Love is the main theme when we think of God. God is love. Yet many ‘churches’ focus more on the wrath of God and eternal damnation for those who don’t repent and turn to God.
God loves everyone and has made a way for everyone to receive the gift of salvation by His grace. God does not force this gift on anyone. He has given us free will to make our own decisions.
Christians should be known by the love they have for others. Yet it seems many of us are known more by our condemning spirits.
Hell and the thought of eternal torment is a major scare tactic to some. There are also many thoughts and interpretations on an actual hell. Is it real, is it eternal. None of us can prove or disprove whether hell is a real place or not, but why is it we tend to use this to draw people to Christ?
God does not want anyone to spend eternity in a place of torment. He has provided the way to live with Him forever. It is much better to focus on the fact the God loves us all, and wants us to live as one with Him, not just escape the thought of eternal punishment. What father would want his child to love him out of fear of punishment? We want our children to love us out of pure love and because we love them.
When we love someone, we want to do things that please that person and make them happy. Same with God, we want to be pleasing to Him and do things for Him. We don’t do these things out of obligation, or because of rules and regulations. That’s law. We do them out of love and the power of the Spirit within us. That is the same way we should help lead others to Christ, through love.
This article was published on the May 2014 Synchroblog “What The Hell?” Following are the other Synchroblog contributors.
Jeremy Myers – Does Jesus Talk About Hell More Than Heaven?
Wesley Rostoll – Hell, thoughts on annihilationism
K. W. Leslie – Dark Christians
Angie Benjamin – Hell Is For Real
Paul Meier – Hell Is For Real – I’ve Been There and Came Back
Glenn Hager – Abusing Hell
The Virtual Abbess – What The Hell?
Kimbery Klein – Hell, if I know.
Liz Dyer – Hell? No!
Loveday Anyim – Why the hell do you believe in hell?
Linda – If you died today, where would you go?
Edwin Aldrich – What the Hell do we really know.
Hi Done,
Good post. Hell is a major issue on my blog; in fact I consider the teaching of punishment in eternal torment one of the six most hurtful baggage items burdening today’s believers.
I see that Christian Evolution commented here. He and I are the founders of the Progressive Christian Bloggers Google+ community. I also invite you to check it out if you have not already.
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Thanks. I asked to join the Google+ community, and I would be grateful if Done with Religion could be added to the blog sites. Thanks for letting me know about it.
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Hi there. Nice to find your blog, I’m enjoying it so far. I don’t condone talk of hell or scaring people into “conversion,” either, although I think the tactic of leading with hell seems to work for some (especially in prisons etc..) where people have a lot of guilt and remorse, or are just fearful of what happens after death, Some actually benefit from it and turn from very negative lives, even though its based on screwy theology. And those are usually the same people who turn around and preach Christianity in that context.
I also blog on similar subjects at http://www.ChristianEvolution.com and I invite you to swing by and check it out sometime, or join our Google+ “Progressive Christian Blog” community where you can post your blog posts to a number or other bloggers.and get some good quality discussion going.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/103703198049627345452/communities/106463486758891931975
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Thank you for the nice comments. I appreciate you reading my articles and for commenting. I have been enjoying looking over your blog also. Thanks for telling me about it.
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[…] Michael Donahoe – Hell Yes…or No? […]
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[…] Hell The Virtual Abbess – What The Hell? Kimbery Klein – Hell, if I know. Michael Donahoe – Hell Yes…or No? Liz Dyer – Hell? No! Margaret Boelman – Hell No I Won’t Go Loveday Anyim – Why the hell do […]
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[…] Hell The Virtual Abbess – What The Hell? Kimbery Klein – Hell, if I know. Michael Donahoe – Hell Yes…or No? Liz Dyer – Hell? No! Loveday Anyim – Why the hell do you believe in hell? Linda – If you died […]
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[…] Michael Donahoe – Hell Yes…or No? […]
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[…] Hell The Virtual Abbess – What The Hell? Kimbery Klein – Hell, if I know. Michael Donahoe – Hell Yes…or No? Liz Dyer – Hell? No! Margaret Boelman – Hell No I Won’t Go Loveday Anyim – Why the hell do […]
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[…] The Virtual Abbess – What The Hell? Kimbery Klein – Hell, if I know. Michael Donahoe – Hell Yes…or No? Liz Dyer – Hell? No! Loveday Anyim – Why the hell do you believe in hell? Linda – If you […]
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This is a really good book on the subject: http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Yes-John-Reid-Noe/dp/0983430314/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405290349&sr=1-1&keywords=John+Noe+Hell
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Thanks Tony for the link. I’ve made contact with John and have been reading over some of his postings. Will be checking out the book also.
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