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What the… hell?
I was recently challenged with this question and would love some insight on how folks in here would respond if you were asked the same:
“I personally don’t want anyone to perish in hell. I know you don’t really believe in hell but I guess I don’t understand what you believe Jesus is saving you from if not. Like if he’s just saving us from a temporary burning in a lake of fire I don’t see why his death needed to happen. Ya know? … Seems like a big deal to incarnate your son to suffer and die just for something like that.. I just wonder if you would be more at peace with all the Mormonism around you if there was a different understanding of what happens to non-believers..I know you want to have more compassion for them 🤍”
My initial response was:
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I’m still figuring things out and appreciate the thought-provoking questions to ponder. 🤍
I’m genuinely curious how believing in eternal torment in hell would inspire more compassion? You don’t have to answer that either, but it’s something I’ll definitely consider.”
Her response:
” I guess I didn’t really connect the compassion with the seriousness of hell until this morning. Like it hit me that I care about every person in the world getting saved. Like I want everyone to believe in Christ. It moves me to compassion because I know what’s at stake. If I didn’t believe that that is what happens after this life, I would be a lot more lethargic or not really care whether people believed in and understood who Christ is or not.”
My follow up:
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I love how God shows us things individually, right where we are, when we’re open and ready. I’m so grateful He’s in charge and knows our hearts. I’m so open, truly, I don’t want to feel like I’ve got it all figured out like before, so my questions are never to challenge, just to understand.”
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This discussion was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by
Kim.
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This discussion was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by
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1 Reply
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We actually just discussed this question to some degree on the call in yesterday! There are some very serious associations people make between hell and living as a believer, and it takes so so long to detangle – especially if you are really focused on it.
First off – to me, it is really important that this perspective is NOT a “disbelief” in hell. It is a recognition that hell DID exist, and that is precisely what Yeshua saved us from. That distinction for some reason makes a big difference to me.
Second – at least from the speculations of the Yeshuan perspective, there IS still variation of experience in the afterlife. It is not necessarily that everyone just lands in the same experience. But that we get to choose that experience (here and there), and not be punished for what we choose. The feeling sorry for someone going to hell goes away because its more that they chose what they wanted.
Finally – I personally really call in to question this person’s association with compassion and punishment, and I think it reveals exactly what she thinks Yeshua did. Here’s how I describe the way I perceive Yeshua’s work, and how compassion for others comes into play…
God created man, gave us everything, allowed us to do what we want with it, found many ways of relating to humans along the way through their free will to the point where He finally became human to understand the experience and save us from the consequences for good. This perspective suggests we return to the garden state – meaning we are now completely free to decide the perspective through which we carry ourselves through this world. For me – when you see it this way, I can place myself in history, in humanity, recognize the utter despair that life can bring – get in real touch with the darkness that this world offers, and then experience real compassion for individuals in the dark, that we might show them light – a light that radically changes THIS life. The Yeshuan perspective, to me, really makes things about THIS life more than it makes it about the next, which is why it is so beneficial. (Christianity gets away with some horrific stuff with all of the focus being on the afterlife.)
Let me know what you think! I’m still thinking about this too…
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