But I must admit that, if this view of the death of Jesus is correct, it does have a wonderful implication.After all, how can someone claim that Jesus’ death (and perhaps a subsequent descent into hell, according to some) was his bearing of the punishment for sin that others ought to have paid, if that punishment is eternal, and yet Jesus did not suffer eternally?
Based on the Biblical accounts of Jesus’ death and the amount of time he spent in the grave, punishment will last at most a couple of days. And so if you are a conservative Christian, you can rejoice at this implication of one of your core beliefs: Jesus’ death frees you from the fear of hell – both for yourself and for others. Hallelujah!
On a related note, here is a provocative cartoon, which provides another reason to think that eternal punishment is a fundamentally mistaken notion. To suggest that a God who calls us to forgive and to treat others as we would want to be treated does not “practice what he preaches” is problematic, to say the least:
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