The Sky is Falling

Q: Do you think this is the end of the world? An earthquake, a tsunami and thousands dead, and now a nuclear disaster... It’s too much!

A: “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!” said Chicken Little.

“How do you know?” asked Henny Penny.

“I saw it with my own eyes,” answered Chicken Little.

When we experience something with our own eyes, we tend to universalize the event. It must be true, because I saw it. The recent earthquake and tsunami were experienced and seen by millions of people, either in person or on television. This is why the questioner asks me, “Is it the end of the world?” It feels like the sky is falling; the end must be near. Now add to our reader’s perspective global warming, melting ice caps, terrorist attacks, revolutions, food shortages, economic woes, wild weather patterns, and exploding volcanoes, topped off with a near-meltdown at the nuclear reactors in Japan. Someone I know referred to these events as the Apocalypse, the final catastrophe.

The last book of the Bible is called Apocalypse—a Greek word which when translated into English is Revelation. The book describes the Second Coming of Jesus the Christ, who is to return to Earth to both judge and redeem us and to remake the heavens and the Earth. The Revelation is the appearing of the Lord. Because the Book of Revelation includes descriptions of large, global disasters, disasters of this size tend to trigger in Christians thoughts of the End Times. However, the Bible doesn’t specify when these disasters will occur or when Christ will return.

Is the sky falling now? Disasters, both natural and human made, have been part of the world from the beginnings of time. Since the universe was created, it has been constantly reorganizing its geological make-up through ice ages, glacial melts, volcanic activity, tectonic shifts, floods, etc. This has been going on for hundreds of thousands of years—but now we humans are on the scene to observe, measure, and evaluate these events and judge them as disasters. Yet humanity continues to endure through these monumental shifts. We have seen wars, holocaust, crimes against humanity and all types of natural disasters, always thinking that this must be the end. Yet the world continues to go on.

Modern Christians (and maybe all humans) tend to see the workings of the world only in terms of how it impacts us. Science and philosophy, on the other hand, tries to understand the system of the universe, in which humans are only one part, and how it all works together. In The Good Book, Reverend Dr. Peter Gomes, a recent chaplain of Harvard University, writes, “Rather than place God at the center of our universe, we have placed ourselves at the center of God’s universe and determined that we are the object of his existence rather than the subject.”(p. 316). Gomes calls this “egocentric Christianity.” Thus when disaster strikes, we feel that God owes us an explanation and deliverance.

Asking God to explain disasters and the End Times is a long tradition. Jesus is asked about it the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 24). He describes wars and false Messiahs, but then says, “The end is not yet.” He says that when the end comes, it will be like flash of lightning, and everyone will see, “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven.”

This is not the end. How do I know? The Apocalypse—the Revelation of Jesus—has not yet happened. The sky may seem to fall from time to time, but there is no need to ask, “Is this the end?” Because Jesus promises that when it is the end, we will all know it at once. We will see Him coming, and the new Heavens and the new Earth will begin.

Tempest in a Teapot?

Q: What is the controversy about Rob Bell and his new book? Can you give the heart of the matter? People are up in arms over it. I know his book hasn’t come out, and they are basing it all on the promos and the bookseller's description, but even that seems vague.

A. There is a hot debate going on in evangelical circles about Rev. Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. Rob Bell is the popular, thoughtful pastor of the Mars Hill Community Church and has a strong voice in the evangelical community. The book is due out in a few days, but it has been heavily advertised, creating speculation that Rob Bell is a Universalist, which means he might believe that in the end everyone will be saved.

In his video promo Bell suggests such a possibility, creating the buzz and interest in his publication. He points out that if only Christians are saved, billions of other people will be in Hell forever, for billions of years. Can we imagine the God of love doing that or allowing it to happen?

For evangelicals, accepting Universalism goes against the teachings of scripture, as they understand it, and therefore against the source of our knowledge of Jesus. The logic goes: if the Bible is wrong about Hell, then how do we know it is right about Jesus? Historically, the existence of Hell has been a basic teaching in most Christian denominations, and the more conservative believers hold to this fundamental doctrine.

In scripture, Hell is expressed in picture terms, such as darkness, torment, the lake of fire, etc. The actual word used is Gehenna, a Greek word taken from the Hebrew, Valley of Hinnon. This valley actually existed outside the city of Jerusalem’s wall. People would throw their garbage over the wall into the valley. The trash continually burned, smoldering away with worms (maggots) crawling in the trash, as in any urban garbage dump. Jesus uses these very words to describe Hell: “The place where the fires continually burn and the worm dies not.” It would be Hell to live in the valley of Hinnon. Jesus uses the word Hell or Gehenna in Matthew 22:11-14 and Matthew 25:41-46.

How literal does Hell have to be, if the word itself is only an image of a miserable situation? At the same time, conservative evangelicals will not risk denying the words of Jesus because that has, historically, implied a denial of Jesus himself.

In past eras Christian Evangelicals, or at least the more conservative among them, have drawn lines in the sand, saying that to deny any particular scriptural truth is to deny the validity of the Bible and therefore lose the source of our faith. In the 1920s, the doctrine of the Virgin Birth was the test question for orthodoxy. This debate fueled the Fundamentalist /Modernist controversy in the American Church. Another debate still active today is over the Genesis creation account: Was the universe created in a literal seven days, or did it take millions of years of evolution under God’s guiding hand? In the late 19^th century, Universalism was the test question, and now it has returned for another round of discussion. So this explains, at least in part, the intense interest around Rob Bell at this time—will this prominent evangelical leader pass or fail the orthodoxy test?

The ideas in Universalism may seem less scandalous when you consider that Universalism itself has been around more or less as long as mainstream Christianity. As far back as the second century A.D. there have been Christian scholars, such as Origen and Julian of Norwich, arguing for universal salvation or exploring Universalist themes. You can Google “Christian Universalists” to get a broader picture of their history in the church.

As to the existence of Hell, scripture shows us that God can change His laws without changing His character. Think of all the laws of the Old Testament that no longer apply to the Christian church (rituals, dietary laws, etc.). These changes were hotly debated in the early church (see Acts 15) and caused great anxiety especially for the Jewish Christians—but the change was part of God’s plan. So, what if the eternal fires of damnation and Hell are eventually extinguished or commuted? Who will charge God with being untrue to his word? Isn’t the love and grace of God our greatest hope? This teapot tempest among evangelicals about the existence of Hell is not a major concern for the church at large.

With regards to Rob Bell's book, it is bound to be a successful publication. Whether he planned to stir up this controversy or not, this tempest has guaranteed him good sales, and we can also hope that Love Wins is a word from God to this generation.

Other references:

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

Waiting for Rob Bell

YouTube trailer for Love Wins

How Exclusive is Jesus?

Q: Why do some religions, including some Christians, seem to think that theirs is the only path to God? I have heard some people say that only by accepting Jesus, for instance, can one get into heaven. But that leaves out a lot of good-hearted people, many of whom do worship God.

A: This is great question to start my blog. Our world is filled with tension and deadly strife, and at times religion is at the heart of the problem. Religion is suppose to be the answer, so why the fighting?

Members of a religion think they have truth—a correct understanding of spirituality—but does that mean everyone else’s views are wrong? Some feel this way. It seems the more orthodox or fundamental a person is, the more extreme exclusivity they claim. This can be true in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. Yet most (the majority) in these established faiths hold their views in a spirit of toleration.

In her book, The Mighty and the Almighty, Madeline Albright, former Secretary of State recounts that when she was in training for the diplomatic corps she was told that religion should not be part of the discussion. But today she feels it is best to include it, because it can be very divisive if a mutual understanding isn’t reached. For instance Judaism, Islam and Christianity have the same roots in the Jewish scriptures, and Abraham and Sarah are the founders of the three monotheistic religions. These three faiths have much in common and these commonalities could be used in a diplomatic context to foster peace.

So why do some Christians say that you can only come to God and go to heaven through faith in Jesus, and from that statement seem to be saying that all other people are lost? There is a verse in the Bible (John 14:6) where Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the father except through me.” Does this mean that everyone is lost except Christians? What about the believers in the Jewish scriptures prior to Jesus’ coming—are they lost? The text of Jesus’ words needs to be understood in the fuller context of God’s plan for humanity.

Many Christians today hold the view that people who believed in Jewish scriptures before Jesus’ arrival can be considered potential believers in Jesus. Likewise, people who lived and died before Christianity reached them are considered to be received by God, if they accept and believe whatever light and understanding of God they have within them. These views are reinforced by the Bible’s many teachings about the inclusive nature of God’s love for all people. For example I John 2:1 says, “Christ died for our sins, but not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world.”

Jesus used stories from the Old Testament to teach the people of his day that God had spoken to people beyond the borders of their faith community, namely Israel, and beyond the borders of their understanding. God sent Jonah to preach to the unbelieving people of Nineveh, and they believed. Naaman the great Syrian general came to the prophet Elisha, and he believed and was healed of his leprosy. In the New Testament, we meet Cornelius, a Roman centurion who believed before he knew of Jesus. And Jesus commended Samaritans for their faithful living, even though the Samaritans did not have good theology.

None of these people were part of the official community of faith, but God was still at work in their lives. He let his followers know that they were privileged to have their understanding of God, but that they did not have an exclusive on God—that he had other sheep not of the fold of Israel, and that he planned to reach them. From Jesus’ perspective, the only people who were in danger of losing their spiritual life were those who claimed exclusive knowledge—particularly the Pharisees and Sadducees.

As a Christian I believe Jesus is the best source of revelation about God, but this does not mean that Christians know everything. In any case, no one is saved because they have good theology; rather we are saved by God, because the Lord is merciful and loving, and if we are humble and open to him, he hears our prayers and will save us.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my website, Ask the Pastor.

Last year I retired after 34 years of pastoral work, but my mind did not retire. I thought this type of website would keep my mind engaged in the discussion of life. After many years of helping all kinds of people, as a pastor and as a professional counselor in a multicultural, urban setting, I feel I have some useful perspectives to share with others.

As a person of faith, I believe that we can each draw on our spiritual nature to help us find the energy we need to resolve inner conflicts. Our spiritual life gives hope, but we still need to find the right way to solve problems. There is no one solution for all problems; no Bible verse that can fix us; no church, synagogue, or mosque that can give us all the answers. God has made us to engage in life by thinking and wrestling with the issues. This is why we have teachers, preachers, pastors, rabbis, imams and counselors to help us in our quest. So ask me a question, and I will try to be of help to you.

Yours truly,

Pastor Carl