This post is definitely written for a Christian audience. I suspect that any non-Christians reading this post will find many of the attitudes contained within utterly baffling. As a result, I would remind the non-Christian, if they continue to read, that when it comes to topics such as sin and guilt the Christian and non-Christian will make radically different assumptions. There is insufficient space here to fully draw out the different assumptions we are likely to make. However, one key thing to bear in mind is that for the Christian our eyes are fixed on a perfectly good God whom we try to emulate. As a result, our moral scales are calibrated very differently. If the top of the scale is supernatural perfection then, as imperfect human beings, we all end up very near the bottom. Thus, even a ‘good guy’, who may well be a very kind, decent, honourable, generous and friendly chap by human standards, still ends up being remarkably unimpressive, even offensive, to put it mildly, in the grand scheme of things.
Whilst reading through Von Balthasar’s Dare We Hope ‘That All Men Be Saved’? my attention was drawn to a common attitude amongst Christians which I had always assumed was so obviously inimicable to the Christian faith that it could only ever be the reserve of the spiritually and theologically immature. And yet, apparently, the view is a common one, even amongst intellectually sophisticated and (at least supposedly) spiritually mature Christians. This greatly surprised me and so I thought I would dedicate this post to discussing the view.
The offending view is simply this: that Hell is for other people. In more detail, it is the idea that others, perhaps the bulk of mankind, are dangerously close to Hellfire, but that this is not the case for oneself. That I am almost certainly (or certainly?) safe and Heaven bound, but that this is not the case for the bulk of humanity. Von Balthasar, when criticising the view, describes it thus:
“hell is no longer something that is ever mine but rather something that befalls ‘the others’, while I, praise God, have escaped it. And I can cite support diligently and piously from Holy Scripture: ‘But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters and all liars, their lots shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone’ (Rev 21:8). ‘Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God’ (1 Cor 6:9-10). But the theological Monsignore tells himself, I do not seem to fall into any of these categories. And at once the prayer is on his lips: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector’ (Lk 18:11). Then one goes on to populate hell, according to own’s own taste, with all sorts of monsters: Ivan the Terrible, Stalin the Horrible, Hitler the Madman and all his cronies, which certainly results, as well, in an imposing company that one would prefer not to encounter in heaven.”
Von Balthasar then goes on to quote several prominent theologians who display this attitude whilst charting the development of this view throughout history.
The problem with this view, it seems to me, is that it blinds oneself to one’s own sinfulness, whilst (almost) revelling in the sinfulness of others. This, in turn, cheapens God’s grace with regard to your own condition, and it is this that is particularly egregious.
I would advocate, as does Von Balthasar for similar reasons, completely reversing one’s perspective. One should keep one’s eyes constantly on one’s own sinfulness and precarious standing with God, whilst (almost) turning a blind eye to the sins of others. This claim needs nuancing.
My suggestion is that we hold two (almost) incompatible beliefs at the same time in dynamic tension. The first is that we are Hell bound sinners, and the second is that we Heaven bound acquittees. The reason we need to hold these two beliefs at the same time is that each comes into focus only through the lens of the other. It is only by being fully aware of our sinfulness that we can understand the enormous and joyous mercy of God. At the same time, it is only by being aware of our status as redeemed acquittees that we can avoid falling into despair on account of our sinfulness. Both need to be held at the same time, but it seems that there is a tendency amongst some Christians to emphasise their status as Heaven bound acquittees, whilst forgetting their status as Hell bound sinners, and whilst emphasizing the Hell bound sinful status of others, particularly of non-Christians.
It is only through holding both at the same time that we can avoid flippancy with regard to sin and presumption (in the negative sense of the word) with regard to our status before God, whilst also avoiding despair and despondency.
Additionally, it is through holding these two beliefs in dynamic tension that we can correctly honour Jesus’s parable of the log and the speck, “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?” Matthew 7:3. If one is constantly aware of one’s own status as a Hell bound sinner it becomes much easier to see the good in others and to be forgiving (and almost dismissive!) of their shortcomings and moral failings.
Again, maybe this is simply some form of psychological pathology on my part, but the ‘givenness’ of my own sinfulness is so pronounced that sometimes I can almost feel it sticking to me; like on a hot, humid day. You can take a shower, but no sooner have you gotten out of it than you start to feel sticky all over again! When one sees one’s sinfulness like this one realises that the idea of our going to Heaven is absurd. Heaven is perfect, but sin seeps from our very pores. If we did enter Heaven then, at that very moment, it would cease to be Heaven. Our very presence is inimicable to the nature of Heaven and thus we cannot go there; without, that is, divine help! When one is that aware of one’s own sinfulness (and that is still probably not nearly aware enough) it is hard to get terribly worked up about the sinfulness of others. Maybe this is just me. Maybe I am too hard on myself, or perhaps I am a particularly wretched human being, but, if I am right and this is a common feature of humanity, it would be wise for us to remember it.
I will end this post with two quotes that, perhaps, nicely summarize the gist of what I am trying to say.
The first is the Jesus Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God,
Have mercy on me,
A sinner.
The second, a quote from Soren Kierkegaard:
In my life I have never got farther, nor will I get farther, than “fear and trembling”, that point at which I am literally quite certain that everyone else will easily attain the bliss of heaven, and only I shall not. … Telling other people … “You are eternally lost” is something I cannot do. As far as I am concerned, the situation is that all the others will, of course, go to heaven; the only doubt is whether I shall get there. (Quoted in Von Balthasar, 2014, pp. 201 -202.)