The concept of hell, how it is typically defined, is certainly hard to swallow. Hell is usually defined as a place of eternal punishment and torment or a place of separation from God. That is a seriously horrific image. Hell isn’t regularly discussed in Christian circles – I presume it is because of the difficulty with the ramifications of hell as described above.It is often taught that outside of a relationship with Jesus, a person unfortunately couldn’t do anything to be in a right relationship with God, or to be saved. Many hit a stumbling block at this point. We have discussions about an ‘age of accountability’ (for those too young to make a decision) and ‘natural revelation’ (for those who never have an opportunity to hear about Jesus). We are willing to say that God shows grace and mercy in these situations regardless of what the person does/thinks. Unfortunately, this grace doesn’t apply to those who have had an opportunity to accept Jesus but do not. These people have sealed their fate – in hell.A teaching of Jesus has been recorded in Matthew 5. He says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore as your heavenly Father is perfect. ” That’s interesting because when you think about our ‘understanding’ of heaven and hell – is God no better than a tax collector or pagan? Does his loving acceptance only apply to those who love him? Is salvation only for those who love God in return? Is that grace?I’ve always been uneasy with the teachings on hell that I’ve heard or that were alluded to. I just couldn’t reconcile an exclusivist understanding of God’s grace and what I’ve come to know of grace through my relationship with God. So I wrestled. I thought. And I prayed about the dichotomy I felt.I now say confidently that understanding hell as a ‘place’ - a place of separation from God for those outside of a relationship with Jesus – is not just difficult or paradoxical but wrong. A god who acts in such a way is a god I cannot worship. I simply can’t accept that understanding, when deep down within me something disagrees. I realize there are many passages one could point to that seem to make clear the biblical picture of hell – an image I am rejecting. Maybe those passages could be interpreted another way. Maybe they can’t. Interestingly though, there are also passages of Scripture that support and affirm universal salvation. Scripture doesn’t seem to be as clear on the subject as we often think. I might be wrong about my assumptions concerning God and salvation. I accept that. But, I’d rather error on the side of love, acceptance and hope than on the side of rejection and despair for billions of people in this world.Hell is a biblical image – so I don’t reject it completely. As said above, I reject hell as a place. Ultimately, I believe salvation is for everyone now and we will all be with God in the afterlife. No one has to do anything or say anything or claim to be a member of any religion. The Good News of Jesus seems to be saying that grace is God’s last word. We will all be with God. As implausible as this may be, a person could be in God’s presence and still choose to reject the love God is offering. That’s where hell comes in. Wouldn’t it be hell to be in the presence of Love and yet choose the way of hate? Hell is then no longer a place or location apart from God but a state of being in God’s presence.A few weeks ago I was watching TV with a friend of mine. There was a show on E! about some of the Playboy girls. They were talking about what their lives were like – the parties, the clothes, the friendships etc…My friend commented on how their lives seem truly great, unfortunately, they are most likely going to hell. She seemed to have no hesitation or concern with that comment.I can’t accept that.That doesn’t work for me and I don’t think that works for God either. God is calling us all into his Love, his presence. When it boils down to who’s in and who’s out – heaven and hell – I think we’ve missed the point. The Good News is that we are all in. Because God is the Gracious and Compassionate One.Whenever I have shared my thoughts on hell and salvation I have received many objections. Doesn’t Jesus say he is the only way to the Father? Yes, but I don’t see this as an exclusive statement at all. The life and grace, which comes through Jesus, is for all. I can affirm that Jesus is the way to the Father – his way just brings everyone with him.Reformed theologian J.I. Packer has written an essay opposing a universalistic view of salvation. Part of his argument follows the thought that everyone can’t be with God for eternity because then such people as Hitler would be there too. Lots of people have a problem with the idea of people like Hitler and rapists and child molesters being in heaven with all the rest of us for eternity. Unfortunately, this doesn’t say much for redemption and says even less about grace. I think this elitist view of the afterlife is destructive.“So are you saying Hitler will be in heaven?” Yes, Hitler, murderers, rapists, children, lovers, haters, and everyone else.What about Satan and demons, you might ask? Wouldn’t they go to hell ? Wouldn’t they be eternally removed from God’s presence? To be honest, I probably have a different understanding of Satan and evil than many. I do believe in God’s persistent love and unconditional acceptance. In Jesus he is reconciling all things to himself . I take that to actually mean all things – that God’s dream is that everything will be in right relationship with him. That means all people. That means Satan. I think God is in the business of universal reconciliation.There have been several schools of thought on hell over the centuries. Some people view it metaphorically – a place of punishment but not literally like the Bible describes. Others hold to a very literal understanding of fire and flames and torment. Some view hell as a place where those who reject God go, along with Satan and his cohorts, and are at some point annihilated and cease to exist. Still others look very closely at the original language of the text and discuss the literal place outside of Jerusalem that was the image used when discussion of judgment came up. For me though, the only acceptable understanding of God’s grace is that everyone is saved and will be with him. From there they can choose how they respond to being in a loving God’s presence – but this doesn’t locate anyone elsewhere.One of my favorite images for the heaven/hell discussions comes from a parable Jesus taught which is recorded in Luke 15. A man has two sons. One son tells his father to give him his share of the estate so he can go live it up away from home. After squandering his money and his pride, he begins his journey home. But while in the distance, his father sees him, goes running to him and embraces him. Before the son can even ask for forgiveness, the father tells him he loves him. (The father doesn’t actually know if the son is repentant or just back to use his father more. The father doesn’t care though – his love and acceptance is present either way.) This is what I picture heaven like. Everyone is welcome and present at the party. The other son, though, feels he’s lived an obedient life. He’s followed the rules and done the right things. He thinks if anyone should have a party in their honor it should be him. He’s focused on what he’s done and what he deserves. He chooses to remove himself from the party because of who else is present, and how this makes him feel slighted. This is what I picture hell like. Again it’s not a place but a state of mind. Notice also that the language of the parable isn’t separatist. The older brother is still at the party, just refusing to participate. He still has choice - it just seems he’s using his choice poorly. I think the people who will experience hell are those who find it unacceptable that everyone has made it in the party. They will be the ones who choose the path of the older brother.Ultimately, I see God’s last word being grace. Judgment has its place but I have to believe that love overcomes all – even evil, even sin.Jesus lived out the message he taught of grace and acceptance. I believe he is the image of the invisible God. I believe that in Jesus, God is reconciling the whole world to himself. Since I believe Jesus to have acted as God acts – I believe that God has saved everyone, and all of us, his loved ones, will be with him for eternity.1. Matthew 5.43-482. See Matthew 7.14; Matthew 22.14; Matthew 25.46; Mark 3.28-29; Luke 13.22-27; John 3.36; Romans 6.23; Romans 9.27; Romans 10.9-103. See Psalm 22.27; Matthew 18.14; Luke 3.6; Luke 19.10; John 12.32; John 12.47; Romans 3.23; Romans 5.18; Romans 8.38-39; 1 Corinthians 13.4-8; Ephesians 1.9-10; Philippians 2.10-11; Colossians 1.19-20; 1 Timothy 2.3-4; 1 Timothy 4.9-10.4. Rob Bell said during a teaching at his Isn’t She Beautiful Conference: “If you were asked the question ‘How does a person get saved?’ and only had the bible to answer the question…you would have lots of answers.5. Brian McLaren has a beautiful quote where he says, “Recently I received an email saying, ‘I heard a rumor that you’re a universalist. Is that true?’ Since I don’t offer my exclusivist friends their expected answer to ‘the hell question,’ I can see why this rumor would spread. Rumors like this make me want to be an exclusivist who believes that only universalists go to heaven – after all, they have the highest opinion possible about the efficacy and scope of the saving work of Jesus! Or else I could be an inclusivist who believes that all but exclusivists are going to heaven. But no, that’s ridiculous…The old universalism pronounces that the Good News was efficacious for all individual souls after death, in heaven, beyond history. Inclusivism says the gospel is efficacious for many, and exclusivists say for a comparative few. But I’m more interested in a gospel that is universally efficacious for the whole earth before death in history.” See McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004) pp. 113-114. 6. Exodus 34.67. John 14.68. Packer’s essay can be found in Hell Under Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001). 9. Colossians 1.19-2010. For further reading on different views of hell see: William Crocket, Four Views on Hell (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), Randolph Klassen, What Does The Bible Really Say About Hell? (Scottdale: Herald Press, 2001), Brian McLaren, The Last Word and the Word After That (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005), and Gulley & Mulholland, If Grace Is True (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2003).
