One thing seems certain; we all die! Beyond that no one really knows. I mean…I guess clairvoyant medium types talk to dead people and could explain existence after one crosses the threshold. Hmmm…if you want. But in this post, I reflect specifically on major Christian beliefs regarding the afterlife for those who don’t believe in Jesus as God’s son…yes, The Lost, The Unredeemed, The Pagan, The Unbeliever, The Old Creation, the Nones…and how it lead me toward atheism.
Which Afterlife are you talking about?
If we are honest, a Christian theology of the afterlife is conjecture because the Bible is anything but clear on what happens after you die. Different perspectives exist within its own pages: Enoch “was no more” - seems simply to have vanished (Yoda-esque if you ask me), Gen. 5:21-25. Elijah was lifted into the sky by a whirlwind arriving on the back of a chariot of fire (II Kings 2:1,11). King Saul chats it up with a dead Samuel, a ghostly figure still wearing a robe (I Sam. 28:3-15). The Old Testament often refers to Sheol as the place for the dead, but then isn’t clear on what the hell (Get it?) such a nether world is…for good people? For bad people? A physical grave? The New Testament talks about Gehenna…a burning trash field outside Jerusalem or simply a metaphor for a horrible place? Or Hades…perhaps similar to the OT’s Sheol. But then the NT mentions the Third Heaven (2 Cor 12:2). Can I go there? Or, Abraham’s Side (Luke 16:2). But then you have, at the time of Jesus’ death, what seems a Walking Dead scenario: dead people’s bodies bursting out of tombs and meandering through Jerusalem (Matt. 27:52-53). Oh yeah, and don’t forget the imprisoned spirits of the dead from I Peter 3:19.
Good luck harmonizing that hot mess. I’m not sure the Bible knows what happens after you die. As a Christian, the text forces you to pick a path and run with it…and sometimes end up running away from it. Here’s my decent to…(fill in the pun).
Hell: Eternal Torture
First, Hell…a fundamental evangelical view of a literal fiery realm of torture. We can probably thank Dante for shaping this perspective more than the sacred text, but it still holds a dominant position in Christendom. Hell is the JUST punishment/consequence for those who don’t believe in Christ. Over simply put…it goes something like: All people are sinners. Sin must be punished because God is holy. Jesus died and received the punishment for our sins since we are incapable of doing it for ourselves. Therefore, if you accept Jesus as God’s son then the punishment for your sins is paid for. If you don’t, then you will suffer the just punishment for your sins - HELL! Because God is just.
Never mind the absurdity of atonement theology (another post for another time), but I’d like to suggest that eternal (that’s never-ending) torture in a literal fire pit is not Just but cruel and unusual, perhaps even sadistic. A couple of thought experiments to press the argument:
First, Human 1. A man believes in Jesus as God’s son, he really does, but he also happens to be an asshole. He cheats at business. He is rude and hateful to many people. He lives a greedy and materialistic life. He has an affair; gets the lady pregnant only to abandon her to care for his child on her own in order to save his reputation. “Ahh,” you might say, “He’s not a true believer.” But he is! He really does believe in Jesus as God’s son, he is just imperfect, a flawed human in need of God’s grace! Thank God for grace. He dies…no Hell for him.
Human 2: A woman who doesn't believe in Jesus as God’s son. She was born in a country where Christianity was only a minor religion. Don’t get me wrong, she had many chances to believe in Jesus…missionaries presented the gospel to her on several occasions. She just found the presentations lacking. Blame it on a hard heart, culture, science….who knows. But despite not believing in God she treats people with kindness; she joins a humanitarian group during college and helps dig wells for communities with poor drinking water. The experience is impactful enough to lead her to work 20 years for a non-profit helping the marginalized. Okay, let’s be honest….there’s some hanky-panky that goes on before marriage. In fact, she never gets married. There is also some experimental psychedelic use, and she’s been known to drop a few “F-bombs.” But at the end of her life she has literally, physically, and practically made the world a better place. She dies…Hell for her - eternal torture!
Let’s take the thought experiment one step further.
You are a Christian. You have daughter. From the time the doctor cleared her to enter public spaces you had her in church. You taught her about Jesus. You tried to model Jesus. You weren’t perfect, of course, but there was no doubt you did your best to build a gospel foundation for your daughter. But, unfortunately in her late teens she rejects Jesus and the Christian faith…not out of spite, or anger or rebellion. She can’t bring herself to accept it as true. You blame the influence of culture and her obsession with biology and physics. You blame the books she’d been reading…but at the same time you also witnessed her battle. You watched her try to believe. You watched her struggle when deciding to leave the church because, although she loved the community, she couldn’t authentically attend. You saw her pain because she knew you were disappointed. She’d listened to the apologists. She’d read The Case for Christ and experimented with more progressive thinkers like Richard Rohr, Nadia Boltz-Weber and Rob Bell, but in the end she could not authentically believe in Jesus as God’s son.
You die.
She dies later.
You now exist in the bliss of heaven, the presence of God with all the beautiful metaphors of streets of gold and unicorn pets. Meanwhile, your daughter suffers the torment of hell. You are aware she is not with you in heaven so she must be in Hell. Despite her integrity of thought and practice, despite her attempt to believe, despite you knowing her struggle, she will be in Hell, and you are supposed to be elated, the happiest, most fulfilled you’ve ever been for all of eternity while the person you would have given your life for on earth roasts like a rotisserie chicken forever. Not only that, but while you don’t get to experience your daughter in heaven, you do get to spend countless hours with Human 1 who resides there with you.
What’s just? A lifetime for a lifetime. Your daughter lived 88 years…so after 88 years, she’s paid her debt. Okay, let’s do two lifetimes for one: 176 years in hell for her 88 years on earth. Heck, let’s get crazy and say 1000 years in hell for 88 years on earth. That’s got to be more than just, right? No! Forever!
This fundamental view of hell is absurd at best, but more honestly, it’s malicious and evil. It’s not just.
Annihilation: “PooF,” You’re Gone
When I could no longer accept the violence of Hell, I reframed my theology toward Annihilationism. In this belief, when the unbeliever dies, they simply cease to exist while the Believer dwells with God forever. No eternal torture here, just an end. A couple of observations regarding this view.
First, this is what I believe as an atheist. When I die, that’s it. I cease to exist. That’s not really bad. As Mark Twain says,
“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”
Or as Epicurus put it:
“Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And once it does come, we no longer exist.”
One might argue that existence coming to an end might be a better option than eternity. Part of what makes an experience special, memorable and appreciated is knowing it won’t last. I think the same is true for life. Annihilationism fails to be compelling.
Second, replay the thought experiment from above….eternity without those with whom you love the most seems a less than the ideal eternity. I guess at some point you get use to the forever without them.
Universalism: An “All Dogs Go to Heaven” Kinda thing
In my last couple of years as a Christian I was a Universalist. I rejected the notion that the God I understood in Jesus Christ would either torture or annihilate flawed humans for failure to believe in his son. Instead, I concluded that Christ’s work on the cross, and more importantly the power of the resurrection (the reversal of death), undid the curse of sin (death itself) not just for Believers but for all humanity…. even all Creation. I did not preach such theology because I figured it would lead to unemployment but I believed it.
The problem with Universalism is that, from an afterlife perspective, it removes the need for the belief in Jesus as God’s son. If you believe in Jesus as God’s son, good, you spend eternity as the New Creation with God. If you DON’T believe in Jesus as God’s son, not so good, but you still spend eternity as the New Creation with God. Therefore, if the gospel secures the afterlife for everyone and everything, then what is the purpose of Christ for this early existence?
The purpose of Christ becomes the way of Christ, not for afterlife purposes, but for this life purposes. In other words, the purpose of Christ becomes more about the way he lived, the things he taught, the manner in which he died, rather than what he accomplished for the afterlife. In short, Jesus becomes an ethic for this life, not a life raft for the next life.
If this is the case, if Universalism leads one to focus on the ethic and person of Jesus rather than the atonement of Christ - the invisible transaction between God and sin - then miracles, virgin births, divine humans, and holy spirits have little to do with everyday life. In fact, there is no need to believe in a supernatural being who orchestrated all things. You can follow the ethical teachings of Jesus whether God exists or not. Universalism is perhaps closer to Humanism than Christianity. Humanism…now that’s something I can get behind.
Slippery slope: This is what your mom warned you about
Perhaps a Believer reads this and says, “Of course he is an atheist humanist. Once you leave the fundamental beliefs of Heaven and Hell you slowly unravel toward disbelief…orthodoxy to annihilationism to universalism to humanism to atheism. Yep, that makes sense.” I agree! It does to me as well. The difference is a Believer sees it as a decline toward lies and I see it as progression toward truth.