Alasdair, on the issue of heaven and hell, I have ...

2009-05-12T21:38:00.000+01:00

Alasdair,
on the issue of heaven and hell, I have a question (borrowed from someone else) that can help people think about heaven and hell in a different way.

In what sense is hell “a freely chosen identity, based on something else besides God, going on forever”? (Tim Keller)

I.e. Is it each of us who decide what path we have in eternity, through the way we act now? Rather than someone standing at a crossroads directing each of us left or right (or is that up and down?).

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity says Christianity asserts that every individual human being is going to live forever, and this must be either true or false. 'Now there are a good many things which would not be worth bothering about if I were going to live only seventy or eighty years, but which I had better bother about very seriously if I am going to live forever. If we are building our lives on say our selfish desires—a kind of life which leads to bitterness, envy, and anxiety--then the gradual increase of selfishness in eighty years may not be very noticeable. But it might be absolute hell in a million years'. In fact, as Lewis says, if Christianity is true, Hell is precisely the correct technical term for what it would be.

Alasdair, I've obviously copy and pasted that last section as I wouldn't say it any better, but its something to ponder. Our sermon on Sunday was about this. Here's the link in case you're interested. http://www.tenth.ca/resources/audio/

Comments on Alasdair's Personal Blog: Thoughts on boxes, religious ones.

Alasdair, on the issue of heaven and hell, I have ...