Today I did something I know better than to do. All I wanted was a little information. That's all. Simple really. Just a release date for a book I want to read that is coming out in print soon. I did the unthinkable. I googled the author's name. Big mistake. As it turns out, the book by my favorite Christian author, Francis Chan, called "Erasing Hell" hasn't even been released yet and already it is being attacked on sites such as The Huffington Post. Well.....no surprise there!
So, despite the fact that I KNOW BETTER, I clicked on the link. I had to read the negative press. So below is the bulk of the article by a Mr Shore who is a "religious writer" for the HP. Read and decide for yourself. I plunged down this rabbit hole, so I am taking some of you with me!
"What Chan is really saying here -- as subtly as it's hidden beneath his humble, searching, open-minded attitude -- is, "Be afraid. Being wrong about hell has terrible, terrible consequences. It's not something about which you can afford to be mistaken."And this is exactly where he, and every other Christian leader who preaches that hell is real, gets it so extraordinarily and harmfully wrong.The truth that Chan and his evangelical ilk are missing (or at the very least are failing to properly consider), is that, if you're a Christian, it does not matter whether you're right or wrong about hell.And why not? Because if you're a Christian, then no matter what you think about hell, you are safe from hell.Christians who believe in hell go to heaven; Christians who don't believe in hell go to heaven. Virtually no Christians, from the evangelical right to the progressive/liberal left, argue that. (Or, if they do, they don't via anything in the Bible.) All Christians agree that if you are a Christian -- no matter what you believe about hell -- you go to heaven, and not hell, when you die. I think it's reasonable to say (and it's certainly been my experience writing about Christianity here on Huffington Post) that nothing keeps more people shunning Christianity than does the doctrine of hell as a real place. People just can't get on board with a God so cruel and unfair that he would condemn to eternal physical torture anyone who, for any reason whatsoever, dies without first believing in him. Most non-Christians don't see the Christian god as loving and all-powerful. Due primarily to the doctrine of hell being real, they see him as an egomaniacal psychopath. They think it's just ... baffling that anyone could believe in a God so insanely punitive. And so they reject Christianity.And thusly (according to the evangelical mindset) do they doom themselves to hell.Now let us take great care to ensure that we're here employing flawless logic.
If rejecting the Christian God condemns people to hell; and
If a Christian who is wrong about hell goes to heaven anyway; and
If preaching about hell significantly contributes to people rejecting Christianity;
Then evangelicals should shut-up about hell.
It's a simple, logically airtight, unarguable truth that a Christian preaching about the reality of hell is: A. Doing nothing whatsoever for Christians; and B. Significantly contributing to non-Christians remaining non-Christian.This can only mean that any Christian who preaches about hell being real is broadcasting to the world that he or she cares more about being right than they do about actually saving anyone from hell.If evangelicals really want to do God's work, and really want to save people from hell, then they need to either radically rethink their concept of hell, or, at the very least, stop preaching about it."
There is so much here that bothers me that I hardly know where to begin.....How about line by line? In the first place, is it not true that IF hell is real, then to be wrong about it would, in fact, have terrible consequences? Since people who self identify as Christians are those who embrace the teachings of Christ, and since Christ spoke often about hell, why does it come as a surprise to people like Mr Shore that we are a group who by and large believe in the concept of hell? Now we might have various views about the nature of hell ( I personally view it as eternal separation from God rather than a lake of fire, but you are welcome to disagree) but generally speaking, most of the Christians I know don't deny that it is a possible destination for your eternal spirit once your physical death occurs. There are of course notable exceptions. Pastor Rob Bell ignited a firestorm of controversy with his book "Love Wins" in which he declares that hell is no more. Mr Shore is apparently a fan. He accuses Chan of writing his book to refute Bell's. Let me say that in the spirit of openness I will be reading both books very soon. Rob Bell is an influential Christian leader in his own right, as is Francis Chan. But only one of them is being trashed on the HP.......
"Every Christian leader who preaches hell gets it extraordinarily wrong". Really? Says who? I think we can all agree that Jesus, though a Jewish leader during his time on earth, would now qualify for the title of "Christian leader"! And he said this about hell "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" Matthew 25:46. So these woefully wrong Christian leaders who follow the teachings of their Master are what? Just not smart enough to figure out that this stuff was all well and good 2000+ years ago but we have no need of it today because we are now so evolved and so much smarter and we don't need these stupid superstitions? We have the Internet now for cryin' out loud! What do we need hell for? (though I confess when mine isn't working it feels like hell on earth!) Yes, I can clearly see how much more evolved the human race is in 2011 than it was during the time of Christ. Certainly no one today would ever be crucified. And there are clearly no more genocides, wars, stonings, rapes, forced sex slavery, or men riding around on motorcycles throwing acid in the faces of little girls for the crime of being in school. Indeed- the world is now Utopia. No need for hell. It is a concept which has outlived its usefullness....
"If you are a Christian no matter what you think about hell, you are safe from hell". This is the most dangerous of his suppositions if you ask me. And it is SO overly simplistic as to be insulting. Jesus said this about following Him: "For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14. The reason He said this was to impress upon his followers how truly difficult, if not impossible, it is to follow Him. He knew that without daily dependency upon Him they would fail. This would seem to indicate that just a casual belief in Christ or checking a box on a survey that asks your religious preference as "Christian" probably isn't enough to ensure that you will arrive safely Home. Christians and non-Christians alike who believe otherwise are just fooling themselves.
"People just can't get on board with a God so cruel and unfair that He would condemn to eternal physical torture anyone who, for any reason whatsoever, dies without first believing in Him." I could write an entire post about this one sentence alone! In the interest of time, however, I will be brief. In the first place, it's not for the created to understand the mind and ways of the Creator on all matters. He reveals what He has revealed in His word. What He has chosen not to reveal, we can not know or comprehend. His ways are not our ways. They are as high as the heavens, and "as high above our ways as the heavens are above the earth". To me this means that when I can build a few galaxies and hang a few trillion stars and planets in them, then I can maybe pull up a chair and start demanding an explanation for why He does things a certain way. Till then I think I'll keep my mouth shut about the unfairness of His ways. Maybe, just maybe, there is more going on here than I can really grasp in my created mind. Maybe I can see but one piece of the puzzle. Maybe He sees the entire thing. Maybe the Alpha and the Omega doesn't need my permission to be who He is, or to do what He chooses to do. Maybe He doesn't owe me an explanation so that I might decide to "get on board" if it is one that suits me. Which brings me to my last point about this particular statement: You don't have to get on board. No one does. It is a choice. It's called free will. That "egomaniacal psychopathic" God Mr Shore is complaining about gives him and me and everyone else the same gift- we get to choose. He isn't forcing Himself on us. It is the one thing He will never do. Take the gift. Or throw it in the trash- your choice. To insist that we have the right to live as we please, independent from God and His will, and to then whine and complain about His "unfairness" when we are then required to live out the consequences of that free choice is just the epitome of illogical reasoning to me. Talk about living like a perpetual teenager!
And lastly there's this nugget of wisdom: "If evangelicals really want to do God's work, and really want to save people from hell, then they need to either radically rethink their concept of hell, or, at the very least, stop preaching about it." This might be my biggest pet peeve of this scholarly opinion piece. Ah yes. By all means. The cultural relevancy card. The idea of hell is no longer culturally relevant. Many people don't like it by and large. They don't want to think about it. They want to do what they want to do, they want to live how they want to live, and they want everyone else to shut up and mind their own business. Here is an example someone once used with me. It is a beautiful day. You are out riding your bike thru an unfamiliar countryside. I, on the other hand, know the roads and the landscape. You pedal past me headed for a cliff up ahead which plunges steeply into oblivion. I run after you waving my arms shouting at you wildly to turn back! The road you are on leads to your certain death! You turn around, irritated that I am intruding on your lovely bike ride and yell at me to go away and mind my own business. Should I shut up and rethink my concept of the cliff as dangerous, or would your prefer that I yank you back away from the edge? That's the beauty of it. God gives each of us that choice. Harken to His voice. He gives you many opportunities. He extends love and grace and mercy over and over. Turn back before it's too late. Or ignore Him and take the plunge...... the choice is yours. Believe whatever you want to believe. But understand that all choices have consequences. And some of them might just be eternal.........Shalom!
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