No human being is illegal.

I love it.

Goodnight.

Love,
David

(PRODUCT) RED

http://www.joinred.com/

Love,
David

Hell.

Christianity... I've been having some issues with the religion of late. Perhaps living in "Gerald Ford country" and being surrounded by a plethora of Christian churches (and a sincere lack of Muslim centers, Buddhist temples, and Jewish synagogues compared to Kalamazoo) has rekindled the religious debate in my head. One of the main topics I found myself returning to is the idea of "hell." What an asshole this god must be if this "almighty creator" sets-up so many people across the world so that they end up in this place. After all, could a Buddhist monk on the other side of the world be condemned to "hell" simply because he had been taught to follow Buddha and travel the path to enlightenment? Could a nun follow Christ's example and live as perfect a life as one can but end up being condemned to "hell" because she never prayed a prayer that "accepted Christ into her heart?" If so, then this is a religion that I refuse to take part in.

This is where a LiveJournal post of a friend (and religious genius) helped to rescue my perception of what I saw as a cold, rigidly dogmatic and ultimately lost religion. Here are the words that rekindled my hope for Christians and reminded me that the Jesus I learned about is far above such petty, closed minded beliefs (see THIS and THIS as perfect examples of closed minded beliefs).

And now... Without further ado...

What the hell?

The Second Testament admonishes us that "perfect love casts out all fear." God's love is perfect and so it should not generate fear in humans. Nor should we use a concept such as hell to scare people into submission. Submission based on fear is not conversion. It is enslavement and God does not wish us to be slaves. God yearns for us to catch the vision of God's reign and join God in the glorious work of establishing that reign and rule in it's fullness here and now.

I don't believe in hell. William Barclay, the great Scottish Second Testament scholar helped me to think through its Biblical and Theological implications. Here's his reasoning for why he was a universalist:

I AM A CONVINCED UNIVERSALIST

by William Barclay
I am a convinced universalist. I believe that in the end all humans will be gathered into the love of God. In the early days Origen was the great name connected with universalism. I would believe with Origen that universalism is no easy thing. Origen believed that after death there were many who would need prolonged instruction, the sternest discipline, even the severest punishment before they were fit for the presence of God. Origen did not eliminate hell; he believed that some people would have to go to heaven via hell. He believed that even at the end of the day there would be some on whom the scars remained. He did not believe in eternal punishment, but he did see the possibility of eternal penalty. And so the choice is whether we accept God's offer and invitation willingly, or take the long and terrible way round through ages of purification.

Gregory of Nyssa offered three reasons why he believed in universalism. First, he believed in it because of the character of God. "Being good, God entertains pity for fallen humans; being wise, God is not ignorant of the means for God's recovery." Second, he believed in it because of the nature of evil. Evil must in the end be moved out of existence, "so that the absolutely non-existent should cease to be at all." Evil is essentially negative and doomed to non-existence. Third, he believed in it because of the purpose of punishment. The purpose of punishment is always remedial. Its aim is "to get the good separated from the evil and to attract it into the communion of blessedness." Punishment will hurt, but it is like the fire which separates the alloy from the gold; it is like the surgery which removes the diseased thing; it is like the cautery which burns out that which cannot be removed any other way.

But I want to set down not the arguments of others but the thoughts which have persuaded me personally of universal salvation.

First, there is the fact that there are things in the New Testament which more than justify this belief. Jesus said: "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all humans to myself" (John 12:32). Paul writes to the Romans: "God has consigned all humans to disobedience that God may have mercy on all" (Rom. 11:32). He writes to the Corinthians: "As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22); and he looks to the final total triumph when God will be everything to everyone (1 Cor. 15:28). In the First Letter to Timothy we read of God "who desires all humans to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth," and of Christ Jesus "who gave himself as a ransom for all" (1 Tim 2:4-6). The New Testament itself is not in the least afraid of the word all.

Second, one of the key passages is Matthew 25:46 where it is said that the rejected go away to eternal punishment, and the righteous to eternal life. The Greek word for punishment is kolasis, which was not originally an ethical word at all. It originally meant the pruning of trees to make them grow better. I think it is true to say that in all Greek secular literature kolasis is never used of anything but remedial punishment. The word for eternal is aionios. It means more than everlasting, for Plato - who may have invented the word - plainly says that a thing may be everlasting and still not be aionios. The simplest way to out it is that aionios cannot be used properly of anyone but God; it is the word uniquely, as Plato saw it, of God. Eternal punishment is then literally that kind of remedial punishment which it befits God to give and which only God can give.

Third, I believe that it is impossible to set limits to the grace of God. I believe that not only in this world, but in any other world there may be, the grace of God is still effective, still operative, still at work. I do not believe that the operation of the grace of God is limited to this world. I believe that the grace of God is as wide as the universe.

Fourth, I believe implicitly in the ultimate and complete triumph of God, the time when all things will be subject to God, and when God will be everything to everyone (1 Cor. 15:24-28). For me this has certain consequences. If one human remains outside the love of God at the end of time, it means that that one human has defeated the love of God - and that is impossible. Further, there is only one way in which we can think of the triumph of God. If God was no more than a King or Judge, then it would be possible to speak of God's triumph, if God's enemies were agonizing in hell or were totally and completely obliterated and wiped out. But God is not only King and Judge, God is Father - God is indeed Father more than anything else. No father could be happy while there were members of his family for ever in agony. No father would count it a triumph to obliterate the disobedient members of his family. The only triumph a father can know is to have all his family back home. The only victory love can enjoy is the day when its offer of love is answered by the return of love. The only possible final triumph is a universe loved by and in love with God.

[Quoted from William Barclay: A Spiritual Autobiography, pg 65-67, William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1977.]

Pretty compelling, no?

Grace and Peace,

WES

That's all for tonight. I've got an exam in the morning and should get my sleep...

Love and peace, you beautiful people. =)

Love,
David

P.S. As I was writing about the two people who would be condemned under the supposed "Biblical" interpretation of Christianity, I was thinking of my two favorite modern representatives of religion: Thich Nhat Hanh and Mother Teresa... just in case you couldn't tell. =)