Session 3: November 5 2012

An observation about last week’s study – most of us were quite comfortable giving up the idea of Hell as "a metaphysical place of eternal punishment."

BUT there was still a strong belief or longing for some understanding of eternal life (Heaven?)

What seemed most objectionable was the idea that some were excluded from Heaven on the basis that “God would never forgive this person, or that sin, or that un-belief…”

So our opening scripture reading looked at “heaven”.  Surprisingly, very few biblical references to heaven are related to the idea of after-life.  Instead they focus on heaven as being the realm of God and the angels, or in Matthew, Jesus' phrase "the kingdom of heaven" meaning what the other gospel writers refer to as the kingdom of God, only Matthew was careful not to use God's name.  this was not after-life so much as the presence and power of God on earth. 

So we looked at 2 Peter 3:  3-13, written in a time when early followers of Jesus were being tested for their faith, tempted by false teachers, and waiting for the second coming of Christ.  Still not heaven as after-life, but rather the end times for all life on earth.

First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts ⁴and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died,^* all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!’ ⁵They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, ⁶through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. ⁷But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgement and destruction of the godless.

8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. ⁹The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you,^* not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.^*

11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, ¹²waiting for and hastening^* the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? ¹³But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; ¹⁵and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, ¹⁶speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. ¹⁷You therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, beware that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless and lose your own stability. ¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

 It seems that the message is "everything" will be burned in the end times, not just hell, but earth and the heavens as well, so that a new heaven and earth can be established.  Apparently "Peter" did not have a strong belief in hell, since it is not mentioned here.  Somehow those who are godly will be saved, and the godless destroyed in this fire. 

There is no mention of judgement or going to heaven for individual lives that end before this end time scenario.  As the time of waiting for Jesus to return became longer and longer, the early Christians had to respond to the question of where the departed spirits go - theories of heaven, purgatory, hell seem to evolve as the waiting time grew longer.

Wright's Chapter 3:  The Hell Jesus Never Intended

How did Jesus' words about "hell" (Gehenna, fire, Hades) become the HELL of Dante's Inferno?

Wright points to the 11th theology of Anselm, of Canterbury, writing to defend the notion that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine.  According to Anselm, Jesus had to be both to meet the need for a "perfect sacrifice" to appease God's anger over original sin.  Jesus, being born of a virgin and never sinning in his life on earth, gave his life as sacrifice, building up so many merit points that all who align themselves with him will also be saved.  Saved from what?  Eternal punishment in the fires of hell!

This by-product of Anselm's Christology is called "the Atonement Theory", and answers the question:  Why did Jesus have to die?  It became very popular in the context of a time where there was a strict hierarchy of power, and the feudal Lord could demand "justice" by demanding payment for every infraction. That culture of "justice" was then applied to God's relationship with humanity.  And it gave rise to lots of literature about the nature and climate of hell.

However, if you don't hold such theological notions as virgin birth or original sin, the theology of atonement is built on a pretty tippy foundation. 

Chpater 4:  Looking Through a Broader Lens

Jesus' image of God is less feudal Lord and more loving Father - where God is always seeking a way to restore the broken relationship.  This is our legacy from the Hebrew scriptures:  that God's love is relentless.

In a complete misreading of Israel's tradition of sacrifice, Anselm saw it as a method of appeasing or paying off God.  The prophets, however, saw God as already loving, and seeking reconciliation.  Sacrifice was meant to be a sign of humanity's change of heart, and willingness to seek God's way, not a way of forcing God to forgive. 

Peter Abelard (14th century) proposed the theory that Jesus's life (and death and resurrection) should inspire humanity to reconcile ourselves with God.  Maybe we need to read more Abelard! 

Modern psychology suggests that we need reassurance that we are loveable, and that the parent God loves us in spite of all our flaws.  Wright cites the biographies of Karen Armstrong and Rachel Naomi Remen, contrasting the demanding religious institution or strict parent with the image of a loving God who gives us the original blessing of unconditional love.

We closed with a prayer from Bruce Sanguin's book If Darwin Prayed, called The View from Thirty Thousand Feet.