What about Hell?
I'm amazed, as I read more and study more and listen more, at how many different interpretations about hell there among members of the Christian faith. It is absolutely mind-blowingly incredible to hear that people throughout the ages have had so many different thoughts about hell: about whether or not it is a real place, about what Jesus meant when he said this or that, about what happens when we die.
I'm beginning to think that we as Christians need to re-evaluate our concept of hell, which may or may not lead to a revision of doctrines relating to hell. What does that mean for the church? I think great things. I know that for as long as I can remember I've thought that becoming a Christian because of fear of going to hell just didn't cut it. I mean, I guess it cut it. Well, then, maybe it's not for me to decide if it cuts it.
Either way, it seems as though, through centuries that hell has become more about winning than anything else. There must be someone going to hell, or how else are those going to heaven differentiated. When Jesus talked about what we call (read: translate as) hell, more often than not it seems as though he was referring to a real place (namely Gehenna, the town dump of Jerusalem). It was a place where the fire never went out (because of the need to burn garbage), where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth (as the wild dogs would whimper, cry, and fight each other for prized food items), and where it was just generally a not-nice place to be.
And the gates of Hades . . . that was a real place too. There were gates and they were at a place called Hades.
There's a great sermon that talks about hell (Rob Bell's Jesus Wants to Save Christians III - from http://www.mhbcmi.org), and the book The Last Word and the Word After That both deal with these things fantastically.
I'm not saying there isn't a hell, or anything like. I'm saying that I really believe that we have a screwed up idea of what it is, and what it means, and that we need to review it for ourselves and not just take what we're fed.
Anyway, this will probably be controversial, and I probably haven't explained myself very well. But I will. I'm still thinking about this pretty intensely.
Grace,
Des
2 comments:
Hey Des,
This is cool stuff. Keep sharing.
By the way the "Gates of Hades" was a plot of land that led to a cliff, which had a large crevice in it that was filled with spring water. The pagan worshipers believed that the "unknown spirits" would come into the world through this kind of water and they would call the passage way or spring the "Gate to the Unknown Spirits," which is the literal translation of the Gates of Hades.
You can see the picture and get more info from www.followtherabbi.com.
Rob Bell also talks about it in his book "Velvet Elvis".
Grace and peace,
Johnny
It's good that you are thinking about this... we wouldn't be good Christians if we just took what was told to us and didn't ask questions... the questions, even if they don't have real answers, make us stronger in our faith, yeah?
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