Erasing Hell by Francis Chan

One thing I'd like to do with this blog is share some of the things I've been reading and thinking about. One of the books I read over the summer that really struck me was Erasing Hell by Francis Chan. The book was somewhat written as a response to Love Wins by Rob Bell, but in my opinion the crux of the argument goes far further than that. Erasing Hell goes beyond talking simply about hell and discusses a common way of looking at God that is not just theologically misguided but cripples our relationship with him.

At one point, Chan references Roman 9, which says "But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?" (v 20-21). Chan says the following in reference to the metaphor of the potter and the clay: Does the Potter have the right to do whatever He wants with the clay? In the midst of the tragedies that life often brings, in the midst of the mysterious and hidden ways in which God often works, in the midst of the theological tensions and paradoxes that are woven throughout Scripture, in the midst of the pain and sorrow and misery and confusion that accompany our existence on earth – we must come to a place we can answer yes to this question. Yes, the Potter has this right." 

He later says "It is incredibly arrogant to pick and choose which incomprehensible truths we embrace. No one wants to ditch God’s plan of redemption, even though it doesn’t make sense to us. Neither should we erase God’s revealed plan of punishment because it doesn’t sit well with us. As soon as we do this, we are putting God’s actions in submission to our own reasoning, which is a ridiculous thing for clay to do."

Wow. Thought-provoking stuff. May we live humbly enough to trust the Potter's hands in our lives and allow him use the clay of our lives to make a beautiful piece of art.


Here's a video of Francis Chan talking about the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnrJVTSYLr8.

Or I recommend just picking up the book. It's a great one.