Quote Source – Medium Responder
A Biblical Christian worldview perspective – The quote above was taken from a longer response to a post on annihilationism (details here). The full transcript follows:
Reader Response
“For me, the real issue is that the doctrine of Hell is not as clearly defined in the Bible as people would presume it to be (and the more I study it, the less certain I become). Furthermore, it was not a significant issue for the early Church and has actually evolved quite substantially over time. So, for me, this is not a core interpretation/doctrine. I would never tell another Christian that they are wrong to believe in the modern concept of Hell or that annihilationism is wrong (to me, this comes under the guidance of Paul concerning what is clean and unclean).
“And given my study on this topic, I would be terrified to tell someone else they were going to “Hell” for fear that I was not right and would be held accountable by God on the day of judgement. We do not need the concept of Hell to draw people to God and a reliance on it leads to ineffective evangelism.”
My Response
Respectfully, below is a line from our Biblical Christian Worldview Core Theology…
Resurrection — Everyone will be resurrected from the grave: the saved to eternal life in Heaven, and the lost to eternal damnation in a real and literal Hell.
We can debate it back and forth but for me, it is what it is. As to your point on,
“for fear that I was not right and would be held accountable by God on the day of judgement”….
I can only say that we all have our theology wrong in places (especially myself)… but if Hell is real and you tell seekers who ask you that it is not…. that would be of greater sadness when facing God at the judgment seat of Christ.
To your final point, I would offer Paul… who tried to be “all things to all people in order to save some.” In that context, we should not assume that “we do not need” a tool God put in our evangelistic tool belt.
In 1741 Jonathan Edwards began a revival called “The First Great Awakening.” His sermon that created the spark was entitled, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (details here).
His Follow Up Response
I still cannot find a verse where we are commanded to go out and profess the “bad news of Hell”. For me, the Good News has always been sufficient.
Consider the murderer condemned to death for his crimes. Do you not consider his death as an irrevocable punishment?
My Final Response
To your point, my answer is twofold. First, you are comparing the actions and morality of mankind and attributing them to God. If our opinions mattered, we would have no faith in an omnipotent God who allowed Lucifer to become Satan. Second, the word you chose to conveniently use was “irrevocable” not “eternal.” The Bible uses the latter word.
Webster…
- Irrevocable – not possible to revoke : UNALTERABLE
- Eternal – having infinite duration : EVERLASTING
From an earthly perspective, death is “irrevocable” but not “eternal.” From a Godly perspective if one does not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, that decision is “irrevocable” at physical death and that individual will suffer “eternal” punishment in a real and literal Hell. This is not something I understand or agree with… but I am not an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, supreme God. So, I have to have faith in Him that…
1 Corinthians 13:12 – For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
Conclusion
The Lord calls us to love Him, and love our neighbor as the greatest commandments (Luke 10:27). For the vast majority of divine appointments, that means an outpouring of grace in the hopes of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ in a non-threatening manner. However, even though God’s eternal judgement on the lost may seem harsh, unfair, and certainly disconcerting to our saved, sin-cursed, humanly logical minds, that does not mean the Lord desires to limit His evangelists from only talking about the joy of Heaven. When called upon to do so, we must not ignore the pending judgment of Hell. To limit ourselves, out of fear of rejection or reprisal, to speak/write only the good stuff from our Christian faith is to function like Joel Osteen, who is rightly called the “Cotton Candy Preacher” (details here).
Mark 9:47-48 – And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
Please Read/Respond to Comments – on Medium
