J
Johann
Guest
Our society is now using the word "Hell" so frequently and flippantly that the majority of people (even believers) have in effect become "desensitized" to the true meaning of the word as used in the Bible!
The subterfuge of Satan surely has some part in this "cover up!" This reminds me of Screwtape's advice to his protege "Keep everything hazy in his mind now (in context this refers primarily to the church), and you will have all eternity wherein to amuse yourself by producing in him the peculiar kind of clarity which Hell affords.Keep everything hazy in his mind now, and you will have all eternity wherein to amuse yourself by producing in him the peculiar kind of clarity which Hell affords." Uncle Screwtape in letter 12 to Wormwood adds "Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts, Your affectionate uncle Screwtape ."
Uncle Screwtape goes on to tell Wormwood "Your man may be untroubled about the Future, not because he is concerned with the Present, but because he has persuaded himself that the Future is going to be agreeable. (ED: SURVEYS CONFIRM MOST AMERICANS THINK THEY WILL GO TO HEAVEN WHEN THEY DIE WITH FEW THINKING THEY ARE DOOMED FOR ETERNAL PUNISHMENT! SADLY AND TRAGICALLY UNCLE SCREWTAPE HAS BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL!)
As long as that is the real course of his tranquility, his tranquility will do us good, because it is only piling up more disappointment, and therefore more impatience, for him when his false hopes are dashed. If, on the other hand, he is aware that horrors may be in store for him (REFERRING TO HELL) and is praying for the virtues, wherewith to meet them, and meanwhile concerning himself with the Present because there, and there alone, all duty, all grace, all knowledge, and all pleasure dwell, his state is very undesirable and should be attacked at once. Here again, our Philological Arm has done good work; try the word “complacency” on him. But, of course, it is most likely that he is “living in the Present” for none of these reasons but simply because his health is good and he is enjoying his work. The phenomenon would then be merely natural. All the same, I should break it up if I were you. No natural phenomenon is really in our favour. And anyway, why should the creature be happy? Your affectionate uncle Screwtape (C S Lewis - Screwtape Letters or borrow book)
I was shocked when I searched for "Idioms of Hell" and encountered over 100 common phrases that use the word Hell in essentially "R rated" idioms (click here at your own risk) which are now accepted as common parlance in our increasing amoral ("ethically indifferent") society. This proliferation of idioms undoubtedly contributes to the upward slope in the use of "Hell" in 2010 as depicted above.
An old Puritan writer had a good antidote for modern malaise concerning hell "Meditate much on hell. Let us go into hell by contemplation that we may not go into hell by condemnation! (see complete devotional)
In his book The Doctrine of Eternal Punishment, Harry Buis writes "That keen European thinker Berdyaev says, "It is remarkable how little people think about hell or trouble about it. This is the most striking evidence of human frivolity." Schilder makes a similar and more detailed analysis of the situation when he says, "What is hell? When you place this question before the modern cosmopolitan man of our day, who is satiated with hyper-culture, then his answer is ready: Hell is a figment of the imagination! Hell? Well, this shadowy frightfulness which is implied in the word, as man says, can't be anything other than a notion of founders of religions and of priests and lying prophets, wherewith they deceive the masses, and the world which wants to be deluded, in order to fill their empty pockets in this life with the preaching of the total emptying of the sinner in the hereafter...they tell you bluntly, that the world doesn't believe any more in hell." (Preface)
To summarize, this parable is about 2 men, a poor man who goes to heaven and a rich man who goes to hell. And note that most of the text in Lk 16:19-31 focuses on the fate of the rich man with only minimal attention being given to the poor man. Clearly, the purpose of this parable is to serve as a warning to the rich Pharisees and all of their ilk who also are deceived and hold the false belief that they are going to heaven when they die but instead will find themselves in hell! Jesus knows this is not a comfortable subject to address, but He also knows it is absolutely necessary so that men might understand the grave danger they are in when they reject Him and refuse to believe His Gospel. As horrible as this subject is to talk about, it is sorely needed that it might cause all readers to contemplate their eternal destiny and to repent and believe in Jesus while today is still called today (cf Heb 3:13). It is only fitting that the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the Judge of the living (born again believers) and the dead (unregenerate) (2 Ti 4:1), is the One Who to give this parable two men and two destinies.
Jesus employed the most graphic language to describe what hell is like: fire (Mt 5:22; Mt 18:9); eternal fire (Mt 18:8); destruction (Mt 7:13); away from his presence (Mt 7:23); thrown outside (Mt 8:12; 22:13; 25:30); blazing furnace (Mt 13:42); darkness (Mt 22:13; 25:30); eternal punishment (Mt 25:46); weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt 8:12; 13:42; 13:50; 22:13; 24:51). Jesus twice used the word eternal (Mt 18:8; 25:46) to convey that the punishment of nonbelievers would continue forever.
www.preceptaustin.org
The subterfuge of Satan surely has some part in this "cover up!" This reminds me of Screwtape's advice to his protege "Keep everything hazy in his mind now (in context this refers primarily to the church), and you will have all eternity wherein to amuse yourself by producing in him the peculiar kind of clarity which Hell affords.Keep everything hazy in his mind now, and you will have all eternity wherein to amuse yourself by producing in him the peculiar kind of clarity which Hell affords." Uncle Screwtape in letter 12 to Wormwood adds "Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts, Your affectionate uncle Screwtape ."
Uncle Screwtape goes on to tell Wormwood "Your man may be untroubled about the Future, not because he is concerned with the Present, but because he has persuaded himself that the Future is going to be agreeable. (ED: SURVEYS CONFIRM MOST AMERICANS THINK THEY WILL GO TO HEAVEN WHEN THEY DIE WITH FEW THINKING THEY ARE DOOMED FOR ETERNAL PUNISHMENT! SADLY AND TRAGICALLY UNCLE SCREWTAPE HAS BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL!)
As long as that is the real course of his tranquility, his tranquility will do us good, because it is only piling up more disappointment, and therefore more impatience, for him when his false hopes are dashed. If, on the other hand, he is aware that horrors may be in store for him (REFERRING TO HELL) and is praying for the virtues, wherewith to meet them, and meanwhile concerning himself with the Present because there, and there alone, all duty, all grace, all knowledge, and all pleasure dwell, his state is very undesirable and should be attacked at once. Here again, our Philological Arm has done good work; try the word “complacency” on him. But, of course, it is most likely that he is “living in the Present” for none of these reasons but simply because his health is good and he is enjoying his work. The phenomenon would then be merely natural. All the same, I should break it up if I were you. No natural phenomenon is really in our favour. And anyway, why should the creature be happy? Your affectionate uncle Screwtape (C S Lewis - Screwtape Letters or borrow book)
I was shocked when I searched for "Idioms of Hell" and encountered over 100 common phrases that use the word Hell in essentially "R rated" idioms (click here at your own risk) which are now accepted as common parlance in our increasing amoral ("ethically indifferent") society. This proliferation of idioms undoubtedly contributes to the upward slope in the use of "Hell" in 2010 as depicted above.
An old Puritan writer had a good antidote for modern malaise concerning hell "Meditate much on hell. Let us go into hell by contemplation that we may not go into hell by condemnation! (see complete devotional)
In his book The Doctrine of Eternal Punishment, Harry Buis writes "That keen European thinker Berdyaev says, "It is remarkable how little people think about hell or trouble about it. This is the most striking evidence of human frivolity." Schilder makes a similar and more detailed analysis of the situation when he says, "What is hell? When you place this question before the modern cosmopolitan man of our day, who is satiated with hyper-culture, then his answer is ready: Hell is a figment of the imagination! Hell? Well, this shadowy frightfulness which is implied in the word, as man says, can't be anything other than a notion of founders of religions and of priests and lying prophets, wherewith they deceive the masses, and the world which wants to be deluded, in order to fill their empty pockets in this life with the preaching of the total emptying of the sinner in the hereafter...they tell you bluntly, that the world doesn't believe any more in hell." (Preface)
To summarize, this parable is about 2 men, a poor man who goes to heaven and a rich man who goes to hell. And note that most of the text in Lk 16:19-31 focuses on the fate of the rich man with only minimal attention being given to the poor man. Clearly, the purpose of this parable is to serve as a warning to the rich Pharisees and all of their ilk who also are deceived and hold the false belief that they are going to heaven when they die but instead will find themselves in hell! Jesus knows this is not a comfortable subject to address, but He also knows it is absolutely necessary so that men might understand the grave danger they are in when they reject Him and refuse to believe His Gospel. As horrible as this subject is to talk about, it is sorely needed that it might cause all readers to contemplate their eternal destiny and to repent and believe in Jesus while today is still called today (cf Heb 3:13). It is only fitting that the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the Judge of the living (born again believers) and the dead (unregenerate) (2 Ti 4:1), is the One Who to give this parable two men and two destinies.
Jesus employed the most graphic language to describe what hell is like: fire (Mt 5:22; Mt 18:9); eternal fire (Mt 18:8); destruction (Mt 7:13); away from his presence (Mt 7:23); thrown outside (Mt 8:12; 22:13; 25:30); blazing furnace (Mt 13:42); darkness (Mt 22:13; 25:30); eternal punishment (Mt 25:46); weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt 8:12; 13:42; 13:50; 22:13; 24:51). Jesus twice used the word eternal (Mt 18:8; 25:46) to convey that the punishment of nonbelievers would continue forever.