teaching notes used at LTCi Siliguri

1. HEAVEN AND
HELL
Kreeft & Tacelli, Chapter 12

2. Belief in heaven and hell are
controversial and often argued
against in modern society - in fact
hell is often one of the first beliefs
to be abandoned as defending in
it can be a burden to the believer.
This section tries to deal with
unbelievers objections to heaven
and hell.
17 objections to the idea of
heaven will be given - though this
is not giving a theology of heaven
or providing a picture of it.

3. HEAVEN #1:REINCARNATION
IS MORE REASONABLE
Reincarnation is
rejected by
Christians:
1. The Bible
contradicts it - Heb
9:27
2. All orthodox
church tradition
contradicts it

4. 3. It implies God made a
mistake in giving us bodies
for our souls - in fact we are
pure spirits in prison
4. Psychology and common
sense suggest it is wrong - it
denies a psychosomatic unity
5. It makes us think in a low
way about our bodies - in
effect they are a punishment

5. 6. The idea is that we are
reincarnated in order to learn lessons
we failed to learn in a previous life -
this contradicts common sense, how
can I learn something if there is no
continuity of memory? Mistakes are
learned from only if remembered.
7. Evidence for past lives being
reincarnations could be explained as
mental telepathy from other beings, or
from demons or other souls in hell.

6. #2: THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC
EVIDENCE FOR HEAVEN
There are many other ideas which
even science has no valid evidence for
- when a scientist kisses his wife he
believes there is more than hormones,
neurons and molecules.
There is no scientific evidence for only
things that science has proved
(evidenced) existing. Do we say if
there is no scientific evidence it does
not exist? This is an assumption
based on no scientific evidence.

7. #3: HEAVEN IS OBVIOUSLY
WISHFUL THINKING
If heaven did not exist we
would have to invent it as a
“necessary dream”.
- the Bible in the heaven is not
about our dreams or wishful
thinking, in fact it is about
selfless, self-forgetful love and
saintliness, not the gratification
of sinful desires.

8. #3: HEAVEN IS OBVIOUSLY
WISHFUL THINKING
If heaven did not exist we
would have to invent it as a
“necessary dream”.
- the Bible in the heaven is not
about our dreams or wishful
thinking, in fact it is about
selfless, self-forgetful love and
saintliness, not the gratification
of sinful desires.

9. - and if there is a
correlation between
our innate wish and
desire for heaven, why
can’t that be a response
to something planned
by God and placed
within us? It does not
have to be a man-made
thing, but could well be
God designing it.

10. #4: THE IDEA OF HEAVEN IS
THAT OF MYTH OR LEGEND
All ideas of heaven are a version
of “the happy hunting grounds” or
the Elysian fields.
- we must distinguish between
image and reality (substance). We
cannot mistake one for the other
just as we do not look for a literal
“man in the moon”
- the fact that all religions have
some idea of heaven is evidence in
favour of it (weight of numbers)

11. #4: THE IDEA OF HEAVEN IS
THAT OF MYTH OR LEGEND
All ideas of heaven are a version
of “the happy hunting grounds” or
the Elysian fields.
- we must distinguish between
image and reality (substance). We
cannot mistake one for the other
just as we do not look for a literal
“man in the moon”
- the fact that all religions have
some idea of heaven is evidence in
favour of it (weight of numbers)

12. #4: THE IDEA OF HEAVEN IS
THAT OF MYTH OR LEGEND
All ideas of heaven are(Greek mythology) the abode
Elysian Fields - a version
of “the happy hunting grounds” or death
of the blessed after
the Elysian fields.
Ancient Greek paradise reserved for heroes to
- we must distinguish between
whom the gods had granted immortality. Homer
image and reality (substance). We
cannot mistake one for the other happiness at the
described it as a land of perfect
just as weof the earth, on the banks of the Oceanus
end do not look for a literal
“man in the moon” time of Pindar (c. 500 BC) on,
River. From the
- the fact that all religions have
Elysium was imagined as a dwelling place for
some idea of heaven is evidence in
favour of it (weight of numbers)righteous life.
those who had lived a

13. #5:BELIEVING IN HEAVEN IS
ESCAPIST
- CS Lewis asks the question,
“who speaks most against
escapism?” - answer: jailers
- is it escapism for the unborn
to think of life after birth, for a
person cast adrift to dream of
land? Heaven is simply a
fulfillment of good desires.

14. #5:BELIEVING IN HEAVEN IS
ESCAPIST
- heaven is not escapist because
it is Lewis asks it is not real
- CSreal - to say the question,is
a lie based on atheism.
“who speaks most against
Thinking about heaven is
escapism?” - answer: jailers
realistic. In fact the first
- is it escapism for the unborn
question about any birth, for a
to think of life after idea should
not be cast adrift to dream of
personasking if it is escapist,
but if Heaven is simply a
land? it is true. People who say
it is escapist good desires.
fulfillment ofneed to prove the
idea false.

15. #5:BELIEVING IN HEAVEN IS
ESCAPIST
- heaven is not escapist because
it is real - to say it is not real is
a lie based on atheism.
Thinking about heaven is
realistic. In fact the first
question about any idea should
not be asking if it is escapist,
but if it is true. People who say
it is escapist need to prove the
idea false.

16. #6: HEAVEN IS A DIVERSION - TRUE
OR FALSE IT IS A DISTRACTION
FROM PRESENT TASKS
- if heaven is real and our final
destination then our tasks here
distract us from it.
- concern for heaven does not
devalue concern for earthly things:
concern for the future of an unborn
baby does not devalue or detract
from its present need.
- historically people who have cared
most about heaven have made the
biggest impact on earth

17. #7: HEAVEN IS A BRIBE - IT
MAKES RELIGION SELFISH
Heaven makes us work for our
reward not out of pure love.
Some rewards are not
mercenary but natural - for a
team who have worked hard to
be rewarded with success.
Heaven is not an external
reward added on to life but is
in fact the perfection of the
love of God and love for our
neighbour.

18. #8: HEAVEN IS EGOTISTICAL
What right do you have to
think you will be spiritually
married to God?
In fact God said this (in the
Bible) we did not say it, or
devise it.

19. #9: HEAVEN WILL BE
BORING - ENDLESS WORSHIP
- Boredom is a fallen emotion - old
languages have no word for it - in
heaven we will be good and wise,
and never bored
- heaven is about joy not being
contented (which gets boring)
- heaven is perfect love and work,
the two things needed to make life
worth living - the love-work is of
knowing and loving God, others and
yourself.

20. #10: HOW CAN WE BE HAPPY IF
PEOPLE WE LOVE ARE IN HELL?
- there will be no sadness in heaven,
Rev.21:4 God manages not to be sad
even though people he created to
know and love him are not with
him, he will teach us how to do this.
- heaven and hell are not parallel
worlds which can be travelled from.
Hell is a place of eternal death not
life (which heaven is) and so what
exists there are what CS Lewis
describes as “remains”

21. #11: HEAVEN IS ETERNAL - IT IS
INHUMAN WITH NO POTENTIAL
FOR CHANGE OR WORK
Heaven is about passive, changeless
adoration of God.
- the whole premise stated above is
faulty: there is work in heaven, that
work is to love (as work was a love
before the fall), only after the fall
did work become an onerous thing.
Heaven will restore and surpass all
that was good in Eden

22. #12: ARE WE FREE TO SIN IN
HEAVEN - IF NOT WE ARE ROBOTS
Free to sin is like saying “a healthy
disease” - it is a freedom of slavery.
Free will is the means to a higher
liberty, this is the freedom from evil
and its effects.
No one will sin because no one will
want to - we will see the beauty and
joy of God and realise the ugliness
and joylessness of sin - so all motive
to sin will be removed.

23. #13: IF WE ARE ALL PERFECT IN
HEAVEN WHERE IS THE
INDIVIDUALITY?
Won’t we all be boring copies?
- we will be like God - copies of him cannot ever be
dull
- allowing God to rule your life is like adding salt to
food it brings out all of the flavours of the differing
foods - you will become more like you than ever was
experienced before.

24. #14: THERE WILL BE NO
PRIVACY IN HEAVEN
God’s light and truth will
permeate everything - so
nothing private.
- privacy is needed only because
of sin: we hide from others
because of shame or fear of
misunderstanding. In heaven
there will be no shame etc. In
fact in heaven we will have the
intimacy which we fear here

25. #15: IS THERE SEX IN
HEAVEN?
- modern people would not want to go
without there being sex - but this says
more about the person than about
heaven
- there is sexuality in heaven but we will
be like the angels with no giving in
marriage Matt 22:30
- assuming our bodies remain in the
same state as they are then surely sex
would be possible - would we want to do
it when there is greater pleasure in God?

26. #16: LOVING HEAVEN IS
BEING DISLOYAL TO EARTH
The Bible says
heaven is our
home, not the
earth - we should
be loyal to heaven.

27. #17: HEAVEN SOUNDS SO
ALIEN TO ME
It sounds weird, just not for me.
- heaven will feel like home, after all it is what
you have been made and designed for. God is a
good tailor he has made it a right fit for you.

28. HELL
Heaven is more important
than hell - we know more
about heaven than hell. But it
is an area of doctrine that is
under great attack today -
from within and without.
Kreeft suggests hell is like a
vital organ in a body - if
removed then all other organs
are affected and eventually the
body dies.

29. 1. Believing there is no hell says
that both the church and the
Bible (both of which teach it) are
liars.
2. Jesus was more explicit and
adamant about hell than most
[any] others - therefore he is also
a liar.
3. If we drop hell because we are
uncomfortable with this idea
then we can drop other doctrines
which we do not like.
Christianity is then about
ideology not about divine
revelation.

30. 1. Believing there is no hell says
that both the church and the
Bible (both of which teach it) are
liars.
2. Jesus was more explicit and
adamant about hell than most
[any] others - therefore he is also
a liar.
3. If we drop hell because we are
uncomfortable with this idea
then we can drop other doctrines
which we do not like.
Christianity is then about
ideology not about divine
revelation.

31. “A Christian who does not believe in HELL is a
contradiction of terms, because a Christian is one
who believes Christ, and Christ is one who believes in
HELL. The only way to believe in Christ without
believing in HELL is to reconstruct Christ according
to your own desires. If there is no HELL, Christ is
not only a deceptive teacher but a wicked one, for he
terrifies us needlessly, falsely and harmfully. In fact,
the greatest, kindest, gentlest, most loving and
compassionate man who ever opened his mouth has
warned us with the greatest seriousness,
strenuousness and sternness about HELL. That is the
irrefutable argument for it.”

32. 4. If there is no hell then life’s
choices no longer make an infinite
difference - “If a game is to be
taken seriously, it must be possible
to lose” CS Lewis in The Problem of
Pain
5. If there is no hell then salvation
is universal and automatic - this
means ultimately there is no
freewill. Freewill and hell go
together.
6. If there is no hell to be saved
from Jesus is not our saviour - or
any of the other things he claims.

33. 7. If there is no hell then religious
indifference follows - why should we
care about it? There should be no
evangelism or missions - recall all
missionaries and apologise.
8. If salvation is automatic then
Christ’s death was a tragic and stupid
mistake.
9. If we don’t need to believe I hell
then surely we also don’t need to
believe in the love of God - in fact the
love of god is the most often quoted
reason for not believing in hell, yet
they have the same foundation.

34. Why do we believe that God is
love? Not by philosophical
reasoning or logic?
How do we know God is love?
Not by science - for no
experiment has ever measured or
weighed that God is love. Not by
conscience - which tells us what
is right and wrong and what
should be done, but does not tell
us that we are forgiven. Not by
history for this reveals human
selfishness.

35. There is only one reason that
anyone ever came to the
conclusion that god is love,
mercy and forgiveness - that is
the character of God revealed in
the Bible and culminating in
Jesus. This gives us the authority
to believe God is love - and also
to believe in a hell. These two
beliefs stand and fall on the same
ground.

36. 10. Some state that if there is a hell
then God is a god of wrath,
vengeance and hate - does this
follow?
In fact Kreeft argues that the love of
God constitutes the torture of hell.
That love of God threatens and
tortures the very egotism that a
sinner clings to.
Consider a child who has a fit of
rage and in sulking feels the love
and hugs of his parents as torture.
Thus the fires of hell are made of
the love of God, or at least of the
damned persons hatred of that love.

37. God hates sin and loves sinners -
10. Some state that if there is a hell
then as a surgeonof wrath, cancer
just God is a god hates the
vengeance and hate a does persons
he removes from - sick this
follow? People going to hell do so
body.
In fact Kreeft argues that the love of
Godonly because they refuse hell.
constitutes the torture of to
repent of their sin.
That love of God threatens and
tortures the very egotism that a
sinner clings to. in love, mercy and
God is perfect
Consider a child who has appeal to
forgiveness - but these a fit of
rage and in sulking feels the love
our freedom - any such appeal
and hugs of his parents as torture.
Thus the fires of hell arechosen: we
must be accepted and made of
the love receive simply because we
do not of God, or at least of the
damned persons hatredaccept love.
do not choose to of that

38. 11. Hell is not forced on
anyone - and is not enjoyed - it
is chosen by a love of self
rather than a love of God.
Happiness on your own selfish
terms does not exist!
12. If hell is chosen how does
that reconcile with human
sanity? Who prefers hell
unless they are insane?
The answer is that all of us do
at one time or another -
simply through the sin we
commit we reveal our insanity.

39. 13. Kreeft suggests the worst idea of
hell is a Calvinistic form of double
predestination. In this God decrees
and designs some souls for death
even before they are born - God
wills their damnation.
Kreeft says that Matt 18:14 and
moral sanity reject such claims.
Just because there is a hell does not
make God a capricious being - we
need a full understanding of God
and his ways to ensure the right
approach to the idea of hell.

40. THE PROPER USE AND MISUSE
OF THE DOCTRINE OF HELL
Many objections to hell are based
more on people who have misused
the idea - people rejecting hell
suggests that it is based on fear, hate,
a desire to dominate and control - as
these are the fruit produced by it.
We might argue the same about
heaven - if misused it produces a
careless life, a lack of concern for this
world and manipulates people.

41. In fact any idea can be used
properly or misused. Such action
does not reveal its validity or
truthfulness.
We believe in hell because it is true
- and because it is like a warning
sign for those wise enough to pay
attention.
Preaching hell does not make you
popular - just look at Jesus, he did
not go to the cross for the popular
things he said. But preaching hell is
necessary and loving even if we
might suffer unpopularity for it.