An innocent question or putting the biblical truth in question?
In the article entitled "Must a Christian believe in the existence of Hell?" the Taizé community has addressed an issue which is an uncomfortable one for many people. For the very reason that this issue is uncomfortable, it is necessary to love the biblical truth so as to avoid creating one's own, more pleasant reality.
At first glance this Taizé article appears to give the impression of being biblically well founded because numerous Bible passages are mentioned. Indeed, several formulations used are correct. And yet, an attentive reader who opens up the Bible will recognize problems in regard to the way Bible passages are used and which conclusions are drawn.
In this first part we want to discuss the biblical understanding of Hell and later we will respond to the arguments used by the Taizé community.
Part 1
God's nature and our relationship with him
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:15-16; Lev 19:2)
God is absolutely good. He is perfect, righteous, holy and there is nothing bad about him. He is love and only those who want to respond to his love by living according to God's will can have a relationship with him. A person who doesn't repent from his willful, sinful life nor allow himself to be purified of his selfishness, cannot be together with him.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7)
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30)
Jesus quotes this passage from the Old Testament (Deut 6:5). God always wanted this kind of relationship. That's what he created man for. In accordance with his love he gave each person the ability to recognise the truth about God and himself.
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)
The Free-will of Man
In his love, God created each person with a free will. This means that every person can freely choose whether or not he wants to accept God's offer of salvation.* This offer is open to everyone, but not everyone takes hold of it.
*See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)
Every person receives a lot of help from God to seek him and to find him - to love good and to reject evil. Through Jesus, God showed us the way to himself. If, however, a person ignores all His offers of help, God does not force them into a relationship with himself because it takes two to have a real relationship. God accepts the free choice of people.
The Consequences of our Life on our Eternity
Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'
But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!' There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out." (Luke 13:22-28)
If someone decides against God during his lifetime he will not find regret when confronted with God in death.
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Matthew 25:46)
The Bible uses the word 'hell' to describe the condition of being separated from God and other people in eternity. It expresses this spiritual reality with various pictures. We read, for example, of the fiery furnace, weeping and gnashing of teeth, the outer darkness and torment and agony. Physical torture is not what is meant here. The expressions used in the Bible show how terrible it will be after death for those who are separated from God. Hell means that a person will exist without any kind of relationship - a state which contradicts the very purpose for which they were created. After death this state is irreversible.
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. (2 Thess 1:8-10)
Here on earth people who do not live according to God's will and their conscience experience that something is missing in their life. They can, however, still distract themselves in many ways. After death none of these earthly distractions will exist anymore and people will end up in a state of utter emptiness.
Hell is the consequence of our sins and does not contradict the love of God. God's love does not compromise the free decision of man. When we take seriously the spiritual reality which God revealed to us, we will approach Him in thought and deed with the reverence that he deserves as our creator. A person who denies the existence of hell shows that they do not take God seriously.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
(Part 2 is still in preparation.)
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Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com