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Heaven and Hell Explained
The Question from a Light Magazine reader
A reader has expressed 'shock' on reading that rewards in heaven or
punishment in hell do not feature among our Christadelphian beliefs.
This is, they say, contrary to the teaching of Jesus in two passages in
Luke's Gospel record which seem to indicate that hell is a place of
torment for the wicked and that believers will go to be with Jesus for
ever in heaven.
- See Luke 16.19-31 and Luke 13.28
The Answer from the Correspondence Secretary
If we look first at Luke chapter 16 we find Jesus telling a story
about a rich man and a beggar called Lazarus. The rich man talks with
Abraham, after both he and the beggar have died and it is suggested
this supports the idea that souls go to heaven and hell.
Firstly, it should be noted that the words heaven, hell and souls are
not mentioned in this chapter. It cannot be literal when Abraham states
that:
"... between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us."
In the story, Abraham and the rich man could see each
other and the tormented rich man suggested that Lazarus dip his finger
in water, come to him and cool his tongue (see Luke 16.24). The passage
also speaks about bodies not souls in terms of eyes, bosom, finger and
tongue whereas the common misconception is that souls are not bodies
and leave the body at death.
This is one of the many parables which Jesus used to underline his
teaching. A parable is a simple story which conveys a message to
endorse an important point. The passage doesn't state that Jesus spoke
a parable, nevertheless it clearly was a parable, as only 11 of the 26
parables in Luke's Gospel are actually named as parables.
Another example is the previous parable in the same chapter, which
again concerns a rich man and a shrewd 'steward' or manager who was
responsible for looking after his business affairs. The parable
concluded with the fact that the Pharisees loved money. They were
therefore represented by the rich class (see Luke 16.14). In contrast
Lazarus was typical of most of the Jews of his day, the poor class
deprived of even the basic essentials of life. So we ask ourselves, why
give the poor man a specific name?
The answer may be that Lazarus was known to the audience and the
parable may have been given after Jesus received the news that his
friend Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha had died. To further
support this idea, the parable was given east of the river Jordan at a
place called Bethabara and although it was only a short journey from
Bethabara to Bethany, we read that Jesus stayed where he was for two
more days (see John 11.6). We also learn that Lazarus' body had laid in the
tomb for four days, as Martha told Jesus when he came to the tomb.
She said to Jesus:
"Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days"
After this we know that Jesus performed
a great miracle, raising him from the dead.
It should also be noted that the rich man was clothed with purple
and fine linen and living a life of luxury. There was only one class
who daily dressed in this way and they were the priestly class called
the Sadducees who were misleading the people with their attitude
towards adultery, divorce and by denying the resurrection. So the
parable was addressing these incorrect ideas, but they were not
listening and the raising of Lazarus only made them more anxious to
find a way of killing both Jesus and Lazarus as the record makes clear
in John chapters 11 and 12.
The final words of Jesus at the end of the parable sum up his
teaching. In answer to the rich man's request to send Lazarus to his
brothers' house, in order to warn them, Jesus said:
"If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."
Turning to the verse in Luke chapter 13, we note this does not
mention heaven, hell or souls but comes from the answer of Jesus to
the question in verse 23:
"Lord, are there few who are saved?"
A reading of the following verses up to verse 28 show that some who
think they are entitled to a place in God's kingdom will be surprised to
find that they are rejected because of their misunderstanding of God's
plan of salvation and their way of life.
It is also interesting to note that verse 28 mentions Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob being "in the kingdom of God". They are also referred to in
Hebrews 11 as being among the faithful who are yet to receive the
promise of eternal life. They will remain in the grave until Jesus
returns to establish God's Kingdom on earth. At that time they will
"receive the promise" along with the living who are found faithful at
that time:
"... all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us."
King David is also mentioned in the list of faithful men and women
in Hebrews 11 and his position among those who:
"did not receive the promise"
is endorsed by Peter in his address to the people in Jerusalem
on the day of Pentecost:
"let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day."
Peter goes on to emphasise the point that:
"David did not ascend into the heavens."
The teaching of Jesus whether in parables or otherwise is consistent
and can be summed up in some well known words found in the Gospel
of John:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life."
This verse declares God's love towards us by allowing Jesus to be
the focus of His plan of salvation. Through God's love an individual
can have the certainty of knowing that, believing in Jesus and following
his commands with a full and true understanding, leads to eternal life
to be enjoyed in the kingdom of God on earth.
The alternative to this is not to be tormented like the rich man of
the parable but in the words of Jesus to "perish". The original Greek of
the New Testament implies complete destruction. The consistent
teaching of the Bible is that death itself is the divine punishment for sin
and those who do not avail themselves of God's gracious offer of
salvation are without hope and will remain in the grave.
So we trust you are not "shocked" by our rejection of the notion of
heaven being the place of reward and hell the place of punishment, as
such ideas are not Scripturally based. The Apostle Paul underlined the
real alternatives when he wrote to the believers at Rome:
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Author Correspondence Secretary
Source Light on a New World reprint from Volume 22.1
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