Thank you for the thoughtful answers! I always appreciate the ecumenical perspective you include in your writing. Thank you also for the length of time and depth of study that you have committed to the things of God, and then to teaching others. I am better because of it. As well, I received your second edition yesterday and am excited to get to reading it.
Lot's of good questions! How about another? C.S. Lewis' version of hell in The Great Divorce implies that anyone can go to heaven, even from hell, if they want to, that is, if they want to be with Jesus. This fits with your hope that once people see God face to face they might change their mind about Jesus. What do you think of Lewis' approach?
Great question! Lewis is clear that The Great Divorce isn't what he *actually* thinks the universe looks like, but I do think that I share, with him, the hope you're naming.
Most intriguing are the people who aren't interested in anything but their own little lives. If you were to ask some non-believers, "Would you want to go to heaven if it meant hanging out with Jesus?" many would say, "No."
Jul 19, 2023·edited Jul 19, 2023Liked by Beth Felker Jones
Thanks so much for this really great articulation of your thoughts surrounding the Qs about hell. I also hold it to be a side doctrine, and not central to our faith... but so many have Qs about it - largely bc so many have *made* it central for so long!
Another Q for you re: your pushback on annihilationism (if you have a moment)... what do we do with the passage Rev 20:11-15? I always took that as saying Death and Hades would be destroyed. Which, to me, seems to jive with the victory of Christ and God in the end - and in the end, if all things are restored and New Creation is fully realized, then how could there be any room in New Creation for Death and Hades?
I am not a universalist, but I prefer universalism over annihilationism. Ultimately, though, I think this is a place where the biblical texts resist systematization and call us to be open to mystery.
"I am not a universalist, but I prefer universalism..." ha :D So many people would freak out if I said something like that to them.
I float back and forth between the two (universalism and annihilationism). It does, I suppose, present a more congruent picture with who we know God to be as revealed in Christ. Which - I think? - is the point you present :)
Thank you for taking on this question. I hold with these: God gave us free will so we can choose; Luke's parable of Lazarus and the rich man underscores; in Matthew 25 Jesus distinguishes between sheep and goats; Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets, not to abolish so that seems to uphold the 10 Commandments; and Revelation indicates we are to hold fast to faith even as evil is permitted to have its way because God is God and is ever faithful to those who believe and live into those beliefs. Jesus invites his disciples to take up their cross and follow him. How are we doin'?
Thank you for the thoughtful answers! I always appreciate the ecumenical perspective you include in your writing. Thank you also for the length of time and depth of study that you have committed to the things of God, and then to teaching others. I am better because of it. As well, I received your second edition yesterday and am excited to get to reading it.
Thank you Katie!
Lot's of good questions! How about another? C.S. Lewis' version of hell in The Great Divorce implies that anyone can go to heaven, even from hell, if they want to, that is, if they want to be with Jesus. This fits with your hope that once people see God face to face they might change their mind about Jesus. What do you think of Lewis' approach?
Great question! Lewis is clear that The Great Divorce isn't what he *actually* thinks the universe looks like, but I do think that I share, with him, the hope you're naming.
Most intriguing are the people who aren't interested in anything but their own little lives. If you were to ask some non-believers, "Would you want to go to heaven if it meant hanging out with Jesus?" many would say, "No."
I think this is the case in part because we've misrepresented Jesus so drastically....
Very thoughtful. I so wish there would have been more nuanced conversations around this topic in my church growing up.
Thanks so much for this really great articulation of your thoughts surrounding the Qs about hell. I also hold it to be a side doctrine, and not central to our faith... but so many have Qs about it - largely bc so many have *made* it central for so long!
Another Q for you re: your pushback on annihilationism (if you have a moment)... what do we do with the passage Rev 20:11-15? I always took that as saying Death and Hades would be destroyed. Which, to me, seems to jive with the victory of Christ and God in the end - and in the end, if all things are restored and New Creation is fully realized, then how could there be any room in New Creation for Death and Hades?
I am not a universalist, but I prefer universalism over annihilationism. Ultimately, though, I think this is a place where the biblical texts resist systematization and call us to be open to mystery.
"I am not a universalist, but I prefer universalism..." ha :D So many people would freak out if I said something like that to them.
I float back and forth between the two (universalism and annihilationism). It does, I suppose, present a more congruent picture with who we know God to be as revealed in Christ. Which - I think? - is the point you present :)
Thank you so much!
So very thoughtful. Thank you.
Before I was baptized at age 10, I asked the minister what happens if you sin after you are baptized. He said “ Hopefully you won’t”. 😳.
oh, dear. That's a rough answer.
Thank you for taking on this question. I hold with these: God gave us free will so we can choose; Luke's parable of Lazarus and the rich man underscores; in Matthew 25 Jesus distinguishes between sheep and goats; Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets, not to abolish so that seems to uphold the 10 Commandments; and Revelation indicates we are to hold fast to faith even as evil is permitted to have its way because God is God and is ever faithful to those who believe and live into those beliefs. Jesus invites his disciples to take up their cross and follow him. How are we doin'?
so many evocative texts!