大象传媒

Good morning.

鈥淎ll hell is going to break out,鈥� President Trump said yesterday, in relation to the precarious ceasefire in Gaza and the question of the release of the remaining Israeli hostages. Looking at the latest scenes from Gaza, it seems to me like hell has already been unleashed. Palestinians are returning to utter devastation. There鈥檚 been no shortage of fire, torment, pain and agony, all things which live in the popular consciousness when we think of hell And the look on the faces of those hostages released this week gives a glimpse into the 鈥榟ell鈥� they鈥檝e also experienced. War is a hellscape to rival anything depicted in artwork or in my feeble imagination.

In the New Testament hell meant Gehenna, a place in Jerusalem where people dumped their garbage. In the Old Testament, there isn鈥檛 an exact word or concept for hell which would match up to our idea of it as a place of eternal torment. The Hebrew word Sheol is used to describe a terrible place of dread where people might go when they die, and there are code words to signify this; the miry pit is used in the psalms, as a place of darkness where people find themselves and are unable to claw their way out.

This description of hell I know all too well. People have described depression as the black dog, but as a dog lover who finds comfort in my best friend, my faithful pug, I鈥檝e never been happy with that descriptor. To me, hell is a deep pit, with sides so steep and narrow, that all light is blocked out. A place where you feel trapped and alone, hemmed in on all sides, which makes it very difficult for people to reach down and pull you out. 鈥淚 feel like I鈥檓 in hell,鈥� I said to my husband, when things were at their worst. So when my kids, or the kids I work with ask me, 鈥渋s hell real?鈥� I want to say yes. I鈥檝e been there many times.

As a Christian living in Britian, a real 鈥榩hysical hell鈥� due to war is beyond my experience or understanding. I still struggle with a literal view of hell as a judgement from God, and it鈥檚 something my theology doesn鈥檛 fully support. The loving God I believe in works through grace not fear and punishment.

It鈥檚 been said that if you go to hell, make sure you don鈥檛 come back empty handed. For all its darkness, there are lessons to be learned in the miry pit, one of which is a renewed respect for the power of hell and a dislike of it being casually invoked by the powerful as a judgement on anyone. Another lesson I have learned is that God doesn鈥檛 create 鈥榟ell鈥�. It鈥檚 people who do that.

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