www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Rev. Carlton Pearson denies hell

Yeah, I remember hearing the same thing also. Isn't it interesting that as long as "we" had "accepted Jaaaaaaayzuz" and figured we were safe, the fairness of the above quote never really sank into our hearts, did it?

If God is Just, then the above quote is so much horse hockey from people who simply don't know any better.

I found something on the Internet a few years ago and when I read it, it made a tremendous amount of sense to me.

The River of Fire by Dr. Alexander Kalomiros [stnectariospress.com]

This paper puts out the same idea I have seen elsewhere in this thread, that we create our own suffering by not making ourselves ready for the presence of God. The same light that blesses healthy eyes burns and torments diseased eyes that are not ready for it. God is a passionate burning fire of eternal love. If we are not ready for that fiery love, it will be to our torment.
Not that He would ever desire or wish to torment even the worst of His creatures, but that what we have chosen in this life to become will be our eternal destiny. If we cannot abide Him, His presence can do nothing else but torment us.

This is so far from the bully God of Calvinism who "elects" even certain babies to be tossed into the flames of hell forever, having done nothing other than not being lucky enough to be one of the "elect". This is so far from Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the hand of an angry God".

Is He angry? Why do Calvinists so love to harp on the angry passages of the Holy Scriptures and not to ruminate on the one principle verse which describes all that God does -- "God is love". If God is love, then everything that He does must emmanate from love, be filled with love, and fulfill the purposes of love. But in all my days as a Calvinist, I don't think I ever heard a sermon distinctly dealing just with the character of God as love and what that ultimately means. O sure, the word "love" might have been gratuituously tossed into a sermon here or there, but the constant theme I remember is the angry God Who just can't wait to get His hands on the sinners and get even. That idea -- "getting even" -- is not only a human characteristic of prideful men, but it violates what Jesus taught, for He taught us that God is merciful and good to even His enemies, and therefore we are to emulate Him by doing the same to our enemies. How much is that preached upon by Fundamentalists?

I'll tell you how much -- very little, that's how much!

Anyhow, I didn't mean to pontificate. Please read the article. It is quite good an quite enlightening, I think.

Brother Ed

God is not willing that any perish, but that all should reach repentance (St. Peter).

Here is my thoughts about hell:

I resonate with the teachings of St. Peter Mohyla and Sergii Bulgakov, both of whom suggest that the prayers of the Church, especially the Holy Sacrifice, have no limits in their power, and can even snatch souls from hell. In this sense, hell becomes a sort of purgatory, and we can ask with Bulgakov, not whether or not there is a purgatory, but if there is a definitive hell (see Bulgakov's "The Orthodox Church."). Paraphrasing C.S. Lewis, Hell becomes a sort of purgatory in this scenario.

Bishop Kallistos says, we cannot say everyone has to be saved, for that denies free will; but we can genuinely hope for all to be saved.

Finally, as Hans Ur Von Baltashar says, we are obligated to believe in hell; we are not obligated to believe any one is there.

I always reflect upon my favorite "jock" passage from St. Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 9: 24-27, I think) - you've got to train really really hard to be worthy to win this "race."

I am totally convinced that without a steady dose of God's mercy, without the spiritual guidance of the church and the support of the faith community to get through the training and the race, that I could very well make all the wrong choices and go to Hell. And so could any of us. And I think Hell must be a lot worse than any place you, me or some preacher saw on his TV set.

And I really have to wonder about "inner voices" (see the original post and article). They can often lead one astray. Seems like they have with this preacher.

I guess by now a few of you saw tonight's (Friday) 20/20 program on Hell in which Pearson talked about his beliefs. What struck me is that he dresses like a clergyman from a liturgical denomination!