How Should We Talk to Our Kids About Hell? With Rebekah Valerius—The Alisa Childers Podcast #34
This podcast left me a bit frustrated. I know it's a tough topic, but I didn't think the responses were convincing enough for street or kid level conversations. I think the exploration and attempts to describe the interplay of God's attributes just seemed a bit like circular reasoning, that confused, more than explained a difficult issue. Appealing to the salvation found in the cross from Hell, doesn't help explain its existence in my conversational experiences. I understand the idea behind the argument, but it just seemed flat. Teaching our kids to pray for their friends to find Jesus and not go to hell, again, seemed like we were dancing around the perimeter, instead of unearthing the core complexities and consternations. Appealing to the compelling need for evangelization, also seemed understandable in light of the horror of it all, but unsatisfying in helping understand why it's a part of God's plan.
I was hoping for a more logical and rational response that helps articulate the reason for Hell. Shouldn’t we be aiming to articulate the idea of Justice in the fabric of reality. To me Hell and the subsequent parables and biblical teaching about rewards and punishments etc., provide us with a line of thinking that almost everyone appeals to in some way or another. We are internally wired to think that what is wrong, shouldn’t be allowed or should be accounted for in some way, by someone. There’s a deep drive for justice in the human psyche that in my mind, provides us with a number of biblical truths that answer that cry. If there's a shared existential demand in the souls of humans, there must be some Divine response or reality that such a condition calls for. Like fish designed for water, anything outside that, leaves us searching. I was hoping for more discussion along these lines. I don’t know if I am making sense or not, and I am not being a troll, just giving some feedback. Thanks for swinging at the ball, I just didn't think it got me past maybe, second base.
