Where would modern day Christianity be without hell?

[grasping the after wind]

I doubt there is unqualified good news. Good news for one is bad for another.

What a sad way to look at things. I think that the Good News is unqualified Good News and find nothing in it bad for anyone unless they insist on making it so. God offers everyone Good News and only by rejecting Him and His offer can one make it bad news.

 

[PilgrimToChrist]

I'm wondering where modern day Christianity would be without its belief in hell? Would it even still exist? Why or why not? What do you think?

Modern day Christianity tends to often almost 'scare' people into having faith (or some semblance of faith) so I'm curious what would become of Christianity without such a belief? Could Christianity even survive without the belief in hell?

The heart of the gospel, as told by many Christian movements, is that hell is real, you're going there unless you accept Christ as Savior and that is your ticket to escape God's wrath, right?

So, what are your thoughts?

Where would Christianity be without hell???

Without hell, there would be no Christianity because there would be no reason for Christ.

Christ came to save us from hell and bring us to Himself by offering Himself as a Sacrifice for sin upon the Altar of the Cross. Without hell, there would be no purpose to all of this and Adam and Eve would still be sitting pretty in the Garden. Because that is not the fact, we know that sin does indeed exist in the world -- we see every day -- and thus we know that hell exists and that people, most people, are headed there.

Christ came to save us from that fate, from the necessary effects of our own bad choices in life. So thus if we weren't headed to hell, why would Christ have come?

Thus if Christianity is about controlling the population, convincing people to be good and obedient to the ruling powers in any way possible, or a social gathering of a subculture, it doesn't matter whether or not hell exists -- one tactic or the other will work ("good cop, bad cop"). But if Christianity is about Jesus Christ, the God who died in order to conquer Hell and rescue His beloved creation from the clutches of evil demons and bring them to Heaven to worship Him in Majesty for all eternity, then yes, it does matter. The former is sadly more popular today but the latter is the true reality.


(Some theologians have speculated that if Adam and Eve had never sinned, Christ would have still Incarnated in order to bring them to heaven. That is beside my point since we see that sin does exist and that the Cross does exist.)

 

[ebia]

Without hell, there would be no Christianity because there would be no reason for Christ.

Whether there is a "hell" or not, there is plenty wrong with this world that Christ needed to put right. Indeed, the Jewish expectation was never that a Messiah would "come so we don't have to go to hell", but that a Messiah would come "to sort out the mess we are in here and now".

 

[hedrick]

I've only once heard a sermon that was trying to scare anyone, or threaten anyone with hell, and that was 40 years ago in a church I was visiting. However there's a more subtle version of this question. What is the Gospel? Most people seem to say that the Gospel is that Christ died for our sins. There is at least implicitly the idea that without his death, we'd be in trouble. If Christ saves us, from what does he save us? It's possible to say simply that he saves us from ourselves and omit any mention of possible punishment, but I think for most people the possibility of hell is at least lurking in the background. Am I wrong?

 

[Kaitlin08]

What a sad way to look at things. I think that the Good News is unqualified Good News and find nothing in it bad for anyone unless they insist on making it so. God offers everyone Good News and only by rejecting Him and His offer can one make it bad news.

It's a sad world, where the meaning of a thing always differs from person to person.

 

[Mike4J]

What Christian movements? I have to confess, in my entire life I've never heard a single sermon like this or heard anyone ever say something like this.

I myself have heard many sermons say that without Jesus the Savior hell is our destination. And i must agree with them because the bible seems to say the same thing.

 

[grasping the after wind]

I myself have heard many sermons say that without Jesus the Savior hell is our destination. And i must agree with them because the bible seems to say the same thing.

Yes, and since we are not without Jesus we really don't need to dwell on hell do we?

 

[40creek]

I'm not sure what would happen to those who reject Christ if there is no hell. Maybe they would just die. Actually, I like the just die idea. I am the only Christian in my family and the thought of my family going to hell scares me silly. Maybe just put them on another planet. That would work. Kind of like those island prison colonies of old.
Alas, we can wonder what ifs but the reallity is God made a system for man to follow and therefore that system is perfect whether we agree or not. Anything else would not be perfect and thus likely to fail. Trust God.

 

[Mike4J]

Yes, and since we are not without Jesus we really don't need to dwell on hell do we?

The more that hell is preached the less people there are that go there. The more fire and brimstone preaching the better. The message of salvation and forgiveness of sins should always accompany this hell preaching. God should not be made out to be a God of Hell but one who saves from hell, hell needs to be preached in order for this to happen though

 

[sunlover1]

I totally agree.

But where would Christianity itself be, if there was no belief or teaching of hell?

Would people still follow and love God, even without threat of eternal damnation?

It's the 'goodness' of God that leads a man to repentance,

Hell was created for the devil iirc.

 

[Yab Yum]

Where would Christianity be without hell?

Royale with Cheese baby.

 

[Mike4J]

It's the 'goodness' of God that leads a man to repentance,

Hell was created for the devil iirc.

Hell was created for the devil, his fellow fallen angels and his children. If we are not a child of God we are a child of satan. Its the goodness of God that warns us about hell and leads us to Jesus Christ who saves us from it. I don't think hell will be empty. We must make every effort to ensure that we are a child of God.

 

[sunlover1]

Where would Christianity be without hell?

Royale with Cheese baby.

Way over my head.
What is royale with cheese?
(DOn't want to miss out on anything yummy lol)

Hell was created for the devil, his fellow fallen angels and his children. If we are not a child of God we are a child of satan. Its the goodness of God that warns us about hell and leads us to Jesus Christ who saves us from it. I don't think hell will be empty. We must make every effort to ensure that we are a child of God.

Where does it say "and his children"?
God didn't 'create' Hell for man.
That doesnt mean that man wont find his way to Hell.
Jesus preached a Hell.

 

[Mike4J]

Way over my head.
What is royale with cheese?
(DOn't want to miss out on anything yummy lol)


Where does it say "and his children"?
God didn't 'create' Hell for man.
That doesnt mean that man wont find his way to Hell.
Jesus preached a Hell.

That's what i said.

 

[sunlover1]

That's what i said.

well why are we saying what each other already said?!

Next time I'll just say " What he said"

 

[sunlover1]

That's what i said.

Except you added the "and his children" part.
I just went back and checked.

 

[Yab Yum]

Way over my head.
What is royale with cheese?
(DOn't want to miss out on anything yummy lol)


Where does it say "and his children"?
God didn't 'create' Hell for man.
That doesnt mean that man wont find his way to Hell.
Jesus preached a Hell.

From Pulp Fiction. Royale w Cheese is a Big Mac in France. They do things differently over there. But it just ain't the same. Carry on.

 

[Mike4J]

I found child of satan.

John 8:44, Acts 13:10, Matthew 23:15, 1 John 3:10

 

[grasping the after wind]

The more that hell is preached the less people there are that go there. The more fire and brimstone preaching the better. The message of salvation and forgiveness of sins should always accompany this hell preaching. God should not be made out to be a God of Hell but one who saves from hell, hell needs to be preached in order for this to happen though

I don't agree at all. You assume a correlation between preaching about hell and less people going there. I don't see how you could prove that statement. I know of no one that has abandoned their faith for lack of hearing hellfire preaching but many that have turned away from God because that was all they heard. Focusing on punishment makes it very difficult to see God as a loving Father but very easy to see Him instead as some galactic warden more concerned with rules and regulations.The main message needs to be of salvation and forgiveness and God's love which needs to be accompanied by a knowledge of what one is saved from. The Good Shepard doesn't have to threaten his sheep to get them to follow Him. They know the sound of His voice and come when He calls.

 

[Mike4J]

I don't agree at all. You assume a correlation between preaching about hell and less people going there. I don't see how you could prove that statement. I know of no one that has abandoned their faith for lack of hearing hellfire preaching but many that have turned away from God because that was all they heard. Focusing on punishment makes it very difficult to see God as a loving Father but very easy to see Him instead as some galactic warden more concerned with rules and regulations.The main message needs to be of salvation and forgiveness and God's love which needs to be accompanied by a knowledge of what one is saved from. The Good Shepard doesn't have to threaten his sheep to get them to follow Him. They know the sound of His voice and come when He calls.

Thats not what i said.

You say that the main message should be salvation and forgiveness and the knowledge of what one is saved from?

What is hell if not that which we are saved from? How can i know i need forgiveness and saved from something if i don't know about hell?

What i said was the more hell preaching the better and that the message of salvation and forgiveness of sins should always accompany the fire and brimstone preaching which would then be preached together and as much as possible.

Your own words actually seem to agree with mine, I'm not sure what the problem is.




Concerning Hell and the preaching of it, i think it must be good to put the fear of Gods wrath into people because the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him. 2 Co 7:15

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Pr 9:10