On Good Friday, when Christians around the world remember the tortured death of Jesus on the cross and his sacrifice for humanity, Glenn Wagner ponders the significance of hell for our lives and our witness.

GLENN M. WAGNER
Michigan Conference Communications

If you need to imagine hell, pondering the death of Jesus by Roman crucifixion on a cross outside Jerusalem is a place to start.

I have not forgotten the sermon that introduced me to the subject of hell. The preacher in the pulpit, holding the word of God in one hand and passion in the other, convinced this impressionable, young mind that Jesus was coming again soon. He proclaimed that heaven and hell were in the balance, and of course, no one would choose to burn in hell by being asleep when Jesus returned.

I stayed awake the night after that sermon in fear of missing Jesus. I stared out my window until 3:00 am, confident I would be the one child in the neighborhood to welcome Jesus when he landed in our backyard in his heavenly glory, saving our family from eternal damnation. I finally fell into an uneasy sleep. Following my breakfast confession about the reason for my distress, I trusted my parents’ assurance that Jesus loves us all and will not condemn us for sleeping.

I have since learned that using fear of hell to motivate people into faith is a recurring theme in certain segments of Christianity. Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, authors of the Left Behind series, published 16 books of apocalyptic fiction inspired by the end-of-the-world and eternal judgment thoughts gleaned from the biblical book of Revelation. Their books have sold 80 million copies worldwide.

Other Christian leaders with a large audience have also made bold and faulty predictions about Jesus’ return and the day of his last judgment, sending sinners to hell. William Miller is still remembered for his prediction that Jesus would return on October 22, 1844. More recently, in The Late Great Planet Earth, Hal Lindsay made an equally erroneous prediction that Jesus was returning in 1988. Lindsay’s popular book has sold more than 35 million copies.

I have decided that living in perpetual fear of hell and stressing about the timing of Jesus’ second coming are not healthy ways for me to serve Jesus. However, I do admit that hell cannot be totally ignored.

Hell in Scripture

The Bible, including the apocryphal books that are a part of the Roman Catholic scriptures, contains multiple references to Satan, hell, Hades, Sheol, Gehenna, and other related terms.

In his parables of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) and the last judgment (Matthew 25:31-46), Jesus reminds us that how we care for the least among us is a matter of eternal consequence. Generosity and compassion for the poor and needy in our communities are important to Jesus and should also be for us.

We read in Matthew 3, where Jesus formally begins his ministry with his baptism by John the Baptist, followed by a public declaration by God that Jesus “is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (v. 17, NRSVUE). Jesus does not go on a national tour following this heavenly endorsement to celebrate his exalted status. Instead, Matthew notes that Jesus withdraws to the wilderness for forty days of fasting and confrontation with Satan. Jesus firmly rejects Satan’s temptation to give any allegiance to evil (Matthew 4:1-11).

The letter to the Hebrews warns believers about hell while encouraging them to remain faithful despite present difficulties: “How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?” (10:29).

Revelation, the last book of the Bible, contains dramatic images of hell. Revelation is attributed to Jesus’ apostle John, who wrote it as a circular letter to be sent and shared with seven Christian churches in Asia Minor. John wrote to offer encouragement, correction, and hope. John wrote Revelation during his exile on the island of Patmos, where he had been sent as a penalty for his opposition to the Roman emperor Domitian’s claims of divinity.

John’s visions of heaven and hell in Revelation suggest that Christians were being subjected to persecution and death for their faith. John does not hesitate to acknowledge that evil is real in this life or the next. But John affirms his belief in the eternal enthronement of Christ, the everlasting reward for faithfulness, and the ultimate establishment of heaven over hell.

Hell in Art and Literature

Hell is not only mentioned in the Bible. Famous artists and authors throughout history have left us with vivid works depicting how they interpret this concept.

One of the world’s great artists, Michelangelo, portrayed hell as part of his floor-to-ceiling painting behind the altar in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. When popes go into this chapel to pray, or cardinals gather here for the solemn task of electing the next leader for the world’s 1.36 billion Roman Catholics, this artistic reminder of the stakes of heaven and hell is the inescapable focal point for their spiritual reflection.

Inferno, the first section of Italian author Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, Divine Comedy, offers an unforgettable view of hell. It imaginatively describes hell as a descending sequence of circles with increasingly severe and unending punishment for history’s biggest sinners.

Written just before he died in 1321, Dante pictured the first circle of hell as limbo, a space where a traveler to hell would encounter persons who were unbaptized and virtuous pagans. Circle two was inhabited by sinners guilty of lust. Circle three was reserved for gluttons. Circle four housed the greedy. Circle five imprisoned those guilty of wrath. Circle six punished persons guilty of heresy. Circle seven was for sinners who committed violence against others. Circle eight was reserved for frauds. And the deepest and most severe circle of hell was for sinners engaged in treachery.

Dante imagined that among the residents of circle nine were Brutus and Cassius for their betrayal of Julius Caesar and Judas Iscariot for his betrayal of Jesus.

Dante’s vivid imagining of hell later inspired sculptor Auguste Rodin, best known for his work The Thinker, to create The Gates of Hell, now displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Hell in Historical Christian Thought

Disputes about hell have resulted in separations in Christianity and disagreements over theology.

A major schism known as the Protestant Reformation began when Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic monk, nailed his 95 theses to the church’s door in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517. Luther was publicly protesting against the Church’s practice of selling papal indulgences for the forgiveness of sins.

The Roman Catholic Church had been teaching that many believers who had died were not good enough yet for heaven and were living after death in purgatory between heaven and hell, where their eternal destiny was still in limbo. The Church sold indulgences so that living members could purchase passage for their departed loved ones from purgatory to better accommodations in heaven.

Luther rejected the idea of purgatory and was offended by this unbiblical fundraising scheme. His protest led to Luther’s eventual excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church and the genesis of the Lutheran Church and subsequent Protestant denominations.

Even Protestants have their disagreements over matters of heaven and hell. Followers of John Calvin have subscribed to Calvin’s idea that God alone chooses some people to live faithfully. These are the “elect,” and God consigns others to hell. This Calvinist idea of “election” helps believers to live with the painful reality that many in our world reject the gospel promise of eternal life in Christ and continue to live unfaithfully. Calvin’s view of election also preserves ultimate power over salvation and judgment in God’s hands alone.

John Wesley and Protestants who subscribe to his Methodist way of Christian discipleship have Arminian views of heaven and hell. Jacobus Arminius was a Dutch professor at Leiden University who emphasized God’s grace and our free will in the process of being saved. Arminians support the idea that God does not preordain a person’s eternal destiny. They veer away from the idea that some are elected by God to be saved while others have no chance of salvation. Arminians believe that God’s offer of salvation is open to all persons.

In his sermon “Of Hell,” John Wesley does not shy away from considering in detail what eternal punishment for sin described in scripture is like. Wesley argues that living in fear of hell, as taught by Jesus, is an excellent way of preserving us from it:

“And let it not be thought, that the consideration of these terrible truths is proper only for enormous sinners. How is this supposition consistent with what our Lord speaks to those who were then, doubtless, the holiest men upon earth? ‘When innumerable multitudes were gathered together, [Jesus] said to his disciples’ (the Apostles) ‘first of all, I say unto you, my friends, Fear not them that can kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I say unto you, Fear him, who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.’ (Luke 12:1-5) Yea, fear him under this very notion, — of having power to cast into hell: That is, in effect, fear lest he should cast you into the place of torment. And this very fear, even in the children of God, is one excellent means of preserving them from it.”

Wesley also advanced the concept of “prevenient grace” in his discussion of heaven and hell. He believed that God extends grace to others even before they believe in Christ. God’s grace enables people to act on their own free will to choose salvation from a life of sin and eternity in hell.

Christians have also disagreed about hell in formulating and reciting the Apostles’ Creed. The earliest recording of this important statement of Christian beliefs dates to AD 341 and does not refer to hell. Early scholars have attributed its formulation to the apostles before they left Jerusalem after Pentecost to share the gospel of Jesus with the world.

Some later versions of the creed include the line about Jesus descending into hell following his crucifixion, death, and burial. No one can dispute that death by crucifixion is a hellish way to die. Rufinius, an early commentator on the Apostles’ Creed, believed this disputed line referred to Jesus entering death. Others have suggested that Jesus entered the realm of those who died before he did to offer the lost another opportunity for redemption. A short and helpful video from Discipleship Ministries (click to watch) explains the role of this phrase, “he descended into hell,” in using the Apostles’ Creed in The United Methodist Church.

Hell in Contemporary Christian Thought

Christian leaders today continue to write about hell as a topic for our consideration.

C.S. Lewis’ classic satire on evil, The Screwtape Letters, is a collection of fictional correspondence in which Screwtape, an experienced devil, shares proven ideas for tempting humans with his nephew, Wormwood. Screwtape directs Wormwood to follow the path toward eternal damnation.

Author and former megachurch pastor Rob Bell published a popular book in 2011, Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. In it, Bell argues that God’s love is so great that God’s grace eventually saves every human being. His universalist view of God’s love has received traditionalist pushback.

Experiences of Hell in Our World

Hell is easy to imagine because there are ample reminders in this life that horrific evil exists.

Here are a few of the places where eyewitnesses have shared credible testimony about the reality of evil:

• • Take a virtual tour through Auschwitz in Poland or visit The Zekelman Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan. During World War II, the number of Jews and other minority groups that Nazis murdered, more than 10 million people, was equal to the population of Michigan.
  • Listen to the stories of parents whose children were murdered or injured in a mass shooting. Nearly 43,000 people died from gun violence in the United States in 2023. There have already been 86 reported and verified mass shooting events in the United States in 2024 as of March 28.
  • Listen to the pleas of Palestinians in Gaza or the testimony of hostages held by Hamas. Take time to learn the stories of some of the 1.5 million Palestinians living in refugee camps throughout the Middle East. Many of these camps were established in 1948 when Israel was founded by decree of the United Nations, and Palestinians were displaced from their homes by war.
  • If you want to learn about personal hell, listen to a person with a cocaine addiction speak about the journey through withdrawal.
  • According to national statistics, there are more than 20,000 calls a day placed to domestic violence hotlines in the United States, and more than 10 million Americans have experienced the living hell of domestic abuse.
  • Testimonials from cancer patients, battlefield survivors, and long-term prisoners also offer ample evidence of horrific experiences here on earth.

What Does Hell Mean for Me?

I admit that the fear of hell can serve a useful purpose for the human family. Like a label printed on the container of a deadly chemical, knowing about hell reminds the wise to trust the printed manufacturer’s warning. But truthfully, when I consider my witness for Christ, I am loath to give hell any more attention. There are many people today willingly engaged in advancing hell’s business. Hell gets plenty of free publicity without my help.

I prefer influencing people toward Jesus and faithful living through acts of love, hospitality, compassion, forgiveness, hope, and grace rather than guilting them into the kingdom by scaring them with hellfire. If you know that your life has been spared from certain death thanks to the sacrificial gift of another, do you need any other motivation to live afterward in gratitude? Isn’t it easier to live in such a way that you honor both the giver and the gift?

In the Bible, a blind man is healed, a tax collector is accepted, a hungry crowd is fed, a child is included, an adulterer is forgiven, and a servant is given dignity. These people needed no other reason than to believe in Jesus and devote their lives to living as his disciples. I love Jesus in thankfulness for his love for me. I know from real-life experience that serving God is good for me and others. I love Jesus, and because of the Bible’s message, I trust that God loves us, too.

Whenever and wherever we are tempted to follow an ungodly path, I hope we can have the resolve of Jesus, who taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13, KJV). May this prayer ever guide us like a map for a better direction here on earth and help us to sleep at night in reassuring hope for what comes next.

Last Updated on March 28, 2024