Dr Paul Allen

Welcome to Hell (Photo credit: googly ) This far-fetched urban legend has been pin-balled around in-boxes of the gullible since the 1990s. It first emerged as a story about “The Well to Hell” in which a deep borehole well was drilled in Russia. The crew apparently then lowered a super-heat-resistant microphone into the pit and recorded sounds of the damned souls screaming. Yup. Thankfully the farce has petered out somewhat and has been debunked. So, do we dismiss every aspect of the report? Um, yes. And yet, Russian boreholes not withstanding, the episode exhibits the concept many people insist on, that Hell is not merely a state of mind, but a real place. So is it? The State Hell is in The three most important aspects of real estate and the afterlife: location, location, location. It is essential that we disabuse ourselves of the misconception that the nature of Hell is unknowable because it is a merely “spiritual reality” or a “state of mind” of self-inflicted emotional pain ex...

John Calvin (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) No specific biblical reference declares explicitly that we will recognize each other. But the implicit teaching of Scripture is so overwhelming that I don’t think there’s really any doubt that we will be able to recognize each other in heaven. There is an element of discontinuity between this life and the life to come: We’re going to be changed in the twinkling of an eye; we’ll have a new body, and the old will pass away. Nevertheless, the Christian view of life after death is not like the Eastern view of annihilation, in which we lose our personal identities in some kind of a sea of forgetfulness. Even though there is this element of discontinuity, replacing the old with the new, there’s a strong element of continuity in that the individual person will continue to live on into eternity. Part of what it means to be an individual person is to be involved in personal relationships. In fact, one of the articles of the Apostles’ Creed is that w...

North door of iconostasis: Abraham's Bosom, Adam and Eve in Eden, Banishment from the Eden; Parable about the souls of Righteous Man and of a Sinner; Saint Sisoes the Great at the tomb of Alexander the Great. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom : the rich man also died, and was buried." ( Luke 16:22 ) Many scholars believe that the episode reported in Luke 16:19-31 actually happened; that it is a true story. If it is a parable , it is not identified as such, and it is the only one in which the name of a participant is given. Christ related the story as if it were true. But whether history or parable, we can learn much from the contrast between these two dramatically different men, their deaths and destinies. The rich man, of course, surrounded himself with luxury ( v. 19 ) while Lazarus struggled each day just to survive until the next poverty-filled and pain-wracked day (...

English: Print by Gustave Doré illustrating the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, from the Gospel of Luke Русский: Притча богач и Лазарь из Евангелия от Луки, художник Гюстав Доре (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) No specific biblical reference declares explicitly that we will recognize each other. But the implicit teaching of Scripture is so overwhelming that I don’t think there’s really any doubt that we will be able to recognize each other in heaven.  There is an element of discontinuity between this life and the life to come: We’re going to be changed in the twinkling of an eye; we’ll have a new body, and the old will pass away. Nevertheless, the Christian view of life after death is not like the Eastern view of annihilation, in which we lose our personal identities in some kind of a sea of forgetfulness. Even though there is this element of discontinuity, replacing the old with the new, there’s a strong element of continuity in that the individual person will continue to ...