Protestantism

» Brian Tubbs - Hell

Okay, we've got several different threads going in which we are essentially arguing the same issues. I'm going to address the issue of Hell here in this one, and not so much in the others. I don't want to be redundant. And, besides, I'm lazy.

Brother Jones has pegged me in that I do see hell as mysterious. I do base my knowledge and understanding of hell on what the Bible has to say. Pinky has me pegged on that. And the Bible does not give us a detailed description of it. So....for me to start describing it in detail would take me away from the clear teachings of Scripture and into the area of conjecture and speculation.

Even working WITH what the Bible says about hell, there are honest debates going on among Bible-believing Christians about what "fire" means. Is it a literal fire? Or is it a literary metaphor for the anguish that people will feel throughout eternity - their conscience "burning" for all their sinful deeds? Personally, I favor the literal interpretation, but I'm respectful of those who feel differently. I most certainly don't like to scare people with hell in my ministry. I believe we should treat hell with respect and I believe we should teach it - because Jesus taught about it. But I don't like scaring or manipulating people with it. I grew up in a church that did that, and I refuse to do so.

I try to emphasize the positive in my messages and in my ministry. Having peace with God in our life here and spending eternity with Him in the next. It means more when someone comes into a relationship with God because they want to spend time with God RATHER THAN coming to God because they want to escape hell.

However, Jesus refers to hell more than heaven in the Gospels. So, I think hell needs to be taught. It just needs to be done respectfully and sensitively. And that's why I'm being sensitive with the issue in these discussions. I hope you can appreciate that.