I might go to Hell over this one
Tonight I got to hear my friend Jack the butcher speak about following Christ not being about good behavior but truth in life.
This got me thinking, as Rees the Realtor and I have been talking about the origins and notions of hell.
The Pharisees used the concept of hell to try and get people to follow the law. Jesus used the Pharisees position on hell and turned it back on them.
Is a literal belief about hell helpful in bringing us to life, heart, inner transformation; or is hell helpful in creating good behavior?
Matthew 16:18 in the Net Bible says: "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."
An alternate reading in other texts is, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the power of death will not overpower it."
I started wondering the other day if when Jesus says to Peter, "the gates of hell/sheol/gehenna/hades[whatever you want to call it] shall not overcome [the church]" if Jesus is really speaking about the Pharisee's legalism.
Is Jesus saying the Pharisee's legalism shall never overcome the true church? The more I interact with Paul and his discussions of the law and the gentiles and Jews, I see him wanting to set them free from the law.
The whole sabbath for man not man for the sabbath argument comes to mind.
Boy this all seems like a stretch, but please let me know your thoughts....
This got me thinking, as Rees the Realtor and I have been talking about the origins and notions of hell.
The Pharisees used the concept of hell to try and get people to follow the law. Jesus used the Pharisees position on hell and turned it back on them.
Is a literal belief about hell helpful in bringing us to life, heart, inner transformation; or is hell helpful in creating good behavior?
Matthew 16:18 in the Net Bible says: "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."
An alternate reading in other texts is, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the power of death will not overpower it."
I started wondering the other day if when Jesus says to Peter, "the gates of hell/sheol/gehenna/hades[whatever you want to call it] shall not overcome [the church]" if Jesus is really speaking about the Pharisee's legalism.
Is Jesus saying the Pharisee's legalism shall never overcome the true church? The more I interact with Paul and his discussions of the law and the gentiles and Jews, I see him wanting to set them free from the law.
The whole sabbath for man not man for the sabbath argument comes to mind.
Boy this all seems like a stretch, but please let me know your thoughts....
posted by Jonathan Myers at 7:43 AM
5 Comments:
Has your interaction with Donald Miller's "Tony the Beat Poet" caused you to so classify Rees the Realtor and Jack the Butcher? Would that make me Justin the the Hippie Pastor?
Oops...I just read your next post and discovered that I am, in fact, Justin the guitar player.
possible, my wife says I do a poor job of giving out peoples names, yet I want to give a sense of who they are...so sure I copyed DM. I really liked Jack the Butcher
Ooo...I want a name.
Yeah I want a name too, like jeffrey the brother-in-law or Jeffrey the climber.
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