A common objection to Christianity is that Hell seems cruel. How could a loving God condemn people to eternal suffering without any chance of redemption?
In my opinion, this objection is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding regarding the theology of Heaven and Hell. Many people, especially those who have not carefully studied the Bible, mistakenly assume that God forces people into Hell against their will. But is this true?
It is understandable why many assume that nobody goes to Hell of their own accord. Who would choose to spend an eternity being tortured in flames by a red monster with a pointy stick? But viewing Hell in this way seems more informed by cartoons and pop culture than by actual Biblical theology. To answer the question of whether Hell is involuntary, we have to really examine the Biblical meaning of Heaven and Hell.
Heaven is God's kingdom, where God will "wipe away every tear" and "there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain" (Revelation 21:4). So why wouldn't everyone choose Heaven if it sounds so perfect? Because it requires complete surrender to God and a humble reverence of His holiness, which a lot of people are not willing to do! This is not an appealing concept to people who would rather be their own master in life. It is also not appealing to those who have not understood the unconditional love of the Gospel, but instead perceive God to be wrathful and judgmental.
It would be cruel indeed for God to force people to worship Him in heaven, in the same way that it would be cruel for a parent to physically force their teenage children to listen to their wisdom. For people who hate God or find His commandments oppressive, Heaven would actually feel more like a Hell! Indeed, I have heard many non-Christians joke that they would rather go to Hell if they couldn't get drunk or have sex in heaven. The challenges of accepting Heaven go far beyond simply abandoning a hedonistic lifestyle, it also requires people to let go of their self-righteousness and their anger, which is extremely difficult. I know many people who will never be able to forgive people who have wronged them, yet this hatred would have to be abandoned to enter God's Kingdom.
Like many aspects of Christianity, the best analogy is marriage. In many ways, marriage is a metaphor for Heaven and divorce is a metaphor for Hell. Please do not take this to mean that all people who get divorced are going to Hell, this is not what I am saying. Rather, Heaven is like marriage because both involve a voluntary intimacy and submission to somebody who loves you. God wants to surround you with His love and provision in the same way that a loving spouse does. And like Heaven, marriage cannot be entered into forcefully, it has to be desired. Many people do not want to get married for the same reasons that they would not want to go to Heaven.
It comes down to this: Hell is a voluntary divorce from God's presence. Just as many people would rather live alone than remain in submission to their spouse, there are many people who would rather live their own way than remain in submission to God. CS Lewis phrased it perfectly:
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to
God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy
will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice
there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires
joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is
opened. ”
I think you are right how difficult it is to let go of anger and forgive people. It seems it is possible to offer forgiveness but to still feel the anger . . . so my question is, if you do everything you can to sincerely forgive but still feel anger, where do you stand?? Just something I ponder sometimes.
ReplyDeleteIt all comes down to what you believe in your heart. In my opinion, the only way to truly let go of anger and hatred is to believe that the following Biblical principles are true:
ReplyDelete1) I am a sinful person myself, and everyone who sins has fallen equally short of the holiness of God. Therefore only God can judge.
2) It is hypocritical to accept the forgiveness of God but then refuse to forgive others.
3) Everyone who unrepentantly sins will spend an eternity in Hell, so there is no need to seek vengeance in this life.
Lewis's writings have also been instrumental in my understanding of heaven and hell (The Great Divorce). This is the first time reading an explicit analogy with marriage, which I thought was interesting (and I just realized the connection with Lewis's book). I was wondering, though, what key passages in the Bible have to say on the nature of hell?
ReplyDelete