the story of God and Hades

I taught class on Sunday. The church is going through St. Paul’s letters to the Philippians. I was asked to teach the first service gathering, so I obliged. I taught out of Philippians 1.15-18, where Paul writes about preachers who preach the gospel out of bad motives, but he writes that he is not going to oppose them because the gospel message is being preached (he doesn’t endorse their motives, however). We talked about how some people will preach the gospel out of bad motives even today—desire for wealth, fame, status, success, popularity. And we talked about how St. Paul viewed “the advancement of the gospel.” To Paul, the gospel’s advance is not marked by how many people become Christians but how many people hear the gospel and have the chance to respond. We can’t control whether or not people embrace the gift of the cross, but we can tell people the Good Message and thus give them a chance to partake in the gospel. With this in mind, we talked about how one would advance the gospel through their school—that being making the gospel message known—and then we addressed the question, “What is the gospel?” And I presented the gospel to them in the form of a story:

Creation: God creates the universe, and mankind and God are friends. The creation is beautiful and good.

The Fall: mankind decides to rebel against God (sin), and so mankind becomes enemies with God. The universe, because of this situation, begins to fall apart.

Cross: through the cross, God “erases” our rebellion against Him, and so we are no longer His enemies but His friends. And though we are God’s friends, we still live in a world that is falling apart because of the Fall, a world dominated by sorrow, grief, suffering, and pain. We await the day when God will fix all of this.

Restoration: God re:makes the universe, re:forming it with new planets and new stars and new galaxies and new animals, and God’s friends will dwell in this universe and reign with Him, building homes, raising crops, enjoying one another’s company, playing with the animals, enjoying the world of the new universe.

At the end of the class, a kid raised his hand and asked, “What about those people who aren’t Christians? What happens to them when God makes the new universe?” I paused for a moment, said, “The concept of Hell is not a very clear one. The Jews didn’t have a concept of the afterlife until the Intertestamental Period, when they adopted the afterlife views of Babylonian and Persian mythologies. And when the Bible talks about Hell, it isn’t really clear. But there are several views on Hell that can be supported using various scriptures. You should study them for yourself.” I wrote them on the board:

Exclusivism: only Christians go to heaven, all non-Christians are tormented in Hell for eternity. Our church holds to this view.

Inclusivism: some people who are not Christians will go to heaven and live with God because they responded appropriately to the knowledge of God that was available to them; salvation still comes through Christ’s blood, even if they do not know who Christ is.

Conditionalism: all Christians will go to heaven, and non-Christians will be tormented in Hell for what they deserve, and then they will be annihilated or extinguished. Their consciousness will be eradicated. Peace-loving people will not go through nearly as much pain as someone like Hitler or Kim Jong II. Purgatorial: people will be tortured in Hell for a period of time to pay for their sins, and then they will join everyone in heaven and share in the new universe with them.

Universalism: Hell does not exist; only Heaven is real; and everyone will go to Heaven due to the triumphal victory of God through Christ on the cross.

He asked me, “Which do you believe?” After a moment, I said, “I don’t know.”
And that’s just the truth.

Friday: Left my cell phone in Sarah’s car, drove around for three hours before finding the church where she worked. Went home to see Ams and swung by the Garage to visit good ol’ Matt Neil.

Saturday: watched episodes of “The Office” with Dad, went out to eat at an expensive joint for my grandparents’ 50th anniversary (sea scallop pasta and a delicious vanilla/chocolate/pecan desert). Went to the Garage for their last night, got to see tons of friends: Hague, Dewenter, Chris, Matt, Luke, Nathan, Brian, Megan, Ashlie, Alicia, to name just a few.

Sunday: hung out with Amos. We went to Fuddruckers for lunch and then relaxed at my place for a little while. The rain came down in drenching torrents, lulling me to sleep. I returned to campus to visit Trista and Monica in the coffee shop. It should be a good week, doing homework, hanging out with friends, writing a little here-and-there.

I got yet another email from a fan of my writings. His words pertain to my zombie novel 36 Hours:

Dear Mr. Barnhart:

I have just read your free version of 36 hours (the book is already ordered via lulu.com) and it is one of the best books I have ever read.

Especially towards the end, the story develops a depth only few books and even fewer zombie movies could even dream of attaining, making the tears of soft hearted and romantic guys like me flowing like waterfalls.

I would like to thank you very much for your great novel.

Yours sincerely.

M.S.

That’s always encouraging. I hope my writer’s block will eradicate soon.

History = His Story (???)

“History is His Story.” I saw this on a billboard today during my eternal driving around Mason to pick up a cell phone Sarah accidentally stole. As I pondered the billboard, I thought: “Bullshit.” Are world wars God’s history? Are the crusades God’s history? Is rape, murder, and genocide God’s history? God is involved in history, but sometimes I wonder if it is more our story than His. I’m not claiming to be a deist, I’m just wrestling with this concept that attributes everything in history—even the god-awful atrocities committed by human beings—to God playing humanity as if we were chess pieces on a global chessboard. Sometimes I wonder if history is more along the lines of God reaching out to Man and Man giving God the finger.

rethinking everything

“Life is about trusting your feelings and taking chances, losing and finding happiness. Appreciating the memories and learning from the pain and realizing that people always change.”

I am re:thinking everything.
Sarah: “Most of everything people tell you will be wrong.”

go figure...

I opened up my laptop in Exodus class today only to see a message telling me my hard drive was acting up. Becky let me use some of her cool notebook paper for notes. Anyways, I’ve spent much of the day trying to get it fixed, and when it seemed that the hard drive was mysteriously broken, I yanked it out of the computer and, with a foul word or two, slammed it repeatedly against the desk.

I am currently on my laptop and it seems everything is fixed.
Go figure, eh?

But I am still saving all my precious files to U.S.B. and I will re:format this beast sometime tomorrow.

Sarah and I are having a pizza and root beer party tonight at her house while we watch “Lethal Weapon.”

an update

Saturday nights are generally spent watching movies on the big screen in the family room, but every now and then I jump in the car and go down to The Garage on Main Street, a renovated bus garage that now serves as a venue for local artists. I’m not really a fan of the hardcore music, but I’m friends with everyone who works there: Chad on the sound board, Chris and Matt and Jeph in the coffee shop, and Seth who owns the place. The Garage was originally built by the (retired) youth minister of the church where I teach, and I did my youth ministry internship while The Garage was under its beginning and middle stages of construction. I helped with the electrical wiring, some construction, and getting things organized. A minor role. The pay-off is that I don’t have to pay the $7 cover fee whenever I show up. I just walk in. When the money-handlers are new, it’s sometimes a hassle. I look like I’m fourteen, so when I tell them that I get in free because I’ve been working with The Garage for as long as its existed, they think I’m just trying to slip them a lie. Eventually Seth comes down and explains it to them, and in time it’s not a hassle. Saturday night was a good night to be at The Garage. Some big bands played—the names of which I never caught—and lots of my old hometown, pre-college friends were there. Chris was working the coffee shop, so I helped him out a little bit. I slipped three bucks into his jeans and made myself an iced caramel macchiato. Ashlie showed up and we talked about everything and nothing. It was good just to talk with her in a non-hurried environment (a.k.a. church). There was a girl there flirting with me, and it was kind of awkward, because she’s fourteen and I’m twenty. It’s all right though. I’m used to it: twenty-year-old girls think I’m fourteen so they generally ignore me even if they’re interested (it’s been an occurrence when a girl was “interested” in me but was under the impression that I was much younger, so she didn’t move forward). I can’t blame the minor, either: she probably had no idea that I was twenty years old. Such is my life. My fortune cookie today after take-out Chinese read: Good Things Will Be Coming To You In Due Time. I don’t believe in fortune cookies, but sometimes I wish I did.

Class on Sunday went extremely well. I slept in too late and missed first service, but made it to 2nd. I taught on selflessness as the way of life that Christians are to embody (for selflessness is the root of love, and Christians are to be known for their love). We examined two passages in Philippians—Phil 2.5-11 and Phil 1.21-27—and explored how Christ was sacrificial through living a life of servant-hood and giving himself up on the cross despite his desires to bring about reconciliation in another way; and we explored how Paul embodied selflessness by remaining to live for the sake of other peoples’ interests despite his own desires to manipulate his trial before Emperor Nero to bring about his own death.

In New Testament Seminar I gave a presentation on “The Role of Government.” The role of government, as seen in the New Testament scriptures, is to enforce justice. God doesn’t care what form of government is in place (democracy, dictatorship, aristocracy, republic, communist state, etc.) as long as it is enforcing justice. God’s concern is not the form of government but the function.

a conglomeration of heresies

It’s sad that the issue has always been Creation vs. Evolution. How come we think that if evolution is true, then creation isn’t? Why is it so unbelievable to think that God created through evolution? Perhaps I am too empiricist. I have studied six-literal-day creationism, old-earth creationism, and progressive creationism (i.e. theistic evolution), and to be completely honest, I find theistic evolution more agreeable to science and to the biblical texts. The creation accounts we have are apologetic/polemic and not scientific in nature. We are not supposed to read them as scientists; we are supposed to read them as an uplifting of Israel’s God YHWH over the surrounding pagan gods (especially those of the Babylonian Empire, in which—I believe—the Torah as we know it today was compiled). And the idea that science and faith are at odds is blasphemous to me. If God is real, and if He created, wouldn’t we be able to catch a glimpse of how He did it—the mechanisms, tools, and features of His creating power and act? We have peered deeply into the glass of earth’s history and see that it is not 6-8000 years old but 4.8 billion years old; and we look into the stars and see that they were here long before earth: the universe is 12-14 billion years old! Our earth is draped in a rich tapestry of life. I flip through some of my books on evolution and the history of life and see so many different kinds of marvelous creatures—the pinnacle of which (and I say this in my own childish fantasies) is the dinosaurs—and each different species and family and genre shrieks “Design!” I won’t deny that these animals ever existed (the idea that Satan put them there to trick is ridiculous and idiotic); and I won’t deny that God is the Creator. I believe He used evolution—a tool which He created—to bring about the world as we know it now. And then He said, “Hey, I’m gonna create a special organism, which I’ll make in My image, and which will have a truly unique connection with Me.” And so humans came onto the scene. Is this heresy? I wager it depends on whom you talk to.

“Will God judge everyone based on the same set of standards? Will He be harsher with those who were wealthier, who lived in better circumstances, who had an easier life? Will He be more lenient with those who were poorer, who lived in dire circumstances, who had a difficult life?” This is a question that has been lurking lately. When God judges us for our actions, will the girl who had sex on the streets to provide for her children be judged just as harshly as a girl who had sex just to have fun—or to use and manipulate boys (I have never met such a girl, but I am sure they are out there)? I can’t imagine a just God not taking into account such things. I’ve always been taught that we will all be judged by the same standards… Perhaps my re:thinking of this is heresy?

The concept of Hell is something else that has been bothering me lately. Usually I’ve just filed it away into a theological woodshed, but it is becoming more and more real to me. It is a life-changing concept. I’ve been struggling with the idea of God tormenting people in Hell forever. It’s just unbelievable to me that we can have no choice about whether or not to come into this world and yet be forced to suffer in eternal torment if we don’t do or believe the right thing. I am trying to bring the two poles together: God the Loving Father tormenting people in Hell forever (something no father in this world has ever been guilty of), and God the Lover who loves us all so deeply and yet torments us forever because we didn’t do or believe the right thing. Perhaps I am dancing on the lines of heresy. Or maybe I’m just re:thinking things. I’ve been pouring my heart and soul into the scriptures about this. I’ve been so cultured into the mindset of exclusivism that any other idea—inclusivism, conditionalism, universalism—seems to scream “Heresy!” But the truth is, I’ve never examined these matters for myself. And now I am. And I don’t know what I’m going to find. The truth, hopefully. It’s a fascinating and yet morbid matter.