Thank you Jason - one your best I think:) So helpful to follow a train of thought and threads that can lead this way, or that. I feel more sure of my ground on what I am being saved from and being saved for. Xx
The problem with getting rid of Hell, is that it eliminates Judgment. When Judgment is gone, then so is Justice. If Justice is done away with, then so is Righteousness. Without Righteousness, there is no Truth. Without Truth, there is nothing of value...
The mistake is to say that we are saved from facing the truth by believing a checklist of ideas that get approved by an angel bureaucrat at the pearly gates.
Communion with God means facing the truth about our impact on the world and whether we aligned ourselves with the crucified or with their fascist oppressors. Grace empowers us to stop hiding from the truth and embrace God’s judgment on a daily basis as we wrestle with God and deepen our integrity.
Many Christians have not received grace or developed integrity because they justify themselves with their ideas about God. They will be surprised when they die just like the rich man was surprised in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
Heaven vindicates the crucified and judges their oppressors. The puritan scowls whose scrupulosity was cover for not loving their neighbor will say “Lord, Lord, did we not cast our demons on your name?” And he will say “In all your zeal to cast out demons you persecuted me just like Saul did for whatever you did to the least you did to me.”
And they will watch with eternal regret as history unfolds and every generation judges their cruel bigotry and stupidity with which they blasphemed the one they crucified with his praise on their lips.
We will all face the truth; whether it’s heaven or hell depends on whether we have accepted the grace to embrace its judgment.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment. I agree: salvation is not an angel checking whether we affirmed the correct ideas. Even orthodoxy can become a way of hiding from God when separated from love of neighbour. The rich man’s problem was not bad theology but becoming someone capable of stepping over Lazarus.
I would only add that history cannot be our final judge, since every generation has its own blindness. That vindication belongs to God. But your central point strengthens mine: Christian belief should teach us to receive God’s judgment now, not protect us from it.
Those who love and surrender to truth are not tortured by the unfolding of history when they watch from eternity after they die. I’m sure that Sheriff Bull Connor was baptized and went to church every Sunday and he thought he was doing his Christian duty by keeping the black people in their place.
If he gained the capacity to renounce everything he spent his life defending when he stood before God and surrender entirely to the truth which judged him severely despite all the reassurances he received from his pastor during his lifetime that segregation was absolutely biblical, then his eternal awareness is not torture right now and he is changing his mind continuously along with the rest of heaven as consciousness collectively deepens into the infinity of knowing God over time.
Heaven does not protect us from exposure to the full unfolding of the divine drama over time that continues after we die. The dead who are in communion with truth and love are invested in bringing heaven to earth. There is no champagne in paradise while Christians are making money off of genocide on earth.
The greatest lie of the evangelical heaven is that being with “Jesus” makes the world of the living “grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.” Jesus’ glory and grace resides in the struggle of the crucified who are his people. Heaven is not elsewhere and it is not indifferent to the fate of this world. Those who want it to be a pink cloud Disneyland will be sorely disappointed.
This is the best explication of Hell, mercy, judgment, the gospel that I’ve read. I’m a hopeful universalist but there is so much in scripture of God pleading for us to turn back to him. (I was raised under hell fire and brimstone preaching, sobbed as a teenager for friends to know Jesus) have seen some of those prayers answered. I can’t like this enough. Thank you.
I’ve been preaching from the parables lately and they all seem to deal with this underlying theme of grace and judgement. It made me realise I need further clarity on the doctrine of hell which to be honest I’ve subconsciously avoided for fear of seeming unsophisticated in the context of a therapeutic culture as you describe it. This paragraph in your article was particularly helpful:
“To hope that every person freely receives salvation is different from declaring that refusal is impossible. Christian hope is not optimism about human nature. It is confidence in the mercy of God while remaining honest about the terrifying capacities of human freedom.”
I’ll keep praying for an empty hell and striving to help people (beginning with myself) learn how to receive the gift of Jesus’ cross and resurrection.
This article sits well with your article on modern identity being exhausting, Jason. Both really good
God spot, thanks for reading, noticing that and taking time to comment :-)
So very helpful, thank you.
Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment.
Thank you for your deep and faithful work here, Jason.
Thanks for taking the time to read and feedback.
Thank you Jason - one your best I think:) So helpful to follow a train of thought and threads that can lead this way, or that. I feel more sure of my ground on what I am being saved from and being saved for. Xx
So wonderful to hear, that was one of my hopes with the article. Thanks for reading and taking the time to provide feedback.
The problem with getting rid of Hell, is that it eliminates Judgment. When Judgment is gone, then so is Justice. If Justice is done away with, then so is Righteousness. Without Righteousness, there is no Truth. Without Truth, there is nothing of value...
And here we are in America today.
Yes indeed!
The mistake is to say that we are saved from facing the truth by believing a checklist of ideas that get approved by an angel bureaucrat at the pearly gates.
Communion with God means facing the truth about our impact on the world and whether we aligned ourselves with the crucified or with their fascist oppressors. Grace empowers us to stop hiding from the truth and embrace God’s judgment on a daily basis as we wrestle with God and deepen our integrity.
Many Christians have not received grace or developed integrity because they justify themselves with their ideas about God. They will be surprised when they die just like the rich man was surprised in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
Heaven vindicates the crucified and judges their oppressors. The puritan scowls whose scrupulosity was cover for not loving their neighbor will say “Lord, Lord, did we not cast our demons on your name?” And he will say “In all your zeal to cast out demons you persecuted me just like Saul did for whatever you did to the least you did to me.”
And they will watch with eternal regret as history unfolds and every generation judges their cruel bigotry and stupidity with which they blasphemed the one they crucified with his praise on their lips.
We will all face the truth; whether it’s heaven or hell depends on whether we have accepted the grace to embrace its judgment.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment. I agree: salvation is not an angel checking whether we affirmed the correct ideas. Even orthodoxy can become a way of hiding from God when separated from love of neighbour. The rich man’s problem was not bad theology but becoming someone capable of stepping over Lazarus.
I would only add that history cannot be our final judge, since every generation has its own blindness. That vindication belongs to God. But your central point strengthens mine: Christian belief should teach us to receive God’s judgment now, not protect us from it.
Those who love and surrender to truth are not tortured by the unfolding of history when they watch from eternity after they die. I’m sure that Sheriff Bull Connor was baptized and went to church every Sunday and he thought he was doing his Christian duty by keeping the black people in their place.
If he gained the capacity to renounce everything he spent his life defending when he stood before God and surrender entirely to the truth which judged him severely despite all the reassurances he received from his pastor during his lifetime that segregation was absolutely biblical, then his eternal awareness is not torture right now and he is changing his mind continuously along with the rest of heaven as consciousness collectively deepens into the infinity of knowing God over time.
Heaven does not protect us from exposure to the full unfolding of the divine drama over time that continues after we die. The dead who are in communion with truth and love are invested in bringing heaven to earth. There is no champagne in paradise while Christians are making money off of genocide on earth.
The greatest lie of the evangelical heaven is that being with “Jesus” makes the world of the living “grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.” Jesus’ glory and grace resides in the struggle of the crucified who are his people. Heaven is not elsewhere and it is not indifferent to the fate of this world. Those who want it to be a pink cloud Disneyland will be sorely disappointed.
This is the best explication of Hell, mercy, judgment, the gospel that I’ve read. I’m a hopeful universalist but there is so much in scripture of God pleading for us to turn back to him. (I was raised under hell fire and brimstone preaching, sobbed as a teenager for friends to know Jesus) have seen some of those prayers answered. I can’t like this enough. Thank you.
Thanks for reading, Katie, and taking the time to make this comment.
Always willing to take on hard topics. Thank you! Well communicated. Lots to chew on and contemplate!
Thanks for reading, Eric, and for your feedback!
This was so helpful, Jason. Thank you.
I’ve been preaching from the parables lately and they all seem to deal with this underlying theme of grace and judgement. It made me realise I need further clarity on the doctrine of hell which to be honest I’ve subconsciously avoided for fear of seeming unsophisticated in the context of a therapeutic culture as you describe it. This paragraph in your article was particularly helpful:
“To hope that every person freely receives salvation is different from declaring that refusal is impossible. Christian hope is not optimism about human nature. It is confidence in the mercy of God while remaining honest about the terrifying capacities of human freedom.”
I’ll keep praying for an empty hell and striving to help people (beginning with myself) learn how to receive the gift of Jesus’ cross and resurrection.
Grace and peace to you.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to read and let me know this.