Hell Revisited

A post at Leadership Journal's blog has pastor Brian McLaren and evangelist Tony Compolo talking about Hell in some interesting ways. McLaren asks

When God created the universe, did he have two purposes in mind—one being to create some people who would forever enjoy blessing and mercy, and another to create a group who would forever suffer torment, torture, and punishment? What is our view of God? A God who plans torture? A God who has an essential, eternal quality of hatred? Is God love, or is God love and hate?

From scripture he argues that Jesus' descent to the dead (obliquely referenced in I Peter 3:19 and Ephesians 4:9-10) shows that those who have died can get a second chance. Tony Compolo says

Yes, I believe there will be people in hell eternally, but somehow, I believe from Scripture—note I said from Scripture—that in the end everybody gets a chance to choose.

This idea of a second chance post death is not new, but hearing it from a respected evangelical leader like Compolo is. The two are offering an alternative view to the binary choice of 1) a very strictly exclusive heaven with few making the cut or 2) universalism in which EVERYONE eventually ends up in heaven.

You can read the full two part post here: Part I | Part II.