To Hell or not to Hell – that is the question.
I have been having a great dialogue with a gentleman who professes to be an agnostic (see comments on “Who is Going to Hell?”). It has been a good, respectful exchange and it has helped me better express what I believe about this difficult subject.
The core contention of my agnostic friend is that Christians claim all non-Christians go to hell, therefore 2/3 of the world must be going to hell (according to Christians). I find this unsettling for a number of reasons. I’ll name just three.
1) Who goes to hell and who doesn’t is in God’s hands, not ours. It would be wrong of us, as Christians, to claim to know who is in and who is out. This would be setting ourselves up to be God, committing idolatry.
2) Jesus indicates (Matthew 25:31-46) that some people who don’t think they’re going to heaven will and some who think they’re going to heaven go to hell. It is dangerous, therefore, for Christians to claim exclusive rights to heaven. We may well be wrong.
3) Some who belong to Christ are not part of the existing “flock” (John 10:16). It is entirely possible that this could include persons who do not profess Christianity or belong to a church. Therefore, as we relate to non-Christians, it is more important that we point them to heaven than damn them to hell.
As for relating to persons of other faiths, Mother Teresa said it well -
“God has his own means and ways of working in the hearts of people, and we do not know how close they are to Him. But in their actions we always have a clue to their attitude towards Him. Muslim, Hindu or Christian, the way you live your life is a measure of your belonging to God. We cannot condemn or judge, or speak words that might hurt. Perhaps a person has never heard of Christianity; if so, we do not know in what manner God appears in this soul and in what way He has this soul serve His purpose. By what right then can we condemn anyone?”
To think that what is meant by ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ happen after physical death doesn’t make sense, it assumes seeing beyond what is, that would be magic and useless.
The symbolism has to do with the death of this way of seeing life, of this way of seeing God; it was only after Jesus understood that God was not about protecting him from physical pain that he was able to transcend this, that is what the metaphorical ‘heaven’ is about. Hell is the pain of turning away from transcendence.
To pose magic, the supernatural, illogical is to go away from where you ought to be; this is the message, not to be foolish.
The Pistol fires back: Thanks for your thoughtful response. I would, however, respectfully disagree. Certainly, we need to function in the “now”, but also with our “eyes on the prize.” This may not make sense to us, it may be human foolishness, but it makes perfect spiritual sense, in God’s wisdom. The Bible says, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:19). I’d rather not be a pitiful person.
I agree with your sentiment on point 1.
Point 2 – I think I know what you mean – though I don’t think you’ve said it very clearly. I think you are saying that we Christians can’t know for certain who’s “in” and who’s “out.” That – because we don’t know the true condition of their heart before God. I can agree with that.
Point 3 – I’m a bit concerned about. Jesus’ criteria for a person going to heaven was that they accept Him as Savior and Lord – a result of which is confessing Him before men. That’s pretty clear-cut. I don’t think it’s correct to say that some who don’t even profess Christianity (Christ) could possibly be going to heaven. How can you go there if (according to John 14) you deny the One who is THE WAY?
Your final point there is well taken, however. Our focus SHOULD indeed be on pointing folks to heaven, NOT condemning any to hell. That’s God’s responsibility and call – thankfully.
The Pistol fires back: Great points. Yes, being saved does involve believing Christ in your hearts and professing Him with your lips. Yes, Jesus is THE way to God. How we reconcile these truths with the Scriptures I listed that produce some measure of uncertainty is beyond me. Still, I would fully agree with your well-expressed contentions.
I am struggling a little with the rather cut and dry decision that anyone who “confesses Christ” will go to heaven and anyone who doesn’t will go to hell.
I firmly believe in the existence of life after death. Heaven and hell are what we call that. I wouldn’t presume to know or be able to tell who is going where and why after they die though.
Hell being the eternal and final separation from God…Heaven being the eternal communion with him. The way our lives are lived now can often show clearly where our allegiances lie. However, only God can see into the soul of man and know where his true heart is. We can only judge actions and words.
I do believe eternal life is here and now. I’m in the middle of it. The supernatural is everywhere, whether or not we believe in God and Jesus Christ. I explored this a little in some past blogs posts myself. Over the spring I discussed a lot about the mysterious.
Great topic of converstion.
The Pistol fires back: I absolutely agree that abundant/eternal life begins now and lasts forever. Thanks for the response.
Great article pistolpete. Very well articulated.
In response to Carey’s concerns about Point 3:
I have often wondered what it means to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. What does it mean to believe, and follow, Jesus? Would it be possible for someone to do so without even knowing it, or more importantly, calling it Christianity?
Jesus placed a lot of emphasis on doing – picking up your cross (Mark 8:34), following (not just believing in) his teachings (Matthew 7: 24-27) etc. For someone who has never heard the name Jesus (which is, after all, just a word; He is also called Yeshua, Jesu, Ihu, in various countries), how does God’s redemptive plan cater for them? Is Jesus simply a name we use to buy our ticket to heaven, or is He more? A way of life, perhaps? A role-model of the ideal relationship with God? All this and more? And what about the people who went to heaven, like Elijah (2 Kings 2:4), before Jesus was born?
Surely the salvation of the souls of the world does not rest solely on the shoulders of Christians? Heaven forbid! Paul tells us that, thanks to Jesus, we now have the privilege of participating in His redemptive work by walking paths already prepared for us by God (Ephesians 2:10). Note, however, it is God’s work, not ours. If the salvation of mankind was the sole responsibility of Christians, that would be a grave situation indeed for those who we fail to reach, are too lazy to reach, or those to whom Christ has been gravely misrepresented.
As Mother Theresa has said, we cannot know how God appears in the hearts of others. Yes, I do believe that as Christians we have an imperative to share the Good News (note, not the Bad News), just as a beggar would tell another beggar where to find bread. But for those millions of beggars who, for one reason or another have never heard of Jesus, or have an erroneous impression of him due to misrepresentation by Christians……what of them?
We must trust that God looks at the hearts of all men (1 samuel 16:1-13) and that He is fair to judge those hearts in His way, not ours. As Desmond Tutu once said, “We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners.”
The Pistol fires back: Good thoughts. And thank you for posting the Mother Teresa quote I stole from your site.
Just this afternoon, I was having a similar conversation with my grandson (though on a more 6th grade level). Instead of whacking him on the head with answers to questions, I think it’s better for us to be encouraged to think. I really got a lot of thought from your ideas here, and I’ll be passing this on to my grandson.
The Pistol fires back: Glad to hear this was helpful, Cathy. I pray your conversation goes well.
*cough* female *cough*
Anyways :) I greatly enjoyed your post. However, I would have to agree with Carey on the subject of your point 3. Actually, he/she took the words right out of my mouth. According to Christianity Jesus is the way. And even though what Will stated about it being general, in a way, I’d have to disagree. It’s not a general thing, and I feel that a lot of Christians would be offended by that statement (maybe I’m wrong). There is no in between of whether or not your following Jesus. And besides, how could you possibly “accidentally” follow Jesus, ESPECIALLY if you don’t even know who he is or anything about him? Does that mean that I believe that those who never heard the name of Christ are automatically doomed to hell? Absolutely not! That would be absurd, and in those rare (VERY rare) occasions, I believe God would just look at their heart and not just be a stickler about the fact that nobody got to them to tell the word of god.
Does that mean that I feel god wont look at the hearts of ALL men? Nope, and I sure as hell hope he does. I mean, say I died tonight, as a confessing agnostic, former devout Christian. Would I go to hell? Meh, I hope not…I hope god would recognize that I am only seeking truth, and not out of hatred of him or blasphemy of who he might be.
Even so, I still wanna stick with my two-thirds. Maybe even more as I said in your previous post. Do I think god is strict on this for the most part? Yes, I think god is probably going to be looking for righteousness in a persons life. Do I live in righteousness? Ha! By now means. And considering I haven’t accepted Christ, I don’t have that atonement over me for me to even be considered righteous in anyway. And because of that I believe that god would send me to hell. And because of this fact, I believe god will send all non-christians to hell. He looks for righteousness and the following of Christ. As stated, there may be some exceptions, but I don’t think god is about to play favorites.
Now I ask you this: What happens in hell? Where do you stand on that? Is hell an actual firey place? Is it just death (the second death…I’m just giving hints :D)
Take care,
Hope (a female name)
The Pistol fires back: Ah, a female compatriot. Thanks for clarifying this. As for your follow-up questions, let me spend some time on hell and get back to you in a future post.
pistol, hats off to you for being bold enough to post on such touchy subjects. As a first time reader i look forward to reading more in the future. I have some things to say…trumpethope19 and Will- your statement\belief that those who have never heard won’t be damned to hell is a little ignorant. John 14:1-7 clearly states that Jesus is The Way. To say that he is the only way for those who have heard about him only, is unbiblical. Why do we try to make God out to be totally forgiving and merciful to those who may never had heard? The reason is we think God judges the way we do. God is just, He is merciful. We don’t like to believe in a god that would send people to Hell when in fact, He gave us the responsibility to go into all the world and preach the Gospel (Matthew 28:16-20) because a small tribe in Africa or China has never heard the saving message of Jesus is not God’s fault but us humans. God has given us the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this task of reaching the unreached (Acts 1:8)
The Pistol fires back: Thanks for dropping by and adding a response. I like your phrase, “To say that he [Christ] is the only way for those who have heard about him only, is unbiblical.” Nicely put. Hope to hear from you again.