What the Hell? – Devotional for Friday, May 27, 2011

Lately there has been much discussion about hell. Is there a hell? Is it a real place? Who ends up there? Does anyone end up there? This isn’t a discussion that just came up. It’s the logical result of a process that’s been ongoing for years. When Christianity started, the followers of Christ were still around and recalled and recorded what He said. There is amazing consistency between their recollections recorded in the gospels and the letters they wrote. What he said was what he said and that was the end of it.
But soon students of the gospel began to treat scripture simply as literature, traditions developed and mankind moved into the “Age of Reason.” Man began to respect his intellectual ability and his traditions. Eventually, these became as important as scripture giving rise to concepts such as the “three legged stool.” This was the idea that, in evaluating what is true,  equal weight should be given to scripture, reason and tradition, like a stool that could only be stable if all three were equal.
As time went on, Man began to give his intellect and traditions more weight than scripture. Today, for many, biblical concepts are only accepted if they are “rational” and have been accepted by our forefathers. Not necessarily forefathers all the way back to the disciples, but forefathers of one or two generations is enough.
As a result, we now think we are smarter than God. And not just smarter but more loving. “Christians” say things like “the God I know would never…” You fill in the blanks.
Erasing Hell by Francis Chan comes out on July 5, 2011. Francis has impressed with his teaching and writing. Crazy Love  is a call to “radical” Christianity, like it was originally practiced and is seldom practiced now. I look forward to his teaching on hell. He has prepared a  preview video, in which Chan discusses the importance of the doctrine of hell, and why at this crucial moment of ecclesiastical history Christianity can’t afford to get it wrong.  If the lost are being told there is no hell, the tellers had better be “damn” sure they are right. 
I recommend watching the brief video and considering, “What the hell?” Does the scripture stand on it’s own as the inspired word of God? And if it does, do we really know what it says, unfiltered by centuries of “reason” and “tradition?” We can’t afford to get this wrong. We need to know that there is truth and what that truth is.
Nick

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