The Disappearance of Hell In Church Sermons

In many churches we still hear the flaming echo of conservative "fire and damnation" preachers thundering from the pulpit. Pounding his fist on the podium, sweat glistening on his forehead, a Baptist minister warns the congregation of their impending doom.

But more and more, we hear a quieter side.

There is another school of thought; one that does not prominently make the news, which takes an inward look at salvation and damnation.

New Thought, the heading title of Religious Science, Unity, Divine Science and other smaller branches, recently published the widely acclaimed book and movie "The Secret". This metaphysical self-help program has gotten New Thought back in the news.

Believing in a heaven and hell is a time-old debate, from the first Christian council to conversation today. What it all comes down to is whether individuals perceive the Bible as the "perfect, unerring word of God" or not. New Thought considers that the Bible was written a very long time ago, when people were stoned to death and slavery was accepted. Women had no rights, and a family lineage and sex life decided the status roles. Though American society has moved beyond that, there are many countries who are still stuck in this situation.

The accepted, canonized Bible is not a 'book' or 'word', it's a collection of books written by many different people over a very long period of time. Each of these people had a different idea of who and what God was. It may be helpful to think of the biblical books as a progressive story of a tribal persons' search for God.

Many fundamentalist Christians also need to be reminded that the Bible they are familiar with was canonized and complied by the Catholic Church, whom they often have bitter disagreements with. The Church was tasked with reading and studying many holy and possibly holy scripts, accounts and gospels and tried to determine which were "holy enough" to be included in the canonized Bible. The ones that didn't pass examination were regarded as irrelevant. Some of these 'irrelevant' books may have been written by women, which presented a problem to the Church. "The Other Bible" is a recognized collection of books that didn't quite 'make it'.

It's also important to remember that the English language wasn't invented when the biblical books were first transcribed. Being written in Hebrew, Aramaic and probably Latin and Greek they had to be translated. The site http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/ shows the creation of the Bible in the English language. With any translation from one language to another, words are lost and gained because there are not always exact equivalents of the meaning and inflection of words from one language to the next.

After observing these facts, it can be agreed that the Bible (and Jesus) does talk about hell. How much of this was conveniently inserted by the Church, no one knows now and probably never will. Supposing the exact biblical words came straight from the mouth of Jesus, a great teacher, it must also be considered that he spoke metaphorically. Jesus taught in parables, and rarely said anything straight-forward to the masses. "This is the reason I speak to them in figures, because they see and yet cannot perceive; and they hear and yet do not listen, nor do they understand." -Matthew 13:13. After all, if one has never heard "Wailing and gnashing of teeth", all he has to do is venture down Wall Street.

New Thought reasons that it is very possible Jesus was speaking of hell in terms of the state of mind, not a place. By saving men from hell, they say, he taught how to control the mind and act with love and equality- not with corrupt church leaders, such as the Pharisees of his time.

It's also reasoned that Jesus willingly died to fulfill the tribal prophecy that the one who would 'save them' would also rise from the dead. Dying on a cross and being humiliated was not something Jesus wanted. He prayed that "If it is possible this cup pass from me, please let it. Otherwise, thy will be done". The Truth teachings tell his death had nothing to do with salvation from a hell, but fulfilling a prophecy.

According to Gallup polls in 2007, 69% of Americans believe in hell. 22% do not, and the rest are not sure.

It is said that hell is 'in the Earth'. New Thought believes it is in the minds of the people who make it real. The familiar parable below demonstrates this.

The old monk sat by the side of the road. With his eyes closed, his legs crossed and his
hands folded in his lap, he sat in deep meditation.

Suddenly his zazen was interrupted by the harsh and demanding voice of a samurai
warrior. "Old man! Teach me about heaven and hell!"

At first, as though he had not heard, there was no perceptible response from the monk.
But gradually he began to open his eyes, the faintest hint of a smile playing around the
corners of his mouth as the samurai stood there, waiting impatiently, growing more and
more agitated with each passing second.

"You wish to know the secrets of heaven and hell?" replied the monk at last. "You who
are so unkempt. You whose hands and feet are covered with dirt. You whose hair is
uncombed, whose breath is foul, whose sword is all rusty and neglected. You who are
ugly and whose mother dresses you badly. You would ask me of heaven and hell?"

The samurai uttered a vile curse. He drew his sword and raised it high above his head.
His face turned to crimson and the veins on his neck stood out in bold relief as he
prepared to sever the monk's head from its shoulders.

"That, is hell," said the old monk gently, just as the sword began its descent.

In that fraction of a second, the samurai was overcome with amazement, awe,
compassion and love for this gentle being who had dared to risk his very life to give him
such a teaching. He stopped his sword in mid-flight and his eyes filled with grateful tears.

"And that," said the monk, "is heaven."

Will the belief in a physical hell last? Time will tell. In the meantime, more and more individuals find solace in the quiet of their daily meditation, and with a slight smile, say "And this is heaven."