Sharon Baker, who is a professor of theology at Messiah College, just published a new book, Razing Hell: Rethinking Everything You’ve Been Taught About God’s Wrath and Judgment. I bought it due to Brian McLaren‘s endorsement, thinking it would be a good follow-up to his book, The Last Word and the Word after That, and because I’ve always been interested in the subject of the afterlife and how it integrates into the thinking and evangelistic style of Christians. Even Christians who believe in a literal hell (a.k.a. “eternal conscious torment” for the unbeliever), hell is a confounding and frustrating doctrine. As Baker’s friend writes to her, “We don’t seem to think about how horrible it makes God look.” So it is certainly no easy task for Baker to address the issues.
The book is divided into three parts. The first part reviewing the landscape of the traditional view of hell, God’s wrath, and judgment (and believe me, she makes it known that there is way more to this doctrine than who goes where when they die!). The second part offers an alternative viewpoint of hell, God’s wrath, and judgment, while the third part offers what she titles a “New View of Hell.” While I’m only finished with the first part, what strikes me about her writing is the way she weaves personal conversations with her students and her friends. It’s a casual-yet-serious discussion about the nature of God and the problems that the eternal conscious torment theology bring to the table. Not one to get off on tangents to every possible objection raised early in the book, she cleverly “teases” the reader with brief answers while promising a fuller explanation to come. While it might sound like an odd description for a non-fiction book, in a weird way I feel like I’m reading a Daniel Silva
What I enjoy most about Razing Hell is the honest and oftentimes frustrating questions about God, justice, love, and forgiveness. She isn’t so much declaring “here’s what the Bible says” (though she certainly has opinions about what the Bible says) as she is openly questioning and critically wrestling with the traditional view. She even assures us (though she keeps teasing us by leaving the details for a future chapter) that she is not trying to “take hell away from us.” Whether I agree with her conclusions or not, I can’t wait to see how this plays out!
I wrote my Master’s Thesis paper on the afterlife, and having read dozens of articles and books on the topic, I can already say that Baker’s contribution to this heated topic will remain a major player for honest inquisitors. Even those who would not agree with her conclusions have some wrestling to do.
Follow Us!