"A Christian Hell. The Worst Kind of Hell."
The poster I encountered in Bristol and blogged about in my last post for your viewing pleasure has got me thinking. Not the bit about throwing some questionably exotic shapes - though I was pleased to see the phrase used - but the bit referring to Hell. Hopefully, given the title of this post, that won't surprise you.
I wouldn't know whether the Christian Hell is the worst type of Hell - and neither would you - though in the strictest sense of the definition I think that it is the only Hell, so I guess that it could qualify. As a Christian, I would define Hell as a place of eternal separation from God, and I would suggest that this is A Bad Thing. Especially if the imagery used in the Bible is anything to go by.
I suspect, however, that the promotor of the 4th Anniversary of the Great Row Boat Rave was thinking along other lines. Christians are renowned for preaching hellfire and damnation more than most, and often perceived as making people feel guilty more than most. So, in that sense, maybe it is the worst type of Hell.
The thing is, as a Christian, I have never condemned anyone to Hell. It's God's job to judge, not mine. What I can say however is that with the message of the Christian faith being the option of reconciliation with God then there must be an alternative - eternal separation from Him. Now, no-one is perfect, and I don't doubt that some of the street preachers out there are perhaps a little extreme or misguided, but ultimately their aim is to promote the good news - and the importance - of God's offer of forgiveness. Making people feel guilty should not be part of the mandate, and if I have ever done that, I apologise.
The fact is that we have all fallen short of God's standards, no matter how good you think you are, but the offer of reconciliation with God is there if you want it. So, next time you feel the need to whinge about Christians being judgemental and condemning snap out of the victim mentality for once and remember that the choice is yours.
I wouldn't know whether the Christian Hell is the worst type of Hell - and neither would you - though in the strictest sense of the definition I think that it is the only Hell, so I guess that it could qualify. As a Christian, I would define Hell as a place of eternal separation from God, and I would suggest that this is A Bad Thing. Especially if the imagery used in the Bible is anything to go by.
I suspect, however, that the promotor of the 4th Anniversary of the Great Row Boat Rave was thinking along other lines. Christians are renowned for preaching hellfire and damnation more than most, and often perceived as making people feel guilty more than most. So, in that sense, maybe it is the worst type of Hell.
The thing is, as a Christian, I have never condemned anyone to Hell. It's God's job to judge, not mine. What I can say however is that with the message of the Christian faith being the option of reconciliation with God then there must be an alternative - eternal separation from Him. Now, no-one is perfect, and I don't doubt that some of the street preachers out there are perhaps a little extreme or misguided, but ultimately their aim is to promote the good news - and the importance - of God's offer of forgiveness. Making people feel guilty should not be part of the mandate, and if I have ever done that, I apologise.
The fact is that we have all fallen short of God's standards, no matter how good you think you are, but the offer of reconciliation with God is there if you want it. So, next time you feel the need to whinge about Christians being judgemental and condemning snap out of the victim mentality for once and remember that the choice is yours.
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