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Hell is Not Populated, but its Existence is Among Us

Nov 9th, 2008
by Drew Tatusko.
SOURCE: http://remember.org/image/aronson/hell.html

John Shuck asks a very provocative question and I am re-posting my response in a somewhat edited form here:

"Does Christianity have a purpose if there is no hell?"

I don't think we can ignore hell because it is so vividly described in Scripture, especially by Jesus. I like C.S. Lewis' image, which is also an image Jesus conjures, of a great divorce between humanity and God which is the ultimate hell. It is an utter separation from the source of the Good and of life. This translates into death, a kind of living death. It is the logical outcome of the rejection from the Garden of Eden. A final casting out and divorce from thew presence of God.

Human suffering understood in terms of Simone Weil's notion of affliction, there is therefore a sense of hell on earth. There are people who suffer such a great divorce here and now – when what can give a sense of wholeness and meaning is suppressed and pushed by forces one cannot control. When one is crushed into a place where that Good cannot be received. It is like the rape victim being dragged off into an alleyway as a mere object for someone else's deranged enjoyment. It is suffering to the degree that one's personhood is so crushed that one is no longer a person, but something of no more value than a rock to skip across the water.

However it is just not in Scripture that anyone will go to heaven right when death occurs. At best it is not as clear as the general resurrection of the dead. Hence it is hard to maintain a logical position that that anyone will go to hell upon death. Hell exists and has its effects felt on earth now just as with the Kingdom of God (also a vivid image of Jesus – a future fulfillment of the Kingdom of God with present effects). However, it will not be "populated" until the general resurrection which again Jesus describes vividly. There will be some kind of final judgment at which time we can put on the robe that is freely given to us to join in the wedding party of salvation and the union of the Kingdom of God and the people of God, or reject it forever. Grace will eventually come to us even at the end of time and space itself, and all we have to do is submit to grace and love, even though we will all have the free choice to reject the offer.

The issue now is not to get people ready for heaven and have them cross their fingers that their deeds have not lead them to eternal damnation – as is clear of the doctrine of the invisible church of the elect. The goal is to love God and love neighbor in the best way that we see fit and use Scripture as a guide to do that. But even if we know people who are not able to work out their salvation that way as members of the visible church, I believe that grace will trump justice in the end otherwise the resurrection of Christ means nothing.

Grace betrays the common sense of justice that human beings have towards those who transgress laws. Regardless of what you think of Jesus, he transgressed many many laws within the Jewish Law of the time. He was offensive, disrespectful, and did nothing but create tension and division in an already tense situation in the Roman Empire. He was not an easy fellow to follow nor was he an easy fellow to befriend. he was demanding, ornery at times, and often vociferously and melodramatically theatrical with his rejection of the interpretation of the Law held by even those who were in the position to protect and enforce it. There was indeed a certain justice to how he was punished as a criminal. He should have been stoned. The fact is that God's grace overcame the common sense application of human justice in the resurrection. Why would we not believe that the same will occur at the end of the age?

Related posts:

  1. sin kills god: why jesus had to die
  2. easter means there is work to do
  3. revised statement of faith
  4. what's more important, law or life?
  5. rethinking why humanity kills god

Posted in: Theology.

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  • Jim
    The sermon I've gotten the most comments on so far in my three years of ministry was on the subject of hell; preaching through the apostle's creed and on the phrase "He descended into hell, and on the third day rose again" http://www.thechurchgeek.com/archives/472

    My essential point, borrowed from Barclay, was that God's love reaches to the very depths and the lowest point that any of us can go and triumphs in the end. If it were not so, God's grace would indeed be a small and powerless thing.
  • Drew, I am not sure quite what you are trying to say here. Are you a universalist? You believe no one will go to hell because of the grace at the resurrection?

    If so, how do you reconcile that with the many and abundant references Jesus makes about the wicked being thrown into hell (or Gehenna)?

    If not, how does this demonstrate the mercy of God? If anything, the unending torment of the wicked seems to suggest a god who is neither merciful nor just.
  • What I am saying is that if you die you don't go to hell or heaven right off. We all await for an eschatological judgment. While it's hard for me to believe that anyone would reject God at that final judgment, there is already evidence that this will likely happen if we use the narrative of Satan as any precursor.
  • The narrative of Satan... as recorded where, exactly? Isaiah's discussion of the king of Babylon? Other prophetic passages taken out of context?

    Drew, in general I am more conservative than you on this stuff. But here I have a hard time swallowing the bizarre metaphysics of heaven and hell to begin with. Resurrection is strange, but at least understandable. Eschatological justice is something we yearn for in the very core of our being when we see an injustice, so I buy that. But Satan being tormented for all time in a fiery abyss? Do you really believe this? It is straight out of a comic book.

    Plus, Matthew's Jesus seems to make it pretty clear that if hell is a literal place, lots of people are going there. I think you can make a case that Mark and Luke's Jesuses do the same, though not quite as severely. I am much more inclined to read these passages metaphorically than to minimize the central point that lots of people are going the wrong way.

    ... or else just throw in the towel and say this is all just a load of crap anyway. Depending on my mood and how spiritual I am feeling at the time.
  • I am not sure about the firey abyss bit, but Luke 10 mentions that Jesus say Satan fall from heaven, then we have passages referring to the ruler of this world, the tempter in Job and then in Jesus' own temptation, etc.

    The point of all of this is that as Christians our focus should not be on whether or not we are going to heaven or hell, but to fight against the literal hell on earth that so many persons live now and to work out the grace of God in our own lives. That's usually my focus on this stuff anyway which is why I find ample disagreement with conservative and liberal alike most of the time.
  • I know my comments on such topics are not exactly fully informed or fully considered, but I do remember an interesting anacdote. If I remember correctly, Clare Both Luce was resistent to Catholic conversion because of her resistence to the idea of a populated hell. She was finally convinced, however, when she was told that one needed only to believe that hell had at least one occupant, and that occupant may be only Satin himself.

    Not exactly an empty hell, but close to.
  • This is a great post. Thanks for sharing it. I agree that hell can be a place on earth as well as a future reality. The doctrine of hell, just like the doctrine of Satan, is hard to circumscribe from scripture because it is hard to tell hell is being used for literary effect and when they are talking about an 'actual' place.
  • Thanks for commenting on my blog and this post. I do like the quote from Barth you posted: "I believe there is a hell, but that it is not populated."

    Although, it still puts the question back for me: why is it we invented it again?
  • I think that it's there, but the hell that people experience now is the hell we need to concern ourselves with. The other hell of fear where people may or may not go fits into this category:

    Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God* and his* righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

    ‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
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