Here's my journey and how I learned to overcome my fear of an eternal hell.
Are you suffering from the fear of hell? I first suffered from the idea of an eternal Hell after I had a Baptist preacher tell me I was going to hell (when only 13 years old). The fear of hell he put inside my head nagged me deep within for many years and surfaced at early adulthood.
Eventually, I was so afraid of Hell that I became a Fundamentalist Christian, yet when I explored my inner fears of hell, I could never find peace. Something inside me told me it was not true. Hell was not real, and fear was created in me that was also false. Still, I became a strong Christian who taught and preached repentance for salvation from an eternal hell. My fear of hell was now broadcast by me unto others. Still, I heard deep within me that hell was not truth, but I was afraid to question the Bible or the beliefs I had learned.
Even though I still feared Hell I was eventually awakened, somehow, inside of me, for lack of a better description. I realized that a loving God could not create something out of love that He (or She) foreknew He would eventually destroy in hell. This awakening allowed me to see other biblical passages that further debunked my fear of hell.
The more I studied and researched, the more I became free from fearing eternal punishment in hell. In fact, I couldn't believe my eyes when I discovered that the word hell is not even in the Bible. It is a mistranslation from Greek or Hebrew unto English. My fear of hell weakened even more.
Fearing Hell Was Torment As a Christian
As I learned of the history of hell, and how it was created by orthodox Christianity while being empowered by Roman Government, I saw historically how our fears of hell came to exist.
Fear of hell has sadly become a very common, societal belief in the Western world. But, does that substantiate false beliefs in hell, making them true? Of course, not. Just because others believe in something does not make it real. For example, many believe in the tooth fairy, but that does not make the tooth fairy anything other than someone else's creation. Still, whether Western society wishes to admit it or not, the fear of hell still nags many people, even if it seems hidden. If people believe in hell, then they fear it and God. Their fear of Hell is simply suppressed deep inside, but will awaken sometime in their future.
Logically, I knew fear of hell was torment and not peace. Yet, I was taught that God was loving and that I would receive peace by following Him. When I had was a Christian believer, it took some time for me to be honest about myself. And this was huge: I was never at peace about hell, especially when I thought about my family members roasting for all of eternity? I recognized that my fear of eternal punishment was not gone from becoming a Christian and accepting Christ as my saviour. - in fact,buying into the hell doctrine only further cemented my fear of it!
Recognize That Fear Is Suffering
I eventually had an epiphany and realized that fear is false and could never originate from an elevated, wise power. Fear is simply man-made and not something different from the fears used by ancient religions, such as animism. What we do not know, we fear. Take heart, reader, for the more my fear in Hell was dispelled, the more I saw that Jesus attacked such fearful ideas created by the ancient religious system of his day. His opponents were not any different than those who spread fear of Hell, today!
Still, some Christians will put forth that it is better to fear hell and God, than to not. For they ask, "What if you are wrong?" They ask such a question knowing that their beliefs are illogical, but would rather suffer fear of hell than find the truth. Sadly for them, knowing the truth behind the fear of hell is what allows us to open up to Spirit - God.
By fearing hell, we are basically fearing an angry God. There is no relationship with (or knowing) the Divine through such walls. Are you able to be close to (or at-one with) another person whom you fear? No, not as long as a wall of fear separates both of you - essentially dividing one into two. Division and separation is not of God. I assure you we can indeed know hell is false and no longer allow such fear to mentally keep us detached from Spirit- truth.
My former fear of Hell is now being used to help free others from the same. The book Jesus Religion and my messages are created in order to undo fear and false beliefs created by traditional Christianity's false messages. - Louis Charles
How to Buy the Book, Jesus Religion!
Want to learn more about what was likely the real message of Jesus? Do you desire to find freedom from fearful Christian ideas and teachings?
The book Jesus Religion is available on Amazon.com.
Know that you are already eternally connected to God and find your path to spirituality and peace.