"hell Is In And Angels Are Out" Why?

[des]

Hi,

 

I brought this up in another discussion, and thought I would rephrase it here. See if there were any good comments:

I read recently that "hell was in" and "angels were out". I feel there is some truth to this and wonder why it is. Are these just generally gloomier times; is because of some works of fiction that sparked imagination (on the liberal side I see "The DaVinci Code" sparking other kinds of interests); did "Touched by an Angel" just finally seem to cloying? Is it increased popular support for the Religious Right? Was interest in angels really "Christian" interest? I feel at least some of the interest was "spiritual" and not strictly Christian. Certainly the angels in "Touched by an Angel" were not portrayed as being (necessarily) angels from a Christian tradition. Just some ideas.

 

BTW, in full disclosure :-), I don't believe that angels are any more literally true than hell, but they are at least nicer. :-)

 

Comments?

 

--des

[AletheiaRivers]

An online acquaintence mentioned to me not too long ago that "the Lord discusses Hell alot more than he discusses Heaven" and so it should be the worry of Hell that Christians focus on.

 

She's a Calvanist, which explains the Hell obsession.

 

Of course, according to Calvanism, we are all pre-ordained to go one place or the other, so why worry huh?

 

Angels are alive and well in some New Agey types of Christianity. (I don't mean that in a bad way. I just don't know how else to designate the group.)

 

I don't have a definite oppinion on angels. The Bible says they exist. Are they supposed to all be real? Are some of them metaphor? (Like the Cherubim in the garden.)

 

I admit, I love the image of the "gently influencing Angel" like is pictured in the movie City of Angels. But then, I'm a sucker for Nick Cage.

 

Aletheia

[blinky]

Hi, I'm new here and I've really enjoyed reading this message board. I had all but given up on Christianity as it has got way too rigid for me. (Also had a very unfortunate dose of fundamentalism at a Christian school as a young teen.) I just wanted to share a quote I heard sometime back (cant remember where it came from) but it seems to apply here. "Some people are so afraid of going to Hell when they die, they create a Hell on earth while they live."

I have fundie relatives that are the very embodiment of that quote.

[Cynthia]

Welcome blinky! CS Lewis wrote a book on that very topic - The Great Divorce. You might like it!

 

Or, there's the Gospel of Thomas - The kingdom of God is spread about the earth but men do not perceive it.

[BrotherRog]

Re: title of thread, ...

 

Because George Jr. is president? ; )

[Cynthia]

Did you see the link on another thread??? T-shirts and buttons with

 

M (upside down stylized W)

The Moron

 

F (not his actual initial)

The Mayor

 

is popular around here. Of course, that tempts lightening since he has been clear about leading by divine right.

[sterrettc]

An online acquaintence mentioned to me not too long ago that "the Lord discusses Hell alot more than he discusses Heaven" and so it should be the worry of Hell that Christians focus on. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I don't believe that your acquaintence was correct. A simple verse count indicates the other way around. The word "hell" occurs in 9 verses in Matthew, in 1 verse in in Mark, in 3 verses in Luke, and not at all in John. On the other hand, the word "heaven" occurs in 68 verses in Matthew, in 16 verses in Mark, in 29 verses in Luke, and in 16 verses in John. This is according to the King James Version at blueletterbible.org.

 

Some prominent progressive Christians of earlier generations would have told us that Jesus message was primarily about the Kingdom of God, and that we were to look for the Kingdom of God not only in the world to come but in this world as well. Walter Rauschenbusch's theology for the Social Gospel argued from this Kingdom of God theology in favor of social justice. C.H. Dodd argued that the apostles preached a realized eschatology, that the Kingdom has begun already, and that we are not to wait until the world to come.

[AletheiaRivers]

I don't believe that your acquaintence was correct.

 

Oh I totally agree with you. I was floored when she told me that, but I didn't want to get into it with her as we didn't and don't really know each other.

 

We met in a chatroom. She was a former pagan who had a conversion experience to Christianity. As I was still somewhat in the pagan camp at the time but was making my way back to Christianity, I thought she and I might have stuff in common.

 

I was WRONG!

 

At the time that she and I were chatting I was under the impression she was somewhat of a liberal Christian. I didn't know what her self described "hard-line Calvinism" meant when she said it in chat.

 

When we took our discussion to private IM'ing, she told me to pray the "sinners prayer" and to start reading the Bible with the book of John in mind (read it first). It was then I knew I had misjudged her theology.

 

It just goes to show however that "even" hard-liners can bring individuals to Christ. She was one of a few that chatted in that room who helped re-stir my love of Christianity. She'd probably tell me I'm going to hell if she and I were still in touch.