Burning lake of fire, eternal torment, the place "bad people go" all names for one idea ... Hell. The word Hell has been connected to many stories throughout the history of the Christian church. Some stories from history were connected to their culture, some connected to their conceptions of God, and some just made their life make more sense.

But one thing is clear, what we call Hell is very different than what our earlier spiritual ancestors did. Very different!

They didn't fear hell as a place that bad people go for eternal torment. That idea wasn't a thing. It also wasn't a place God, their conception of a ‘Super-being’ up in the sky, would send people they were angry with.

But wait -- you might be thinking, "if hell isn't for bad people to go and get punished, then what is the point of this whole spiritual journey?" If you change what Hell means, why be good? I thought the whole point of being spiritual was to stay out of Hell and get into heaven?

That, Friends, is a very modern story that has been connected to the word Hell. That doesn't come from our early spiritual ancestors. That comes from more modern authors.

Strange that something so misunderstood has become the primary motivating factor in a story in the Christian tradition for many.

What happens when we look at the earliest stories tied to the word Hell? What if those early stories are not about eternal punishment for people who made God (or at least their conception of God) angry? What if the story of Hell isn't about the people who didn't say the right prayer? Who didn't have the right sexual orientation? Who didn't have the right behavior? Who didn't have... whatever? What happens when we realize that those stories are not from our spiritual ancestors, but were made up much later?

Join us as we walk you through the Complex History of Hell and show you where it came from, what other stories are out there connected to Hell, and help you start to think deeper about the whole purpose of your spiritual journey.

Hint: Hell isn't the only thing that we have connected to rather strange stories, Heaven, for many, is a modern concept too.

Series starts January 8, 2023

At Friends Church we are striving towards a spiritual ideal, we call it Stage 4 Spirituality. And in Stage 4 Spirituality, our ways of living in this complicated world can look a little different:

• we let go of certainty and explore the mystery
• we let go of black or white thinking and wrestle with nuance
• we let go of one-sized-fits-all answers and take responsibility for what our unique spiritual journey is going to look like.

In a word, we Live in Tension in a world that can pull us in all kinds of directions. Sometimes the forces seem like they are pulling us apart. We can feel the pull of the people around us and what they need (we call this the "They") and that is in tension with taking care of ourselves (we call this the "I"). It’s not an easy balance to hold! But it’s the reality many of us live in.

Our spiritual ancestors captured this Tension in stories. Stories seem to be able to hold onto truths without resorting to absolutism or over-simplifications. Stories can hold multiple forces in tension in a way that feels like our lives and often show us ways to move through. Stories can be cautionary tales of a life lived in ignorance and sometimes the stories tell of a person just like us, moving through a world that has a lot of similarities to the worlds we inhabit. Learning as they go. Teaching us through their lives.

That is Stage 4 Spirituality. In this series we are going to explore the stories of our spiritual ancestors that help us see and navigate Living in Tension -- so that we can be the spiritual people we truly can be in this complicated world of ours.

We invite you to join us at the Spiritual Gym starting February 12 -- put it in your calendar!