It’s Sunday. The habit of preaching is hard to ignore. Indulge me, please.
We have a little book-exchange library out front. A great place to pass on books. One came this last week called Heaven is Real but so Is Hell. I threw it in the paper bin.
Even in my childhood, I’ve never been able to understand the Christian fixation on Hell. It has nothing to do with the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth or the Bible. Jews didn’t know anything about it. And it would be difficult to concoct a doctrine that was more opposed to what Jesus believed. He knew God as Abba, a loving parent, Little Mommy or Daddy. Can any of us imagine a parent, however flawed, that would wish most of their children to burn eternally if they didn’t tow the line? Even parents who are estranged from their offspring, even if they can’t get along with them, would hardly condemn them to suffering forever. Yet, that terrible understanding is at the very heart of Christianity, as it grew within the Greek-thinking culture of those times.
Today, for most people, it makes no sense. It’s no wonder why so many people have left the churches.
How can billions of Christians, week after week, not be clobbered by the inconsistency of being told to worship a loving God who has set things up so that most of humanity, whom he (always a He) must suffer forever? I can’t find any concept that would be more abhorrent to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
Many Christians, of course, agree with me. But they are so silent about it! It’s a whispered dissent. The churches who have the nerve and common sense to disagree with the traditional view haven’t replaced it with anything else. They too, seem to be limited to the Christian doctrine that what we think (believe) is all that matters. They haven’t taken Jesus seriously enough to actually start to follow, the only thing Jesus asked of others.
So, at the best, there might be some debate as to what comes after death. This is one of the most traditional habits among Christians. One of my favourite quotations regarding Christianity comes from a Rabbi in the 700’s which says that Christians spend so much time and energy worrying about what comes after death that they’re no earthly good for anything. Things haven’t changed much, have they?
Jesus, as do most Jews, don’t worry about after this life. For this life is what’s important. It’s our chance to grow in love. Since God is love, and God is eternal, that of us that is love, will continue. In what form? Who cares? We can’t imagine it so why worry? Our job is to grow in love. So let’s get on with it and relax about what comes after. Just imagine what energy and new life could spring from churches if they adopted this attitude. Wow! People might begin to see reasons for taking them seriously again.
Anthony
