When a society forgets that which is true, it will fall into rapid decline, especially when matters of faith are concerned. Regardless of the attempts to stem the tide of such ignorance, if one does not understand the root cause, they will fail to see the extent of the effects that a situation like that will create. Such a topic is the matter of the reality of hell, as well as the rising lack of disbelief in its literal existence. The dangers of ignorance and blatant disregard of such a critically important place cannot be ignored. This issue will be discussed in depth in the following article, as well as the implications of the lack of belief in a literal hell will cause.
Before any other statement can be made about the subject mentioned above, it is imperative that one understands the importance of the Word of God as a whole. Without it, the backbone of an entire belief system would crumble, and the world along with it. In order to validate the previous statement, research must be presented that argue for and prove the inerrancy of the Bible.
To begin, we must understand what inerrancy even is. According to Ericson, the author of “Introducing Christian Doctrine”, “The inerrancy of Scripture is the doctrine that the Bible is fully truthful in all of its teachings.” [1] For many, the topic of the Bible’s inerrancy is a critical point of differences in belief, and great argumentation, but why is this the case? Why is the inerrancy of the Bible so important that it causes the spinning of theories and the clash of differences in thought? Simply put, the whole of our faith, as well as the understanding of God and His word, depend on whether or not the Bible is true. How can we determine whether or not it is factual in its entirety? First off, we will explore the pages of the Bible itself. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states that “ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” To say that all scripture is God-breathed is to say that the Bible, as a whole, is true. For if God were not true in all He says and does, this would mean that His Word cannot be regarded as inerrant truth, and thus, we would be prompted to call God a liar.
However, this is simply not the case. There are many more sources that point to the Bible’s inerrancy then the scriptures themselves. The whole of creation, as well as humanity’s own history, attests to the realities of the truthfulness of God’s Word. Ericson states that, “The church has historically held to the inerrancy of the Bible. While there has not been a fully enunciated theory until modern times, nonetheless there was, down through the years of church history, a general belief in the complete dependability of the Bible.”[2] Many figures of notability in history also championed an inerrant view of the scriptures, including Clement of Rome, who stated, “Look carefully into the Scriptures, which are the true utterances of the Holy Spirit. Observe that nothing of an unjust or counterfeit character is written in them.”[3]
Why is this important to the Christian, and why should we care about the inerrancy of the Bible as a whole? Without it, we would be lost in disbelief and confusion. If the entirety of the Bible is not true, then who is to define was is true, as opposed to what is false? Such questions can quickly send the topic spiraling out of control with no recovery.
Now that we understand why it is critical for the Christian to believe that the Bible is the fully inerrant word of God, that leads us to the titular topic. Why is it important for Christians to believe in a literal hell, and why does it matter to the world as a whole? It is far more imperative then we might think. According to the Pew Research Center, 74% of Americans believe in heaven, but only 59% believe in a literal hell.[4] In another study conducted by Barna Research, it has been revealed that 28% of Christians believe that good works alone will get them into heaven.[5] Even though those numbers might not seem to drastic, when it is broken down even further, the implications of such data is concerning.
The Bible is very clear when it describes hell as a very real place. Revelation 21:8 is such a verse, states, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” There are a plethora of verses in the Bible that speak of hell as a very real place, a place where those who did not serve God in their lives would spend an eternity of torment separate from Him. In 2 Thessalonians 1:9, a very chilling picture is painted. “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”
Jesus himself spoke often about hell, and the realities that awaited those who turned away from salvation. The early church also upheld the belief in a literal hell, and as time passed, people began to grow skeptical of its existence, much like they did concerning the inerrancy of the Bible. Many ask the age-old question, “how can a loving God send people to hell?” While it is true that God loves us and doesn’t wish for us to spend eternity in hell, he also is a just God. He cannot let the sin of man go unpunished, and through Jesus’s sacrifice, He offers all salvation to rescue us from our self-crafted fate. If we do not believe that hell is every bit as real as heaven, we are setting ourselves up for a grievous mistake with terribly eternal consequences. Christians cannot ignore this issue, and it cannot be glossed over as unimportant when the state of people’s souls are at stake.
I must be honest that when I wrote the main body of this article, I was struggling with my choice of topic. After hearing about the unimaginable horrors of the Las Vegas shooting, the concept that many of the concert-goers not experiencing Jesus’s salvation, and going to hell, was horrifying. Watching videos play memorials of all the victims, and seeing the life in their eyes, brought tears to my own. How could I write a topical piece on the reality of hell when many innocents had just lost their lives; their eternal destination unknown? However, the importance of believing that hell is a real place and cannot be seen as fiction still stands. Hell is not a simple fantasy horror, and whether we would like to believe that or not, it doesn’t change the fact that it exists.
When we choose to ignore the ramifications of our actions, as well as erroneous beliefs, we are not only setting ourselves up for failure, but others as well. Our society is an obvious example of a people who are running from the truth. Topics such as heaven and hell are commercialized, but rarely believed. Because of this, Christianity is often ridiculed and taken lightly, as nothing other than a fairytale. Jesus’s message of salvation is regarded as fiction, while people continue to search for something to fill the hole in their hearts with all manners of things. We as a society run from the truth, deny Christ’s kingship, and all the while dig ourselves further into sin. We live in a time that desperately needs the inerrant truth found in God’s Word, and if we do not believe it as a whole, including the topic of hell, we find ourselves in grave error.
Thankfully for humanity, God did not wish for us to suffer eternal separation from Him. Jesus shed his blood as the perfect sacrifice to save us from our ill fate, and if we so choose, we can one day spend eternity with Him, the horrors of sin a long forgotten memory. Jesus is the only one who can fill that hole in one’s heart, He is the saving grace that washes us clean of our impurities and makes as like new. Through His salvation, we discard the ugliness of sin and take on the light that pierces even the mightiest of darkness. To solidify this fact, Jesus Himself said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
[1] Ericson, CH 6, “The Dependability of God’s
Word”, Introducing Christian Doctrine (Ericson, 1992, 2001, 2015)
[2]
Ericson, CH 6, “The Dependability of
God’s Word”, Introducing Christian Doctrine (Ericson, 1992, 2001, 2015)
[3] Clement of Rome, The First Epistle of Clement
to the Corinthians
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