Eddie Murphy said after the Pope John Paul II was shot, "Why would you shoot the Pope, he's such a nice man. You must want to go to the head of the line to hell. 'Excuse, me, I don't want to wait. I'm on the Hell Express.'"
Tim Melander says, "I have always had a problem with the concept of hell I've also done my own wanderings into concepts we never covered in classes, hell being one of them. One thing I found rather interesting is, why would the devil have such a horrible place as hell? And why would he do God's biding to torture sinners? Aren't sinners the devil's kind of folk? Wouldn't he like them and make them feel right at home? Hmm."
Carlo Ami said, "Please forgive my directness. I am sharing my truth, not intending to offend To state directly that God does not send people to hell as the Bible suggests, but that we decide to go, as if any mentally healthy person would make such a decision.... 'Yep, fry me forever. I deserve it.' But yes, the courts in Texas do sentence the mentally ill to toast in the electric chair. Institution and ego love to mimic the imaginary judging god."
James Barakaat says, "Hell is symbolized in the Bible as Gehennaa place outside of Jerusalem where the city's refuse was burned. This helped religious writers to convey the idea of what they want believers to accept as an eternal hell."
Barakaat's explanation of the biblical metaphor for hell seems logical and perhaps comforting. Reconciling an all loving God with the eternal torture of hell is mind boggling. Another writer points out that even in our flawed legal systems the chance for parole and pardon give hope to the damned.
In the end we must trust in the message of Jesus who tells us so many times: "Do not be afraid." The message of Jesus about the Father is that God is Love. Against that continued and unconditional love we can stack our tired efforts at virtue.
Theologians tell us that we are incapable of knowing how much God loves us, and that in a sense (innocence) is what makes us not guilty of betraying that love.
I have been in a wonderful marriage relationship for 45 years. Even at the worst of times we do not tell each other what hurt or punishment we would inflict on the other if our marriage broke up. Why would we think about hell in our relationship with our Divine love?
Henri Nouwen says, "There are no ifs in God's heart. God's love for us does not depend on what we do or say, on our looks or intelligence, on our success or popularity. God's love for us existed before we were born and will exist after we have died. God's love is from eternity to eternity."
Nouwen says, "Jesus came to us to help us overcome our fear of God. As long as we are afraid of God, we cannot love God. Love means intimacy, closeness, mutual vulnerability, and a deep sense of safety. But all of those are impossible as long as there is fear."
"By His grace," Nouwen says, "anyone who believes in Jesus is put right with Him and has life more abundantly here and now." In a loving relationship with God there is no hell!
