The Pernicious Doctrine of Hell

13 Jul 09

 

 

 

Faye Continues to Make Herself at Home

 

     My son Taylor visited for the last time before he heads off to Army boot camp.  I wonder if one day he will end up at Camp Phoenix in Afghanistan, just as I did.  He hopes to send me some good blog material about his days in training.  Who knows, AWAC may soon become a multi-generational blog.

     And speaking of Afghanistan, I got a call from Doug (Rat) Templeton, one of my hut mates from Afghanistan.  He is still doing well, though Miami doesn’t really enchant him.  Mike Toomer is deployed somewhere, and Drew Morton is working logistics for a medical supply company. 

     The summer is flying by. Soon I’ll be heading up to Connecticut to help my sister and her family move down here, my sons will be in boot camp, my daughter will finish up her master’s degree and start a new job, and I’ll be in seminary.  Add to that I am now doing some speaking at other Unitarian Universalist churches, about once a month (as well as twice a month at my church), and my plate is starting to get pretty full. Who said retirement would be dull?

     Finally, AWAC had it’s 200,000^th hit a few weeks ago, a milestone I failed to mention last time I posted.  I realize some blogs get that in a day, but since mine never had a big audience, I am very pleased indeed. 

     For those of you who enjoy my sermons, here’s that latest, fresh off the pulpit:

   

THE PERNICIOUS DOCTRINE OF HELL

Given by Doug Traversa to the UU Church of Tullahoma, 12 Jul 09

  

    When I was a boy I was taught the standard doctrines of Christianity, including the notion that God sent bad people to Hell for eternal torture.  I believed this completely, and spent a great deal of time worrying I would not be good enough to get into Heaven.  “Good enough” was never defined, so there was plenty of room for worrying.  My mother would try to assure me I wasn’t going to Hell, but that didn’t really comfort me.  I remember watching murder mysteries and thinking, “How could anyone be so stupid?  Even if you get away with the murder, you’ll still go to Hell for all eternity.” 

     When I was in junior high school, I decided I better get baptized.  That might get me into Heaven.  We had a Lutheran minister over to talk about baptism and Heaven, but he was pretty useless.  He could not tell me what I needed to do to avoid Hell; he could not even tell me if baptism was necessary.  But even with this uncertainty, he never denied the existence of Hell.  A few weeks in Lutheran confirmation class, and I gave up.  The class was useless, the kids obnoxious, and I quit.  I even managed to convince my mom to let me skip church for good. It was boring and meaningless.

     A few months after this, a couple of men come to visit from a Bible church. They too believed in Hell, but they also gave very clear directions on how to avoid it.  All I had to do was trust Christ as my savior, and I would be saved, my sins forgiven, and I would go to Heaven when I died. Just that simple.  That night I became a Christian.

     However, even if you are born again and are certain you will go to Heaven when you die, there are still odious side-effects of believing in Hell.  First, let’s look at what the Bible and the Koran say about Hell, then we’ll examine how such a belief affects our lives, our relationships, and our view of God. 

  

HELL DESCRIBED

  

The most detailed Biblical description of Hell is in Revelation 20 (though it is actually called the Lake of Fire here).  These verses describe the Great White Throne Judgment. 

   

11   And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

  

     Building any doctrine on the Book of Revelation is risky business at best. The book is filled with symbolism and apocalyptic imagery. However, for those who take it literally, we must note that while people are thrown into the lake, we don’t read what happens afterwards.  Do they cease to exist? Do they suffer forever? Do they suffer for a while, then get released?  We are told in an earlier verse that the Devil, the Beast (some call him the Anit-Christ), and the false prophet will burn forever and ever, but even this could be translated as a long period of time, as opposed to eternity.

    

Jesus also spoke of Hell (actually the furnace of fire) in Matthew

    

Matthew 

 

13:41-42 The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 

13: 49-50 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just and shall cast the into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

       

There are many similar verses, and I’ll leave it to others to debate whether yhe sufferings of hell are eternal or not.  

   

As for the Koran, we read:

    

4:56 Lo! Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed, We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment. Lo! Allah is ever Mighty, Wise.

    

25:11-14 Indeed, they deny the hour of doom.  For those who deny that hour We have prepared a blazing fire.  From far away they shall hear it raging and roaring. And when chained together, they are flung into some narrow space, they will fervently call for death; call for many deaths!

22: 19-22 Garments of fire have been prepared for the unbelievers. Scalding water shall be poured upon their heads, melting their skins and that which is in their bellies. They shall be lashed with rods of iron.  Whenever, in their anguish, they try to escape from Hell, back they shall be dragged, and will be told: ‘Taste the Torment of the Conflagration!”

The following delightful commentary comes from the Islamic Information Centre Bristol   http://www.islamicinformationcentre.co.uk  in the United Kingdom, whose stated purpose is as follows:

. . . to ensure that a correct perception of our Din (religion) is articulated and conveyed to the non Muslims in surrounding areas.

The Islamic Information Centre describes Hell as follows:

     Hell is a place that Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has made for the non-believers. Hell has seven doors and seven levels. The highest one is called Jahannam. The lowest one is called Haawiya. All the levels have different names: Jahunnam, Saqar, Nutaa, Hutamah, Sa'eer, Jaheem and Haawiya. Inside Hell there are 70,000 jungles. In every jungle, there are 70,000 sections. In every section there are 70,000 snakes and scorpions. Those snakes are very poisonous, that if they bite someone this poison will stay in them for forty years. They will always bite the non-believers. The scorpions will be as big as donkeys and the snakes will be as big as camels. The Hell fire will be seventy times hotter than the world's fire. On the order of Allah, when the people of Hell will be thrown into Hell, they will wear clothes. The clothes will be marked with fire. The snakes and the scorpions will bite the people. When they will be punished like this, they will die again and again, and they will become alive again and again. This will happen to them over and over again.

     In Hell, the least punishment will be that the people will be given fire shoes to wear, with this the person's brain will boil, like water boils in the kettle. The person will think he will be having the most punishment even though this punishment will be the least. In Hell, starvation will trouble people. They will ask for food to eat. They will get Zaqqoom. This is going to be so disgusting that if one drop of this falls on the earth the whole of the earth's things will start to smell and become disgusting. A type of food will be given to them called Daree. This will also get stuck in their throats. To bring it down they will ask for water but they will get hot pus, which will be so dirty that if a bucket full of this falls on the world the whole world will become sour. It is going to be so hot that when the people of Hell put their faces down to drink it their faces will burn. When they drink this, it will cut everything inside their stomach. This will always happen with them. Bad Muslims may go to Hell, but they will not stay in Hell forever. Allah decides how long He wants them to stay. At the end of their punishment, they will go to Heaven. If Allah wants, he can forgive them or punish them. People, who do good deeds to show people, will go to a place in Hell called Hub-Hub. This is a very bad place of Hell and is so terrible that the other parts of Hell ask protection from it. The people of Hell will want to die, but they can't die because the Angel will have slaughtered death on the Day of Judgment. The people who worshipped statues, the stars, the moon etc, in their life on earth, will be with them. Allah wants to show them that they worshipped these things on earth, but now they are with them, but they can't help. The Devil (Shaytaan) will also be in Hell. The people will say to him, "You misled us, we are here because of YOU!" Devil will say, "Allah sent Prophets, and He sent books. You know I was wrong, so why did you follow me?"

   

     Remember, this description is published by Muslims to educate non-Muslims.  They don’t pull any punches.  Here are more sites, run by Muslims, that will confirm, using verses from the Koran and Muslim scholars, this description of Hell:

    

http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/417/

     

http://www.alminbar.com/khutbaheng/2598.htm

       

      My point in mentioning all this is to show that Christians and Muslims have enough supporting references in their scriptures to build a doctrine of Hell, should they wish to.  What I want to do now is show how this belief destroys people, relationships, and the very religions that proclaim them.  It also creates a very warped view of God.

    

RELATIONSHIPS

    

     To understand how relationships can be harmed by a belief in hell, first we must look at how one avoids Hell.  Islam is very much a works-oriented faith, and your eternal rewards are based on your beliefs and the way you lived your life.  Christianity has many different views on how you get to Heaven. Here are the primary variations:

    

1.  You are saved solely through your faith in Christ; you may never lose you salvation

2.  You are saved through faith, but must also be baptized

3.  You are saved through faith, but must obey God’s laws to retain your salvation

4.  You are saved through faith, but must belong to the true church

5.  You are saved through faith because God chose you to be his; your free will is subservient to God’s sovereignty; nothing you do can affect this

     And there are endless variations of the above.

     

     If you believe your loved one, friend, spouse, etc, is on the path to Hell, naturally you would want to help them to see the light.  Perhaps you have someone who constantly witnesses to you, seeking to convert you.  Do they do this to be annoying?  Of course not.  They want to save you from eternal torment.  Imagine how it eats at their soul, knowing that eternal damnation awaits you unless you are converted.  Naturally, everything you do, every time you are together, your eternal damnation gnaws at the back of their mind.  How can they be content to simply enjoy a pleasant visit, knowing your soul hangs in the balance?

     I encounter this with my friend Hamid, who repeatedly tells me he wishes I would become a Muslim.  Knowing that I read the Koran, he is mystified why I haven’t converted yet.  He knows the power of Allah’s word will enlighten me, and he also knows that Hell awaits me if I don’t convert. This bothers him immensely.

     When I was a Christian, I had much the same feelings.  How desperately I wished I could convert my friends. I spoke boldly about the Gospel, and laid out the plan of salvation to them.  Some converted, and some were simply annoyed, and naturally we grew apart.  But every relationship was colored by the threat of damnation.  It was my solemn duty to proclaim the Gospel and help them to trust Christ as their savior.  It ate at my soul when they rejected Christ.

     How different it is now.  When I meet someone new, I don’t need to worry about their beliefs, wondering if yet another lost soul has entered my life.  I don’t need to help them belief the right things, so they may escape Hell.  I can simply be their friend.

   

VIEW OF GOD

         

     A belief in Hell also requires the believer to try to explain why God delights in, or at least requires, eternal punishment.  The most common explanation is that while God is loving, he is also just, and His justice demands a righteous punishment.  ANY sin requires eternal punishment (in the view of many Christians) while being a non-Muslim requires eternal damnation according to Islam.  So otherwise decent people worship a God who inflicts eternal torment.  This causes a great deal of distress for many believers.  Some Christians ameliorate this by saying, “Yes, it is terrible, but God is also love, and He had His Son die for our sins, the ultimate act of love.  Christ bore all our sins; he paid our penalty.”  The book Proverbs of Ashes by Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker takes this idea and turns it on its head.  Rather than being joyful that Christ was sacrificed for us, perhaps we should consider what this says to all Christians.  God found it acceptable to punish an innocent for the crimes of others. God sacrificed His innocent son.  Is this not the ultimate case of child abuse?  Why is it just to kill an innocent to pay for the sins of another?  Our justice system doesn’t work that way.  If someone is sentenced to jail, you can’t send someone else in their place.  God becomes an abuser, whose notions of justice defy logic. 

   

     Consider this analogy.

    

     A child is born, never having met his or her father.  The child grows up never meeting the father, never hearing his voice, never seeing a video tape, nothing.  When the child learns to read, the child is given a series of letters from the father.  The letters are in different handwriting, from different dates, but all were written before the child was born.  In these letters the father says he loves the child very much, but if the child doesn’t grow up to believe this, when the father returns, he will beat and torture the child with unspeakable cruelty.  However, this can all be avoided, if only the child will believe in the father’s love.  However, the father will not appear in person before this day of judgment.  The father will not speak directly to the child.  These old letters should be sufficient.  Yes, they were dictated to different people at different times, and yes, there are apparent contradictions, but they are all true, and speak of the father’s great love.  This is all the child will get. The child waits in dread for the day of the father’s return. Will the child be able to muster up the right level of love and belief?  Will the father come with rewards or wrath?  There is nowhere for the child to turn; no law enforcement organization will intervene.  The child can only dwell on the father’s warning, “Have faith in my love, or face horrible consequences.”

   

     If such a father really existed, he should be in jail.  Yet this is the picture of God painted by those who preach hell.

   

FAQ

   

     Let’s take a look at a few other conclusions that might be reached by believers in Hell, in the form of a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).

   

What about children who die before they understand the Gospel or Islam?

     Most believe that infants and those mentally unable to understand salvation have a special dispensation from God, and go to Heaven.  If this is true, then the most merciful thing you could do to a baby is kill it at birth. Why risk letting it grow up to die an unbeliever who will spend eternity in Hell?  Why even have children in the first place?  Why bring someone into the world, when eternal torment might be their final disposition?

   

What about those who die without hearing the Gospel or the Koran?

     There are many views on this one.  Some believe that natural revelation (the works of nature) are sufficient for a knowledge of God.  Some believe this is enough to condemn them, but not save them.  Others belief a general faith in God can save those who don’t hear the Gospel.  Others belief they weren’t elected by God for salvation, so they will go to Hell.  Those who send out missionaries do so because these poor folks will end up in Hell, so we must get the Gospel to them.  Destroying their cultures, changing everything from the way they dress to the way their families are set up is completely just, since the only thing that matters is giving them the Gospel and saving their souls.

    

But why doesn’t God allow everyone to hear the Gospel? Or the teachings of Islam?

     Good question. Don’t know.  Maybe this whole Hell thing is baloney.  If people’s souls were really on the line, you’d think God would at least give everyone a shot at the truth.  It seems reasonable.  That assumes, of course, that God is reasonable.

    

How will I be able to enjoy Heaven, knowing that my loved ones are in Hell?

     Beats me.  I guess you have to get your brain reprogrammed.  And many believe this is exactly what happens. After all, your desire to sin is also removed when you get to Heaven (or so I’m told).  Apparently you will find comfort and joy knowing your loved ones are undergoing a just and eternal torment.  In fact, the Koran says that believers will jeer at the unbelievers. You will sit on comfy couches laughing at those stupid infidels:

     

     So Today, those who believed are laughing at the disbelievers, on adorned couches, observing.  Have the disbelievers [not] been rewarded [this Day] for what they used to do?” (Koran: 83:34-36)

   

UNIVERSALISM

    

     The notion of Hell leads to strange conclusions.  Either God created people knowing they would die in a lost state, enduring eternal torment, or God wants everyone to get to Heaven, but doesn’t even allow everyone to hear the truth proclaimed at least once, or God delights in this display of His wrath and justice.  It was these unavoidable conclusions that helped lead to Universalism.  Hosea Ballou wrote a Treatise on Atonement that reasons, step-by-step, that all must go to Heaven.  He uses reason and scripture to come to this conclusion.  What is so surprising is that at the time, it was a radical view.  It says a great deal about humanity that so many easily embraced such a revolting concept.  And while some Christian denominations no longer believe in a literal Hell, the conservatives still do.  Even the Pope recently affirmed that Hell is a real place. 

    

CONCLUSION

     I once spoke to an Episcopal Women’s Group up at Sewanee.  Afterwards, one of the ladies was telling me about her beliefs, and wondered if she was even a Christian before.  I said it depended on your definition.  Usually it involved believing that Christ dies as a payment for our sins, and through faith in Him we could be saved.  She laughed and said, “Oh, no one believes that anymore.” 

     Yes they do. Many do.  Many good people do, but their belief causes great sorrow to them when they think about loved ones who die without converting.  It harms relationships, because they must use every opportunity to witness and share the truth, to save souls.  All relationships are colored by this need to convert the lost.  And finally, something I have not mentioned yet, which is probably the worst thing of all.  It teaches us to hate.

     Since God in His justice, sees fit to send billions to Hell for all eternity, it is easy to start hating those who reject Christ or Allah.  Sure, we start of saying we hate the sin but love the sinner, but really, in the back of our mind, don’t we start hating those who oppose us?  Shouldn’t we kill the abortion doctor, or the gay guy, or the people in the Twin Towers?  They are evil. They deserve it.

     And even if we don’t actually commit murder, don’t we say things like “Aids is God’s punishment for homosexuality” or “Katrina was God’s punishment for the wickedness of New Orleans.”  There is even a small group of “Christians” who go to the funerals of our military who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and actively rejoice in the deaths. Their are, after all, are God’s punishment of the USA for is support of gays and lesbians.  Or was it abortions?  Or was it some other nonsense?

     Having spent many hours on this sermon, I grow more proud of the early Universalists for taking the stand they did.  They understood the insidious nature of a belief in Hell, and they took a stand.  We can’t fully relate how radical those views were back then.  At least as radical as atheists, theists, polytheists, and agnostics worshipping together.  What a wonderful heritage we have, and what a promising future lies ahead.

     A belief in Hell has many negative consequences.  It is not a quaint, outmoded notion held by very few.  It is very pervasive, and very destructive.  If you have opportunities to discuss Hell with a believer, do so.  Perhaps you can save them. As John Murray said, “Give them not Hell, but hope and courage; preach the kindness and everlasting love of God.”

Comments

[Doug]

AWAC will continue to document my days in seminary and in the ministry. I'll be talking more about this in my next posting

[Sharon Van Name]

Hi Doug,

As a long time reader, I understand that you are struggling to find content relevant to the original purpose of this blog. However, I'm still very interested in what's going on in your life, especially since I'm also a UU. Would you consider starting a new blog that would trace your journey through seminary? I imagine it would pick up a very different audience, but I know I'd be interested. (The thought of ministry occasionally goes through my head.)