What the Hell do we do with Hell?
Here is my attempt at responding to one of the guys at Emergent Africa.
I guess the first thing I would need to explain is why I wanted to post this comment to your post on “The sticky doctrine of Hell”. It’s not that I am a fire and brimstone preacher seeking to condemn the heathen of the world to eternal punishment. I wanted to respond simply to use it as a case study to ask you guys as self confessing emerging thinkers what emerging really is within
Africa and how you are approaching the African context with emergent presuppositions. But we’ll get there, don’t worry. Secondly, I write this understanding that I don’t know all there is to know about Hell and the afterlife, nor will I while I have breath in this sinful body. One day my hope is to understand it when Jesus reveals it to us. Then we can sit back and have a good laugh at how we spent endless hours on our blogs hashing it out! (Which probably means we ought to get some kind of a life that we don’t spend so much time on our blogs, eh?). Thus, I will attempt to write humbly hoping to stimulate conversation, but I will make some truth claims about this topic for I understand that the Bible makes such claims and just because we have issues and varied opinion with what Scripture teaches, that should not diminish the authority or clarity of the Word.
So to your question, what does the Bible say about Hell? Is there a truth that the Bible presents that does indeed transform our understanding or feelings on this topic? The answer is indeed a yes (there I took a stand on it). Not because I say so, or because I am a Bible guru, but the evidence that the Bible gives about Hell is too large to simply dismiss because there are varied opinions. Which is a danger I think when we discuss serious matter such as this because if we simply dismiss teaching within Scripture because others differ with us. If our aim is to merely move past sticky issues like this in order to get on with the work of the Gospel in blissful ignorance of the truth, then what we are saying is that we are the authority to pick and choose what we want to believe in the Bible. Not that I am saying that about you, but simply asking if that could be a danger. But in some ways I see this kind of thing in your post, is that true? I am being fair or misreading you? I certainly see this kind of thinking in the American brand of EC, I guess what I would like to know is Emergent Africa reacting to the same issues abroad in the States or are you a unique voice to African issues and epistemological problems?
That was bit of a digression, let’s get back on track. The trouble with some of our understanding of Hell is that we would feel that there is no straight talk on the topic coming from the Bible, so perhaps we can say Paul does not clearly expound a direct understanding of Hell. However, Scripture does speak very openly and plainly about Hell, and very plainly about the need to avoid it. It’s just that it presents the realities of hell using very symbolic language. Thus we do not have a total understanding of what Hell is because we cannot, but we can none the less glean a truthful understanding about it. And so the NT sees evangelism as “snatching others from the fire” ( Jude 23 ). Jesus speaks of the “fire of hell” ( Mt 5:22 ; 18:9 ) and the “fiery furnace” ( Mt 13:42 ). Revelation describes the place of final punishment as a “lake of fire” ( 20:14–15 ). By using the symbol of judgment by fire, the biblical writers communicate to their readers that the judgment is catastrophic and that it satisfies the requirements of God’s holiness ( Heb 12:29 ). This is an essential part of understanding that Hell is the rightful place of those who do not live up to the Holy requirements of God.
Burning is not only an image of the satisfaction of God’s holiness, but also of the suffering of those undergoing judgment. Revelation 14:10 warns that worshipers of the “beast” will be “tormented with burning sulfur”. Here the image of physical bodies able to experience the sensation of eternal pain through burning. This is consistent with the NT teaching of hell as punishment experienced as suffering in body and soul ( Mt 10:28 ; Rom 2:8–9 ; Jude 7 ). The NT teaches that the torment is described as continuous and eternal ( Mt 3:12 ; 25:41 ; 2 Thess 1:9 ; Jude 7 ) and described most intensely with Jesus’ quotation from Isaiah 66:24 , “Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” ( Mk 9:48 ). In Revelation 14:11 the idea of eternal punishment is pictured by a column of smoke rising from hell forever. John adds that the suffering continues without respite: “There is no rest day and night for those who worship the beast and his image” (NIV). This passage stands in stark contrast this with the continuous blessedness of the righteous, who are serving God “day and night” in his temple in Revelation 7:15 .
Hell is also pictured by the image of darkness . A place of “blackest darkness” is reserved for the habitually wicked ( 2 Pet 2:17 ; Jude 13 ). Jesus talks of those who will be thrown “outside, into the darkness” ( Mt 8:12 NIV ). This image appears to indicate consignment to chaos , being shut out of God’s favorable presence and his good creation , since creation began with God calling light out of darkness ( Gen 1:1–3 ; see also 2 Thess 1:9 ; 1 Jn 1:5 ). The images of darkness and fire appear contradictory, but they should be regarded as symbols pointing to a reality more horrific than either symbol can convey by itself. In fact, biblical images of hell leave many details to the imagination, perhaps because no picture is capable of doing justice to the reality.
Because no other biblical figure speaks more often of hell than Jesus, it is no surprise that he speaks most forcefully about the need to avoid hell. Jesus uses the images of gouging out one’s eye and cutting off one’s arm or foot as symbols of the drastic measures one is justified in taking to escape the horrors of hell ( Mt 5:29–30 ; 18:7–9 ; Mk 9:42–48 ).
This is a brief survey of the imagery that the NT employs about hell. From it I think that we cannot but concede that Hell is a reality that we have to admit to and embrace as part of God’s plan for humanity and his Kingdom. You might say that the imagery or symbolism is vague, thus we cannot affirm anything certain from that. The question I suppose is that much of the Bible is given over in imagery (Heaven for instance) so as long as we keep consistent in interpreting the imagery allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture then the imagery begins to make sense.
I would also like to contend any assertion that the Jews had a different understanding of Hell. The concept was steeped in OT literature and extra biblical works. Thus your discussion over Gehenna may need some more work. ‘Hell’ in the NT renders the GK. word transliterated as ‘Gehenna’ ( Mt. 5:22 , 29–30 ; 10:28 ; 18:9 ; 23:15 , 33 ; Mk. 9:43 , 45 , 47 ; Lk. 12:5 ; Jas. 3:6 ). The name is derived from the Heb gê(ben)(b e nê) hinnōm , the Valley of (the son[s] of Hinnom, a valley near Jerusalem ( Jos. 15:8 ; 18:16 ), where children were sacrificed by fire in connection with pagan rites ( 2 Ki. 23:10 ; 2 Ch. 28:3 ; 33:6 ; Je. 7:31 ; 32:35 ). Its original derivation is obscure, but Hinnom is almost certainly the name of a person. In later Jewish writings Gehenna came to mean the place of punishment for sinners ( Assumption of Moses 10:10; 2 Esdras 7:36 ). It was depicted as a place of unquenchable fire—the general idea of fire to express the divine judgment is found in the OT ( Dt. 32:22 ; Dn. 7:10 ). The rabbinic literature contains various opinions as to who would suffer eternal punishment. The ideas were widespread that the sufferings of some would be terminated by annihilation, or that the fires of Gehenna were in some cases purgatorial ( Rosh Hashanah 16b-17a; Baba Mezi’a 58b; Mishnah Eduyoth 2. 10). But those who held these doctrines also taught the reality of eternal punishment for certain classes of sinners. Both this literature and the Apocryphal books affirm belief in an eternal retribution ( cf. Judith 16:17 ; Psalms of Solomon 3:13).
So, from this brief overview we can see that both Testaments take this topic very seriously. But in a nutshell what can we define Hell to be? The Bible seems to be saying that Hell is ultimately the absence of God, meant for the Devil and his followers where eternal conscious punishment is experienced. I think at this point we would all echo C.S Lewis’ words when he said ‘There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity’ ( *The Problem of Pain [Glasgow 1951], p. 94). And yet, logically and biblically, a gospel of salvation for some means condemnation for others; eternal life for believers implies death for unbelievers; God’s presence for the righteous involves his absence from the unrighteous.
But how does this work out in evangelism? At the end of the day you may say, this guys off his rocker there is not hell. But can you say that all people go to Heaven? I am not sure that universalism is agreed upon by many within the emergent group or this group? So some don’t go to Heaven at the end of the day, if you don’t agree with my thesis above then I think we can agree on that. So how does this affect evangelism? Please do not that this topic sits well with me either, my immediate family would fall in this category, and they are not Christians. I have spoken to them of my convictions about this offering a hope of rescue in Christ. Needless to say, that did not go well. But as it is Hell and judgment are to have a premium part of any Gospel ministry we engage in. I think that we may fall into the trap of preaching or explaining the Gospel looking for some reaction. So we boil it down to a formula; “do this and this and you are then a Christian!” But as it is, the Apostles did not follow any kind of formula, their approach was much bigger, and they simply expounded the story of Christ coming into the world and what that meant as he fulfilled the OT expectations as Messiah. Peter’s sermon is a good example; he retold the story of the Bible in a sense. The people themselves understood and their reaction,” What shall we do?” Peter’s approach was that he saw that total story of God’s plan for this world as an essential part to be explained. Even the judgment of God through his Messiah ( Acts 2:34-41). Hell and judgment is a sticky subject and often offends many, but that does not excuse us from explaining that aspect of the Biblical story does it? The question comes in how we present it. Key to this in evangelism is how we explain that the Bible teaches two destinies for two groups of people after death.
So even if you don’t agree with my ideas here, how do we handle my last question? Let’s hope this is more of a fruitful discussion that will motivate us for better and more urgent evangelism.
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