Erasing Hell, Introduction

I recently watched a video on YouTube of Francis Chan (author of Crazy Love) talking about his upcoming book: Erasing Hell. He was asking for prayers of discernment and clarity so that he wouldn't mess things up, biblically speaking, on writing about Hell. I was intrigued and since the book came out a couple weeks ago, I've acquired a copy for myself. I'll be reading through it and posting my review here. At present I only have the one copy, but if any of you out there in ReaderLand want a copy, or want to do a group study, drop us a line at the Jaffrey Bible House and we can get things going. On to the review...

Erasing Hell, Introduction

"If you are excited to read this book, you have issues."

That's the very first line and already I feel qualified to be reading it. I have issues, Francis. The author (which is actually a co-authorship but writing under Chan's name) goes on to layout the reason for his writing the book and his reluctance to believe, despite biblical truth, in a place of eternal torment. I understand what he's saying since I recently went through the Way of the Master study series at church and have been impressed with the burden of sharing salvation. Actually, "sharing" isn't really the right word, it should be "screaming". If I believe the Bible to be God's Word, 100% true, then I should be screaming salvation to anyone I can find. After about a page and a half I realize Francis isn't capitalizing the word Hell. Should he be? There's Hell and there's hell. Hmmm. I'm not sure what the rules are here, but I sort of feel like capitalization is called for. It's not a big deal, and I don't think it's worth mentioning more than once, but If Heaven gets a big "H" (it does, doesn't it?) so does Hell - at least in this blog. The introduction closes with a sample of the prayerful attitude Chan urges all of us to be in while reading the book and an admonition to take scripture as Holy and all else as not. Pretty good start and I'm pumped to move on, but I'll try to pace myself so I can give a decent review. Who knows, maybe it'll be a feature of this blog!

Before continuing with the review I think it's appropriate to state my own thoughts/views on Hell. Can I skip verse references? I'll do a future post with where this is all coming from for sure, but let's be informal for now. I believe Hell is a real place. I believe only sinners go there. I believe all have sinned and as such, all people are headed there by default. I believe this is because atonement is required by a holy God who cannot abide sin in His presence. I believe He provided this atonement in Jesus Christ and all can claim it for themselves, but the change is total, permanent, and fundamentally incomprehensible to those without it. I believe faith is an essential part of recognizing that need and I believe that faith is not something that has its origin is man but is a free gift of God. I believe predetermination and free will are not mutually exclusive anymore than someone can be fully God and fully man. I believe that part of being under this new covenant means spreading this Gospel of salvation to as many as will hear it, and that not all will accept it - hence not all people will escape the eternal torment of Hell. I do not believe Hell is now, or that it is Earth, or a human condition, or that it is the absence of God. I believe God is ever-present and just as those in Heaven and, ultimately, on the New Earth will experience His unending love and the inexpressible joy of His presence, I believe those in Hell will experience His never-ending wrath and justice - and that He is very present there as well. I believe in a God of equally boundless mercy and justice, love and wrath, and I believe that He is fully justified in doing whatever He wants and that to seek an easier life is to take away the value of life as it was meant to be by its Author and Perfecter.

I think that just about covers it, apologies if I missed something. There'll be plenty of time to refine those statements I'm sure. I'll likely be done with chapter one in about twenty minutes, but I'll post my review in the next day or two. Until then, enjoy your day!

~~JBH