Fire and Brimstone

I'm seeing some documentary on CBN (not my usual fare,  but I heard them mention Paige Patterson,  so I stopped to see what that was about) on how Churches are preaching less about hell.  The maker of this documentary seems to be bemoaning this (not at all suprising given CBN's usual fare),  and the pastors interviewed simply say it has become "politically incorrect".  I would say it's more than that.  I would say that it is not at all what Jesus emphasized.  In fact,  Jesus uses condemnatory language only toward the religious leaders who claim to speak on God's behalf ,  or stand in places of religious authority. 

The most vocal proponents of this fire and brimstone "approach" seem to be of the mind that all of the "warnings" given in Scripture are to be preached just as they were by their original proponents -- which is usually with a fundamentalist exegetical rhetoric --- and done so with "no shame",  which usually means without much regard to the recipients.  Basically,  here's "the Word",  "just as it says" ,  and it is "so clear",  so they have "no choice" but to parrot the theology and the style of the "classic fire and brimstone" preachers such as the Jonathan Edwards, author of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God".  This removes the responsibility of the message bearer to "communicate".   They may think they are,  but their perceived theological mandate to "scare the pants off of people" and perhaps their own pent up fundamentalitic fire gives them "permission" to vent. 

The whole problem I see is that the Bible was given to us as a resource for "this life".  I tend to interpret messages and references to "heaven and hell" as "realized eschatology";  which means ,  as well as I can recall,  an application of seemingly future or apocalyptic events as having their "present reality" counterpart.  Hell is "separation" and "unredeemed" humanity;  Heaven is "life as it was meant to be; the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven".  Fundamentalists and some of the more conservative evangelicals consider this heretical,  but it fits what my image of God tells me.  If one is to be faithful to the message of God in the Scriptures,  it is a continuous responsibility of the reader to read all of it in light of the message of a Loving God who is constantly seeking us. 

For the Bible to be laying out for us all these "blueprints of the afterlife" seem out of place.  When we reach "afterlife",  we won't need the Bible anyway.  What's in there was meant for US,  meaning "US in THIS life".  What's next after that,  we are not given,  only that God is there too. 

© Copyright 2003 Dale Lature. Last update: 9/23/2003; 3:39:34 PM.