Are Christians watering down hell to make God more palatable?

In our age of “love is love,” “live your truth,” and “don’t judge,” many people, Christians included, are hesitant to speak the truth. We don’t want to upset people, make situations uncomfortable, or scare anyone, so we either dodge opportunities to speak the truth about God, or we soften biblical concepts in hopes that they will be more palatable.

There’s never been a subject Christians tend to temper more than hell. “It’s becoming a little more trendy now to try to dumb down the severity of God’s wrath on those who reject Him,” says Rick Burgess, BlazeTV host of the biblical spiritual warfare podcast “Strange Encounters.”

On this episode, Rick lays bare the truth about hell and what it means to reject God.

Sometimes “even people within the faith [think] that maybe somehow what scripture says about God’s judgment on the unredeemed — maybe we have it wrong. Maybe he’s even going to be gracious and merciful to the unredeemed, even though they’ve rejected the only way to to receive God’s grace and mercy,” says Rick.

Others think that “maybe somehow hell isn’t as bad as it sounds in the Bible. Sure, they’re going to be punished, but it’s not going to be an eternal punishment.”

One prominent Christian figure who Rick says is “easing into this camp” is American actor, evangelist, and author Kirk Cameron.

Recently, on his podcast, Cameron rejected the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment — the belief that hell is a place or state where those who die without salvation in Jesus Christ experience ongoing, conscious suffering and punishment forever, without end or annihilation. Kirk said that while he once accepted this doctrine as true, today he leans more toward annihilationism – the belief that the unredeemed face judgment, possibly limited suffering, and then total destruction.

“It fits the character of God in my understanding more than the conscious eternal torment position, because it brings in the mercy of God together with the justice of God. It doesn’t leave judgment out. It is just, but it also fits with the Old Testament picture of the fate of the wicked, which is to be destroyed. It is to die, and it is to perish, not live forever in an eternal barbecue,” Cameron said.

“If conscious eternal torment is not a thing, that’s actually a great relief, and I would have joy in correcting somebody who says that the reason that they’re not a Christian is because of this merciless God who tortures people forever, and I could say that’s not what the Bible teaches. Good news. Still not good. You don’t want to go [to hell], but there is mercy even in His judgment,” he added, noting that this is what he believes “the scriptures teach.”

While Rick says he has “great respect” for Cameron and believes without a doubt he’ll “spend eternity” with him in heaven, he believes Cameron has some confusion about the character of God.

“It’s like he prefers God to be a certain way. And I really, really think that’s very shaky ground. … He doesn’t want that to be true because what? That makes him think less of God?” asks Rick.

When people try to soften scripture, they’re essentially believing that “God needs a PR agent” to say, “Hey, God, I really think people will get upset with you with this eternal conscious torment thing. You probably want to go with the annihilation of the soul and just kill these people because that’ll make you look more merciful,” he says. “I got a real problem with that because I think that God has gone on record about his mercy and grace because of the cross.”

“He’s been so gracious and so merciful, He has allowed you to become fully righteous, and the sacrifice and the wrath that should have been poured out on us was now poured out on his son,” Rick says.

But “if you choose to reject God’s grace and mercy, then all you’re going to get is his wrath and judgment, and that judgment from Him, because He’s perfect, will be correct.”

To hear Rick’s full breakdown, watch the episode above.

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