On the subject of hell

By the Editors

Reprinted from the Christian Science Sentinel

IS THERE A HELL? Are those who don’t accept Jesus going there? If so, could this really include those devoted to other faiths, nonbelievers, and those who do great good but may have never even had the opportunity to know of Christianity?

Age-old questions like those have been finding their way into new debate. One reason is Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. It’s not too much to say that this recently published book by Rob Bell, an evangelical minister from Michigan, has rocked a large segment of the Christian world, suggesting as it does that “every person who ever lived” may partake of Jesus’ redemption—and share a place in heaven.

Many people are put off by the idea that a bedrock tenet of Christian history may be crumbling. For some, even the questioning of such a doctrinal linchpin as hell’s necessity, as the ultimate check on human sinning, has produced crises of confidence, even a virtual chain collision on the highway of faith. If there’s no hell, then what’s the incentive for doing good and resisting evil? If everyone’s going to heaven, then what was the point of Jesus’ mission? Without judgment, where are the boundary lines between right and wrong? Why would we even need church at all?

Those who have read the Sentinel for any length of time have likely already gleaned a sense of what Christian Science has to say on this topic. Of course it’s impossible to address all those interrelated issues and questions in the space of a single page, but we want to point out here that satisfying explanations are at hand, supporting Mary Baker Eddy’s observation that “the divine Science of man”—which she discovered solely from studying the Bible and Jesus’ teachings—“is woven into one web of consistency without seam or rent.” The sentence that follows is important: “Mere speculation or superstition appropriates no part of the divine vesture, while inspiration restores every part of the Christly garment of righteousness” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 242). In this day and age, the topic of hell may appear murky or unpopular, but the understanding of this theological concept’s importance, if stemming from divine inspiration, can only be profitable for humanity.

Christian Science certainly does not teach that hell is a place to which people who fail in God’s sight are banished. Eternal damnation and the possibility that only some will attain heaven are insupportable doctrines. At the same time, Mary Baker Eddy did not deny the existence of hell as a condition of mortal thinking, which at some point in every human life appears real and insurmountable—as “mortal belief; error; lust; remorse; hatred; revenge; sin; sickness; death; suffering and self-destruction; self-imposed agony; effects of sin; that which ‘worketh abomination or maketh a lie’” (Science and Health, p. 588). There is actually no way for any individual to circumvent the requirement of proving, individually and alone with God, that these hellish evils are not real in His sight—and therefore impossible for even one of us, His precious sons and daughters, to be subject to. Such individual proof, or demonstration, characterizes the full scope of what it means to attain heaven, and it leaves nobody out. It illustrates St. Paul’s command to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).

Note that the word self appears twice on the above list. So much of hell involves an erroneous concept of who we are—the mortal, material identity discussed in Genesis from chapter 2 forward, in which Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from paradise. But “the divine Science of man” settles the question about hell as a reality, by returning us to perceive the full truth of our spiritual identity, created in God’s image for all time, destined to glorify only Him. This perfect creation is fully described in the first 36 verses of Genesis. In the words of another command attributed to Paul, we avoid hell as we “put off the old man with his deeds” and “put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Col. 3:9, 10).

Those tempted to think that Jesus preached a literal message of final judgment and damnation can consider the sum total of his message, and his unparalleled works: regeneration, redemption, compassion, patience, gentleness, healing, unconditional love. True, John the Baptist declared that Jesus would gather the wheat and burn the chaff “with fire unquenchable” (Luke 3:17); truth has this very effect on error. Jesus himself spoke of the devil as “him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28). But he also declared that “the gates of hell shall not prevail” against the rock-solid truth and love of his teaching (Matt. 16:18).

Questioning hell’s existence as God-ordained marks a healthy sign that the Christ—God’s message of love for His creation—is leavening public thought and pointing people toward understanding more and more clearly that their lives are forever under the control of divine Spirit. This progress is ongoing and unstoppable. In fact, it is leading us, all of us, to heaven.

David Mahler
- 11/21/2011

27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me(Jesus) before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 10:27-32

The Him in this verse who is able to destroy body and soul in Hell is not the devil, but is God. That is clear from the context. Jesus is telling them not to fear man, who can only kill the body, but rather have a healthy fear and respect for GOD, the one who spoke you into existance and has the power to take you out of existence. He shows His grace by giving you any life at all. You and I both have sinned against God and rejected Him. He forgives us throught JESUS. If you reject His offering of forgiveness through Jesus, how can you expect to escape hell. Beside Jesus mission was and is not to save you from hell. It is to bring glory to the Father, which is done in part by bringing salvation by the power of His Name. If you reject God, will you then expect or even want to spend enternity with Him. And Jesus is clear if you reject Him (JESUS) as Lord and Savior, the you will be cast out. What else would he be talking about with the parables relating to spending enternity outside of God's presence?
Blog Administrator
- 11/25/2011

Dear David,

Thanks for sharing your faith with us. As you can see from this article, Christian Science takes a different view of this topic than what you are mentioning. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts.

The Christian Science church is engaged in a new relationship with the National Council of Churches where we can all come together to share our Christian faiths with one another. If you're interested in this type of engagement you might enjoy the "Ecumenical and Interfaith dialogue" blog & forum.

https://community.christianscience.com/community/ecumenicalandinterfaith?view=all
Christine Driessen
- 12/7/2011

Hi David,

There’s no question we all must follow Jesus’ teachings if we want to avoid the pain and suffering that are “hell”, but when we look at Jesus’ teachings, Jesus himself challenges the idea that it is only those who know and believe in the physical man Jesus who will be saved and everyone else will be condemned to suffer hell.

First of all, Jesus turned people away from himself as a human or fleshly person and instead turned people back to God and the two great Commandments for salvation and freedom from suffering: Love God supremely and love your neighbor as yourself.:

Jesus said, “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matt. 19:17; Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19). “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” (John 5:30). “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63). Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. (John 12:44).

The idea that some people are to be saved and others to be punished, is contradicted by Jesus himself: ‘For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.“ (John 3:17). There are people who are Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, even people who may not be following any religion but who strive to be compassionate, forgiving, honest, unselfish, humble and good. That is obedience to the two great commandments taught by Christ Jesus.

There are other people who say they believe in Christ Jesus but who do not follow his teachings: love your enemies; judge not; be not angry with your brother; do not indulge lust; purify your thoughts and motives. Saying we believe in Jesus is not what saves us from suffering but rather a deep love for
Good (another word for God) and a love for our fellow man—that is what lifts us out of suffering.

The Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible has a section in the back where it explains the Hebrew and Greek meanings of words. On page 269 in the Hebrew section it says: “ Hell (Sheol) is not used in one single passage for punishment after the resurrection. . . .It is spoken of as an abode for those who have departed from the way of life and have chosen the path of evil.”

Jesus uses the word “hell” (geenna), everlasting punishment, when talking about evil thoughts that any of us can entertain, as when he says, “Whoever says to his brother, Thou fool, is in danger of hell fire.” Or when a person looks with lust on another person.

I find Mrs. Eddy’s explanation of “hell” very helpful: “The evil beliefs which originate in mortals are hell. The sinner makes his own hell by doing evil, and the saint his own heaven by doing right. (S&H 266:26, 200).

There are many passages in the Bible, especially in the Psalms where it says that God delivers us from hell. For example:
“Ps. 16:8-11 – “I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

David wrote many of these Psalms and he loved God dearly and yet he sinned, taking another man’s wife, committing adultery and then having her husband killed. And yet God forgave him and redeemed him.

The early Christians were Jews and pagans. One Jew, named Saul, hated Christian and devoted his life (at first) to imprisoning and killing Christians. And yet Christ Jesus, the Bible says, spoke to this “terrorist” Saul, and transformed Saul into Paul (he put on the “new man” taught by Jesus). As a consequence, Paul devoted the rest of his life to sharing Christianity with the world. Jesus didn’t condemn him for his sins, didn’t send him to “hell”. He redeemed him through the love of God.

Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female, but you are all one in Christ.” (Gal. 3:28). And when Peter was judging people and thinking that only people in his religion were saved, God told Peter to call no man unclean. “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.”

Christ Jesus' message is that God dearly loves us and has sent his son, Jesus to redeem us from the sin of wrong suffering so we can glorify God through peace, health and wholeness, not through suffering.
We find that freedom from "hell" to the degree that we love Good supremely and embrace everyone (of all nations, races and religions) in the love of Christ.