Western Sensibilities and the Dismissal of Divine Judgment

Pastor Tim Keller tells of a woman coming to him after a service and telling him that the very idea of a judging God was offensive. Keller said, Why aren’t you offended by the idea of a forgiving God? She looked confused. Keller continued: I respectfully urge you to consider your cultural location when you find the Christian teaching about hell offensive.

He went on to explain that Westerners get upset by the doctrine of hell, but they find the teaching about turning the other cheek and forgiving enemies appealing. But in other cultures (more traditional societies), the teaching about turning the other cheek makes NO sense. For them the doctrine of a God of judgment, however, is no problem at all.

Keller concluded his conversation with the lady with the question as to why Western cultural sensibilities be the final court in which to judge the validity of Christian truth.

Keller’s conclusion on the matter: For the sake of argument, let’s imagine that Christianity is not the product of any one culture but is actually the transcultural truth of God. If that were the case we would expect that it would contradict and offend every human culture at some point, because human cultures are ever-changing and imperfect. If Christianity were the truth it would have to be offending and correcting your thinking at some place. Maybe this is the place, the Christian doctrine of divine judgment (The Reason for God, 74-75).

The Tender-hearted Savior and His View of Hell

We looked at a difficult doctrine today: eternal judgment. To be sure, there have been mean-spirited preachers though the centuries who preached this doctrine in an angry, gospel-less manner. But on the flip side, if the Scripture teaches it, and it clearly does, the meanest, most dangerous thing for a preacher to do is to ignore the doctrine.

And to be sure, the kindest, most gracious man to ever walk the earth, Jesus, certainly did not ignore the doctrine. Hear the remarkable words of the great 19th century preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon on this issue:

You must confess, my dear hearers, that Jesus Christ was the most tender-hearted of men. Never was there one with so sympathetic a disposition. But for all that, not all the prophets put together, though some of them be stern as Elijah, can equal in thunderbolt the sound of that still voice of him, who albeit he did not cry or lift up his voice in the streets, spoke more of hell and the wrath to come than any that preceded him (Charles H. Spurgeon, Sermons, No. 344, “Tender Words of Terrible Apprehension,” delivered, Nov. 4, 1860 at Exeter Hall, London).