Question: Dear Greg,

First of all, are Herbert Armstrong’s views on heaven and hell correct?

Secondly, my church, New Covenant Fellowship, is doing a play called Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames." Many different scenarios are shown when people die and they either end up in heaven or in hell. The ones that go to hell are shown being carried off by the devil screaming into hell and ones that go to heaven are shown being welcomed into the arms of Jesus. Obviously, there are a few things in this play that are incorrect but many people are lead to Christ through this play. Is my church doing the correct thing by doing this play?

Thanks!
Taryn

Answer: Dear Taryn,

I do not believe that the views expressed by Herbert W. Armstrong about heaven and hell are biblically correct.

In terms of heaven and hell, we have posted a number of questions and answers on this website that speak to that issue. Christians have a variety of beliefs about heaven and hell – some are unbiblical, some are speculative based upon the Bible, while some are simply more biblical than others. A rule of thumb – the more specifics one proclaims about the afterlife, the greater the possibility of being unbiblical, for the Bible does not offer a great deal of detail.

Interestingly, views on the afterlife have not been considered as a test of the historic and orthodox Christian faith by the larger Christian community – notwithstanding the efforts of some denominations to "inflict" their views as the one and only appropriate ways to view the afterlife. This is not to say that there are many unbiblical views outside of the body of Christ, and that they should not be taught or proclaimed as being biblically authentic – but at the same time we should realize what a divisive issue this rather peripheral matter can be, and has been, within orthodoxy.

Many believe that hell is a great way to evangelize – but the question remains, "for what reason? What is the motivation? What hell are we depicting?" An appeal to fear is not necessarily wrong – but an appeal to fear is usually a weaker appeal given all factors – as an appeal fear can have many long-term negatives – and the history of Christianity and its efforts of evangelism via this technique proves this assertion. At the very least, when and if we speak of the fires of hell as a motivation to believe we should make sure that the picture we paint is based upon the Bible more than it is upon the popular view of hell popularized by Dante in his "Inferno".

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht