Tag Archives: hell
Hell, No! Weekly Summary
Hell, No! Saturday, September 18, 2021 Week Thirty-Seven Summary and Practice Sunday, September 12—Friday, September 17, 2021 Sunday Your image of God creates you. This is why it is important that we see God as loving and benevolent and why good theology still matters. Monday Heaven is not about belonging to the right group or… Continue Reading Hell, No! Weekly Summary
Who We Are Is Who We Will Be
Hell, No! Who We Are Is Who We Will Be Friday, September 17, 2021 My colleague Brian McLaren has long explored what it might mean to be a “new kind of Christian.” Brian once wrote a fictionalized story about a pastor asking questions at the edges of his faith. Dan, the book’s main character, strikes… Continue Reading Who We Are Is Who We Will Be
Love Is All There Is
Hell, No! Love Is All There Is Thursday, September 16, 2021 We are born out of love. We live in love. We are destined for love. —Blessed Raymón Llull, The Book of the Lover and the Beloved There are few people who teach as passionately about love as scientist, scholar, and Franciscan Sister Ilia Delio.… Continue Reading Love Is All There Is
Universal Salvation of All Creation
Hell, No! Universal Salvation of All Creation Wednesday, September 15, 2021 Elizabeth Johnson, the brilliant theologian, Sister of St. Joseph, and professor at Fordham University, has written extensively about the universal nature of salvation— not only for humans, but for all creation. By focusing our religious conversations on the problem of human sin and “worthiness,”… Continue Reading Universal Salvation of All Creation
Universal Good News
Hell, No! Universal Good News Tuesday, September 14, 2021 In the first five centuries of Christianity, many of the church fathers affirmed universal salvation. It seems we were much more hopeful at the beginning that the Gospel really was universally good news! A mystical experience led Carlton Pearson, a former evangelical megachurch pastor, to complete… Continue Reading Universal Good News
Choosing Heaven Now
Hell, No! Choosing Heaven Now Monday, September 13, 2021 The shape of creation must somehow mirror and reveal the shape of the Creator. We must have a God at least as big as the universe. Otherwise, our view of God becomes irrelevant, constricted, and more harmful than helpful. The Christian image of a torturous hell… Continue Reading Choosing Heaven Now
God Is Good
Hell, No! God Is Good Sunday, September 12, 2021 Your image of God creates you. This is why it is important that we see God as loving and benevolent and why good theology still matters. One mistaken image of God that keeps us from receiving grace is the idea that God is a cruel tyrant.… Continue Reading God Is Good
Heaven and Hell
Heaven Now Heaven and Hell Sunday, April 28, 2019 Lord, will only a few people be saved? —Luke 13:23 But remember, some who are now last will be first. And some who think they are first will be last. —Luke 13:30 Many of the saints said that no one is going to hell unless they… Continue Reading Heaven and Hell
The Death of Death
Jesus’ Resurrection The Death of Death Sunday, April 21, 2019 Easter The seeds of Easter are already found in Christmas. If God can become flesh, incarnating in the material world, then resurrection is a natural conclusion. Nothing divine can die. Easter isn’t celebrating a one-time miracle as if it only happened in the body of… Continue Reading The Death of Death
Big Life Includes Small Deaths
Spirituality of Letting Go: Week 2 Big Life Includes Small Deaths Friday, September 9, 2016 All the world can give us is small thinking, a small mind. But small mind, without the unitive experience of big mind, makes us feel unbearably alone. We feel lost, existentially guilty, and often fragile and powerless. A lot of… Continue Reading Big Life Includes Small Deaths