Why is there such a strong image of the “man on the corner” preaching hellfire?

Question

It doesn’t matter how loving and humble a Christian is…
If they mention the word “hell” when proclaiming the good news, many others are filled with this image of a “Bible-thumping, hell-fire preaching, angry, madman telling everybody that they are going to hell!”

Its really quite odd. When I became an atheist in college, this image would pop into my head when I thought about Jesus…and other Christian zealots. Why?

I mean, here is the truth: God created us and commands us to be perfect and holy as He is. But, none of us are. We all sin. And we all deserve to die and go to hell. BUT, God is SO gracious and loving and merciful and benevolent that He became man and willingly laid down His life to pay the penalty for OUR sins – satisfying His JUSTICE – and in so doing FREELY offers salvation to all who would turn to Him in repentance, pleading for mercy, and accepting the “terms” of His offer of eternal salvation…

So, He turns away NO ONE.
His “offer” stands for ANYONE.

Yet, to reject it is to choose, instead, to stand before the Judge as a guilty sinner and accept the consequences of your sin…and, in effect, personally choosing to go to hell.

So…it is YOU actually choosing hell, not a Christian (or God) looking to zap, condemn, or punish you. You willingly choose hell and bring it upon yourself.

Answer 1

As you say, I'd gladly stand before the Judge and accept my sin. It's my life, and only I am responsible for it. Anything else is a failure, and if life is a gift from God, then not doing so would be to squander that gift.

Answer 2

Perhaps because far too many people have actually witnessed that image. I remember back when I was in college about once each semester someone would stand in front of the student union with a bull horn waving his bible and shouting that all of the students were going to hell. He would pick students out of the crowd that were wearing their greek shirts and tell them they were going to burn for being in a fraternity...he'd condemn everyone who drank or had ever told a lie. He would draw quite a crowd and most were very angry...and I don't remember him ever telling them the good news that you shared.

Another group used to put a loud speaker on their car and cruise through Sonic on Friday nights shouting out the same message. They focused on the penalty and completely forgot to talk about the good news.

I know of several people that were badly hurt by this approach...people that heard the words and came to believe that they were so bad that God wouldn't want them anyway.

I agree that not all Christians are like that...but they also aren't as memorable as the one standing in a crowd shouting and publicly condemning people...the people that get condemned in this fashion probably have a very vivid picture in their mind that associates Christianity with that type of behavior and they want no part of it...and frankly, I don't blame them.

I was blessed to be protected from this type of message when I was very young and was able to come to Jesus without having to overcome this type of stereotype. However, I always wonder how this type of exposure affects a child or someone that has never heard about Jesus before? Those bible-thumping madmen can be scary and I have no doubt that they can create a lasting impression in the minds of people that don't know better.

Think about Westboro Baptist Church for example...recently the topic of numerous discussions on here. How many children have heard this group spew hate in the name of God? For how many people is the image of this group protesting at a loved one's funeral (or whatever) the most vivid picture of Christianity?

I agree that God isn't looking to zap people in to hell...I just wish that all Christians could communicate it the way you communicate it. The way I see it, hell isn't some torture chamber God uses to threaten all of us...hell is simply the eternal consequence of death. Death is inevitable and if some part of us survives the death of our body, hell is where we exist unless we choose to accept God's invitation to live with him. God has done everything possible to make it easy for us to choose the life he wants us to have...but the choice is ultimately ours.

Answer 3

The Canadian Atheist...you wrote: "Truth is, after all, verifiable and quantifiable."

Is the love you have for someone else "quantifiable"? How can you empirically measure love? Just because you can't measure something, does that mean that it is not true???

~~~~~~~~

yachadhoo,

To answer your question...

The preaching of Hell conjures up images of madmen, Christian street preachers in people's minds because that's about all they convey in their preaching. They rarely preach of the love of God with tears in their eyes to sinners, emphasizing the sacrifice Christ made for the sake of the elect.

God bless you for asking such good questions!

Kidd!

Answer 4

When God created man he wanted man to live his life the way life should be lived. Man turned away from God and wanted to live his way not God's. God can't have man live his way because if you look at the world today you can see how man lives. So for man to live the proper way, man that turned his way from God will be done away with, so that man that does the will of God will remain. The choice is who do you want to follow, man or God.

And there's no hell fire....it's everlasting cutting off.

Answer 5

Let me get this straight, you say we have "free will" to worship god or not. But if we don't, we go to a place of eternal torment and torture.
And you STILL insist we have we have free will?
Honestly, what IS wrong with you?
Can't you see the problem here?
Oh and by the way, you said the following;
"I mean, here is the truth: God created us and commands us to be perfect and holy as He is."

Ok, if it's "the truth" as you put it, you should be able to prove it. Truth is, after all, verifiable and quantifiable.
So, in order for the rest to be true, your god must exist.
So it shouldn't be difficult for you to provide me with ONE single piece of verifiable evidence to support your god's existence. Right?
I'll wait....

Answer 6

It has to do with having an excuse to hate. It is another form of prejudice. In order for "the message" to be nullified in the mind of the unbeliever, it is necessary to marginalize "the messenger". They are just proving Jesus' words in John 15

“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also."

"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." - John 3