“Free to choose but not free not to choose”. In his recently published book The Hell There Is Msgr. Charles Pope forcefully warns us against our insouciant (if not nonexistent) regard for what awaits us after our earthly sojourn. We are at liberty to choose between life of eternal fulfillment in Heaven or life of eternal frustration in Hell. What we are not at liberty to do is to avoid or to ignore the choice. Although God has bestowed on us free will, this freedom has one limitation. We do not have the option of non-existence. One or the other fate awaits us.
Philanthropy, especially Christian philanthropy, addresses the corporal works of mercy identified in chapter 25 of Matthew’s Gospel, i.e. feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, clothing the naked, etc. It also addresses, and perhaps should do so even more, the spiritual works of mercy which inter alia include instructing the ignorant. It is our ignorance of, or indifference to, the ‘last things’ that makes Msgr. Pope’s alarum so timely and urgent.
His book is a clarion call for more aggressive and orthodox teaching about soteriology.
Soteriology is the study of salvation, coming as it does for the Greek word ‘soter’ for ‘savior’. Christians obviously – or perhaps not so obviously – believe Jesus Christ is the Savior whose sacrifice saves us and redeems our world from our sinfulness, a redemption which wins for us the opportunity to attain the more attractive of two final options. How many of us don’t know this, or forget it, or don’t care about it?
In his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 15:14) St Paul argues that if Christ has not risen then there is no salvation and our faith is futile. So many of us regard Christ as nothing more than a miracle worker and itinerant preacher. Were this so, not only would our faith be in vain, so would our confidence in justice and virtue. What’s more, if there is no eternal life and no prospect of salvation, how would we manage what would appear to be the fundamental pointlessness of life?
Related to our ignorance of soteriology is universalism, the popular belief that because God is a loving God, salvation is real and that everyone, regardless of personal belief or behavior, will attain it. Those of us who abide by this empty hope would do well to remember the many specific references recorded in the Gospels that Jesus makes to heaven and hell
Philanthropists would provide an invaluable service were they to promote a greater awareness of the implications of salvation. As an example, they could explain that the ubiquitous references to Matthew’s 25th chapter are compelling but usually limited. Typically, the references end with the words “what you do to the least of these you do to me”. They fail to include the sobering closing quote of the parable: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels….Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
We, too, even with our free will, are limited. We cannot choose not to choose.