Jordan Paul

The Son arrives in hell not as a conqueror but as the damned. God lodges himself at the furthest reaches to which created freedom can plummet. Alienation from God is no longer absence from God. And because alienation from God is now and forever a site of God’s presence—because Jesus has been in hell just as surely as he is in heaven—God can and does share his life and saving power with sinners. — Justin Crisp

Dear Friends,

Today’s Gospel passage is one that, for better or worse, makes people think of Hell.

A subset of people genuinely enjoy bringing up Hell with passages like this. It’s easy to use these passages to turn the message of the Gospel into a hammer and to hit those who are already down with a frightening message of torment. Given that, I’d like to give you something else to think about when those thoughts happen. As we approach Advent and the feeling of expectant joy that comes with it, let us use the message of the Gospel to lift  up rather than hit down.

I don’t think that we can be faithful Christians who recite the creeds without crossing our fingers yet also deny the existence of Hell. It’s right there. But I do think you can be a faithful Christian who disagrees with the prevailing view of eternal punishment and I think you can be a faithful Christian who thinks that Hell exists but that it’s empty.

The quote above is from a piece in Earth & Altar that was about the Swiss Catholic priest and theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar. In his accounting of Balthasar’s theology, it’s not a matter of if someone will come to God. It’s when. Even in the darkest depths that one can imagine— Hell included—God is there. God is there to tell us that what we did in this life is not the end of the story. To tell us that we always have room to grow closer to Him. And to tell us that while it may be difficult, or painful, or a long journey, He can indeed lead all souls into Heaven.

In Christ,

—Jordan