Religion

Hell: A COMPASSIONATE view?

How do you think the world’s going right now?
In this world, how do we address the problem of evil?
WHY? What are we trying to achieve?
Does it work?

The problem we face here is that we can only see the externals, the actions, not the whole person.

However, in the spiritual world, the whole person becomes manifest.

  • We enter the next life with our mask but as it drops away, the internal person – our motivations, desires, and thoughts – shows itself.
  • As this occurs in me and others, we come to see whose company we gravitate towards. “Birds of a feather flock together.”

THIS IS JUDGEMENT.

The Lord acts from LOVE!

  • Does not restrict the entrance to heaven
  • Never sends anyone to hell
  • Seeks to raise all to heaven (or at the very least, to restrict their descent into hell)
  • No one is born for hell, nor with any spiritual disadvantage

“… divine providence is a predestination only to heaven … … everyone is created to go to heaven. This is the ultimate goal of creation. The reason not everyone gets to heaven, though, is that people immerse themselves in pleasures of hell that are contrary to the blessedness of heaven. People who do not enjoy heaven’s bliss cannot enter heaven because they cannot stand the place.” (Divine Providence, paragraph 324)

Swedenborg does describe about the suffering of evil spirits … when they attempt to enter heaven!

“… after death no one is prevented from coming up into heaven. We are shown the way and given the resources, and we are let in. However, [if we enjoy evil] when we get to heaven and breathe in its pleasure, we begin to have such chest pains, heart pangs, and dizziness that we writhe like a snake next to a fire. Then with faces turned away from heaven and toward hell, we run away headlong, finding no rest until we are in the community of our own love.” (Divine Providence, paragraph 338)

Hell is no more than the consequence of a life focused (or “delighting in”) selfishness or merely external concerns. And the choice is ours.

What is heaven for you? Where do you find your greatest delight? That is either your heaven or your hell.

Recorded on Sunday 19 November 2023