Be sure there is something inside you which, unless it is altered, will put it out of God’s power to prevent your being eternally miserable. While that something remains there can be no Heaven for you, just as there can be no sweet smells for a man with a cold in the nose, and no music for a man who is deaf. It’s not a question of God “sending” us to hell. In each one of us there is something growing up which will itself be hell unless it is nipped in the bud. The matter is serious….
–C.S. Lewis, “The trouble with ‘X’,” in Walter Hooper, ed., God In The Dock (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), pp. 154-155, quoted by yours truly in this morning’s sermon
Hell was created for Satan and his angels originally. The sad fact is that there be many who will follow the road to hell. Jesus gave us the way to get off that road by His death on the cross – Praise God
Like many, I am indebted to Mr. Lewis for teaching me that one can be a Christian and still think, that clear thought is a good thing. He is as close as this evangelical ever gets to the invocation of saints, when I am strongly moved to ask “OK Mr. Lewis, remind me again what you tried to teach me about this”
In response to some “modern” views about hell, I posted an essay here: http://rericsawyer.wordpress.com/
To the extent my views are accurate, I have been very much derivative of CSL. When I am (alas, infrequently) especially blessed, I fancy that my rhythm mimics his.
Thanks for posting this.
In contrast to this Christian thought, we have KJS’s Palm Sunday Sermon:
[blockquote]What contrast between the powers of this world, clamoring for an unchanging status quo, and the powers from above that urge change [i]toward that divine vision of salaam and shalom![/i] [/blockquote]
Salaam and shalom…makes me all goose bumpy. The entire text can be found [url=http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_95737_ENG_HTM.htm ]here[/url]. Perhaps, Kendall+ might have a thread for this sermon. Definitely would close comments, though.