IF HELL IS REAL IS GOD JUST? (6 OF 7)
Scripture: Isaiah 55:8-9, Job 38:1-7, Job 40:1-8, Matthew 23:29-33, Colossians 1:11-14
This content is part of a series.
If Hell is Real is God Just? (6 of 7)
Series: Apologia
Wyman Richardson
Isaiah 55:8-9; Job 38:1-7; Job 40:1-8; Luke 18:1-8; Psalm 53:2-3; Matthew 23:29-33; Colossians 1:11-14; Matthew 16:16-18
If hell is real is God just?
It is a question that has often been asked by believers and nonbelievers alike. Actually, that question is not really even asked that often. More than likely the person who would ask it has already determined that if hell is real God truly is not just.
For instance, David Jenkins, the former Anglican Bishop of Durham, said that he considered the idea of eternal torment ''pretty pathological'' and said that ''if there is such a god, he is a small, cultic deity who is so bad tempered that the sooner we forget him the better.'' Indeed, says Jenkins, ''there can be no hell for eternity - our God could not be so cruel.''
Victor Hugo was even more blunt when he wrote, ''Hell is an outrage on humanity. When you tell me that your deity made you in his image, I reply that he must have been very ugly.''
While some Christians may resonate with these sentiments on an emotional level, we find within ourselves a conflicting emotion as well. This conflicting emotion arises from the facts that Jesus spoke frequently of the reality of hell, that the rest of the New Testament writers did so as well, and that Jesus' embrace of the horrors of the crucifixion would certainly suggest that He came to save us from something terrible.
You can see these conflicting emotions as far back as the 4th century where we find John Chrysostom saying this to his congregation:
I know, indeed, that there is nothing less pleasant to you than these words. But to me nothing is more pleasant...Let us, then, continually discuss these things. For to remember hell prevents our falling into hell.
So how are we to answer this question? If hell is real is God just?
The question, ''If hell is real is God just?'' wrongly assumes that we understand justice and eter ...
Series: Apologia
Wyman Richardson
Isaiah 55:8-9; Job 38:1-7; Job 40:1-8; Luke 18:1-8; Psalm 53:2-3; Matthew 23:29-33; Colossians 1:11-14; Matthew 16:16-18
If hell is real is God just?
It is a question that has often been asked by believers and nonbelievers alike. Actually, that question is not really even asked that often. More than likely the person who would ask it has already determined that if hell is real God truly is not just.
For instance, David Jenkins, the former Anglican Bishop of Durham, said that he considered the idea of eternal torment ''pretty pathological'' and said that ''if there is such a god, he is a small, cultic deity who is so bad tempered that the sooner we forget him the better.'' Indeed, says Jenkins, ''there can be no hell for eternity - our God could not be so cruel.''
Victor Hugo was even more blunt when he wrote, ''Hell is an outrage on humanity. When you tell me that your deity made you in his image, I reply that he must have been very ugly.''
While some Christians may resonate with these sentiments on an emotional level, we find within ourselves a conflicting emotion as well. This conflicting emotion arises from the facts that Jesus spoke frequently of the reality of hell, that the rest of the New Testament writers did so as well, and that Jesus' embrace of the horrors of the crucifixion would certainly suggest that He came to save us from something terrible.
You can see these conflicting emotions as far back as the 4th century where we find John Chrysostom saying this to his congregation:
I know, indeed, that there is nothing less pleasant to you than these words. But to me nothing is more pleasant...Let us, then, continually discuss these things. For to remember hell prevents our falling into hell.
So how are we to answer this question? If hell is real is God just?
The question, ''If hell is real is God just?'' wrongly assumes that we understand justice and eter ...
There are 19627 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
