the evolving mind

[This is the fifth post in a series, "Campus Crusade for Christian Assumptions." Original post here.]

Thus far in my critical analysis of the ATS Tract, Where Will You spend Your Eternity, I have encountered a full dozen assumptions. And that is after only looking over the title and three paragraphs. Will the fourth bring any new assumptions?

Just think…an eternity to be spent forever, either in the perfect paradise called heaven or in the terrible torments of hell.

One might call heaven and hell the central nutmeat of Christianity. Or the #1 sales pitch. In terms of the pamphlet and its message, heaven and hell are the two places you can choose to spend your eternity.

Assumption #13) There is a heaven.

Assumption # 14) There is a hell.

These two qualify as assumptions (or maybe presumptions would be a better word) because there is no credible evidence of the existence of either.

Just for the fun of it, let’s inquire: Is heaven a perfect paradise? Does hell provide terrible torment? We’ll examine some Bible verses to find out — for belief in such things are based upon the Bible.

Do a keyword search of “heaven” in a digital Bible of the New International Version and it will produce hundreds of hits. Mine brought up 606 different verses (good thing it wasn’t 666!). But by scanning the verses I see that in a great number of the hits the word “heaven” is used to mean one of the following: sky, clouds, atmosphere, night sky with visible stars, etc.

Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. (Genesis 8:2)

In another number, “heaven” is the abode of God.

Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail. (Ezra 6:9)

Which deity are these passages referring to? The god of heaven. In the New Testament the wording is more along the lines of “Our Father in Heaven.” There are also multiple verses there about “the Kingdom of Heaven.” As for this kingdom above, it is described many ways.

Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. (Matthew 13:47)

Evidence aside, does the above describe heaven as a perfect paradise? No, a clearly perfect paradise is simply a sales pitch.

As for “hell,” a search of a digital copy of the New International Version of the Bible produced only 14 hits. Just 14! And all were in the New Testament. Seems the idea of hell was invented relatively late in the evolution of religion.

What does the supposed singular Bible say about hell? Here’s one verse -

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment. (2 Peter 2:4)

I don’t know if I’d say that “gloomy” was equivalent to a terrible torment. Yes, a number of verses refer to hell as a place of fire. Interesting, a quick Google search led me to this description of the origin of the word:

It is, in fact, because of the way that the word “hell” is understood today that it is such an unsatisfactory translation of these original Bible words. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, unabridged, under “Hell” says: “fr[om] . . . helan to conceal.” The word “hell” thus originally conveyed no thought of heat or torment but simply of a ‘covered over or concealed place.’ In the old English dialect the expression “helling potatoes” meant, not to roast them, but simply to place the potatoes in the ground or in a cellar. The meaning given today to the word “hell” is that portrayed in Dante’s Divine Comedy and Milton’s Paradise Lost, which meaning is completely foreign to the original definition of the word.

Maybe hell is a cold, dirty place. Either way, it seems many Christians do quite a bit of fibbing about what is actually in the Bible.

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