Wednesday, June 08, 2011
On Hell
What if there were no punishment and destruction outside of what we call "natural" consequences? What if our conception of hell is just a concept? Is it useful? Does it work? What if the purpose of God's "barking" against sin is to draw me away from danger, to draw me into relationship and community? Does that bark need a bite?
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Interesting thoughts. I feel like I've asked myself similar questions. A number of ways of approaching them have come to me in the past few years.
Are you familiar with the idea of Christian universalism? It was popular among some of the patristic fathers, including Origen (who, admittedly, did believe some pretty funky things ... I think he also castrated himself). The idea was that all people would one day experience salvation, including people who had never accepted Christ. People who were estranged from Christ would just have to undergo more purification in order to finally be able to embrace Him. Perhaps a million years in purgatory. This idea doesn't necessarily have a Biblical basis, but it offers a certain appeal.
Another idea I've encountered is the close connection between fire and purification. In the Bible, these two concepts frequently appear in conjunction. "Hell" fire, then, is less about eternal damnation and more about people going through the flames of God's love to be purged of everything in them that is not of God. Does God seek to punish us to discipline us and grow us, or out of a spirit of retribution?
I've also been driven to consider what the significance of hell is in my call to lead others to Christ. One of the few relationship I've maintained from high school is with a girl who currently goes to PSU and lives with parents who will soon be getting a divorce. She struggles with loneliness and isolation, as well as depression and frequent bouts of intense anxiety. As we've continued our friendship through college, God has led me on a number of occasions to share my faith with her. I have done so not because I want her to be saved from Hell, understood abstractly or remotely after she dies. I want her to experience salvation from the Hell she lives in right now. I want her to be welcomed into community with God and His Body, finding freedom from fear and experiencing the embrace of God's loving community. I believe that is the salvation Jesus wants to offer that to her. Hell in the conventional sense doesn't feel like the most appropriate concern.
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