Description: Everlasting hell and divine judgment, a lake of fire
and brimstone--these mainstays of evangelical tradition have come
under fire once again in recent decades. Would the God of love
revealed by Jesus really consign the vast majority of humankind to
a destiny of eternal, conscious torment? Is divine mercy bound by
the demands of justice? How can anyone presume to know who is saved
from the flames and who is not? Reacting to presumptions in like
manner, others write off the fiery images of final judgment
altogether. If there is a God who loves us, then surely all are
welcome into the heavenly kingdom, regardless of their beliefs or
behaviors in this life. Yet, given the sheer volume of threat
rhetoric in the Scriptures and the wickedness manifest in human
history, the pop-universalism of our day sounds more like denial
than hope. Mercy triumphs over judgment; it does not skirt it. Her
Gates Will Never Be Shut endeavors to reconsider what the Bible and
the Church have actually said about hell and hope, noting a breadth
of real possibilities that undermines every presumption. The
polyphony of perspectives on hell and hope offered by the prophets,
apostles, and Jesus humble our obsessive need to harmonize every
text into a neat theological system. But they open the door to the
eternal hope found in Revelation 21-22: the City whose gates will
never be shut; where the Spirit and Bride perpetually invite the
thirsty who are outside the city to "Come, drink of the waters of
life." Endorsements: "Who are the damned? Who are the saved? The
questions have a way of provoking controversy, often quite heated.
Brad Jersak, self-identified as an evangelical who accepts the
Biblical witness as authoritative, turns the controversy into a
conversation, a quiet conversation. He listens. He listens to
opposing voices. He listens to Scripture as God's last word on the
subject. He listens to the scholars and theologians. Out of the
listening something like a 'humility of hope' (Jersak's phrase)
begins to replace dogmatisms and we find ourselves part of a
conversation with Christian brothers and sisters who are seriously
praying for the world's salvation." --Eugene H. Peterson author of
Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His
Stories and Prayers "Deeply grounded in evangelical faith and
committed to evangelical categories of theological interpretation,
Jersak probes the meaning of 'Final Judgment' in Christian faith
and tradition. The phrase, for Jersak, must be kept in quote marks,
because he sees that what is 'final' is not 'judgment' but the
openness of God. The book traces the way in which Christians, and
the author, 'exchange certainty for hope.' In the end the residue
of evil will not have the last word; what prevails is the goodness
of God's love. Readers will be greatly instructed by this
thoughtful book." --Walter Brueggemann author of Divine Presence
Amid Violence (Cascade, 2009) "Combining theological rigor and
pastoral sensitivity Her Gates Will Never Be Shut is sure to push
the boundaries of the contemporary theological landscape and expand
the theological horizons of scholars, pastors, and lay Christians
alike. Grounded, timely, and open--this is evangelical theology at
its best." --Jon Stanley co-editor of "God is Dead" and I Don't
Feel so Good Myself: Theological Engagements with the New Atheism
(Cascade, 2009) About the Contributor(s): Bradley Jersak is an
author and seminar speaker based in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
He is the author of Can You Hear Me? (2003), Kissing the Leper
(2006), and co-editor of Stricken by God? (2007).
General
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