Some Musings on This Day

I just want to share a few thoughts today with you about God and our connection with God.

I grew up in a Christian family that went to church regularly. While we never really talked about being cut off from God and never really mentioned going to hell, I got this message from other sources. But the idea of hell never really made sense to me.

I was told that God is omnipresent. This is just a big word that means that God is present everywhere. So that means that if hell exists as a place, then God is also there. And if this is so, then how bad of a place could it possibly be?

Also I read in the Bible that God’s mercy and loving kindness never failed. How could this be true if even one person was outside the protection of God’s love and mercy? Mercy that would erase any offense!

God’s love is also said to be unconditional. That means that God still loves you whether or not you meet the conditions because there are no conditions. No “I love you because you love me” or “I love you because you do everything I want” or “I love you because you play the game by the rules I set up.” 

And another thing that always bothered me about hell was that people in countries where Christian missionaries (of the correct persuasion, whatever that is) had not visited, were condemned to hell out of no fault of their own. It always seemed to me that the Christians who did not do their job of evangelizing should be the ones punished as they had the light and a commission to do which they failed to fulfill.

The idea of hell and how anyone could be cut off from love, which is unconditional is just unimaginable to me. 

A god that acts like this is just a bigger version of us, god made in our image and likeness. And a God like this is not one I want to love or offer my allegiance to.

4 comments

  • Carla Hay Perdue

    Good article David. I believe that God is pure loving energy. Each and every one of us have a connection. He provides us wisdom, insight stimulates our creativity and helps us survive. We also have personal thought 24/7. We can drown out the quiet violin of God with our 76 trombones of personal thought or we can recognize that we created the personal thought and let bad thoughts pass or not. Free will.. If there is a hell I believe that it is because we flat out reject God and his love.

  • Kaye

    You bring up a good point, David. If there’s a hell, wouldn’t God be there, too, if God is omnipotent? I just had not ever considered that, but you are correct. It makes sense. Having said that, scripture adds that nothing can separate from the love of God. I never put a lot of stock in hell.

  • Lorie McCloud

    I grew up in a similar situation. critical thinking was only allowed up to a certain point. we never talked about hell either but the tacit message was that since Jesus died for our sins the least we could do is be obedient.

    and then I started seeing the differences between the Old Testament God and the New Testament God. it’s impossible to reconcile them. I know few people who even try.

  • Juanita

    The church we grew up in seems benign by some standards, doesn’t it? I was raised in the Church of Christ; pretty fundamental, as you well know. We didn’t talk about hell much, either, though its existance was certainly implied. More likely, we were told about heaven, and that we needed to take action to ensure we got there. No hellfire and brimstone. No sinners at the mercy of an angry God. We were told that whatever we had done, forgiveness was ours for the asking. So yeah, benign and non-threatening, as you have described. Your example of some aboriginal tribe that had never been taught about Christianity brought back a memory. Growing up, I had an uncle who was solid in his Church of Christ fervor. His sensitive daughter asked him, if a baby is born, but dies before it can be saved, what happens to its soul? Uncle told his tearful little girl that yes, that child would go to hell! Boy, was my mother ever pissed! Same kind of conundrum.

    David, you know me well enough to know that I am decidedly agnostic. I truly don’t subscribe, but I respect the sincerity of those who do. I always appreciate reading your thoughts, and those expressed here seem rational, fair, and hopeful. And what does faith accomplish if not to provide hope? . I would not presume to improve on your essay.

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