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Author Topic:   The evolution of hell: how rhetoric changes religion
ApostateAbe
Member (Idle past 4627 days)
Posts: 175
From: Klamath Falls, OR
Joined: 02-02-2005


Message 1 of 2 (600628)
01-15-2011 6:44 PM


quote:
There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames. But Abraham said, Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us. (Luke 16:19-26)
This was the primary illustration of hell, as it originated in the Christian religion. For 1900 years, that is the hell that people believed--torment, agony, flames, all of it.
At the end of the 19th century, something happened. Darwin's theory allowed atheism to become a reasonable thing to believe. And atheists started to get prominent philosophers, authors and speakers to rattle the cages of Christianity. Considered the best orator of his time, the most prominent spokesman for the exclusive cause of anti-religion was Robert Ingersoll, and he took full advantage of the doctrine of hell, the primary weakness of the Christian religion. He wrote, "All the meanness, all the revenge, all the selfishness, all the cruelty, all the hatred, all the infamy of which the heart of man is capable, grew, blossomed, and bore fruit in this one word--Hell." He wrote most eloquently in his book, Why I Am an Agnostic:
quote:
One Sunday I went with my brother to hear a Free Will Baptist preacher. He was a large man, dressed like a farmer, but he was an orator. He could paint a picture with words.
He took for his text the parable of "the rich man and Lazarus." He described Dives, the rich man -- his manner of life, the excesses in which he indulged, his extravagance, his riotous nights, his purple and fine linen, his feasts, his wines, and his beautiful women.
Then he described Lazarus, his poverty, his rags and wretchedness, his poor body eaten by disease, the crusts and crumbs he devoured, the dogs that pitied him. He pictured his lonely life, his friendless death.
Then, changing his tone of pity to one of triumph -- leaping from tears to the heights of exultation -- from defeat to victory -- he described the glorious company of angels, who with white and outspread wings carried the soul of the despised pauper to Paradise -- to the bosom of Abraham.
Then, changing his voice to one of scorn and loathing, he told of the rich man's death. He was in his palace, on his costly couch, the air heavy with perfume, the room filled with servants and physicians. His gold was worthless then. He could not buy another breath. He died, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment.
Then, assuming a dramatic attitude, putting his right hand to his ear, he whispered, "Hark! I hear the rich man's voice. What does he say? Hark! 'Father Abraham! Father Abraham! I pray thee send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my parched tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.'"
"Oh, my hearers, he has been making that request for more than eighteen hundred years. And millions of ages hence that wail will cross the gulf that lies between the saved and lost and still will be heard the cry: 'Father Abraham! Father Abraham! I pray thee send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my parched tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.'"
For the first time I understood the dogma of eternal pain -- appreciated "the glad tidings of great joy." For the first time my imagination grasped the height and depth of the Christian horror. Then I said: "It is a lie, and I hate your religion. If it is true, I hate your God."
From that day I have had no fear, no doubt. For me, on that day, the flames of hell were quenched. From that day I have passionately hated every orthodox creed. That Sermon did some good.
Hell used to be a nightmarish way to gain converts. But, it became a nightmarish weakness in the Christian religion. Christians did not take this sort of criticism lying down. They responded. Some of them changed hell, and it became a destination that sinners could willingly choose. C.S. Lewis wrote in his 1940 book The Problem of Pain:
quote:
I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside. I do not mean that the ghosts may not wish to come out of hell, in the vague fashion wherein an envious man "wishes" to be happy: but they certainly do not will even the first preliminary stages of that self abandonment through which alone the soul can reach any good. They enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self enslaved: just as the blessed, forever submitting to obedience, become through all eternity more and more free.
Hell, then, is not so much a place of inflicting torture, but it is a place that the damned souls willingly choose.
Though it may strongly contrast to the gospel parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, it is a view that has become predominant among modern Christian evangelists and apologists. Besides the exegesis, it seems to solve the problem. How cruel can it be if the damned actually want it?
Peter Kreeft and Ronald Keith Tacelli wrote in Handbook of Christian Apologetics: Hundreds of Answers to Crucial Questions,
quote:
If hell is chosen freely, the problem then becomes not one of reconciling hell with God's love, but reconciling hell with human sanity. Who would freely prefer hell to heaven unless they were insane?
The answer is that all of us do at one time or another. Every sin reflects that preference. The skeptic objects that if he freely choose hell over heaven, we must be insane; the Christian replies that that is precisely what sin is: insanity, the deliberate refusal of joy and of truth.
Christians are divided about whether to interpret the fires of hell literally or metaphorically. Metaphorical fires are often preferred because it is difficult to imagine why even an insane person would choose the prolonged pain of fire.
In the widely-popular apologetic book, A Case for Faith by Lee Strobel, the theologian J. P. Moreland is quoted as saying,
quote:
Make no mistake. Hell is punishment--but it's not a punishing. It's not torture. The punishment of hell is separation from God, bringing shame, anguish, and regret. And because we will have both body and soul in the resurrected state, the misery experienced can be both mental and physical. But the pain that's suffered will be due to the sorrow from the final, ultimate, unending banishment from God, his kingdom, and the good life for which we were created in the first place. People in hell will deeply grieve all they've lost.
To Moreland, the fires of hell are merely metaphorical. He objects: how does it make sense for hell to be fiery and dark at the same time? So, many Christians have thrown away the old hell and adopted a new hell that is suitable for the rhetorical battles against secularism.
Of course, not all conservative Christians have jumped on this bandwagon. Matt Slick, of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, wrote:
quote:
Hell is a real place. It is not mere unconsciousness. It is not temporal. It is eternal torment. Perhaps that is why Jesus spoke more of hell than heaven and spent so much time warning people not to go there. After all, if people just stopped existing, why warn them? If it was temporal, they'd get out in a while. But if it were eternal and conscious, then the warning is strong.
Christian apologists fight against other Christian apologists about such problems more than against those on the outside. From the perspective of an opponent of Christianity, the rhetorical point of the problem of hell serves a good purpose. If the proponents of the orthodox hell win the debate, then Christianity is significantly weakened. The world will have more Robert Ingersolls. If the proponents of the choose-your-own-afterlife doctrine win the debate, then hell is less of a fearsome nightmarish thing used to manipulate children and frightened people into adherence. The world will have fewer Christian evangelists who employ the villainy of hell.
And that is why rhetoric matters.

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Message 2 of 2 (600769)
01-17-2011 8:09 AM


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