Christian Heaven and Hell are not biblical

[RubinHighlander]

I enjoyed this NPR Fresh Air interview today with a religious scholar that says Heaven and Hell are 'Not What Jesus Preached'.
https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/

It's pretty insightful and interesting, the evolution of these religious ideas. In my truth seeking journey I had learned that the devil was a later invention, that there were several previous archetypes of Jesus, but I had not thought about how other concepts/dogmas evolved over time and were not always there. Things like resurrection, the soul, the afterlife, these always seemed like foundation truth claims from the beginning of the bible. It just goes to show how easily we as humans are deceived by tribal dogma.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

Great interview. Bart is a very reasonable biblical scholar.

[Hagoth]

Thanks RH! Added it to my podcast list for my next bike ride.

[wtfluff]

This subject reminds me of some of the concepts that Rob Bell preaches.

Rob is a believer - look up "Love Wins" if interested.

[Hagoth]

I really enjoyed this interview with Bart Ehrman and I just ordered his Heaven and Hell book. Thanks again RH for the heads-up. There are some specific verses I hoped he would discuss, but there's only so much you can do in a single podcast. I'm sure he'll hit them in the book. I have really enjoyed his other books that I've read.

One thing I came to realize while listening to Ehrman is that the Jehovah's Witnesses actually seem to have the most literal interpretation about the afterlife, based on what is actually taught in the Bible.

[Hagoth]

This subject reminds me of some of the concepts that Rob Bell preaches.

Rob is a believer - look up "Love Wins" if interested.

Bell's answer reminds me of D&C 19. Is he trying to get Martin Harris to pay for his next book?

I would love it if Christians in general would move in this direction. I don't know how you can be a genuinely loving person and embrace the concept of eternal torment dished out by a God who you love and who you claim to be loving.

[jfro18]

I listened to this as well and really enjoyed it. I actually subscribed to a year of Ehrman's blog ($25 a year) as all of they $$ goes to charities to help with hunger/etc... pretty cool thing he's doing with that.

Also, if you've never heard Ehrman's Mormon Stories episode I highly recommend it. It is short (an hour or so?), but it hits a lot of stuff quickly and I thought it was a great listen: https://www.mormonstories.org/podcast/bart-ehrman/

[Hagoth]

I actually subscribed to a year of Ehrman's blog

I didn't even know about this. Thanks for mentioning it, jfro!

[jfro18]

For those who don't know of Bart Ehrman's blog, he posts I believe a few times a week and has been doing it for years.

So if you subscribe even for a month, you can check out his entire series of posts... some are more surface things and some get more into the weeds.

I subscribed like two months ago and have only read like 10 articles, but I hope to change that soon

His blog is @ https://ehrmanblog.org/

And as I mentioned earlier, every dollar he gets from the blog is donated to charities, and I believe they have emphasis on helping with world hunger.

He seems like a really great person and his knowledge of the biblical stuff is incredible... and on the blog posts he will respond to people who have questions or disagree, which is sometimes just as useful as the posts themselves.