What if everything we’ve heard about hell is wrong?
Eternal torment. A lake of fire. Wailing and gnashing of teeth. Many of us have sat through enough sermons to know what awaits us if we slip up. These dark visions of the afterlife seem a bit sadistic. Is there any hope within the Christian faith if this is the God of Love we serve?
In this lively debut, Derek Ryan Kubilus makes the case for universal salvation. Kubilus shows how our ideas about hell have been distorted by mistranslations of the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. Armed with proof-texts, those in power have used threats of eternal damnation as an instrument of control. Arguing that such torture is contrary to God’s nature, Kubilus offers an alternative understanding of hell—a temporary and holy rehabilitation, reconciling all creation in Christ.
Theologically serious and culturally engaged, Holy Hell: A Case against Eternal Damnation will shake readers’ assumptions about a seemingly implacable Christian doctrine that chains so many to eternal dread. In its place, Kubilus offers a vision for a church that serves all people with compassion, wherever they are in their journey toward Christ.
Read below for an exclusive interview with Derek and gain further insight into his upcoming book, Holy Hell.
An Interview with the Author
Derek Ryan Kubilus
For people unfamiliar with Holy Hell , please describe your book in ten words or less.
Hell is a temporary, for some perhaps even fleeting, rehabilitation.
How did the topic for Holy Hell come about?
I was asked to teach a class at my church about heaven and hell, and in the midst of that class, I discovered that a lot of people were really tortured by the idea of everlasting torment. Even if they felt like their own eternal destiny was secure, there was a place in the back of their mind that agonized over loved ones who had passed away. I wanted them to have something that would put their minds at ease and give them hope. I’ve read many books about Christian Universalism, and I worried that most of them were too academic. Those that were more accessible seemed to pull their punches theologically. So I wanted to write something that was both intellectually rigorous and relatively easy to read and understand.
What is it about hell that is so haunting to people?
The idea of an eternal hell has evolved over time to become an intrinsically traumatic idea. The very concept of a kind of never-ending torture is almost designed to burrow its way into the deepest part of our minds and give us anxiety. Most Christians have, at one time or another, feared for either the destiny of their own souls or the souls of their loved ones. Almost everyone knows someone who has died outside of the faith, and when we are told that such people are in danger of facing eternal torment, our imaginations are left to fill in the blanks. This leaves good, faithful Christians vulnerable to powerful people who seek to exploit their dread.
It also creates a kind of cognitive dissonance about the very nature of God. We’re told that “God is love,” and we literally gather every week to sing God’s praises and testify to God’s love for the world. In my tradition as in many others, we refer to God as “Father.” Yet at the same time, we are expected to believe that a loving Father might torture or even allow the torture of his children.
Imagine that you had a great childhood with two very loving parents who took care of you, showered you with love and affection, and even disciplined you from time to time. Now imagine finding out that your parents also kept a dungeon in your basement where they were secretly torturing brothers and sisters that you didn’t even know you had. How would that affect your relationship to your parents? How would that affect the way you conceived of parenthood? How might growing up with that knowledge come to change the way you conceive of relationships generally?
What are a few of the key theological points you make to disprove the notion of hell?
I try to expose the way that translation has been used to promote the idea of eternal torment. I make the case that a hell of never-ending torture is neither biblical nor even rational. I try to encourage readers to take seriously the character of God as it was revealed to us by Jesus Christ, who told us that by loving our enemies, we would be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.
What can we do to create meaningful change with how we use and view hell?
We can begin by acknowledging that the idea of eternal torment is itself traumatizing to some people. Since I’ve written the book, quite a few folks have reached out with stories of the ways that the threat of hell was held over them by parents and church leaders growing up, and that they are still anxious about going to hell, even as adults. Even those who are deeply involved with their churches, those who lead lives of faith, are still walking around with this constant fear and pressure that if they screw up in some kind of way, or if they leave the church, they might burn for all eternity. By that same token, there are many who are racked with fear over parents, spouses, children, and friends, who died outside of the Christian faith. They imagine their loved ones to be burning for all eternity, and they themselves are tortured by that idea. We Christians (especially pastors) would do well to listen sympathetically when these folks tell their stories and be willing to admit that we have contributed to their pain.
As clergy, we should stop throwing around the word “hell” so flippantly. That word is a lazy translation that we use in place of all these interesting words in Greek and Hebrew that have their own meanings and symbolism. We should expose our congregations to those words and the poetry they represent. As a word, “Hell” has been overlaid with the idea of eternal torment, so we should be very careful how use it.
And every Christian should openly declare the wild, unconditional, gratuitous love of God, without any exceptions or remainders or threats.
What do you hope readers take away from Holy Hell ?
Recently, a podcast host told me that after finishing my book, he went to check on his sleeping children and found himself taking a big sigh of relief. He no longer needed to worry about their eternal destiny. In that moment he knew that no matter what happened or what path their lives would take, that they would be ok. That’s what I hope folks feel after reading my book. Everything will be ok.
What are you reading right now, for work and for fun?
For work, I am reading “Christendom: The Triumph of Religion, AD 300-1300” by Peter Heather. This is a deep history of the spread of Christianity throughout Western Europe after the fall of Western Rome, and it actually reveals a lot about how we ended up with notions like Triumphalism and Christian Nationalism.
For fun, I just started the third book of the “Suneater” series by Christopher Ruocchio. It’s a galaxy-spanning space opera with lasers and whatnot.
What are three things about yourself that most readers don’t know?
1. My wife and I have two Great Pyrenees, Beowulf and Fenris, which means I am always covered in white fur.
2. I used to host a podcast about the dangers of conspiracy theories called “Cross Over Q.”
3. I think imitation bacon bits are better than the real thing.
What do you do when you’re not writing or serving as an ordained elder?
I read a lot, I’ve taken vows in a dispersed religious community called The Order of St. Luke, and I keep bonsai trees.
What question should we have asked you (but didn’t)? And what is your answer?
“Are you concerned about Christians who will respond negatively to your work?”
Honestly? Yeah… a little. I’m actually a very sensitive person, even though I can come off as strong and bombastic in my writing. I know that my thoughts on this topic will be controversial, but I hope people will read them with grace.
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