Some
people in the West believe in a sadistic god who perpetually tortures people in
hell. But the Orthodox Christians in the East always knew what the Bible’s
references to Heaven and Hell meant. They never believed in a sadistic god. The
Holy Fathers teach that God is both Heaven and Hell, according to each person’s
righteousness. He loves everyone and He will embrace everyone. But not everyone
will see Him as light. Some people will be unable to tolerate His Love and they
will suffer, because they had learned only to hate…
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When we say
that God is both light and fire, Protestants often ask us: “Where
did you find that in the Bible?” Even though they know it’s
irrational to believe that God tortures people, they need quotes
from the Bible to be convinced.
Of course we
Christians don’t need to see something written in the Bible in order to
believe it. But we are going to present a few biblical passages that
support our opinion. Thus, the Protestants will be able to abandon the
western, blasphemous notion of a sadistic God, and they will see that
the teachings of the Lord’s Orthodox Church are always true.
Let’s start with Isaiah:
“The sinners in Zion are afraid;
fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell
with the devouring fire? Who among us
shall dwell with the everlasting burnings?
He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth
the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes,
that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from
seeing evil. He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the
munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.”
(Isaiah 33:14-16)
Notice who will dwell with the everlasting
burnings!!! Not only the unjust, but the righteous as well! Do
you see that they are the same? What is feared by sinners is
considered “high” by the righteous.
And what is the “devouring fire”?
“For our God is a
consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29)
This “fiery” God is “light” for
other people. According to Isaiah:
“For brass I will bring gold, and
for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I
will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction
within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy
gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for
brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but
the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light,
and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no
more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for
the LORD shall be thine everlasting light,
and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.”(Isaiah 60:17-20)
The word “glory” (Greek: doxa) also means
“brightness”. Paul writes:
“There is one
glory of the sun, and another
glory of the moon, and another
glory of the stars: for one star
differeth from another star in glory.”
(1 Corinthians 15:41)
But the passage from Isaiah mentions
materials. It is obvious that God will replace the lesser materials with
materials that are more valuable and more able to endure fire. What does
this mean? The apostle Paul explains:
“Now if any man build upon this
foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble,
every
man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because
it shall be revealed by fire; and the
fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work
abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any
man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall
be saved; albeit as by fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)
It is important that in this passage
various materials symbolise each person’s actions. Good actions are like
valuable materials that can’t be harmed by fire. On the other hand, evil
actions are mentioned as materials that can be burned. Then, the fire of
God’s grace will burn the unworthy deeds and he who committed them shall
be damaged because he won’t have anything valuable to show. Both good
and evil actions, both righteous and unjust men will go through this
fire…
The prophet Zechariah says that the
fire purifies valuable metals. The fire doesn’t burn them, but it cleans
them and it illuminates them. When a metal stays in the fire, it too
becomes bright as fire. But the fire also makes wood black and burns it:
“And I will bring the third part
through the fire, and will refine them as
silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call
on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they
shall say, The LORD is my God.”(Zechariah 13:9)
The next passage
also shows us that the righteous and the unjust will go through the same
flame. Although the sinners will feel burned by the fire, the just shall
rest in the fire of the presence and the glory (brightness) of the Lord:
“And
to you who are troubled rest with us,
when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty
angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance
on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord, and from the
glory of his power.”(2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
In the Revelation to John, we read
about the river of the Grace of God that springs from His throne. This
river is the river of life for the righteous:
“And he shewed me a
pure river of water of life, clear as
crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the
midst of the path of it, and on either side of the river, was there
the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her
fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of
the nations.”(Revelation 22:1-2)
But this river is also described as
“fire”:
“A
fiery
stream issued and came forth from before Him…”(Daniel 7:10)
We
can see the difference between how
the righteous and how the unjust perceive the Grace of God.
This is because, according to the
author of the Psalms, the fire of the Lord is divided by Him into
illuminating and burning energy:
“The voice of the LORD
divideth the flames of fire.”(Psalm 29:7, Masoretic Text)
When that day comes, are we going to
feel God’s grace as “fire” or as “light”? The decision is ours…
