Erasing Hell

God has the right to do whatever He pleases. — Psalms 115:3

If we dig deep and find the caring, loving part God has placed within us, the angels cannot be restrained from actively being our associates. — Elaine Street

Anyone who knows God cannot describe him. Anyone who can describe God does not know him. — Paulo Coelho

Erasing Hell may not be brimming with hatred but is certainly lacking in grace.

Francis Chan plays the proof text game.

One can prove almost anything playing the proof text game.

Fancy engaging in a little genocide? There are Biblical texts you can quote. Slaughter all men, women and children. Spare not even the women and children.

The Lord´s Army in Uganda use biblical texts to justify their atrocities. As do suicide bombers, Islamist fundamentalists use The Koran.

Yes, God is all powerful. He could destroy the earth tomorrow in the blink of an eye, but could is not the same as would.

We have a loving God, a God who cares. Why would such a God condemn to an eternity in Hell for sins committed in a finite lifetime?

But Francis Chan commits to Hell, not for sins committed, but for not believing what he says we must believe.

We have not free will if we must believe what we are told to believe, and will be punished if we do not comply

Desmond Tutu addresses this very well in Tutu: A Portrait.

Does God say to the Dalia Lama, yes I recognise you are a Holy Man, but because you chose a different path, I will condemn you to an eternity in Hell?

At a St Joseph’s Day party at a medieval Venetian castle, Paulo Coelho told of dying at birth, of being strangled by his umbilical cord. His mother prayed. She promised she would mark St Joseph’s Day as thanks. She never kept her promise. God did not punish her. He recognised the frailties of human beings. Paulo Coelho now keeps his mother’s failed promise. He celebrates St Joseph’s Day with his friends, and has done so for the last 25 years.

In, I think, The Valkyries, an encounter with angels, Paulo Coelho speaks of the angel with a flaming sword guarding the entrance to heaven. The angel no longer guards the gate. The way is open to all. There are many paths. No one person has the right to say theirs is the right path. There are those bigots who have the arrogance to claim theirs is the one and only, the true path.

As Ron Bell says in Love Wins, not all would wish to enter heaven as they would have to change. Would the racist wish to sit with peopple of all races and colours? Would the bigot wish to sit with those of other faiths?

When asked, Master how do we enter heaven? Jesus gave as many different answers as those who asked.

In the Koran, we learn that to enter heaven is to recognise the one true God and to do good.

In The Shack we learn God is not a God of wrath.

Francis Chan is not though content to play the proof text game. He performs mental gymastics to claim words mean other than what they mean.

Erasing Hell is an evil book. It is like those odious people who stop you in the street and tell you if you do not believe what we believe you will suffer eternal damnation. They of course are always counted with the chosen few.

Cut the rope

Heaven ne’er helps the man who will not help himself. — Sophocles

We all need to think about how attached we are to our own ropes? Would we trust God and let go? — Priya Sher

As the night fell heavy in the heights of the mountains a climber got lost and could not see anything. All was black and there was zero visibility. The moon and the stars were covered by the clouds. He continued climbing disorientated, but only a few feet away from the top of the mountain, suddenly he slipped and fell into the air, falling at great speed. He could only see black spots as he went down, and the terrible sensation of being sucked by gravity.

He kept falling, and in the moments of great fear, it came to his mind all the good and bad episodes of his life. He was thinking now about how close death was getting, when all of a sudden he felt the rope tied to his waist pull him very hard. His body was hanging in the air.

Only the rope was holding him and in that moment of stillness he had no other choice but to scream: “Help me God.”

All of a sudden a deep voice coming from the sky answered, “What do you want me to do?” “Save me God.” And God replied “Do you really think I can save you?” “Of course I believe You can.”

“Then cut the rope tied to your waist.”

There was a moment of silence and the man decided to hold on to the rope with all his strength. The next morning the rescue team reported that a climber was found dead and frozen, his body hanging from a rope. His hands holding tight to it. Only one foot away from the ground.

Posted by Priya Sher on her blog.

- Faith Under Fire
- Love Wins

In the end, it is between you and God

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

– Mother Teresa

Beauty of Mathematics

This is quite clever, though what we are looking at is the beauty of numbers.

Many Greeks, such as Pythagoras, were fascinated by the mystical properties of numbers.

- Mysteries of Aleph

They’ve lost God!

Two naughty boys went to Church every Sunday.

They were always badly behaved, they would run around, shout, up-skittle chairs and generally make a nuisance of themselves.

One day one of the boys was too ill to go to church so one of the naughty boys went on his own.

As he was on his own, he decided he would have to be twice as naughty to make up for the absence of his friend. He wrought havoc in the church that Sunday.

The Rector had had enough. He grabbed the boy by the scruff and roared at him: Where is God!?

He let go of him, then told him to go home and give serious thought to where was God. He said he expected answers the following Sunday.

The boy got home and called his friend: They’ve lost God and they are trying to pin it on us.

As told by the Rector of St John’s in Washingborough at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

- Midnight Mass at St John’s

God is not a Christian

In Him was life and the life was the light of men - Lalo Gutierrez

lady of Villers-Carbonnel

God is not a Christian. – Desmond Tutu

If the triangles made a god, they would give him three sides. — Montesquieu

Quite a profound statement by Desmond Tutu: God is not a Christian.

Three religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, all recognise the same God. So what is God? A Jew, a Christian, a Muslim? All three, none of these?

For many Christians they are having problems getting their heads around Jesus was a Jew.

- To heaven with Scribes and Pharisees

At two thousand years old, Christianity is a relativity new religion. Far older, Judaism, Hinduism. Far older still, the spirits of the forest, of the trees, the wind.

A recent find in France is of a small figurine, typical of the Middle East, a Mother Earth figurine, large breasts, large hips. Thought to date from somewhere between 4300 and 3600 BC

- The earth mother of all neolithic discoveries
- Six-thousand-year-old earth mother statuette found on banks of the Somme is named ‘Lady of Villers-Carbonnel’

The Somme “earth mother” appears to have broken into five or six parts while she was being fired between 4300 and 3600 BC. She was found in the ruins of a neolithic kiln at a French government “preventive” archaeological dig near Villers-Carbonnel on the banks of the river Somme in the département of the same name.

After the Romans left, Christianity has a struggle regaining a foothold in what is now England. Paganism was the dominant religion. Eventually rather than trying to defeat it was assimilated, many Pagan Temples became churches or their scared sites became Holy Sites, the festivals were adopted.

- Christianity A History: Dark Ages

We cannot know God, we make guesses in the dark.

A man lives in a cave. All he sees is the shadows. One day he comes out. Who are these people? He does not recognise them for all he has seen are their shadows.

We are arrogant when we think our religion is superior to another.

Religion is man made, an attempt to know the unknowable.

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

The light was not brought to Christians, it shone on men.

Or as made more explicit in other translations

New Living Translation: The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.

International Standard Version: In him was life, and that life brought light to humanity.

GOD’S WORD Translation: He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity.

Good News Bible: The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to mankind.

The light was not reserved exclusively for Christians, it was for everyone.

In the Koran is recognised that there are many religions and they are to be treated with respect, especially those who are the descendants of Abraham.

The Jewish sect established by the followers of Jesus was just that, a Jewish sect, but it was not exclusively Jewish, it welcomed Gentiles.

Rich poor, black white, gay straight, male female, war criminal genocide victim, we are all members of the human race, part of humanity, there are no outsiders. All are God’s children.

What I do effects those around me, what they do effects me. As individuals we are networked to form families, communities, society. In turn these networks sustain us and provide the environment in which we grow.

No one religion has absolute truth, though they may think they do. They may even claim what they say is superior to others. They may even tell you that you will go to Hell if you do not accept what they tell you. They of course always being by their own definition of the Chosen Few.

God, or G-d as some would write out of respect, is no more Christian than he is the old man sitting on a cloud answering prayers like a friendly old grandfather handing out sweets to the children.

An infinite entity cannot be known by a finite mind any more than by a finite man-made religion.

Those who try to tell us otherwise are at best misguided, at worse bigots and fundamentalists.

Sacred text were not set in stone, they were written by man, rewritten by man.

Most people recognise the Dalai Lama as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi led what could be seen as a moral enlightenment, he influenced Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela. He was also a Hindu.

Rob Bell writes of an art exhibition where someone posts a note that Gandhi in Hell. Are they sure? How do they know? How kind of them to tell us.

There are those who see it as some sort of failing that Dalai Lama has not converted to Christianity.

Does God, the Christian God, have a conversation and say, sorry guys, I know you have done a lot of good in the world, but not quite good enough, you are not Christian, you belong to the wrong club, so you have to be sent to the fires of Hell for all eternity?

Complete and utter nonsense, but that is what Christian fundamentalists, bigots by any other name, would have us believe.

- Tutu: The Authorised Portrait
- The shack
- Love Wins
- Crass stupidity by Christian fundamentalists leads to persecution and massacre of Christians in the Middle East
- What is wrong with the church?
- God is
- Where does religion come from?

Oneness of Humanity and the Unity of Religion

candles one lit by each speaker

Encourage knowledge understanding of and between faiths.

For many it would be a beginning to understand their own faith.

In the corner a table with various bits of literature.

Several speakers from different faiths. Talk about their faith, light a candle, play some music.

The Hindu religion is a very ancient religion. When India was strong spiritually, it was also strong culturally. The study of science encouraged.

The Old Testament is the Jewish Torah, it is a book of drama, for example the story of Joseph and his exile in Egypt. It is the Jewish tradition to chant these stories.

For Buddhists, we all have a common faith. It is better to live a single day in honour, than a hundred years in disgrace. Treasure in the body is more important than treasure in the storehouse, and most important of all is the treasure in our heart. If you lack faith it is like trying to light wet tinder. It is important to understand ourselves to help ourselves and others. Enlightenment.

There is no such thing as a typical Christian. Having faith helps to understand life, without faith life has no meaning. A Divine presence is in all Creation. God. The Psalms were written 3,500 years ago but still have relevance and meaning today. Psalm 139, the Lord is always near, you look into my heart and know everything.

No one from Islamic faith.

A Sikh is a seeker of truth. Only one God, who is in everything, who was there before and will be there after. God is unique, cannot be described.

Bahia, the son of the founder toured UK a century ago.

The meeting organised by Guildford and Godalming Interfaith Forum and hosted by St Nicolas Church marked the start of Inter Faith Week. It was opened by the Mayor of Guildford and closed by the Deputy Mayor of Godalming.

I had my hand up to ask a question, but was ignored. I wanted to ask had anyone been to St Paul’s in-the-Camp? If not, then please go, as you would find many faiths working together. When St Paul’s was closed, Flash Evensong performed evensong on the steps, Quakers have been holding services on the steps on Sunday afternoons, during Sermon on the Steps, two days after St Paul’s re-opened their doors, many from many different faiths spoke.

- Flash Evensong at St Paul’s-in-the-Camp
- Sermon on the Steps at St Paul’s in-the-Camp
- Evensong at St Paul’s
- Tom Hodgkinson: ‘Fundamentally this is a Christian protest’
- Fundamentally Christian?

If you have not been to St Paul’s in-the-Camp, then please pay a visit. You will be rewarded and enriched.

Were I to choose a piece of music, I would choose The Sixteen performing the Lamentations of Job composed by Victoria set to visuals from inside St James Cathedral.

- St James Cathedral – Victoria – The Sixteen

A special plea: Would St Nicolas please exercise better management of their notice board. Yes, this meeting was displayed on their notice board (which makes a pleasant change) but on the day had been taken down. As had notice of an interfaith meeting at Holy Trinity for the following day.

Top story ARISE and AWAKE! Daily (Monday 21 November 2011)!

Forthcoming:

To Heaven Hell with a Scribe and a Pharisee: A priest and a rabbi take a look at the Jewish religion at the time of Jesus. Trinity Centre, top of High Street next to Holy Trinity Church, Guildford. 7pm Monday 22 November 2011

Keystone Spirit with Eden People at Keystone Pub. 8pm Tuesday 29 November 2011

Art @ Costa. Swan Lane, Guildford. 7-30pm Tuesday 6 December 2011

Keystone Spirit with Eden People at Keystone Pub. 8pm Tuesday 13 December 2011

Finding God in the Shack

Finding God in the Shack

Finding God in the Shack is a rehash of The Shack with errors.

It starts off with a synopsis of The Shack, only problem is it is riddled with errors. Not a good start.

At this point I will reiterate the advice given in Finding God in the Shack, read The Shack first, if you have done so, then please continue.

Finding God in the Shack is essentially a reader for The Shack, it looks at the theology of The Shack and asks did William Young get it right. And there is a lot of theology in The Shack!

The Shack, is not, as Roger E Olson wrongly states, a book about the Great Sadness, though it is in part. It is a philosophical discussion of the nature of God, Mack’s relationship with God and the need to forgive.

The Great Sadness is a burden Mack has to bear. His daughter goes missing, believed killed by a serial child killer, her body is never found. Mack blames himself, he blames God.

The One Big Question: why is there suffering in the world? Why does an all powerful, infinitely good God allow suffering? Maybe God is not good, maybe he is not all powerful, in which case who is more powerful, maybe he simply does not exist?

We have free will. Evil is the absence of Good, in the same way Dark is the absence of Light. We can handle Evil in theory, but how in practice when it brushes against us? How do we handle the brutal death of a child?

There are those who will say it was God’s will. Really!

When a child plummets to their death, was it God’s will? Did God give a little nudge, because God delighted in seeing the child’s head split open when the child hits the ground?

Maybe God does sometimes intervene. How often do we hear it said it was a miracle that so and so survived? But mainly God does not intervene.

Were God to always intervene, we would have the Law of Unintended Consequences, the Laws of Physics would not work. We cannot have it all ways.

Roger E Olson warns of using proof texts to prove a point, the Bible speaks with many voices, often contradictory voices, and yet he is too often guilty as charged, worse still, he then gives contrary examples that contradict the point he has made.

Roger E Olson says if you do not go to church then you are not a Christian. He then gives examples of bad churches that he himself has left!

I would turn this on its head and say there are many who go to church who are not Christians. Simply going through the motions every Sunday does not make you a Christian.

This is to ignore Holy Men who lived a life of solitude.

Paulo Coelho tells a story, or more likely retells a story. A priest goes to visit a man who does not attend church. The two sit in silence before a fire. The priest removes an ember and puts in the hearth. It goes dull and cold. He then puts it back in the fire and leaves. Point made.

Some need community others do not.

Is Christianity all happiness and light? There are are many examples of Christians who have had doubts, who have suffered depression. Dostoevsky, Tolstoy for example.

Paulo Coelho had doubts. He went on a spiritual journey which he recounts in Aleph.

Jesus warned that those who followed him were not embarking on an easy journey.

Roger E Olson confuses feeling depressed with depression.

Roger E Olson does not like the ending of The Shack and arrogantly constructs his own. He does not believe that after what happened to Mack he can rebuild his life. Why not? He had long conversations with God. He saw that his daughter Missy was happy where she was, that she did not blame him for what had happened, that she had forgiven her killer. Yes, he will feel sad, as he will miss her.

There are many well documented cases of people forgiving acts of depravity. One only has to look at the Truth and Reconciliation hearings in South Africa.

If you cannot forgive, let go, it consumes. If we all exacted an eye for an eye, we would as Gandhi once said, be living in a world of blind men.

Love Wins

Love Wins - Rob Bell

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. – 1 John 4:8

If you judge people, you have no time to love them. — Mother Teresa

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels … and though I have the gift of prophecy … and have all the faith so that I could remove mountains … and have not love, I am nothing. — Saint Paul

Pictures at an Exhibition.
A quote from Ghandi.
A note is pinned.
Ghandi is in hell.
Who says?
How do you know?
Are you sure?

If Ghandi is in hell, what hope is there for the rest of us?

If darkness is the absence of light, then evil is the lack of good.

Good cop v bad cop. God the bad cop, Jesus the good cop.

What is good, what is evil? Why are some thrown into hell, not others?

We sit in judgement on others. How do we decide what is right, what is wrong?

Why would a loving God wish to throw us into hell, see us suffer?

Those who wish to see us cast into hell, always seem to belong to the group who will be saved.

Jan Hus, a Czech religious reformer, was burnt at the stake in 1415 for heresy for offering the chalice of of communion to the laity as well as the clergy. Even today there are those who can and those who cannot accept Holy Communion.

In the Witch of Portobello, Athena is denied Holy Communion when it is learnt she is divorced. She curses the church. Jesus is portrayed outside looking in saying even He would not be welcome there.

During His life Jesus welcomed all. At the Last Supper, he offered the wine as His blood, the bread as His body.

The popular misconception of heaven is as an otherwordly place some place else where people wander around aimlessly looking lost. St Peter is a bouncer at the gate ensuring only those on a higly selective guest list gain access.

The one word to describe this heaven would be boredom. For many it would be hell.

In the Gospel of Thomas Jesus explicitly said where heaven was. It was not some place else. It was all around and within us. Seek and ye shall find.

Christians mumble some half undestood litergy. Sing His praises, but everyone else can go hang.

Do we do good to gain that much valued ticket into heaven, or should we do good because it is the right thing to do?

The Koran recognises and preaches tolerance of other religions. Those who believed in the one God and did good had a special place, theirs was the path to salvation.

Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in the last Day and does good, they shall have their reward from the Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.

What do I have to do to do good for eternal life, who is my neighbour? These were put to Jesus. He answered with the story of the Good Samaritan.

Dalai Lama:

I am convinced that human nature is basically affectionate and good. If our behavior follows our kind and loving nature, immense benefits will result, not only for ourselves, but also for the society to which we belong. I generally refer to this sort of love and affection as a universal religion. Everyone needs it, believers as much as non-believers. This attitude constitutes the very basis of morality.

To understand the life of Jesus and what he said, we have have to understand the first century context, the Roman-Greek-Jewish culture.

Many prophets spoke of heaven. It was not someplace else but the earth in another age, an age to come.

If our behaviour is bad now, greed, failure to care for the environment, why should it be any better in heaven? Why therefore should we be granted access to heaven?

It is what we do now, we bring heaven into our era.

Our role is as custodians of Gaia, partners with God.

The Greek word aion has two meaning. Another era or age but also a different state. Heaven was also used to mean God. There are some who even today, for example Canon Andrew White, who out of respect and awe, use G-d not God.

If our popular misconception of heaven is wrong, what of hell? Is it not a pit of burning flames and nashing of teeth into which we will be cast?

Would a loving God cast us into hell to to be tortured for all eternity for wrongs in a finite life? Worse still, because we do not believe that which fundamentalists say we must believe?

Do we not have free will? Are we not free to choose? If yes, then we have to be free to choose what we believe.

When Jesus spoke of hell he was talking of a valley outside Jerusalem where the rubbish was dumped. Fires burnt day and night to consume the rubbish, wild animals fought over the scraps of food.

Man is more than capable of creating his own man-made hell.

The trenches of World War One.
The Soviet Gulags.
Nazi death camps.
Pol Pot killing fields in Cambodia.

Hell is when we love someone, we think they love us, then they go out of their way to destroy us.

The eyes are a window into the soul. Look into the eyes of a heroin addict to get a glimpse of hell.

A paradox: Those who work hard to eliminate hell on earth seem less concerned about a mythical hell in a mythical afterlife. Those who worry about hell in the afterlife turn a blind eye to the hell here on earth.

Fundamentalists use hell to generate fear, a crude control mechanism. If anyone is to be cast in hell, they must surely be first in line.

Jews asks questions, Christians seek answers. Jesus answered questions with a question. That is the style of Rob Bell.

There are those who do not go into church for fear a thunderbolt will strike. There are those who think themselves superior to those weaklings who need a crutch. There are those who just feel uncomfortable.

Rob Bell sheds a much needed spotlight on the perversion of scripture, the damage to people’s lives by Christian fundamentalists.

Controversial? No.

Unpopular with Christian fundamentalists? Yes.

Whilst reading Love Wins, passages from The Shack kept coming to mind. Love Wins is the ideal companion to The Shack, but read The Shack first.

Aleph is a good follow on to Love Wins.

Francis Chan has written ‎Erasing Hell as a counter to Love Wins. It begs the question why?

Christians are hypocrites. They are quick to tell Muslims to put their house in order, to deal with Muslim extremists, then turn a blind eye to their own extremists and the damage they do.

Christian funadamentalits are not envoys for Christianity, on the contrary they cause a lot of harm and give Christianity a bad name.

Meddling by Christian fundamentalists in Iraq has led directly to the slaughter of Christians.

Love Wins is a breath of fresh air, Rob Bell shines a light onto the activities of Christian fundamentalists, their perversion of Scripture, the spreading of poison, the destruction of lives.

Some of the most unpleasant people I have met have been Christian fundamentalists, rude, intolerant, ignorant, lacking in grace.

- What is it with evangelical Christians?
- Why are evangalists such a pain in the arse?
- A lack of grace

I was in the courtyard of New Mosque in the old city of Istanbul. I had an interesting discussion with three young Muslim women on whether or not the Koran demands the wearing of a headscarf. The discussion was held without rancour, in good humour. I cannot imagine a similar discussion with Christian fundamentalists.

Jesus was offered an easy route when he encountered the Devil in the desert. He declined. His disciples asked that he used his powers to gain believers. He said no.

Dostoevsky tells a story, retold by Philip Yancey and Paulo Coelho, of Jesus visiting Spain during the Inquisition. Jesus is recognised and thrown into prison. He is told he will have to be executed as he cannot be allowed to undo the good work of the Church, that he should have accepted the offer from the Devil. [see The Grand Inquisitor

Paulo Coelho in Aleph has a chilling account of the Inquisition. People were tortured to confess their sins, thrown on a fire so that flames could cleanse their unclean souls.

You cannot force people to believe. They will not believe in their souls.

Rob Bell welcomes debate and discussion. A Christian bookshop invited discussion, then censored the discussion.

Muslim fundamentalists are not brainwashed by evil clerics, they are self brainwashed. They read a book or watch a video from a Muslim bookshop, or hear something in the mosque. This changes their worldview. This worldview then filters what they see, reinforces itself. before we know it, they are on their way to a training camp in Pakistan.

It follows, Christian bookshops need to be very careful what they are promoting, that they are not on a slippery slope to hell.

We saw in Norway what happens when Christian fundamentalists have access to weapons. Slaughter of the innocents follows.

Intolerance is not a pleasant characteristic, on the other hand there are things we should not tolerate. The sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and the cover-up by the Church. The rape and pillage of the planet. The lack of clean water. Torture.

Synchronicity: I had almost finished reading Love Wins when I read The Redeemer. Much of Love Wins can be found in The Redeemer.

- The Shack
- Aleph

God’s last word

Do you think think all of God can be put into a few pages in one book? Do you think that when that book was finished, He had no more inspiration for His children? Do you think you have come to the end of His power when you have turned the last page of your Bible? — Silver Birch

- King James Bible