HAPPY DADS AND THE HORRORS OF HELL
by Jeff
Turner
Jonathan Edwards once said the following
words:
“Reprobate infants are vipers of
vengeance, which Jehovah will hold over hell, in the tongs of his wrath, till
they turn and spit venom in his
face!”
Elsewhere, Edwards asked the
question:
“Can the believing father in Heaven
be happy with his unbelieving children in
Hell?”
Now, a bit of clarification: Edwards is
not referring to God when he speaks of the “believing father in Heaven”. Rather,
he is speaking an earthly father who enters Heaven, while His children are
sentenced to an eternity in Hell. One would assume that Edwards’ answer to this
question would be something akin to, “Nay! And a thousand times
nay!”.
Unfortunately, his answer was as
follows:
“…it [the sight of his children in
Hell] will increase rather than diminish his
bliss.”
To be honest with you, I’m not sure if
I’ve ever read more demonic, and putrid words in all of my life. I have a level
of respect for Jonathan Edwards, and know that these statements do not equal the
thesis statement of his life, nor is he defined by them. I know that some of his
other works and words seem almost contradictory to these words. However, it is
Edwards’ words on hell and the demise of the damned which have made him famous,
and, are the ideas which he is most known for
proclaiming.
My respect, and contextual
understandings aside, to think that there is a form of religion out there which
teaches and prepares parents to rejoice, and experience “increased bliss” at the
sight of their children being barbecued alive in an eternal hell, is not only
disturbing, but downright revolting, and, in my opinion, utterly
satanic.
Unfortunately, heretical Christianity
has, for years, encouraged otherwise sane men and women, to gleefully anticipate
death, misery, and eternal torment for a vast majority of earth’s populace. This
is neither, healthy nor sane. It is madness, and madness of the most disgusting
kind. I know that my words seem harsh here, but truly, this is an issue which
has plagued the Church, and thus the world, for
centuries.
Allow me to share with you why I’m
writing this today in the first place:
Earlier
this week, I was on a certain online forum, reading through various posts
concerning theology and such. My eyes, however, were drawn to a particular post
entitled, “The most lost generation EVER”. I will quote a portion of the
original post, while keeping it’s author’s identity concealed out of
respect.
The post went as
follows:
“After witnessing again tonight and
hearing AGAIN from yet another shockingly hard-hearted person how the Bible is
supposedly ‘all fiction’ and absolutely NOTHING i said could make any
difference, i must conclude that this generation is thee most hopeless EVER. I
think i have heard it ALL now. Every last excuse, every last accusation and
diatribe. And it is crystal clear that Americans do not want Christ, no matter
what. The hearts of this people have turned to STONE. It is like bashing my head
against a brick wall talking to these people. Many of them even contradict their
own selves. I have come to hate witnessing. It is tiresome. It is offensive to
hear the awful things they say. They never run out of excuses for rejecting
Christ, yet any of the pagan ‘gods’ will do. I have tolerated the most
deplorable things and shown nothing but kindness, friendship, and love/charity
to them. When the bomb or whatever hits this country, whatever finally comes, i
can’t feel no pity. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”
Now,
certainly, anyone who has ever attempted to present the Gospel to an unbeliever
can sympathize with this young man’s frustrations. However, notice the last line
preceding the prolonged “UGH”. The young man states that when apocalyptic
judgement “finally” hits this nation, he will feel no pity. Why? Because we’ll
apparently deserve it. And this young man, frustrated with the wickedness of the
wicked and the unbelief of the unbelieving, seems to be looking forward to the
fiery demise of his own peers and
countrymen.
However, can this young man truly
be blamed for having this thought? Would this not be the natural response of an
individual who has been taught to believe that God is cooking up one “hell” (pun
intended) of a reckoning day for the wicked, and
unbelieving?
Now, let me clarify, because I
most certainly believe in a day of judgement, as the Bible is quite clear on the
issue. The idea, however, that a house of horrors and torture await all of those
who have never had the chance, or, who have rejected the chance to “repeat after
me”, is absurd, and cannot rightly be called biblical. Again, I do not set aside
the notion of hell. No, there is far too much said in the scriptures concerning
a “hell” to outrightly reject the idea. It is not the doctrine of “hell” that I
take issue with. It is the modern interpretations of hell – the idea of hell as
a mammoth tortured chamber that makes Nazi concentration camps look like Disney
World, that every individual who met with the unfortunate fate of being born in
a nation void of Christianity will one day eternally inhabit – that I take issue
with.
I do believe in a Biblical doctrine of
hell. The Halloween-ish, B-grade horror movie version of recent times, however,
I’m completely unsold on.
Now, the reason for
even making these statements is that such a belief seems to create within many
an anticipation of final judgement. The quote by Jonathan Edwards is a statement
by him saying that a father who makes it to Heaven, would have his “bliss
increased” by watching his child burn alive in hell. In the other Edwards’ quote
I presented, he states that there are some infants who will be considered
reprobates, who will be roasted alive above the fires of hell in the tongs of
God’s wrath. So, in Edwards estimation, there will one day be human fathers in
Heaven, viewing their infant children roasting alive above the fires of hell,
and these fathers will have their “bliss increased”, not diminished, by the
sight. He will continue on with his Heavenly feasting and revelry, while
joyously beholding the eternal torment of his infant son or
daughter!
That, in any sane person’s mind, must
be considered to be psychotic.
Yes, the view of
hell has changed a bit since Edward’s time. His words, however, have most
definitely become the context in which many evangelicals frame their view of the
afterlife. What I’m attempting to say here is that a belief system which causes
us to anticipate the suffering and torture of millions, if not billions of
people, is warped, twisted, and cannot rightly be called
Christianity.
Honestly, to think that we will
one day gaze upon the charred, but living corpses of the victims of eternal
justice, whilst feasting and rejoicing in Heaven, is deplorable, and turns the
stomach. To think that we will gaze upon the earth during the great “seven year
tribulation”, giggling and applauding whilst billions suffer under divine wrath,
is the stuff of madmen’s fantasies. To joyously anticipate such a thing is
nothing short of deranged.
Tertullian, the
famed Christian author of the second and third centuries, once said the
following concerning hell and the response of the “saints” to the horrors
thereof:
“At that greatest of all spectacles,
that last and eternal judgment how shall I admire, how laugh, how rejoice, how
exult, when I behold so many proud monarchs groaning in the lowest abyss of
darkness; so many magistrates liquefying in fiercer flames than they ever
kindled against the Christians; so many sages philosophers blushing in red-hot
fires with their deluded pupils; so many tragedians more tuneful in the
expression of their own sufferings; so many dancers tripping more nimbly from
anguish then ever before from applause.”
I
suppose I could sympathize with a man who lived in an era of extreme
persecution. Perhaps his own pain and bitterness towards his and his
predecessor’s persecutors led him to hold to such a gleeful view of eternal
damnation. Even so, is that truly the God and Father whom Christ
reveals?
Certainly
not!
Elsewhere, Jonathan Edwards said the
following words:
“The sight of hell torments
will exalt the happiness of the saints
forever.”
My friends, Christ did not reveal to
us a Father who cackles like a witch, or roars maniacally at the sight of human
suffering. Rather, Christ reveals to us a Father who weeps and laments when His
children’s decisions invite correction. We do not serve the god of holocaust
flames, but the God who’s heart is a furnace of unquenchable love for us. Our
God is not a mad dictator, demanding the sick to make themselves well or face
the gallows. No, we serve a God who, at great cost to Himself, became the cure
to our malady. A God who, in mercy, ran to us and rescued us from sin and
death.
This “god” who demands damnation as
recompense for offended justice, and then enables the “righteous” to gibber, and
cackle like demonic trolls at the sight of said damnation, is no God at all. He
is a figment of fallen man’s mind, and, perhaps is something even more
diabolical than that.
This satanic interloper,
this impostor, was with us in antiquity, into the middle ages, and still stands
behinds many pulpits each and every Sunday morning. He gives his hearty approval
to the burning of babies before Molech, the torture of “heretics” by their
Catholic and Protestant inquisitors, the burning of accused “witches” by the
pious, the horrors of the holocaust, and to each and every sermon that paints
our Heavenly Father in a similar light.
He is
not a god. He is your enemy, and he does not deserve an ounce of
worship.
The God revealed by Christ – YES – has
appointed a day of judgement, and – YES – brings correction and discipline to
His children. However, He is a God who Himself is the very definition of love.
There is nothing that He has ever done, or will ever do, that does not have
love, life, and redemption as it’s center! That being said, a belief in a god
that causes us to joyously anticipate the pain, torment, and hurt of others is
none other than a devil inspired monstrosity, and it belongs in the scrapheap of
history.
God is
Love.
Period.
Well....What
do you think???
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