Having covered the Old Testament and the Gospels, it's high time we finish this series on Hell off with a look at what the rest of the New Testament has to say about it. The shocking truth is: not a lot.
christian deconstruction
Hell in Matthew
Having covered the remarkably few mentions of Hell in the other Gospels, we now turn our attention to the book of Matthew. In stark contrast to the other Gospels, Matthew seems absolutely chock full of Hell. This, in itself, raises an issue: if an understanding of Hell is so important, and Jesus's mission on Earth … Continue reading Hell in Matthew
Hell in the Gospels: Mark, Luke, and John
Having looked at the Old Testament's treatment of Hell, or rather the lack of Hell in the Old Testament, I will now turn to the New Testament; Investigating the teaching on Hell in the Gospels.
Hope
Hoping is something we do. Hope is something we believe, feel, desire. The problem with these definitions is that they are passive. There is no change in space and time that is affected by hope. That, to me, is simply not good enough. To this end, I would like to propose and extended definition of hope.
Hell: Overview and Old Testament
Here I introduce the idea of Hell I will be dealing with and to look at how the subject was treated in the Old Testament.
Hell? No.
Fear of Hell tortures multitudes of people. From the devout, to the deconverting, to the nominal believer, to the completely unreligious who still have some little flicker of fear in the back of their minds, the threat of eternal, conscious, fiery torment hangs over people's hearts and minds. If I can unpick and unpack this threat in order to expose it as false, unfounded, and untenable, perhaps I can help to alleviate those fears and bring peace to those afraid to take the next step away from their abusive relationship with faith.
Where I Am in the Journey
Not a single episode, not a short season, but a long process of unravelling that puts me where I am now. It's not that I have been on a journey; I am still on that journey.
Walking the Black Dog
For those of you who aren't familiar with the expression, the black dog is an old euphemism for anxiety and melancholy. I find myself taking a walk with this old, unwelcome, friend quite a bit in recent days.
Jesus, the False Prophet
The Jesus we see in the New Testament is a false prophet as described by the very book that is supposed to reveal him as God.
No Help from Google
There is a serious lack of helpful information out there for people who are struggling... with serious questions about their faith and can't speak to people about those questions out of fear... with moving away from faith and wanting validation... with anger at their experiences and having no place to vent... with the overwhelming hold that evangelical Christianity has on so many lives.
