On Hell and Gollum

[seer]

CS Lewis says that what it thrown into hell is not the man, but his remains. This is what I think he means...

There are two sets of behavior that man can embrace. Works of the flesh (our animal nature) and Works of the Spirit (i.e God's universal Spirit as it influences our spirit/mind). Of course human beings embrace both to differing degrees. At any one moment one set of works are in ascendancy.

Paul,I believe quite well,sets the fruit of these behaviors in clear contrast in Galatians chapter 5.

The works of the flesh (animal/soulish nature) are:

"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like."

There are more such behaviors scattered throughout the New Testament, but these will do for now. As we can see, these behaviors are quite selfish - the focus is on self and fulfilling our most base desires.

Contrast this with the fruit of the Spirit:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."

Now imagine Gollum without any hint of Smegal left in him - a lying,selfserving,self absorbed being with no redeeming qualities. Would not that being be nearly,if not totally,impossible to love? Could we call such a being human in any sense of the word? This is what I believe Lewis means by a man's remains.

Just a note on goodness. Christ said that apart from me can do nothing (nothing of genuine value). Paul says that no one does good,no not one. Yet we find scripture calling men righteous. This is my take: when we find goodness in men (from all faiths) it is only because they are responding or yeilding to God's universal work and Spirit. Paul also says that "no flesh will glory in His presence." In other words,in the end, we will find that our goodness was not actually ours, but it was God's goodness working through us.

This is what I believe hell to be. A time and place, when God removes the influence of His Spirit from certain individuals who have resisted His common grace and loving overtures. At that point there will not be a hint of the fruits of the Spirit,rather that man will be totally controlled by his animal nature... The unlovable remains of man...

[Piebald]

Now imagine Gollum without any hint of Smegal left in him - a lying,selfserving,self absorbed being with no redeeming qualities. Would not that being be nearly,if not totally,impossible to love? Could we call such a being human in any sense of the word? This is what I believe Lewis means by a man's remains.

You're getting a pearl!

That is exactly one of the reasons that I love the character "Gollum" in Lord of the Rings, you echo my thoughts exactly. Lewis said that "unregenerate" men are rapidly becoming things you'd only expect to see in your nightmares. Thank God for Christ and the Holy Spirit.

[GrayPilgrim]

Thanks for helping me bring together a number of thoughts that i have had int he past but not been able to put coherently (wich is not an uncommon problem for me). It reminds me of a take off on the First question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, ya know The Chief End of Man is to glorify God adn enjoy him forever[/i] Leon Morris did in his commentary on 1 Thessalonians-[quote]The glorified sin and enjoyed its consequences forever or something like that (I used it in a paper I wrote six years ago, sio I have naturally butchered it. And seeing as the enjoyment of sin dehumanizes us we end up being less than who we are and Smeagol-->Gollum is a perfect picture of that twisting and warping of the individual by sin.

Unfortunaely we too often look at Gollum or Hitler and say, hey I'm not that bad, but we forget that these two are examples of severe bentness, but that we still have our own bentness that alienates us from ourself, others and GOd. This alienation is what leads to our loss of identity and turns us into Gollum.


Thanks!

[seer]

Unfortunaely we too often look at Gollum or Hitler and say, hey I'm not that bad, but we forget that these two are examples of severe bentness, but that we still have our own bentness that alienates us from ourself, others and GOd. This alienation is what leads to our loss of identity and turns us into Gollum.

The problem is few men actually know or admit what is inside of them. Hitler is not an exception - he is US - he is man....

[seer]

Lewis said that "unregenerate" men are rapidly becoming things you'd only expect to see in your nightmares.

The sad thing is that this could happend even to our loved ones. In that case we may be able to love the memory of whay they were, but we could never love what they have become. Pure sin is inherently unlovable.

[brother vinny]

:bump:

[RanRan]

'Only good men know how bad they are.' C.S.Lewis

[brother vinny]

"I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way." --Jessica Rabbit

[seer]

:bump:


How did you find this old thing... ; )