Question & Answer

How can a god of love send a man to hell?
Am I correct in these assumptions?
- God loves the people he created.
- Hell is not exactly a pleasant place.
- God is omnipotent and could ease the pain of the people in hell, even if he didn't invite them to join him in heaven.
Alex R.

One must admit that Christianity is by no means consistent as regards the character of God that it attributes. However, and I open this up to everyone, can anyone think of any other religion that gives God such a milksop image. There have been preachers who focused on justice in relation to divine being and, Lord knows, the Old Testament if full of it but the New Testament is a bit confusing. You do have the ingroup and outgroup distinction with members of the outgroup (i.e., non-Christians) looking forward to all kinds of problems and the ingroup being subject to very special conditions (unconditional forgiveness by Christ's agents: John 20:23). It is admittedly very strange indeed and God in Christianity is a trifle incoherent.
Yours in God,
David Howe
 

Dear David

There is from a human standpoint a certain tension between God's justice and God's love so that that sometimes it is difficult for us to conceive both aspects of God's goodness simultaneously. A God who did not forgive would not seem loving, but a God who overlooked sin would not seem just. God combines a most tender love for sinners, with an absolute hatred of evil. Sometimes one or the other aspect shows forth more readily.

God's love is absolutely universal - there is no human being for whom Christ did not die.

Unbelievers {I kind of prefer the Latin based term infidels but it sounds excessively derogatory to some} like all men, are certainly included in God's universal love, which is precisely why He desires to draw them out of their unbelief and into His grace and salvation.
Fr. Gregory

Dear Gregory,
Um. Perhaps I went too fast. The issue is not whether God has universal love or universal hate (which would also appear likely) for the sinners of the world, but that it is honestly not our business to decide.
Further, Christianity is the only religion I know of that takes the issue of Divine Mercy out of the hands of God and makes it, in literal terms really, the business of the Church. Whether dispensed in "good faith" by some self-appointed holier-than-thou or given out in "bad faith" as in the history of indulgences, the Church has always made a shifting habit of deciding what's right and wrong and then has expected God to underwrite the bill involved (including the most varied and curious interpretations of His Will) irrespective of reality (just look up John 20:23).
Notwithstanding the difficulty of interpreting the Divine Being, does it seem reasonable to you that God would willingly condone this definition of His being by those who do not even assume an open relationship with it (Would you give people the power to forgive things willy-nilly in your name? Imagine.), but rather stand with the confused teachings of Christ between them and Him.
Christianity has all the appearances of a glorified chain letter: If you don't do this you will have bad luck type of thing. In summary, often Christians seem to think God is an idiot which appears to be a great comfort to them but I'm sure has little to do with God.
Yours in God,
David Howe

Dear David

Christ certainly shared his authority and his work with the disciples in His earthly ministry. Unless one takes an Ultra-Protestant reductionist stance of the Jesus of History, (which Catholicism, Orthodoxy and orthodox Protestants of course do not), then it also appears that Christ committed this authority to his Church on earth after His Ascension as well, (the power to bind and loose).

If the Church's judgement on these matters has been, (as you suggest), regularly capricious, arbitrary, inconsistent and unjust, then the bulk of Christians throughout the history of the Church have been buying into a "lie" for a very long time.

The arrogance of this assertion far outweighs the impact (even for hardened Protestant opinion) of a considered exercise of a ministry developed over 2 millennia for which there is an enormous fund of pastoral experience and godly discernment. Are you aware of this?

Yours in Christ

Fr Gregory

Dear Fr. Gregory,

As you say:

If the Church's judgement on these matters has been, (as you suggest), regularly capricious, arbitrary, inconsistent and unjust, then the bulk of Christians throughout the history of the Church have been buying into a "lie" for a very long time.

I'm so glad you understand and have had the courage to think it through. As far as I can see it, that's the unhappy fact of the matter.

Yours in God,
David Howe

Dear David

I take you for an intelligent man not given to putting words into peoples' mouths. As the readership will have noticed I said "IF..."

Of course I do not accept your premise; I was merely making it clearer for its underlying presuppositions. I shall assume either infelicitous language or an inexact reading of my text; but please be careful when quoting others!

(Any other interpretation of your answer would reveal sarcasm. I shall assume purer intentions!)

Yours

Fr Gregory

Dear Fr. Gregory,
Sorry. But sarcasm, me, I'm not smart enough! After all, I did get into this absurd argument with you, didn't I? Sarcasm requires intelligence. However, I will admit that Socratic irony was a rather low blow. No need for intelligence with Socratic irony. Thank goodness, Fr. Gregory!
In terms of this issue, however, I was rather supposing that you were aware of the most recent examples of this capricious and autocratic (not to say tyrannical) element as expressed by Pope John Paul II's issuance of Motu Proprio "Ad Tuendam Fidem" (June 30) which confers infallibility on the Apostolicae Curae and bishops in general and the more recent Apostolis Suos again coming from John Paul which limits bishop power and gives the Pontiff final and absolute power over all discussion in the church. He can now override everyone.
Now, if this does not illustrate my case, we have lots of evidence from a revised reading of the Bible (just look at and contemplate Mathew 5:27-30, Mathew 7:1-6, Mark 3: 22 in this light) and also we have the curious centuries of heretic and witch persecution, torture and burning to include in the church picture in order to get it into a clearer frame.
Respectfully yours,
David Howe