Tag: eternity

Who, what, where, when, why the hell?

Posted on by Hilarey

Questioning hell

When I first heard the gospel, it was good news. Everybody was going to hell where there would be eternal, unbearable punishment…wait, here’s the good part: I didn’t have to go if I didn’t want to. I could have a free ticket out.

Yes, please. Sign me up. I was eleven years old. Who the hell would want to go there?

Then came other questions. Do you have to be baptized for this free ticket? What if you’re baptized in the wrong church? What if it’s a sprinkle, not immersion, or it’s before the age of reasoning? Do you have to get baptized again for the free ticket? And a weird question that arrived later…can someone else get baptized for you after you die?

1 Corinthians 15 is an interesting chapter.

Paul addresses some believers who have an incorrect view of eternity in verse 12. Apparently, they didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead.

Let this sink in. It’s possible for believers to have an erroneous belief.

Paul reasons that if there is no resurrection, then Christ didn’t rise. If Christ didn’t rise, then it’s all in vain and worthless. And if our faith is worthless, then we’re still in our sins. And we should be pitied more than all men. Basically, what the hell is this life for?

He says in verse 18 that if this is so, believers who have died perish. Without resurrection, you perish. You are destroyed; you cease. Without resurrection, you don’t live forever.

Last week’s post challenged the idea of humans having an inherently eternal soul. But let’s say eternity is not a gift from God, and the Greek philosophers rationalized correctly: our souls live forever. Maybe Satan was right when he assured Eve, “You will surely not die. You will be like God.” God, who is immortal.

Unrepentant or not

Paul goes on in 1 Corinthians 15 to describe how God will subjugate everything under Christ. And the last enemy will be death. Verses 26-28 What it would look like if a billion people are in outright, unrepentant rebellion, hating God and cursing his name, writhing in the pit. Are they subjugated?

To subjugate is to conquer into submission. And I can see the victorious lion who comes bringing war ruling the earth this way. One day, every knee will bow—but I’m unsettled that their hearts don’t matter anymore. That heaven is eternity with some still despising the king.

It’s equally unsatisfactory to believe that the uncleansed sinners grow horrified at their mistake while writing in pain, and acknowledge the one true God, crying out in repentant sorrow. When the hell would it end?

I doubt people in hell will eat from the tree of life (just so they can suffer eternally) since that right is given to the residents of heaven. While they burn, instead of the fire doing what it normally does, consume completely to ash, will God preserve bodies and souls like he did with the burning bush? Will he preserve minds as well?

Kept conscious

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk is one of those books that seems to take me longer than it should to finish. I wait months without picking it back up. It’s just a hard read for me, not uninteresting. I’m fascinated that our human bodies have so many ways to protect our brain from trauma: blacking out, going insane, disassociation, repression of memories.

In verse 51 when Paul says not all will die but all will be changed, is he talking about unbelievers as well? Will residents of hell be given a special new body that feels all the sensations of trauma, but they cannot escape in any way? Will God supernaturally keep them conscious to make unbearable punishment just bearable enough to last forever?

Torturers study and aspire to that goal.

Who is a vindictive torturer, delighting in our suffering? I think our enemy doesn’t just try to look like God—sometime he tries to make us think God looks like him. So much skewed doctrine comes from thinking God is like man, or evil.

“Does the one who told us to love our enemies intend to wreck vengeance on his own enemies for all eternity?”
Rethinking Hell
Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism

Irrevocable, not ongoing

I’m not suggesting there is no hell, or that there will not be a punishment. I’m merely suggesting that the punishment might not be ongoing torture—but irrevocable perishing. Eternal separation from God, who is the source of life and in whose hand all things are held together. And I am suggesting that eternal just means permanent.

I am not a scholar, and I have been mulling over these ideas for a few years. So, I do not reject the suggestion of eternal conscious tournament lightly. Neither do I need this to be true because I want to escape hell. I earnestly desire to spend eternity with the God I love. But something shifted inside me toward God when I began to contemplate these ideas. I don’t actually know how it will all work out, but based on what I know of God, I can trust him.

There are terms for last week’s post (conditional immortality) and this week’s (annihilation view of hell.) But I think we are too quick to jump into labels. We tend to want to know what flag to raise so we can know who is in a different camp and where to aim the heretic gun. Working out your faith is a process and you will have to be willing to sit in undefined thoughts and to wait on the Lord. As you read and study on your own, consider that every time the Bible speaks of eternal punishment, perishing, death and destruction, it means that there is no going back. Not torture.

If, at the end of your physical body, you still reject him and do not want to spend eternity with the Almighty God who loves you, he will let you have your way.

You may ask, “How the hell are we going to scare people into heaven?” It’s true that if you take the fear out of religion, it is a different choice. Fear the Lord is a reverent awe of him, not cowering before capriciousness.

The crux

If you want to spend eternity with God because you love and trust him—spend this life loving and trusting him. Just the possibility of the annihilation view of hell helps me do that a bit more.

Of course, the truth of God is not based on what “feels” right to humankind. But if the traditional view of eternal conscious torment in hell is unseated according to your prayer, reflection and study—is that because you have more compassion than God? Give me a freakin’ break.

I would like to apologize to my mom for the language in this post.

My Immortality

Posted on by Hilarey

In literature, you often see a closing image that highlights or completes the opening image. It can be for good or for bad. It brings the theme full-circle.

Sometimes it’s forced and cliche, especially in movies. But when it’s done well, you feel a sense of completion that you can’t always put your finger on. Writers often go back and rewrite the first line after they know how the story ends.

In my first book, it showed up accidentally. (It’s very exciting for writers when this happens and contributes to the sensation of magic, whispers of a muse, and feeling like you are a conduit.)

The more I read the Bible, the more I see glimpses of poetic mirror images. I think the year I read through the Bible with The Bible Project app was the fundamental change for me—and recognizing patterns was one reason. It was the second time I read through the Bible and I remember telling my husband, “I know I’m called to do this. But I don’t want to sit another year in all this confusion and offense.” I didn’t like the Bible…

No longer do I take my English translation so literally, at face value, without context. I search differently, wait and question. I’ve grown to love and trust the mystery of it. There is more than meets the cursory glance.

I see parallel images throughout, often signaling something ending and new things starting. Or just causing me to sit up and say, “Hey now, this means something.”

A quick example, when God created Adam, he breathed into him in Genesis 2:7. “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

Something started.

Then, after Christ had died and risen, but before he’d returned to heaven, and before he told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem, he did something similar in John 20:22. “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit…'”

Something new started.

The Tree of Life

So I think it’s significant that the story of creation ends with banishment from the tree of life and heaven begins with some people receiving rights to the tree of life. Even if it was a literal tree in Eden, it could be a metaphorical tree in eternity. But since Jesus ate in his resurrected body (demonstrating it as physical resurrection, not just spiritual), there will be a marriage feast, and possibly a literal tree that produces different fruit every month—we can infer that eating isn’t one of the things we do away with in heaven.

But then comes a startling question: “Why would an immortal soul eat from the tree of life?” Is it symbolic? Is it just to keep our physical body from decaying? But that poses a few questions about the physical bodies that live in hell. What keeps them going?

I remember hearing a doctrine from LDS friends, which said our souls existed in heaven prior to conception. It is a reason to have more children—souls are waiting for their turn in life.

And I actually thought, how arrogant to think we existed before time with God.

But then I had to ask myself, why do I believe my soul will live forever?

Is that not arrogant?

Will I innately live forever because I’m human? I’ve been told this is the difference between humans and animals, and it’s true that we don’t see God breathing animation into animals at creation.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. The word perish is not common in our society, so it loses its punch in translation.

It seems like this verse that most people know tells us our option is to “pass from existence” or to “live for eternity.” So, again, why have I always believed my soul would automatically live forever?

I think the full circle image is that Eden gave access to the tree of life and the choice to trust God.

Now, here in earth, if you choose to trust God while it is still day, heaven grants the right to live forever with him.

If you will not live forever under your own volition and innate characteristics, what would be a motivation to even eat from the tree of life—unless you wanted to spend eternity with the God you love?

The Things That Are God’s

Posted on by Hilarey

I’m not thinking of taxes, yet. I will be in a few weeks when I sit down to organize everything. I’m just thinking about how much I love the interaction between Christ and the political/spiritual leaders who tried to trap him in his words regarding taxes.

In Mark 12:13-17, they asked if it was lawful to pay the imperial tax, thinking it was a no-win situation for him. Who wants to pay tax to an oppressive military occupying your country and taking all the money back as tribute to the conquerors? Most don’t want to pay their own government–even when it funds schools, parks and public services. Especially because the school bonds never seem to end and very little appears to trickle down into books and teacher salaries. People spend other people’s money flippantly.

We want to be in control of our own money.

But, I think this is one part of why we should tithe. Of course, there are several valuable reasons. To acknowledge, consider and then care for the poor. To have personal investment in other believer’s needs, so they become like family. To keep money flowing and fund important things instead of hording like a dead sea.

But really, the point is to not be in control of our own money.

There was a time years ago when I wanted to tithe, but did not see where we could. We’d come to Idaho to serve in a ministry. Life had always been tight, but then, we had to ration everything to make it. Lights, gas and heat. Our fridge was typically near-empty a few days before payday. We did not have any entertainment or unnecessary spending we could eliminate. I didn’t know where charitable giving could be squeezed from.

Wealth wasn’t my goal, and I certainly wasn’t thinking that God would owe me worldly baubles if I did tithe. I was growing, and wanted to be obedient to him, and I believed that we needed to tithe to do it. I added a line in my spreadsheet with Malachi 3:10, just to take him at his word.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

I remember driving down the road and asking God, “Will you please give us enough money to tithe?”

Shortly after, my husband received a raise that netted about 10 percent to our budget. Enough for the traditional tithe, but not enough to add Netflix (which was RedBox at the time) or a trip to frozen yogurt as a family.

I knew right away that God had answered my specific prayer. I think when I asked him if he would keep his word–he asked me if I would keep mine.

We started to tithe. But I will tell you, even though we now had enough, it was not easy to send the money away. The church we attended had a frivolous spender at the helm, so there was a learning curve of how and who to tithe to. But every month we’d give our money away, we’d juggle our bills, and we’d live frugally.

A lesson worth more than money

Notice in Malachi that God does not promise blessing in the way of wealth. As we did this, I discovered that I gradually trusted God more and more. Especially when there was exactly enough. But in order to do it, I had to write out our paper check and verbalize, “God, I need you…more than I need fifty-three dollars.” It was almost comical to say sentences like that out loud as I spelled the numbers in long hand. Duh. The God of the universe who holds all things together is just a little more security than fifty bucks. Even then.

But then later, as the amounts changed, the sentiment never did. “God, I need you more than one-hundred and thirty-two dollars.” It has gotten to where I’ve not seen an amount that would give me pause to write out without declaring that I need God more than that number. (Although I don’t write physical checks anymore.)

It wasn’t flawless. There were growing pains. On more than one occasion I would hold back a tithe because we “couldn’t afford it.” Something unexpected like a random bank fee would usually come up. I remember one unexpected bill that was the exact amount of the tithe I held back.

I learned that I really did need God more than one-hundred and thirty-two dollars. And when I’d write it and say it, I’d imagine intangible blessings my storehouse could not contain, and not want to be without whatever God would pour out over me in my trust.

Money seems like one of the hardest things to relinquish. So, you want to be able to see the monies of this world as belonging to the Caesars of this world. But there are so many other arousing things that whisper provision and satisfaction.

If you belong to God

When there is a thing, a person, or an action promising joy, fulfillment, pleasure, tranquility… but it means to step outside of a relationship with God to embrace it, we can use same phrase. Even if it is something good or benign, but it isn’t the right time, I have found success saying it out loud.

God… I need you more than I need this item.

God… I need you more than I need this relationship.

God… I need you more than I need this sin.

God… I need you more than I need ___.

In his hands are the depths, the heights, and pleasures forevermore. Don’t be afraid to ask him if he will keep his word.

What No Eye Has Seen

Posted on by Hilarey

I’ve been contemplating hell for the last year and a half, and I’ll post about that soon. But first, I wanted to share some thoughts about Heaven. Just musings. I don’t need any of this to be true.

I sat under a tenderhearted pastor who believed we wouldn’t sleep in heaven because we wouldn’t have the time. God would reveal to us how much he loves us, for infinity, by excitedly taking us all over a creation without oppression. “Here, let me show you another thing I made for you! Wait until you see this!”

If you think humans are creative, imagine all the wonder and majesty in a literal heaven. It would probably be sensory overload if we weren’t in new bodies.

But first, a complaint I heard from someone who walked away from practicing the faith was that Christians focus too much on heaven. As though we can live like hell since our eternity is secure. Why suffer here? Let’s just go.

A few ways that heaven-obsessed will manifest is when Christians ignore the temporal needs of others, “Sorry you’re in pain or need money. It won’t be like this in heaven.” And second, confusing the mandate to subdue the earth and animals as rule like a greedy king, instead of stewardship. “Exploit it, burn it. This isn’t our home.”

But, despite that, I want to take a minute amid dreaming and planning for the new year to contemplate the good things God has prepared for those who love him. To dream of eternity.

What Heaven is like

Jesus said no one has ascended to heaven except the one who came from heaven. That was confusing to me because I knew that at least Zechariah stood in the throne room of God while Satan condemned Joshua. I think others have as well. Although, maybe there is a difference between ascending, going where you want, and having a vision or being caught up somewhere without intention.

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

When I began ghostwriting near-death experiences, I held to these two scriptures. I started out a little dogmatic thinking no one could know what Heaven is like, since the Bible says we can’t imagine it. All we may assume are the hyperbolic and confusing images given to us in Revelation.

But the return-from-heaven stories are surprisingly similar. There are too many common threads to ignore. I read Heaven Is for Real to prepare for my first interview and the scenes were especially intriguing, considering it was a child. (I have heard that some near-death books and stories have been proven false, but just because the great pretender masquerades as an angel of light—it doesn’t mean there are no true angels of light.)

So can we imagine heaven? Here’s the problem with learning a verse and quoting it. If you haven’t looked at the book as a whole (or the Bible as a whole) when you memorize it—you might be missing the meaning.

Look at 1 Corinthians 2:9 again, but include the rest of the thought that got separated into verse 10.

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:9 & 10

So, God does reveal what he has prepared for us. I just learned it out of out of context.

Anytime you quote a verse, or I post one here, remember that they added the chapters and numbers for ease of reference. And those arbitrary breaks are sometimes why we’ve developed certain understandings. So dig and study. Because when someone says, “Prove it. Where does the Bible say that?” And you glance at the incomplete thought, without cultural context or the details regarding a specific problem Paul was addressing—you can prove all kinds of weird theology. (My subtext here is not just women remaining silent in church. It’s also getting baptized for the dead, and tons of stuff from the Old Testament.) Don’t freak when someone shows you an incomplete thought from the Bible. Dig and study.

Maybe another scripture that helped me believe no one could go to heaven, and return to tell about, is The Rich Man and Lazarus. But as I have contemplated hell differently in the past year, I realize we cherry pick some doctrine out of this parable and reject others—like a sort of not-heaven holding place (Abraham’s Bosom) where you can look across the divide and see how others are doing. And maybe it’s just supposed to be “a simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson.”

And that right there my friends—looking across the divide in the afterlife—is one question which started it all for my husband and me. “Do you think when we get to heaven we’ll know if someone isn’t there?” The teary unspoken thought, “And still be happy?“

Oh Afflicted and Storm-Tossed One

Sometimes I’m concerned about what I love which will be missing. Besides people, the ocean. Why won’t there be any more sea? My husband once said, “Maybe that’s because God throws all our sins into the sea” that he’ll get rid of it. Maybe it’s because when the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord—there won’t be room for water anymore. Some say it’s because the only water we’ll need will flow from his throne.

Rather than get hung up on what we don’t want to lose, I’ve learned to trust God for the reasons in the details. Here are a few other things we can consider about the ocean’s absence in heaven.

The ocean is like the wicked and cannot be quiet. It tosses up mud and refuse. Beside our drowned sins, the beast comes out of the sea. But also, the ocean separates lands and territories. It isolates people. And there will be no more isolation in heaven.

What else will be missing

There are other things we worship, highly esteem, or adore here on earth which won’t be there:

Sex/Romance
But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Luke 20:34-36

Mountains Maybe
At least other than His Holy mountain. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain according to Isaiah 40:4. If this is literal, consider that mountains divide and separate like the sea, and they were also used for idolatry.

Sun, Moon and Stars
We’ll have no need says Isaiah 60:19-20. He will be our light according to Revelation 22:5. Maybe he just doesn’t replace them after they fall in Matthew 24:29.

Money
We will be invited to buy wine and milk without money, according to Isaiah 55:1-2 and water without cost in Revelation 21:6. Money belongs to this world and is perishable. It is not the currency he uses.

Nationalities/Borders/Kingdoms
We will be one people group. We will all belong and never be on the wrong side of the fence, railroad tracks, or wall again. Ephesians 2:14.

And one for the American zealots out there:

Freedom
This is because we will belong to the Lord. Married. The bride of Christ. A branch connected to the vine, not independent. We will be bond-servants.

One thing is for sure, heaven won’t be a shiny version of what we see around us, a mere pseudo-earth 2.0. And there will be no more tears, even if we can’t yet rationalize why.