Chapters 16 & 17 itemize a long list of thoughts on various Christian views of hell that Dan's friend Casey has researched. As she points out to Dan, "I mean, they're all over the map."
Here are two contrasting views from Casey's notes that caught my eye:
"Scripture clearly speaks of hell as a physical place of fiery torment and warns us we should fear."
(R. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Seminary, Louisville)"How can Christians possibly project a diety of such cruelty and vindictiveness [as to inflict] everlasting torture upon his creatures, however sinful they have been? [Such a diety] is more nearly like Satan than God."
(Clark Pinnock, in Criswell Theological Review)
I'll resist the urge to rant on about the uselessness of the label "Christian" as it applies to the two points of view above, and everything in between. Instead, I'll suggest that to argue about the "right" answer is to forever foster disunity. Furthermore I'll boldly suggest that "Christians" will never agree on a common doctrine of hell. Our only hope is to move beyond the question, and that, of course, is the big challenge.
The greatest exchange I found in these two chapters:
"I'm not sure of all the details, but here's something I'm pretty sure of. Hell might have a place, but it can't get the last word. I mean, if hell seems to have the last word, there's got to be a word after that."
"What would that be, Casey?" I asked.
"Grace," she said. "I think the last word is always grace."
That took me back to something I posted over a year and a half ago, and the resulting conversation.
Take a minute to read it through.
Think about what your last word has been. I believe you have one - we all do. Do you know what it is? And the question we all need to ask ourselves is "should there be a word after that?"
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