Christian Research Journal Reads Episode 133: Is It Abusive to Teach Children about Hell

This is Episode 133 of Christian Research Journal Reads. This is an audio version of the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL article, “Is It Abusive to Teach Children about Hell” by Rebekah Valerius.  This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 41, number 3 (2018).
https://www.equip.org/articles/is-it-abusive-to-teach-children-about-hell/
 It was accompanied by Postmodern Realities Episode 073: Is It Abusive to Teach Children about Hell?


This podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. As the flagship publication of the Christian Research Institute, the Journal seeks to equip followers of Christ to think and to live Christianly—to exercise truth and experience life. Truth, especially essential Christian doctrine, forms the basis for how we live our lives in Christ. As the apostle Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Tim. 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”The Christian Research Journal enjoyed a print incarnation of almost 45 years. Now exclusively an online publication, the Journal consists of thousands of free articles. We hope that through these audio articles you are not only equipped to proclaim and defend your faith but that as a disciple you also draw closer to Christ in your walk with Him.  You can find the written version of each article that is an episode of Christian Research Journal Reads at the website of the Christian Research Institute, equip.org. All Christian Research Journal articles at equip.org are completely free and do not require a subscription and are not under a paywall.All episodes will be available at the following podcast platforms with more being added daily! You can help spread the word about this new podcast by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on and telling others!You can view off our Website at the at this link and off our Journal main page. 



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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is episode one hundred and thirty three of the
Christian Research Journal Reads Podcast. Is It Abusive to Teach
Children About Hell? By Rebecca Valerius. This article first appeared
in the print edition of the Christian Research Journal, Volume
forty one, number three, and twenty eighteen. The Christian Research

(00:31):
Journal Reads Podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles.
To read the full text of this article and its documentation,
please go to equip dot org. That's e qu ip
dot rg.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Is it Abusive to teach Children about Hell? By Rebecca Valerius,
read by Christina Winterstellar. Quote Thank goodness, I have never
personally experienced what it is like to believe, really and
truly and deeply believe in Hell? Unquote, writes doctor Richard Dawkins. Quote,

(01:14):
but I think it can be plausibly argued that such
a deeply held belief might cause a child more long
lasting mental trauma than the temporary embarrassment of mild physical
abuse unquote. He speculates that research likely would indicate such
a belief to be more damaging than the sexual abuse
he experienced as a child. Is teaching children about Hell abusive?

(01:39):
While it certainly is the case that certain ways of
teaching children about Hell would fall into the category of abuse.
Dawkins seems to indicate that any belief in Hell is
intrinsically dangerous to a child's mental well being. Though inflamed
with his characteristic hyperbole, the statement does reflect something of

(01:59):
the spirit of the age. We struggle with the concept
of eternal damnation, and though it is hard to imagine
it a comfortable topic in any era, as a topic
of this nature should be, our modern discomfort is unique.
Thinking of the doctrine in terms of its impact on
mental health is indicative of this. One could say that,

(02:21):
more than ever, our minds are on earthly things. We
may preserve our mental health but lose our immortal souls.
It is thus important to understand the sources of our
modern distaste for this teaching, for these are part of
the stronghold's characteristic of our times. In critically exploring these sources,
we can best instruct children in the essential Biblical doctrine

(02:43):
of Hell. For despite Dawkins's disapproval, to refrain from teaching
our children about Hell would be an abuse of greater
severity Dawkins eschatology. Dawkins cannot offer the child in eschatological
orientation that is any easier on the mind, How can
it not also be a source of mental anguish to

(03:06):
believe that an inescapable nonexistence awaits them at death. The
eternal torments of hell are frightening, indeed, but if taught
in connection with the Gospel, these are shown to be
entirely escapable, unlike atheism's meaningless annihilation. Elsewhere, Dawkins likens theism

(03:26):
to an infantile delusion. He extols atheism because it enables
humanity to quote leave the cry baby phase and finally
come of age unquote ostensibly to face this inevitable future
of nothingness. One wonders how this is less detrimental to
a child's mental well being modern barriers. Still, Dawkins is

(03:51):
not alone in his disgust and disbelief in hell and
God's final judgment. Through the centuries, Christians have sought either
to downplay or outright deny these, the most popular modern
version being Rob Bell's book Love Wins, wherein God's righteous
judgment is sacrificed to a distorted understanding of his love

(04:14):
embedded in Docin's self congratulatory rhetoric, and to a lesser
degree the poor exegesis from the likes of Bell are
two of the modern assumptions that create our struggle with Hell,
namely a blind faith in human progress and an inadequate
understanding of the seriousness of sin. In his book Everything

(04:36):
You Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven But Never Dreamed
Of Asking, Peter Crift argues that one of the greatest
barriers to accepting the biblical doctrine of Hell is an
irrational faith and moral progress. It is perhaps the most
dominant myth of our age what Creft calls quote our
overall structuring concept, our uncriticized assumption unquote. It is astonishing

(05:02):
that this myth has taken hold, considering the atrocities of
the last century. Despite these, we remain incredibly naive about
sin and its consequences. Crieft puts it succinctly, quote we
are still Chamberlain in Munich when it comes to the
soul unquote. What drives this faith in progress is a

(05:23):
false belief that we know more than we did in
the past about what is good. We no longer believe
in a supernatural order that sin distorts and justice repairs.
In his book The Reason for God, Tim Keller notes
that the ancients believed that quote if you violated that
metaphysical order, there were consequences just as severe as if

(05:46):
you violated physical reality by placing your hand in a fire.
Modernity reverses this principle in its view that the natural
world is all that there is and that it can
be conformed to our ONTs and desires. Today, we tend
to be repulsed by any manifestation of shame again, out
of concern for our mental health. Mercy and forgiveness are

(06:09):
emphasized to the neglect of other virtues, such as justice
and righteousness. To be sure, in our culture, it often
seems that mercy and justice never kiss. Part of the
reason is that we no longer appeal to the supernatural
order that could make them do so. The virtues are
thought of in isolation and in self referential terms. They

(06:33):
wander wildly in our world, inflicting damage, as G. K.
Chesterton observed, since we no longer have an objective means
by which we can understand their essence. Quote. Thus, some
scientists care for truth, and their truth is pitiless unquote
Chesterton rites and quote some humanitarians only care for pity,

(06:55):
and their pity is often untruthful unquote. This creates a
defective view of both good and evil and their relationship
with each other. Dawkins's diminishment of the abuse he received
reflects this. To understand the need for hell, we must
resist the myth of progress and remember that our vision
of goodness is dimmed, especially with regards to ourselves. Crift

(07:20):
reminds us that even the greatest of saints have never
failed to affirm their deep sinfulness and the dire state
of their soul apart from Christ. Do we think we
know more than they about quote the mystery of iniquity unquote?
Crieft asks, just as quote Socrates, the wisest man, knows
that he knows nothing unquote, the best among us know

(07:43):
that his quote heart is deceitful above all things unquote.
Teaching children in light of these false assumptions, how do
we teach children about Hell? A well rounded instruction on
God's character as the source of all that is good
good is essential for understanding this doctrine. Children should be

(08:04):
steeped in all aspects of God's attributes for them to
comprehend the consequences of rejecting him. How should never be
discussed in isolation from a consideration of who God is,
as best displayed in Jesus, the one who is quote
the image of the invisible God, the first born of
all creation unquote, what Jesus taught. Contrary to popular opinion,

(08:31):
the fiery judgment of God from the Old Testament is
not absent in the New Testament, but finds its home
in many of Jesus's teachings. We are prone to forget this,
especially given that the Church has tended to emphasize his
mercy over and above his justice. Chesterton writes that this
emphasis quote is inspired by a perfectly sound popular instinct unquote.

(08:56):
For quote, the mass of the poor are broken, and
the mass of the people are poor. And for the
mass of mankind, the main thing is to carry the
conviction of the incredible compassion of God unquote. We see
this compassion on display in the Gospels. Yet it is
far from all that we see. Beyond healing the sick,

(09:18):
caring for the poor, and expressing in quote almost heartbreaking beauty,
his pity for our broken hearts unquote, Jesus was intent
on exposing the evil in those hearts as well. The
last judgment is a theme that Jesus returned to again
and again, and he depicted the suffering of those that

(09:39):
reject him as anything but mild. Though he used metaphors
to describe Hell, these only served to increase its inexplicable
nature in terms of what we know here and now.
He described it as fire, darkness, and eternal exclusion from
the presence of God. While the precise details are less

(09:59):
than we will like, they are enough to convey a
place of torment and destruction. These hard teachings cannot be
dissociated from his entire mission. For quote, the primary thing
that he was going to do was to die, unquote,
to offer an escape for us. Hell is inextricably linked

(10:19):
to his cross. Practical suggestions. Imaginative engagement here is indispensable. Actually,
imaginative engagement with all the propositional statements of the faith
is important for it helps us to in flesh more
abstract doctrines. There is tremendous value here in moving children

(10:41):
toward a real apprehension of the self imposed nature of
Hell and the effects of rejecting God. Arguably, this is
what Jesus was doing in all of his parables involving Hell.
C s Lewis's The Last Battle provides a vivid look
at sin, judgment and the afterlife for young children, whilst

(11:03):
the more complex themes of his The Great Divorce can
be grappled with by older teens. Discuss and do not
hide the disturbing aspects of Hell with your children, again,
always within the context of the good news. It is
best that your children are introduced to this reality in
a safe environment where they are invited into the conversation

(11:24):
and have the freedom to ask questions. Talk through the
various metaphors that Jesus uses in age appropriate ways. With
your children, always keep in the discussion within the framework
of all of God's attributes, his justice, as well as
his goodness, mercy, and love. Prepare them for statements such
as Dawkins's for Embedded within these are the hidden presuppositions

(11:49):
of our culture that they certainly will encounter. Help them
think through these in clear and compassionate ways. One question
that will likely arise involves the thing of unbelieving friends.
Crieft calls this the problem of the precise quote population
statistics unquote of Hell, remarking that Jesus does not give

(12:11):
us these apart from warning us that quote, the gait
is wide, and the way is easy, that leads to destruction,
and those who enter by it are many unquote. We
can tell our children that the reality of hell underscores
the exigency of the Great commission. It is not the
Lord's will that any be lost, and he rejoices over

(12:33):
the recovery of one lost sheep amongst the many. Finally,
we must teach children that hell is not a place
that we stumble into unawares and then find ourselves hopelessly trapped.
It is a place where people find themselves after a
lifetime of saying quote no unquote to God. The horrific

(12:54):
conditions realized in the finality of Hell are self inflicted
hell and cross. To teach the reality of hell to
children without the gift of salvation would indeed be abusive.
More importantly, it would be untrue. In Christ, our judge
and our Redeemer are one. Unlike Dawkins, we cannot forget

(13:17):
that the one who spoke in such vivid metaphors with
respect to the torments of Hell is also the one
who eats with tax collectors and sinners, offers to carry
our burdens, and assures us in the most comforting words
to take heart and not be fearful. Our judge wept
over Jerusalem like a mother weeps for her children, a

(13:37):
city that would hand him over as a criminal worthy
of crucifixion. Just a few days later, with respect to children,
our judge reserves some of his harshest statements for the
person that leads them into sin, saying that quote it
would be better for him to have a great millstone
fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the

(13:57):
depth of the sea. Quote. There is a rich context
to the Biblical teachings on Hell, and Christianity tells us
it involves a moral order that we have been given
the freedom to violate. Thomas c Odin notes that quote
the teaching of Hell rightly calls to mind the dignity
of human freedom and the high costs of its abuse. Unquote,

(14:21):
it also points to the high cost of Our Lord's
sacrifice on the Cross. We see, then, that the reality
of Hell is intertwined with the Gospel in such a
way that to try and remove it necessarily unravels the
entire gift. C. S. Lewis describe this tension in the
Problem of Pain when he wrote quote so much mercy,

(14:43):
yet still there is hell unquote. This is the awful
goodness of our Lord. Quote safe unquote said Lewis's mister
Beaver about Asland to the children after entering Narnia. Quote
who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe,
but he's good. He's the King, I tell you unquote.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
Thank you for listening to another episode from the Christian
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(15:32):
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(15:54):
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(16:15):
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