Thinker

Who is the Devil and what is Hell?

Respectively a) Bill Gates and b) Windows

God’s mercy is infinite — Hell is empty

The devil is all too often made in a human likeness. He should be ascribed personality only because he can affect us profoundly on a personal level, not because he has characteristics which we would normally associate with a human person.
Hell: A point of absolute detachment from reality in every sense It is not the place God would send anyone who He could save. Unless God is to be viewed as not really different from the devil — Calvinism got it wrong in this respect.

The Devil: a concept the Jews acquired (along with a belief in angels) from their time in Babylon during the Exile, and today employed unwittingly by literalists to back up a world-view that verges on Manichaistic.
Hell: A way of persuading people to ignore the present “hell on earth” by appealing to a mythical otherworld where things are supposed to be even worse. Place of “punishment” convergent with a view of God as torturer. Rhetorical device used by the arrogant to persuade the timid. Aka Vanbrugh lecture theatre Monday 9:15am. Unchristian.

The devil is what causes us to sin and hell is the consequences that we deserve but God in his grace doesn’t give us.

Margaret Thatcher, and the free reign of market forces.

Well, I’ll be damned if I know!

The Devil is real, the Devil is scared, and knows that his power has been thwarted. — cool — For those who submit to God, all we have to do is resist him and he will flee … YIPPPPPEEEEEE, cool … and come Jesus’ triumphant return he will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and will be tormented , day and night, for ever and ever …
I don’t know where hell is exactly, but the prostitute’s house is definitely on the way(!)

In my experience, the Devil is the one whom we avoid at all costs and hell where we never want to go, the exact opposite of God and Heaven. Obvious and simplistic I know, but that’s the essence of it.

Hell, to be a little Sartre-like, is often a State of mind which humans sometimes create for themselves. It is not necessarily a physical place. It could include for example things such as guilt and confusion, and things which are not necessarily self created and internal, such as being homeless. Belinda Carlisle sang of heaven being a place on earth, and to a degree, this can be argued with in conjunction with believing in an afterlife. Hell also, it could be argued, exists ON EARTH also; Bosnia, mental illness, feelings of isolation which individuals have … As for the devil, I don’t know! An Angel Descended from heaven perhaps? Or did he/she (let’s be PC here!) serve a metaphorical function in the bible in illustrating various dimensions of our relationship with God. I tend to believe the latter view, though according to some bigots out there I’ll be going straight down to “You-know-where” for that wouldn’t I?

Next issue’s thinker is: What’s the best thing about Christianity on Campus?

Thinker responses should be sent to: Christis, Societies pigeon holes, The Vaseline Building. Or by email to submissions@christis.org.uk

Last modified: 25th November 2005


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