Comments on: Life’s Toughest Questions: 02 Is There a Hell? http://mosaic.org/2006/09/17/lifes-toughest-02/ A community of Faith, Hope and Love Sun, 12 Oct 2008 08:36:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Benn http://mosaic.org/2006/09/17/lifes-toughest-02/#comment-1805 Benn Fri, 29 Sep 2006 11:49:12 +0000 http://mosaic.org/2006/09/26/toughest-questions-02-is-there-a-hell/#comment-1805 Wow, that was quite an intense talk. I can relate with what Rich Galutia said in respect to feeling as if I were actually present as Erwin was speaking. Interestingly, I was having a conversation earlier this evening, similar to Erwin's talks, about God's desire for us to become well, whole, alive,or however you want to put it, in order for us to find Heaven a place we would actually want to spend eternity with God in. I think this is where we can get mis-directed when thinking about Hell the reality and Hell the metaphor, as Erwin mentioned. The language we Christians have adopted to encapsulate these ideas and the manner in which we communicate them to people so often get in the way of the crucial messages people should be hearing i.e. the gospel. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we should take time to reflect on how common the question “why does God allow us to go to Hell?” is among non-Christians. There is something not right with how we represent the gospel to people that leads to this question being on the top of there minds. As Erwin's respect for the human will and spirit is a testament to the living character of God, I believe God has created a place where he is not i.e. what we call Hell, to honor our decision to live our lives absent of Him. But, if God is present on Earth now and we think the world is in a bad way, imagine what the place must be like where the life and light of God does not reside in. Thankfully God has allowed us to catch glimpses of Him in nature, through creative self-expression and most clearly through the life and testament of Jesus, so that we might understand the love He so desires to give us. A big thank you to Mosaic for making podcasts available free of charge. I definitely appreciate them. I hope a video podcast of this talk makes its way up on your site. Wow, that was quite an intense talk. I can relate with what Rich Galutia said in respect to feeling as if I were actually present as Erwin was speaking.

Interestingly, I was having a conversation earlier this evening, similar to Erwin’s talks, about God’s desire for us to become well, whole, alive,or however you want to put it, in order for us to find Heaven a place we would actually want to spend eternity with God in.

I think this is where we can get mis-directed when thinking about Hell the reality and Hell the metaphor, as Erwin mentioned. The language we Christians have adopted to encapsulate these ideas and the manner in which we communicate them to people so often get in the way of the crucial messages people should be hearing i.e. the gospel. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we should take time to reflect on how common the question “why does God allow us to go to Hell?” is among non-Christians. There is something not right with how we represent the gospel to people that leads to this question being on the top of there minds.

As Erwin’s respect for the human will and spirit is a testament to the living character of God, I believe God has created a place where he is not i.e. what we call Hell, to honor our decision to live our lives absent of Him. But, if God is present on Earth now and we think the world is in a bad way, imagine what the place must be like where the life and light of God does not reside in.

Thankfully God has allowed us to catch glimpses of Him in nature, through creative self-expression and most clearly through the life and testament of Jesus, so that we might understand the love He so desires to give us.

A big thank you to Mosaic for making podcasts available free of charge. I definitely appreciate them. I hope a video podcast of this talk makes its way up on your site.

]]> By: Rich Galutia http://mosaic.org/2006/09/17/lifes-toughest-02/#comment-1801 Rich Galutia Thu, 28 Sep 2006 19:27:27 +0000 http://mosaic.org/2006/09/26/toughest-questions-02-is-there-a-hell/#comment-1801 What a powerful explanation of the reason for Hell's existence! Erwin, I felt as if I was in the audience experiencing your pain in presenting the topic. I am still left with the question "Why does Hell's punishment seem so extreme, so painful both physically and emotionally?" My only thought is that the choice between God and life or Hell and wasted life needs to be extreme in order for the option to be clear. Thanks for all of the work involved in putting the audio and video podcasts out for the World to experience. What a powerful explanation of the reason for Hell’s existence! Erwin, I felt as if I was in the audience experiencing your pain in presenting the topic.

I am still left with the question “Why does Hell’s punishment seem so extreme, so painful both physically and emotionally?” My only thought is that the choice between God and life or Hell and wasted life needs to be extreme in order for the option to be clear.

Thanks for all of the work involved in putting the audio and video podcasts out for the World to experience.

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