Posted on 02/09/2014 8:05:52 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
According to recent polls, some 81 percent of adult Americans believe in heaven, and fully 80 percent expect to go there when they die. By comparison, about 61 percent believe in hell, but less than 1 percent think it’s likely they will go there. In other words, a slight majority of Americans still believe hell exists, but genuine fear of hell is almost nonexistent.
Even the most conservative evangelicals don’t seem to take hell very seriously anymore. For decades, many evangelicals have downplayed inconvenient biblical truths, neglecting any theme that seems to require somber reflection. Doctrines such as human depravity, divine wrath, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the reality of eternal judgment have disappeared from the evangelical message.
The trend has not escaped everyone’s attention. Thirty years ago, for example, Martin Marty, religious historian, professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and critic of all things evangelical, delivered the Ingersoll Lecture on Immortality at Harvard Divinity School. The title of his message was “Hell Disappeared. No One Noticed.” Marty’s research had failed to turn up a single scholarly article dealing with the subject of hell in any significant theological journal over the previous century. Citing the dearth of attention being given to so large a topic, Marty suggested that if evangelicals really took seriously what Scripture says about eternal punishment, someone with a voice should notice.
Almost no one did. Eighteen years later, The Los Angeles Times featured a front-page article titled “Hold the Fire and Brimstone,” pointing out that many style-conscious evangelical church leaders were purposely omitting the theme of divine retribution:
In churches across America, hell is being frozen out as clergy find themselves increasingly hesitant to sermonize on … a story line that no longer resonates with churchgoers. [According to] Harvey Cox Jr., an eminent author, religious historian and professor at the Harvard Divinity School, “You can go to a whole lot of churches week after week, and you’d be startled even to hear a mention of hell.”
Hell’s fall from fashion indicates how key portions of Christian theology have been influenced by a secular society that stresses individualism over authority and the human psyche over moral absolutes. The rise of psychology, the philosophy of existentialism, and the consumer culture have all dumped buckets of water on hell.
The article profiled an evangelical pastor who said he believes in hell, but (according to the Times) “you’d never know it listening to him preach… . He never mentions the topic; his flock shows little interest in it.” Asked why the doctrine of hell has gone missing, this pastor replied, “It isn’t sexy enough anymore.”
The article also quoted a well-known seminary professor who more or less agreed. Hell, he said, is “just too negative… . Churches are under enormous pressure to be consumer-oriented. Churches today feel the need to be appealing rather than demanding.”
The article closed with a quote from Martin Marty, almost two decades after his famous lecture on the subject. He agreed that market-driven concerns are the main reason hell is being expunged from the evangelical message:
Once pop evangelism went into market analysis, hell was just dropped. When churches go door to door and conduct a market analysis … they hear, “I want better parking spaces. I want guitars at services. I want to have my car greased while I’m in church.”
Years of indifference finally paved the way for open hostility. In the first decade of the new millennium, certain prominent figures in the “emergent church” declared war on the biblical doctrine of hell. The groundswell seemed to crest a couple of years ago with the publication of Rob Bell’s bestselling book Love Wins. Bell argued that it’s absurd to think a loving God would ever damn anyone to eternal punishment. He portrayed God’s love as a force that clashes with and ultimately eliminates the demands of justice. In the storyline Bell envisions, God requires no payment or punishment for sin. The divine response to evil is always remedial, never punitive. Furthermore, the wages of sin are mild, temporary, and reserved only for grossly malevolent villains—mass murderers, child rapists, tyrants who engineer genocide, and (one supposes) Christians who tell unbelievers they should fear God. When it’s all over, everyone will be together in paradise.
In such a system, God’s righteousness is compromised, repentance is optional, atonement is unnecessary, and the truth of God’s Word is nullified. In other words, nothing of biblical Christianity is left. Once anyone sets out to tone down or tame the hard truths of Scripture, that’s where the process inevitably leads.
Only a few leading voices in the evangelical movement have lobbied boldly for a more orthodox approach to the doctrine of hell. They seem to be outnumbered by those who think the disappearance of hell is a positive development.
Some have proposed alternative ways to speak of sin and judgment in gentler, toned-down, and more refined and socially acceptable terminology than Scripture uses. Sin is deemed wrong not because it is an offense against the righteousness of God, but because of the hurt it causes others. Hell is described not as a place of eternal punishment but simply as a realm apart from God. In the reimagined eschatology of stylish evangelicals, no one is ever “sent” to hell; sinners actually choose to spend eternity apart from God—and the “hell” they suffer is merely an abundance of what they loved and desired the most. Hell is necessary only because God is reluctant to overrule anyone’s free will. Therefore, with a more or less benign acquiescence, He ultimately defers to the sinner’s choice. God’s righteous indignation has no meaningful place in such a scenario.
It is a serious mistake to imagine that we improve Scripture or enhance its effectiveness by blunting its sharp edges. Scripture is a sword, not a cotton swab, and it needs to be fully unsheathed before it can be put to its intended use. “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). The gospel is supposed to be an affront to fleshly pride, offensive to human sensibilities, foolishness in the eyes of worldly wisdom, and contrary to all carnal judgments.
No Christian teaching exemplifies those characteristics more powerfully than the doctrine of hell. It is an appalling truth. We rightly recoil at the thought of it. The doctrine of hell thus stands as a warning and a reminder of what a loathsome reality sin is. No reasonable or godly person delights in the reality of eternal damnation. God Himself says, “As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ezek. 33:11).
Yet the severity of God’s wrath and the woes of hell are prominent in Scripture. The New Testament speaks more vividly and more frequently about hell than the Old Testament does. In fact, Jesus Himself had more to say about the subject than any other prophet or biblical writer. Far from smoothing over the difficulties that seem to embarrass so many evangelicals today, Jesus said:
Do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! (Luke 12:4–5)
If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. (Matt. 18:8–9)
We do no one any favors by downplaying the truth of God’s wrath or neglecting to mention the severity of His judgment. We certainly don’t eliminate the threat of hell by refusing to speak or think of it. If we truly believe what the Bible teaches about the eternal fate of unbelievers, it is in no sense “loving” to remain silent and refuse to sound the appropriate alarm.
What, after all, is the good news we proclaim in the gospel? It is not an announcement that no one really needs to fear God or fret about the possibility of hell. As a matter of fact, there would be no glad tidings at all if God merely intended to capitulate to the stubborn will of man and forgo the demands of His perfect righteousness.
The good news is even better than most believers understand: God made a way for His righteousness and His love to be fully reconciled. In His incarnation, Christ fulfilled all righteousness (satisfying, not nullifying, the demands of His law). In His death on the cross, He paid the price of His people’s sin in full (assuring the triumph of perfect justice). And in His resurrection from the dead, He put a powerful exclamation mark on His own perfect, finished work of atonement (thus sealing the promise of justification forever for those who trust Him as Lord and Savior).
That is the message we must declare to a worldly culture utterly lacking any real fear of God. We cannot do it faithfully or effectively if from the very outset we have omitted the harsh truth Scripture declares about “the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty” (Rev. 19:15).
....” what makes you think I owe you idiots an answer on anything?”.....
The question , if or not you believe Jesus is God, is not an unreasonable thing to ask. It’s not about owing anyone, it’s about who you’re identifying with in presenting Roods teachings. Most Christians wouldn’t struggle or put off answering that question....Your hesitation does speak volumes unfortunately. Want to clear that up maybe?
Getting a little personal there aren’t you? I’m smart enough to investigate the background of this guy Rood to find out he’s a fake and a fraud.
>> “And torah is ONLY for the Jews.” <<
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Torah is for all that will come to him, his Bride.
The word repeatedly says that all who love him will keep his commandments.
Torah is for his elect: “the lost sheep of the House of Israel,” permeating the Earth, “as the sands of the sea.”
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That supports my position more than the eternal torture doctrine.
Got a good recipe ???
The stove is all mine ...
:)
Whoever believes --> that is not everybody.
should not perish --> Second death, spiritual death = Lake of fire
Boy, you're one to talk about getting a little personal.
I’m smart enough to investigate the background of this guy Rood to find out he’s a fake and a fraud.
You haven't shown yourself to be a beacon of wisdom yet, but I maintain hope the light comes on.
Mark 7:
[20] And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
[21] For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
[22] Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
[23] All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
BTW, I have no ides what a Lamsa Bible even is.
Yeshua's followers generally prefer to remain with the KJV because of the wealth of study references which are available are not matched in any other version.
.....”By his grace, we are able to conform to his way through his Torah”....
Wrong....to suggest that both Gentile or Jewish believers in Christ would become more obedient or spiritual if they lived under the law (Torah)is to miss the power which comes from the Gospel as the new covenant.
The Law (Torah) cannot change the heart all it does is point to the problem, it is diagnostic but it is not the cure. It cannot change the heart of man because the law has no power in this area. It points and convicts makes one guilty, it has no other ability.
Judged what you will, I don't recognize your court nor do your ranting's influence me in the least, darling.
That was a sad one, the man started off preaching Jesus and ended up focusing on himself...and a lot of people ended up dead.
Mark 7:
[20] And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
[21] For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
[22] Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
[23] All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
All that Rood teaches comes from Yehova's scriptures, as we have pointed out abundantly here.
Your vile Satanic attacks thus are against Yehova and his word.
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>> “That was a sad one, the man started off preaching Jesus...” <<
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At no time did Jim Jones preach anything but Marxism.
Your post exemplifies spiritual blindness.
The New Testament fully promotes Yehova’s Torah as the path to conforming to him through love.
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Yes, you are right, somehow I got him confused with Jim Baker in a way, but that was a sex scandal that brought him down. My apologies...Jim Jones was definitely preaching socialism/communism. Too many Jims.
They still have a strong belief in hell, in Texas.......
It was a while back, but a Congressman from Texas was on the long carriage journey home from Washington. He stopped to visit his congressional colleague from Tennessee. The Tennessean gave him a tour of Knoxville. They went down near the river to see the creation. The Tennessean proudly exclaimed “ This is our great University, The University of Tennessee”. He went on to extol the great professors and opportunities for the bright students flocking to the campus. He called the chancellor who graciously greeted the congressman from Texas with a Tennessee orange T shirt emblazoned UT.
While traveling, the Texan thought on his visit and concluded that we need a university like that in Texas.
Alas, disaster struck. While philandering in a gambling hall under the hill in Natchez, the Congressman from the great but fledgling State of Texas was murdered. He went immediately to hell. The fires burned heatedly and though not consumed, his hair, eyebows and clothing were scorched.
On presentation to the devil, the evil one saw the UT shirt and decided this must be a Holy Man and cast the Texan out. He found himself dazed but alive once more on the road back to Texas.
As soon as he got home, he called a committee to meet and they created a University, The University of Texas. To this day many Texans proudly wear T shirts of Burnt Orange bearing the logo UT.
Once again, like the Alamo and San Jacinto, Texans became indebted to Tennessee for greatness.
“Do you believe the Bible?”
I believe the Bible is the Word Of God originally. I also believe the Bible was manipulated by the same Watchers we have today manipulating the truth.
Refreshing enlightened thought on this thread!!
So hell is a fire, but not physical, that consumes all dross in sinners?
“Nowhere in the Bible is hell described as a place of punishment;”
Others would disagree with that:
“45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. ’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matthew 25:45-46 ESV)”
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