Bullet Point 4 (of 12) - Everlasting hell (misses the mark)

There are many verses in the Bible that indicate hell being eternal. Is it still good that fear of going there will encourage us to shape up and fly right?

Here are two points to consider. The first one is the obvious that if God had not created mankind then hell also would not exist. If hell truly is eternal, how does that sit well with a loving God?

Another point is that punishment, like everything else, does have a purpose. But, what is the purpose of everlasting hell? if that were true it would mean that punishment itself has no purpose. However much you regretted and vowed to make amends there would, ultimately, be no point to that at all.

This sounds more like the loving Heavenly Father (our God): Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’ (Ez.33:11)

The Bible is the word of God. So, how should the Bible verses indicating an eternal hell be read?

God, our Heavenly Father, is Eternal, Unchanging and Absolute. Just as God did not intervene in the Fall of Man to maintain the absoluteness and perfection of the Principle of Creation. Then there will forever, and eternally, be no compromise with something that is unprincipled. In this sense, and in this sense alone, hell is eternal.

To put it another way: if God were to interfere with human actions during their growing period, it would be tantamount to ignoring the human portion of responsibility. In that case, God would be disregarding His own Principle of Creation, according to which He intends to give human beings His creative nature and raise them to become the lords of creation. If the Principle were ignored, then its absoluteness and perfection would be undermined. Because God is the absolute and perfect Creator, His Principle of Creation must also be absolute and perfect.

To insist on everlasting hell, just because it is written so in the Bible is to be like a ‘slave to the letter of the law’ which was the reason the first chosen people failed to recognize and connect with Jesus as the substantial embodiment of the original ideal of God. Had they been able to believe in him whom He had sent, as Jesus indicated in Jn. 6:29 then they would never have had the Lord of Glory crucified by the Roman occupation.

The purpose of these bullet points, showing how present day Christianity has missed the mark, is to make it clear that an overhaul is needed. It is clear to me that present day Christianity is ill-equipped to recognize the 2nd Advent of Christ and is destined to make a similar mistake as the first chosen people. Since there is a false ruler, and false god, of this world (Jn.12:31; 2Cor.4:4) you should also be aware that the personage of the 2nd Advent will have a ‘bad press’. Incidentally we’re living, right now, in a time when the false god is actually being exposed; are you starting to see it too?

Here’s an invitation to a Spring seminar, March 18-20, at the Mountain Retreat in West Virginia, USA. “Mission of the Messiah” and “True Parents in the Completed Testament Age” among the topics. Attend in person, or on-line. Looking forward to seeing you there. Let’s get real about God!

Andrew & Marie Derricutt

Gettr: @AndrewDerricutt