WB 471 Faith Over Fear Tactics
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. – Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,1741.
People are destined to die once and then face judgment. – Hebrews 9:27, CEB.
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At some point in your American Literature class, you were probably required to read Jonathan Edwards’ text of terror, Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God. This sermon, preached to an important Northampton Congregationist church in Massachusetts, scared the bejesus out of everyone. Edwards was deeply intellectual, and intensely convicted of his Puritan upbringing. As John Wesley was popularizing Arminian beliefs in free will and prevenient grace that is free for all, Edwards and other Calvinists felt the need to push back with a stark elevation of God’s sovereignty and the depths of human depravity. An assumption is made that God is inherently good, and therefore, nothing God does is bad, no matter how bad or evil it seems to us. Because we are inherently evil, and we cannot even conceive of one tiny good thing. We are literally repulsive to God, much like you would be repulsed by and give no concern for the life of some disgusting bug that has invaded your house.
(In the Calvinist view) Life is not about human happiness or well-being. Life is about God’s glory. And it would totally bring glory to God to just let all of us be eternally tormented in the agonizing torture of Hell. This is why it’s such good and amazing news that Jesus makes it possible for just a few of us to be saved. This is proof that God can justifiably hate humanity and at the same time love us enough to rescue a handful of us. Are you part of that lucky handful?
John Wesley was fascinated with the success of Edwards’ ministry in New England, and called him “a good, sensible man.” But he also cautioned his followers that Edwards’ teachings were like “‘wholesome food…mixed with much deadly poison” (O’Brien). You see, Wesley also believed in the sovereignty of God and the depravity of humanity, he believed in judgment and Hell, but came to very different conclusions from the Calvinists.
As an Arminian, Wesley believed that a spark of God’s Holy Spirit exists in each person as a result of the saving work of Jesus. This does not mean everyone is automatically “saved,” but it does mean everyone has a God-given sense of right and wrong that can lead us down a path of selfishness or salvation. In this worldview, God’s love cannot mean that God hates. God does not despise humanity or look upon us as repulsive spiders worthy of nothing but eternal torture. Wesley argued that no part of scripture (no matter how plain it seemed) could contradict the larger story arc of scripture that “The Lord is loving unto every man; and his mercy is over all his works.” (Psalm 114:9). How could God’s starting point be disgust and hatred towards all humanity if Jesus “everywhere speaks as if he was willing that all men should be saved” (Wesley, Free Grace). For Wesley, Calvinism represented God as the worst abusive parent, and that type of parenting can NOT be confused with love.
Since 1983, this strange sub-culture of Judgment Houses has sprung up across American evangelicalism (popularly misspelled as Judgement Houses). Instead of a Haunted House, churches put tremendous money and volunteer hours into producing a walk-through drama where you witness some horrible tragedy that leads the main characters to the Judgment seat of God. Often the death scenes are tied a little too closely to national news stories, such as one Hell House re-enacting the Columbine shooting just months after it happened. Multiple scenes play out as terrifying demons are seen manipulating real people towards eternal damnation by convincing them to have abortions, to be gay, to go to parties, or to protest at Black Lives Matter rallies (I wish I was kidding). The girl who dumped her non-Christian boyfriend gets to sing praises in heaven for eternity while her agnostic ex screams from hell “But I was a good person!” A bonus of the Judgement (sic) houses is that you are also getting a tour of the church in case you decide to come back on Sunday for worship.
According to one church website, “It is not a scare tactic. It simply presents a truth that hits home: where you spend eternity really matters” (CBCDunn).
This week, I thought it would be fun to mash up Jonathan Edwards with a Judgment House (I really refuse to misspell it if I can help it). Granted, most churches these days have really shied away from Edwards’ Angry God motif and leave the God Hates You extremism to Westboro Baptists. But you don’t have to go far down the street to hear sermons about eternal damnation. Regardless of their intentions, these approaches to frighten people into faith tend to leave more and more people with religious PTSD. Perhaps that is because conversion-through-fear is so far removed from the actual teachings and ministry of Jesus?
I’m curious, readers, to hear thoughtful responses about God’s judgment. I think it is irresponsible to ignore if we are to take the Christian faith seriously. But I also believe it is irresponsible to weaponize and even glamorize eternal torture to “save souls.” If you believe God is ultimately loving, if you believe Jesus is the full revelation of God’s love, how does that inform your view of sin and judgment? How does that inform your view of evangelism (sharing God’s love with others)?