Very fair, I can easily understand being uncomfortable with the whole concept of hell. A lot of Christians try to erase it as well, I recall quite the kerfluffle several years back about a book by Rob Bell (Love Wins, IIRC) arguing that God would actually save everyone in Revelations, and Hell wouldn’t actually exist.
Unfortunately, I find it… unconvincing from a Biblical study standpoint. I’d certainly prefer if Rob Bell was right though. Theologian Francis Chan wrote a book in response to that one, disproving it thoroughly but also elaborating a lot on hell (Erasing Hell, IIRC), and I found it really moving, and quite helpful, at the time. Sadly that was too many years ago for me to remember the details. I need to re-read that sometime, and generally do some more study on hell, as I wish I could give a better response on the topic, and also for myself.
For me now… I try to live almost as if it doesn’t exist though. It’s not helpful or kind to bash people over the head with the whole “fire and brimstone” thing, the church proved pretty well that it burns more bridges than it builds anyway, and I don’t need eternal damnation as a motivator to live decently. I’d rather embrace God for the relationship now than out of fear for after I die. I simply don’t give it much thought, which is probably why I’ve forgotten almost all of the theology I knew about the topic.
Very fair, I can easily understand being uncomfortable with the whole concept of hell. A lot of Christians try to erase it as well, I recall quite the kerfluffle several years back about a book by Rob Bell (Love Wins, IIRC) arguing that God would actually save everyone in Revelations, and Hell wouldn’t actually exist.
Unfortunately, I find it… unconvincing from a Biblical study standpoint. I’d certainly prefer if Rob Bell was right though. Theologian Francis Chan wrote a book in response to that one, disproving it thoroughly but also elaborating a lot on hell (Erasing Hell, IIRC), and I found it really moving, and quite helpful, at the time. Sadly that was too many years ago for me to remember the details. I need to re-read that sometime, and generally do some more study on hell, as I wish I could give a better response on the topic, and also for myself.
For me now… I try to live almost as if it doesn’t exist though. It’s not helpful or kind to bash people over the head with the whole “fire and brimstone” thing, the church proved pretty well that it burns more bridges than it builds anyway, and I don’t need eternal damnation as a motivator to live decently. I’d rather embrace God for the relationship now than out of fear for after I die. I simply don’t give it much thought, which is probably why I’ve forgotten almost all of the theology I knew about the topic.
Anyway, a pleasure to chat with you as well!