Questions I get from drunk people at parties, part 2: Do you, like, believe in hell?

I believe in hell, but if you're a bit too shocked by that, then just relax and listen to the soothing lyrical harmonies of the Louvin brothers:

Just kiddin'. I'll try to explain my beliefs a bit less preachy and a bit more bible-y. First of all, we have to acknowledge that a place of darkness, faithlessness and hatred that is contrasted to the light, faith and love of God is a recurring theology of Jesus' ministry and of his apostles. The former is called such things as "the outer darkness", "the second death, "damnation", "the flesh", "the furnace", "the pit", "the kingdom of this world", "the place where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth". The latter is called such things as "the light","the ressurection", "salvation", "the life","the spirit", "the kingdom of heaven", "the kingdom of God", "the new Jerusalem". There's a prevalent theme of contrasting the realm of righteousness with the realm of sin, which is found throughout the entire Bible, especially in the Gospels. Examples from the Gospels include Matthew 5:29-30, 13:24-50, 18:8-9, 23:37-39, 25:31-46, Mark 9:45-47, Luke 16:19-31, John 5:11-13, 5:26-29, 8:12.


Another theme that goes along with the theme of the contrasting realms of righteousness and sin, is that of judgement. You see, hell is not an isolated doctrine construed from a few bible verses, but must be seen together with doctrine of ressurection of the dead and of Gods judgement of sinners as an eschatological whole. This judgement is shown as not as despotic edicts from a Christ, but a realisation of that which is already inside our hearts. Therefore, out of the dark heart there will come darkness, and of the hateful heart there will come hatred. For the Lord "will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts" (1 Cor 4:3). Judgement means that God shines his light upon sinners (for we are all sinners) in order to reveal everything that previously was unseen, all our basest instincts and hidden evil is layed bare before our own eyes. However, those who trusted God in life, will do so still in the hereafter and not despair when they see their inner darkness. For they will have comfort in the righteousness of Christ and that Christ does not want anyone to perish, but have eternal life (2 Peter 3:9). For the Light of Judgement is also the Light of Christ's Righteousness which cleanses the sin of all those who repent (that is wish for escape from their bondage in sin). Those who long for the Light of God will therefore stay in the light, but there may be those who have hearts as dead and hard as rock, who does not bear to see their dark deeds revealed to them, and therefore prefers the darkness over the light as it hides their true nature. They will flee from the Light of God into the outer darkness, and there they will live with their sin, as they have chosen. As C.S Lewis once said, what seperates the saved from the damned is not the evil of their deeds, for all that can be cleansed by the blood of Christ's sacrifice, it is that the saved are those who say to God "Thy will be done" and the damned are those to whom God says "Thy will be done". For "this is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God" (John 3:19-21).


Not only is the doctrine of hell justified both biblically and morally, it also corresponds to our experiences in this earthly life. How humane is it to deny the existance of hell, when so many of us have experienced it? Far too many of us have already experienced the hell that is famine, desperation and depression, loneliness, addiction, opression, war, physical and psychological abuse. For many people hell is very real and palpable as it is part of this life. Just as Jesus created the kingdom of Heaven here on earth through his death and ressurection, so have we humans created our own hells and imposed it upon eachother. How humane is it to deny our collective experience of horror and sadness and say that it doesn't exist.? It is obvious that it does, and therefore we are in danger of dragging our hells into the life hereafter aswell. That is why it is so important that we combat Satan and hell right here on earth, through the shield that is faith, love and hope, and the sword that is the Word of God. The Word that says that we are not alone and that we are loved. The Word that delivers and frees us from the chains of despair that ties us down. The Word that says "come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).