Dan Kimball has been doing a series called “Hot Theology” in the worship meetings for his church in Santa Cruz. Through a poll of the church body, difficult theological topics were targeted. Last week, Dan ventured into the difficult subject of hell.
Here’s a portion of what Dan had to say:
I stressed how we don’t want to focus on hell and punishment as something we dwell on, but at the same time we must not ever forget it. It seems easy for churches and Christians to forget or because it is uncomfortable not talk about it or teach on it. – Full Post
I confess not wanting to delve too deeply into the topic. For some time, my position has been that if someone asks me how to avoid hell or get to heaven, I would share about salvation in Christ… a salvation which has the goal of saving you now so you naturally go to heaven when you die. Not salvation as a means to avoid hellfire. At the same time, I would not answer questions about whether someone is going to hell or not. That is for God to know. Basically, if you ask me how to avoid hell, I’ll tell you a way I believe in 100%, saving faith in Christ Jesus. If you ask me if you’re going to hell or not, well, that’s not up to me.
I appreciate Dan taking this issue on and in a way which a lot of his peers may not agree. Though I do think there’s more conservative theology in the emerging church than currently believed by Evangelical critics, there are certainly a lot of varying views which seem to, if not completely in reality do, negate any concept of hell.
This post is definitely worth the time to read. It’s lengthy, but go through it any way. Dan Kimball on Hell
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