here on this earth - present realities, ways of living we can enter into here and now, as Rob Bell said in Velvet Elvis (p. 147).   Paul taught that the Kingdom of God IS peace and joy, and Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of Heaven is at hand - so close we can reach out and touch it!   I think hell on earth is created when we are consumed by the flames of our own anger and hate, tortured by desires which are never satisfied, and tormented by never-ending fears (1 John 4:18).   In this manner, hell is created, chosen, and lived in.  In this hell of our own making, the smoke of our torment does ascend up forever and ever (continually!) and no rest can be found day or night.  Moreover, we live in this condition in the very presence of the Lamb (Rev. 14: 9-11) oblivious to the rest and peace presently available to us in the Kingdom of Heaven!  

Why do we cling so perniciously to the notion of eternal conscious torment?  I think we live in that fear because deep down we believe God's goodness and love for all creation is simply too good to be true. We just find it too difficult to believe that God could be that good, that evil could actually be overcome with good, and that the worst of us could be won over with Love.   Others have written much more eloquently than I ever could in favor of God's triumph and ultimate reconciliation of all things, so I won't say more on that front.  The above mentioned resources are excellent, Richard Beck wrote beautifully on the subject here and here, and entire lists of articles and books can be found here and here.

But I do believe that Scripture teaches that hell will not prevail, that all enemies will be defeated, and that ultimately all things in heaven and in earth will be gathered together in the Christ.  I believe "all" means "ALL," and I hope Rob Bell comes out in Love Wins with a strong elucidation that lives up to the book's title. 

MAKING ROOM FOR QUESTIONS

Cartoon: Lost at Sea

Lately, I’ve been frequenting some blogs written by self-described Christians who are deep in the throes of doubt or ex-Christians who are now skeptics, agnostics, heretics, and/or atheists.  While some are quite comfortable in their present position, many tell heart-wrenching stories of doubt, inner turmoil, fear.  Why is this topic of interest to me?  Because for the past ten years or so, I have been going through a period where I have questioned everything. 

M. Scott Peck says that people entering Stage III in the spiritual journey begin to question the religious doctrines with which they were raised: 

Stage III Skeptic, Individual, questioner, including atheists, agnostics and those scientifically minded who demand a measurable, well researched and logical explanation. Although frequently "nonbelievers," people in Stage III are generally more spiritually developed than many content to remain in Stage II. Although individualistic, they are not the least bit antisocial. To the contrary, they are often deeply involved in and committed to social causes. They make up their own minds about things and are no more likely to believe everything they read in the papers than to believe it is necessary for someone to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior (as opposed to Buddha or Mao or Socrates) in order to be saved. They make loving, intensely dedicated parents. As skeptics they are often scientists, and as such they are again highly submitted to principle. Indeed, what we call the scientific method is a collection of conventions and procedures that have been designed to combat our extraordinary capacity to deceive ourselves in the interest of submission to something higher than our own immediate emotional or intellectual comfort--namely truth. Advanced Stage III men and women are active truth seekers.  (The entire article can be read here.)

This doesn’t sound like such a bad experience on paper.  But in the nuts and bolts and guts and gore of real life, the transition can be an earth-shattering experience that affects all aspects of our beings - emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual, and social.   And to make matters worse, many who enter this stage don’t know what’s happening to them.  I know I didn’t – for the first time since I became a Christian, I didn’t know where I was spiritually.  I had always been a person of great faith, what was happening to me?  I felt lost and alone in a great sea of questions.  I ran from the questions that kept arising, and tried to fight the questions that I was unable to suppress.  Adding to the difficulty, in my opinion, is that the majority of churches are at Stage II (Formal, Instutional, Fundamental, threatened by anyone who thinks differently from them), and so there is no place in these churches where people are allowed to ask questions.  So not only do we have all these questions, but there's no safe place to ask them - we have have people all around us who think we're falling into heresy.  In fact, I was actually "churched" as it's called here in the Bible belt.  It makes a scary place even scarier! 

 In my lonely “dark night,” I grasped at anything that might shed light and help to give me understanding about what I was going through.  I read Madame Guyon and Saint Teresa.  I read the writings of George Fox and Watchman Nee.  And while all these were helpful to some extent, they also seemed to be dark writings presented in antiquated language, difficult to understand from my 21^st century perspective.   After that, I discovered the writings of contemporary mystics like Evelyn Underhill and Father Thomas Keating which explained a lot.  And thank God for the internet – I did find other crazies there, and that was of some comfort. 

I think one of the challenges is if we dare to question, if what we have previously known is NOT true, then what are we left with? Nothing? It sure feels that way… But there is a time for everything, even a time to tear down (Ecc. 3:3)…or, to use the contemporary term, deconstruct.  We must be willing to subject our adolescent faith to questions in order to make the transition into a more mature level of faith. I don’t claim to have all the answers; I’m still very much in transition myself. But I did come to a place where I stopped resisting the questions. I can remember thinking, “I’m just gooooing…” And everything as I had known it did crumble. (I won’t go into specifics – you might think me a heretic!)

I have been very fortunate that I came into what I can only term “a new place” in which I’ve found a greater faith; a greater certainty.  I like to think that at last I’m moving into Stage IV, into a more mature faith (I wrote about some of this here).  But I realize, as well, that even that is only the beginning.  And while I think I’ve been through the period of intense questioning that the skeptics describe on their blogs, I wonder.  My doubts may be as nothing compared to theirs!  In either case, I think Brian McLaren is correct in what he says in the trailer for his soon to be released book Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words: “After we complete the four stages once, we go through them again and again, each time at a higher or deeper level.”

Peck says "Knowledge of these stages is so important because it facilitates the acceptance of others even though they may be in different places spiritually." Doubt is natural; doubt can even be very good and necessary for growth.  There is a great need to make room in our diverse faith communities for people on all levels of the spiritual journey, even the skeptical level!  And I think that’s what the emergent church folk are doing – they don’t claim to have all the answers, but they ARE trying to make a place where people can feel free to ask some of their questions.  

Update!  This "late-breaking video" just in from Reflections blog.  I just had to borrow it and add it to this post.  I realize it's an extreme example, but it is a sad example of what happens when there is no room for questions..."Westboro Baptist Church Family Disowns Daughter"