catapult magazine

catapult magazine
 

discussion

Hard Questions of the Faith

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anton
Nov 17 2007
06:02 pm

What a good discussion, and I’d like to listen to Taylor’s discussion sometime. For my two cents worth, I think you have to approach the idea of hell from the perspective of God’s glory. The natural tendency is to approach things from the human perspective—because after all we are human, and also, because the modern man has said that man is the measure of all things. So things like hell become a matter of social justice for the betterment of human society. Whatever the explanation for hell, it has to make sense from the perspective of human experience.

The Bible teaches hell from the perspective of God and his glory. Social injustice is not a problem so much because humans are hurt, though that is certainly a huge factor; it is more a problem because God is the creator and it is an offense agaisnt him and the way he wants things to be. He did not create the world so humans could oppress one another. He created it for his own glory, and when (and perhaps only when) people live for God’s glory and not their own, does society become just. I can give up my greed, because I know it’s about God and his way, not my personal welfare.

I believe in hell, and as I understand Scripture, God created it to display his own glory. As the Westminster Confessions puts it, God left some to their prideful and willful rebellious hearts and ordained them to wrath for sin, to the praise of his glorious justice. How hell displays God’s glorious justice cannot be understood by those committed to the glory of humanity. Even for those (imperfectly) committed to God’s glory, it is a bitter pill to swallow and the cause of real heartache. But the real question is not whether it is easily acceptable, but whether it is true.