First Impressions: Volunteer Work

Transport:
I am driving daily into Mitchell's Plain,a crime infested, low-to-mid income suburb of Cape Town with an overwhelmingly Colored population. Driving for the first couple of days has been (to use the South African term) quite hectic. Armed only with a map book and my brave little Uno (which has all the horsepower of an actual horse) I went out to battle the dual forces of my own pathetic sense of direction, and the comically confusing road signs. I eventually found all of my destinations, but not without some epic wrong turns, or without tasting my heart in my throat a few times. People on South African roads drive in one of two styles: Granny and Absolute Maniac. Everyone jaywalks, weaves through traffic like it's going out of styles, and kids play “chicken” on the highways. I've already lost count of the narrow gaps I've had to squeeze my car through, often involving high speeds or police cars. However, now that I know the way I look forward to smoother, easier travel.

Prison:
Same old, same old... Generally being acquainted with prisons is a bad thing, but I come by it honestly, having done Bible studies in prisons, including this one, 3 years ago. The prisons still reek of sweat, the sick bays are still filled with AIDS victims dying slowly, and the criminals are still shockingly friendly with the visitors. This friendship, unfortunately, does not extend to other prisoners, and most of them are forced to join prison gangs, imaginatively labeled the “26s” “27s” and “28s”. The gangs look out for their own, fight each other, and pick on- or sodomize- those with no gang to protect them. We got a prison tour Monday; our classes start Thursday.

School:
The school looks much like a prison. The fences are razor-wired, with an electronic gate providing or preventing access, many windows are broken, and all are covered with iron bars. Students wear uniforms, though more attractive ones than those of inmates. The school I went to is in an area so vicious that people refuse to use their cell phones while walking the streets; it's an invitation to get robbed, or worse. Today while walking to the school, my co-teacher (boss, really) heard gun shots. He is a real fun guy who is employed full time with the YMCA, with Rastafarian-style dreadlocks, a red visor cap and an easygoing manner. The school itself cheerfully exudes the surreal gong-show atmosphere that is Africa.

We spent much of the day making out classroom inhabitable, as it is being used as a storage room, as well as a smoke room by the security guards. Nothing says “school pride” like leaving your butts around in a classroom for the YMCA guys to clean up. We're still recruiting members for our “Peer Education” class and getting them to fill out questionnaires, mostly about sex and the murderously flawed notions that many Africans have about STI's. The South African classroom is truly a battleground where the “personal freedom” message of liberalism comes up against the cold hard reality of promiscuity = death.

Then we had to go from room to room, finding last year's Peer Education students for a catch-up meeting. (Our Intercom was broken so we couldn't call the kids). Apparently the original classroom doors were all stolen, and when they were replaced no-one though to number the new ones correctly, so classrooms 56, 7 and 23 might be side-by-side-by-side.

The most bizarre meeting was with a substitute teacher, who began to preach to my co-worker about the sad state of South African youth (something that he's well acquainted with, that being his job) while I dodged advances from high school girls. Finally the sub asked one of the female students, who was draped around his neck for some reason, to lift up her shirt to show us the bullet wound on her stomach and explain what getting shot feels like. We beat a hasty retreat, mumbling excuses.

Neighbors:
Whackjobs. Sick of yelling at their mother and trying to steal our dog, the two boys (high school drop outs from the looks of things) got nice and high/drunk and yelled threats at me from their house tonight. I shrugged it off and am not too worried (when I mentioned it to some wrestling buddies, they enthusiastically suggested ways to “sort out” the problem. Mrs. R and the kid are home alone a lo,l so if we get any more trouble we might call the police.

Bible Stories

My Car is Registered!!!!!!!!!

And, until I have actual experiences in schools and prisons, a little story about theology:

Everyone agreed it was a tragedy. At 6:45 pm, a bomb exploded at the hotel where the Summit of Christian leaders was held.. Five men were killed, respected leaders all: a Catholic Bishop, an Evangelical Pastor who specialized in End-Times, a Televangelist who followed the teachings of Calvin, a Liberal Christian writer and a Jehovah's witness who had somehow been invited. Why they had been murdered was soon determined by police. Why, in the deeper meaning of the word, this tragedy had happened was discussed for years to come. Perhaps Satan, fearing unity amongst his greatest foes, had goaded the bombers on. Perhaps there was no underlying reason, and things had just turned out this way because some people are psychos. Perhaps God, in his infinite Wisdom, had deemed it time to call them home. Or perhaps, he was simply sick of their bickering.

The five men's eyes slowly opened, or more accurately re-appeared, for their faces has been melted by the heat of the blast. When they saw again, however, their bodies were whole. The writer, whose hours hunched over a screen had not been kind to his vision, suddenly saw clearly, without glasses. They looked around in wonder. They stood on some surface- solid, by the feel of it, but it was unseen in the mist. The mist was thick below at ground level, but as you looked up it faded to a sky of brightest blue. Music, beautiful and bizarre, reached their ears, and a lovely smell- one that can not be described in words- reached their nostrils; or perhaps, their sense of smell itself had been heightened, like that of a wolf.

“Where are we?” the writer said. It was a simple enough question. They tried to think things through. A clap of sound, a flash of sudden light, unbearable heat- and then this. It was all very strange. For many moments, they stood and wondered.

“Heaven”, suggested the Calvinist. It was a good answer, he thought.
“Can't be”, the preacher scolded. “That can't possibly have been the rapture. We won't get to see heaven until the Second Coming of Christ.”
“Oh, you end-timers” scoffed the Calvinist. “You obsess about the obscure and disregard clear doctrine. Did not Jesus say 'today you will be in paradise with me'?”
“If we're in heaven, why is the Cultist here?”snapped the preacher, pointing at the Jehovah's witness, who was still a little stunned by the turn of events.

“A Jew of Jesus' time” offered the writer “would say we are in Sheol, the world of the dead, awaiting the final judgment..”
“At which time he-” the preacher pointed at the Witness again “will be cast into the :Lake of Fire!”
“What'd I do?” the man wanted to know.
“You rejected the free gift of Christ on the cross, you are not 'washed in the blood', you did not accept Jesus as your personal Saviour!”
“Yes, we ALL know that's how Jesus put it!” the Witness snarled back, dripping sarcasm. “How narrow can your mind get? Fool...”
“Watch it! Now you're really on the brink of hellfire!”

“If this is purgatory”, the priest wanted to know, “why is there no pain?”
“It's Sheol, not Purgatory! Purgatory is an invention of your church. You Catholics are all alike. Just wait until your share of plagues is added to you.”
The priest shook his head. “How you Protestants pretend to understand Scripture, while rejecting our Lord's explanations through the church will never cease to amaze me.”
“When I read, the Spirit tells me what it means!”
“The Spirit tells ME that you're an idiot!”
““You're a false teacher with a false gospel. Christ will tell you he never even knew you!”
The Calvinist chucked and shook his head. “Why God chose you lot before the beginning of the Earth I'll never know.”

That set off a whole new chorus of yells, which might have continued for ages of the ages, had not a pair of stronger, louder voices silenced them. There was shouting, load and raucous, but strangely joyous, mixed with the sound of cheering, grunting, and heavy thuds.They walked towards the sound, quiet and a little scared, and the backs of a multitude came into focus, standing in a ring, observing something in the center from which the shouting came.

“Father of many nations, is it? You'll soon see who your daddy is!
“You don't scare me, wait until I get a hold of your hair!”
“I killed thousands with a jawbone. You were scared of your brother!”

Squeezing themselves into the ring, overcome with curiosity, they saw two men, stripped to the waist. Both were wearing gloves, those small fighting gloves which protect your hand but don't pad your blows, as they rolled over and over on the ground, hitting and kicking and grappling, smiling all the while.

“You think you can take me? You could barely build an altar. I pulled down a temple.”
“You used the Lord's Spirit, that doesn't count. I wrestled against Him! Don't forget, I pinned the spirit of the Lord!”
“His angel...” muttered the preacher.

Apparently the hearing of the men was heavenly t0o, for the smaller one stopped- though his head was locked in a pair of monstrous arms- and tried to look up. “Let go for a sec, Samson... Sorry, what was that?”
“Don't you mean, you fought the ANGEL of the Lord? It said so in the Bible...”
“Oh, does it?” Jacob wasn't even breathing hard. Apparently fighting didn't make you tired in wherever-this-was. “the Bible didn't exist in my time, I haven't really read it. Guess I should though, wonder how I came off looking in there.”

“Never read the Bible?” all of them were aghast. “The Bible is the Word of God! His Revelation to Mankind! His one trusted source of Truth!”
“Oh, sorry, man.. Up here, it doesn't seem necessary.”
“You're telling me...” the preacher was still amazed... “that in four thousand years, you've never even bothered to look?”
He was a little sheepish. “To be honest, we keep pretty busy up here. Lately, we've been having a tournament of champions. Took me 3 weeks just to tap out David, you'd never guess how slick you get wrestling bears.”
“You know”, Samson put in, wiping a lock of hair from his face, “we've been getting a lot of Bible questions lately. Everyone who comes here talks about it. “
“Well, I'm sorry, God didn't give us lion-ripping power, he gave us his inspired Word!” more sarcasm. Samson just laughed. “Fair enough. I'll go see if Paul is busy. I understand he wrote the parts you guys read most.”

It took a while- or not, time didn't really exist for them- until Samson returned, bringing a man with him. This one didn't look like he would last long in the tournament of champions. He was short lean and slender like a runner, and his back was covered in scars. Each one shone a little, and you could tell he wore them proudly. He shook each of their hands in turn. “I'm Paul”, he said. “Pleased to meet you.”
“The APOSTLE Paul?”
He shrugged. “I suppose. What can I do for you guys?”

They had to think about it for a second. “Where are we?” asked the writer. It was, after all, the original question.

“In heaven, of course..”
“In the Kingdom of Heaven- you know, the one that starts on earth, or in Heaven Heaven, the new Jerusalem?”
“Do you SEE a new Jerusalem?” scoffed the end-times preacher.

Paul laughed. “John, John, John. I told him not to use those metaphors. People won't understand, I said. They take everything literally, I said. But no, John says, I just write down what I saw. Do you think I knew what the crazy creatures in Revelation stood for?”
The writer was used to being misquoted. “Poor guy.”

“Oh, I wouldn't feel too sorry for him”, Paul laughed. “You should have seen John tear into Matthew when he read his Gospel. 'How can you leave out the Entire salvation-through-faith part? You made it look like Jesus was all about good deeds! Heaven and hell based on feeding your neighbor, without a word about the prayer of salvation? John went on and on. Man, he's lucky Matt turned the other cheek!” Paul laughed. “All us Bible-writers get it sometimes. I get off easy, I think, I guess a “#1 Evangelist all-time” Crown of Righteousness makes people lay off a bit. Just James won't shut up. 'Don't forget works. You keep leaving out works. Faith without works is dead'.”

If they were aghast before, they were flabbergasted now. “You ARGUED? You guys disagreed?”
“Well, we were all inspired to God to write, but yeah, we all had our viewpoints, emphasised different things...”

The writer had been wondering for years. “Can you explain how the Bible was Inspired, please? I've always wondered. Did God dictate to you?”
“Of course he did, or the Bible would be just another book!”
“Inspired doesn't mean infallible!”
“Oh, wow, you really are a heathen!”
“Pull the log out of your own eye, buddy!”
“How about the other writers? Leviticus doesn't seem too special! And Song of Songs- are you kidding me, inspired erotica?”
“You ARE going to hell-” “I'm saved by faith, you dolt!” “You can lose your salvation, you know” “No, you can't” “Heresy, absolute heresy!”

Then they began to pepper Paul with questions.
“Did creation take place in 6 days?” “Is Evolution from Satan?” “Why were others punished for David's sins?” “Does hell have real flames?” “What's the unpardonable sin?” “Did you ever baptist infants?” “Why is gayness an abomination?” “Why couldn't the Jews eat pork?” “Does the rapture happen BEFORE or AFTER the millennium?” “Can women preach in church?” “What if they cover their heads?” “Why Must Catholics be so stupid?” “Is Jsus really the Saviour of ALL, or did you just kinda throw that in there?”

Paul sighed. A deep, heavy sigh. He raised his hands until they calmed down.

“I'll try my best to answer all your questions. Really, I will. But first, let me explain a few things.”
They were all ears. On earth, a Bible lesson from the Apostle Paul would have been a dream come true. What's more, they were all certain they would be proven right.

“In my time on Earth, I had many of the same problems you did. I was a Pharisee. An expert. I, too, struggled to understand my Scriptures. Songs of Songs? I didn't like that one much. Psalms? David praises the Lord for his protection in one, and cries out in fear the next. And the Prophets... ahh, yes, the Prophets. They were all over the place, stuff that happened lifetime, stuff fulfilled in Christ, stuff about the second coming. I knew the Prophets back-to-front, but I needed a voice from heaven to see they pointed to Jesus. Imagine that!”

“Of course, God gave me incredible knowledge afterwards, showed me the heavens and all that, taught me great mysteries so I could preach to the nations. That was my primary calling, after all. Those Books I wrote... letters, really... “Romans” to the church in Rome, “Corinthians” to those in Corinth, “Galatians”, ah yes, to those foolish Galatians. Still trying to do under their own power what God has already done. I was confident in my writing, of course, but I had no idea that God would use it shape our faith two thousand years later.”

He sighed again. “You guys realize that I wrote in Greek, right? We all have the gift of tongues now, of course, but if I gave you originals of my letters when you were still alive, you wouldn't understand a word. I tried- oh, wow, did a try- to put the unfathomable mysteries of God down in words people back then could understand. Frankly, I'm always amazed at how well you guys do now. Faith? Hope? Love? Eternity? Justice? Two thousand years of culture, two thousand years of evolving language, even those concepts don't mean quite what they used to in my time. If I was writing letters to the church in, say, New York, you bet I'd phrase things differently. I mean... how was I supposed to anticipate the Internet... man, would that have made my job easier. TV? Movies? Nuclear Bombs? Dating? Feminism? Hinduism? Liberalism? Even the Son was misunderstood, by His own friends, in His own time. What chance do I have?” He took a deep breath.

“I'm sorry, guys. You want Scripture? You want understanding? This is what I wrote: For now we see in a mirror, dimly, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully.

Training

Your lungs are on fire. Everything hurts. Your eyes sting with salt. Your mouth tastes sweat- blood? and your spit is dry. Over the sound of your ragged gasps, you hear the whistle go- damn that whistle- and you step onto the mat once again. You slap hands with your opponent, a quick, friendly facsimile of the handshake you would give in an actual match, and begin to wrestle. Feinting, weaving, clasping arms, slapping heads, trying to find an opening, then the explosion, a sudden vicious blast of energy- a scramble perhaps, wild and spectacular, if the first attack misses, with others turning their heads to watch the action, and one of you is down and the other is on top, squeezing the ribs, struggling to gain back points and, more important, regain your breath...

Wrestling practices have been savage here in South Africa (not that they were easy back home either). South Africans wrestle a very "American" style, constant leg attacks, shot after shot after shot. A methodical (or "stalling" or "lazy") wrestler like myself rarely has time to set up for an attack before the onslaught comes. Lucklily, this provides many openings for counter attacks. You wouldn't believe how vulnerable these guys are do a simple waist lock throw.

At our club we spend most of our time on conditioning, which is quickly beating me into shape, though I wish we would spend more time refining technique- what good is it to be fresh for 10 minutes, if a more techincal opponent can pick you apart in 6? Anyway, I'm enjoying myself when I'm not leaning over wanting to vomit.

The car registration saga is still an expensive gong show, and I will refrain from comenting until it has resolved itself. It struck me yesterday,along with the toys the 4 year old kid was tossing at my head, that maybe I'm meant to learn humility and patience from this stuff. I decided I don't want to learn humility and patience, I want to learn victory and sucess and life-changing miracles... does anyone ever learn valuable lessons through wealth, or winning, things going smoothly? If so, sign me up. And yes, I'm fully aware of the irony of complaining about a car while the people I want to help are wrestling with drug abuse, HIV, shootings and so on.

An Ode to Stupid

A South African recently chided me by saying that "you westerners think too much". I bit my tongue and didn't ask him if that was why we didn't live on the continent most riddled with crime, disease, civil war and starvation. Turns out you dont' need to reasearch a history of colonialism, go into local culture, or discuss the impact of environmental conditions to understand why Africa is in such a bad way. All you have to do is try to register a car. After repeeated attempts I have discovered that:

Not even jr. high boys can lose, misplace, destroy and otherwise screw up paperwork like people here.

There's about 5 different traffic and police departments. The reason for existence for each of them is to ensure that another department helps you with what you need. They probably bet on it: "hahaha, you provided accurate information, less funding for you."

A mechanic that declares a car is ready to drive, and pass a government road test, when it has no brake lights, no gas gauge, a very loose muffler and a brake situation best described as "murderous" should hang his head in permashame.

On my first day driving on the left hand side of the road, with minimal braking ability and no knowledge of where the streets head, it is not helpful to follow someone who:
a) Runs 2 yellow lights in a row, behind both of which I am stuck.
b) Cuts across a heavy stream of traffic, in which there will be no gap to follow for several minutes
c) takes off through 2 corners while I am still in the freaking parking lot.

I hearby declare South Africa the incompetence capital of the entire world. I, too, am getting into the act. This post is taking forever, since I keep hitting the "crash computer" button, conveniently located next to the "delete" key, and by the time I get back to the laundromat my clothes will probably be stolen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Filth-man answers questions. These are the type of questions I've been getting through the the phone, email, and actual comversation. If you have more, please ask, through either of these methods, or the handy "comment" option on this blog.

Q: Should I read this?
A: Yes, but you should read about hell first. Just scroll down a bit.

Q: What work are you doing, Filth-Man?
A: I am working with the Cape Flats YMCA 4 days a week. Mondays and Thursdays is prison work and after-school programming, tuesdays and wednesdays is high schools. In all places I will be teaching "life skills" which involves topics such as dealing with peer pressure, drug abuse resisance, STI and AIDS avoidance training, teen sexuality, gangsterism, and so on.

Q: Where are you staying?
A: In Kryfontein with Pastor BR and family.

Q: How is your wrestling going?
A: I will be training with a Durbanville club 5 days a week. Our first tournament is a month from now. I handled myself well in the first practice back (somehow my body has remembered how to scramble and my lungs did not explode). I will get to wrestle the 84 kg African champ as soon as a cut on his face heals. (Update: we wrestled in practice today... the guy's very tough. Everyone's beatable, of course, but he wrestles smart and moves very quickly, a tough combination.

Q: What is your transport situation?
A: I am renting an Uno Pacer (small car) from the Pastor and family for the duration of my stay. It still needs to get properly licenced and if that craps out for some reason, all my plans may change.

Q; How's the large fish quest?
A: No fishing yet, but the YMCA director will teach me how to surf cast soon. The beaches are pretty shark infested (people go right on swimming though) so maybe I'll hook into one of those!

The Bible on Hell

Sweet moses, I loathe Africa time. I truly and utterly despise it. Nothing works. Everything takes forever. "Quick" meetings take two hours (in Afrikaans, of course), 9 AM means 12:30, and "we'll get your car ready" means "we'll tell the mechanic to start working on it, and we couldn't possibly get it registered before he's done." I've decided the problem in this country isn't racism or poverty, it's boredom. I mean, if you had absolutely nothing to do for your ENTIRE LIFE, wouldn't you be tempted to do drugs or have casual sex or join a gang? On top of that, if it's possible to get too much "God" I'm all over that. Comes from staying with charismatics, I guess, but in between gospel music, long Afrikaans church services, Christian radio and discussions on the Bible (not to mention truly loathsome Christian television) I'm really Spiritual-ed out.


Anyway, speaking of endless misery and the Bible, I finally found a computer where I can upload my study on hell in the Bible. It may not interest everyone. Here it is...


THE BIBLE ON HELL

What is not hell?

Most of the Bible does not mention hell. We might think of faith as mostly “escaping hell” but the Bible doesn't seem to. The “wrathful” Old Testament does not clearly mention hell. The afterworld in Old Testament thought, “Sheol”(Hades in Greek) is a shadowy place, which may not be consciously experienced at all. It is described by Ecclesiastes: “the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered..” Old Bibles mistranslate Sheol/Hades as “hell”. In one surprising parable in Luke, much beloved by hellfire preachers, a rich man IS tormented by flame in Hades. Was Jesus trying to change beliefs about what Hades is really like? Was he accommodating emerging Jewish ideas (which evolved in the time between the 2 Testaments) about the afterlife into a story about something else altogether? I’m not sure. In any case, Hades/Sheol is a temporary before-judgment holding place destroyed in Revelation.

Paul and John, the big New Testament theologians, don’t talk about hell (except in Revelation) and always present the Gospel as a glorious new plan, not as fire insurance to escape a horrible fate. Christians who grew up believing in hell can read it into a lot of scripture where first-century Jew or Pagan would not do so. When Paul writes he often sounds downright Universalist. This lack of hell in most of the Bible leads me to think hell is a sad backup plan, perhaps banishment for those who refuse to enjoy God’s grace, not a default torture chamber for all who don’t understand theology the right way. Perhaps, if we want to please God, the afterlife will take care of itself.

The most graphic and scary images of hell are presented by Jesus in the synoptic Gospels. He gave them for a reason, and we must not take them lightly. At the same time we should remember that Jesus, our final judge, welcomed sinners who showed the least spark of repentance, promised eternal life to criminals, and forgave soldiers even as they nailed him onto a cross. He also mixes hell warnings with those about the fiery destruction of Jerusalem (which happened 69 AD,I think), so sometimes it’s hard to tell what he’s talking about and how it applies to us.

It is argued by some that the word “hell” should not appear in Scripture at all. When English Bibles say :”hell” Jesus really said “Gehenna”. Gehenna was a disgusting garbage dump in Israel where Pagans had once sacrificed children, a symbol of shame and defilement. Garbage was burned there constantly. Was Jesus speaking about after-death punishment at all in when alluding to Gehenna, or earthy disgrace, or a literal death in the garbage dump upon Jerusalem’s fiery destruction? In some instances he does seem to be speaking of the afterlife, but other “Gehenna” teachings make more sense if they mean “you will be a moral garbage dump” (does anyone really think calling someone a fool will get you thrown into hell?) Interestingly, later Jewish teachings do equate “Gehenna” with after-death punishment, but only for a limited time.

What is hell?

Most “hell” teachings in the Bible are found in the first 3 Gospels, as warnings and parables of Jesus, and in Revelation. Neither parables nor Revelation lead to easy, clear theology. It might be heretical to suggest that different New Testament writers had different ideas about hell, but they certainly expressed them differently. To summarize…

Hell is where the “damned” go after final judgment by Jesus at the end of time, the “Lake of Fire” and “second death” in Revelation The verses that speak of the post-judgment situation are generally found in parables or apocalyptic literature, so it is hard to tell where (if ever) metaphor ends and tangible reality begins. Flame, darkness, eternal death and total destruction are often described, and may be metaphorical because they are somewhat mutually exclusive. All of them suggest hell is very unpleasant place.. Hell is frequently described as exclusion from, and contrasted with, God’s presence, people and rewards.

While some people do believe in a literal hell of fire, some theologians argue the exclusion from God’s goodness causes emotional pain graphically symbolized by flames. After all, when condemning child sacrifice, the Old Testament says that it “never entered God’s mind” to burn children in fire.

People are sad and angry in hell, weeping and gnashing their teeth People feel shamed in hell, and some feel tormented. Satan and his demons are fellow prisoners, not rulers. The punishment of hell is proportional to the evil a person has committed, and the amount of truth they rejected. Hell is not an either-or, one-size-fits-all punishment. Some theologians believe that this is a natural outcome; the more you love evil and reject God, the more miserable you must naturally be if God is in charge. Others believe that God directly administers punishment.

Who goes there?

Those who consciously reject God’s truth and choose evil instead. I was surprised at how clear the Bible is on “conscious rejection”, as shown by an unwillingness to repent and a desire to do evil. Once in hell, they try to argue their case instead of pleading for mercy. The parts of the Bible that stress salvation by “faith” and “belief” in Christ (Paul’s and John’s writing) don’t describe after-death punishments for the "unsaved".. Jesus threatens after-death punishment (and Gehenna) for the willfully disobedient. His strongest threats are to the biggest “conscious rejecters” in history- the Pharisees, who see Jesus’ miracles in person, and chose to crucify instead of believe Him! Jesus warns those who refuse to do good (especially helping the less fortunate) and in Revelation the condemned are defined by their evil deeds.

Belief in Jesus allows one to face final judgment without fear (though his followers still need to give account of themselves), but “faith” is often described in terms of love for God resulting in good deeds, not in the neat "say the prayer of salvation" package usually presented by churches. A person with “faith” who that does not show it in some way has no real faith, and one with little knowledge of Jesus can still show faith. The Bible is unapologetically vague about who goes to hell among those to who have little opportunity to become Christians (especially those who are loving people, which the Bible says comes only from God). However, it is clear that punishment is directly proportional to what was revealed and entrusted to a person. Surprisingly, people who are not conventionally “Christian” are referred to as believers, (in one case, Paul meets some “believers” and then tells them about Jesus!) having faith, pleasing God, and even accusing the more religious but less godly on judgment day.

Is Hell Permanent?

I was unable to get a consistent answer from Scripture, so the best I can do is present evidence for several viewpoints.

Eternal Hell: The majority viewpoint in most Christian groups. Hell lasts forever, and once you are there you are stuck. A believer in this view would point out that hell is sometimes described as “eternal fire” or punishment, and often contrasted with “eternal life”. The flames are “unquenchable” and there is no clear doctrine of escaping hell after death in the Bible. Once the door is closed, the gap can not be crossed, and you are separate from God forever.

Annihilationist: The punishment of hell ends with total destruction, without consciousness (or the damned are simply not resurrected). A believer in annihilation argues that Adam’s sin, and the wages of sin in general, are said to lead to “death”, not eternal punishment. Jesus was killed, not eternally punished, to pay the price for sin. The metaphors describing hell often refer to total destruction, and the burning up of sticks or chaff. “Eternal” refers to the permanency of annihilation, not conscious suffering.

Eventual Universalism: The belief that everyone is eventually saved. A Universalist sites the many verses proclaiming Jesus as the Savior of “all men” and “the world” and glorious prophecies about everyone worshiping God at the end. They also claim that the Greek words calling hell “eternal punishment” are better translated as “age-long correction”, a miserable but temporary condition meant to bring forth repentance and eventual salvation. (The Greek word, “aion” is often used Biblically to describe non-permanent things). In some parables on judgement, people are punished for a set number of blows or until their debt is paid, not forever. Peter talks about people being saved “through the fire” and Paul’s discussion in Romans on the big conscious rejecters of the time, Israel, ends with all of Israel being saved. Revelation can be interpreted as saying that people are excluded from heaven as long as they want to be evildoers instead of “washing their robes” so they can “drink from he river of life”. In the end, death is destroyed and suffering ends. Could this include the “second death?”

References (sort of)

I can’t find all the websites I used but Wikipedia and saviorofall.com’s links were common. Works by C.S. Lewis, J.P. Moreland and Rob Bell and others, as well as discussions with many of my friends, were helpful. Thanks, guys.

I used a “New Living Translation” Bible, but read other versions for some of the verses. It’s daunting to realize how much the theology of the translator shapes what our Bibles say.

Visiting the Charismatics

Good-Bye, Liberal UCT. Hello, African Charismatics!

(EDITOR'S NOTE: It has come to my attention that I have horribly screwed up all the afrikaans names of places. It's fixed now- I think... hopefully.)

I am now staying with my good friends Pastor BR and his wife. (No real names, so i can say whatever I like and not worry about them finding it on the internet.) Mrs. R is still the nicest lady on earth (except you, Kathryn) quiet and friendly. Their 4 year old boy defines hyperactive. He runs laps around the house, doing flips over the furniture. He demands I play ball with him, and wakes me up from naps by throwing toy cars at my head. Yesterday he ate two huge bowls of rice, and promptly vomited the second one back up. Yummy!

Last time I saw the good pastor, he was running a mission and struggling to make ends meet. A nasty falling out with the mission director and 3 years of work later, and they have reached middle class.., nice house, 2 cars (one of which is currently running), TV, computer, and they live in Kryfontein, one of the safest areas in the county. If India reminded me that stuff is unnecessary, Kryfontein tells me it's still nice to have.

The pastor is still a fiery charismatic, just like 3 years ago, who loves to "debate", mostly Christianity. Already we have discussed moral relativism, Biblical interpretation (he thinks it's easy, I don't), hearing God's voice in our lives (ditto), salvation (he's a hard core conservative who believes some non Christians will go to heaven- imagine that!), media (he has several radio shows and loves movies, but worries about their ill effects) and the meaning of hell (I'm so sick of thinking about hell. Watch for my Biblical "research" on hell once I get it off my craptop.)

I watches some of the most atrocious Christian DVD making ever. (sample dialogue: "Half of all marriages end in divorce? That's 50%!") and listen to constantly looping worship music battle with the boy's cartoons for supremacy. I am editing a story about a man chosen by Satan to make Christian leaders fall, mostly by leading them into group sex. It's crazy and bizarre; we both belong to the same religion (the pastor would say: "religion is nothing, we are both new creations in Christ") but our world views are so different. For him it's good or evil, God or Satan, black and white (though not in a racial sense, he thinks racism is dumb), right and wrong. When I think about meaningful issues i mostly get confused.

The pastor is fiery but also cynical. "Everyone tries to use you, even Christians. You have to make sure you get your share." So he's going into business for himself (he no longer pastors a church.) He runs a couple of radio shows, and is becoming a consultant, helping people who want to set up ministries and radio programs. I can't decide if he is brilliant or insane. I am helping him write up his paper work, which seems like a catastrophe in the making. He is right on one thing: the South African colored community is long on need and short on initiative, so he has the market more or less to himself. I went with him to a few meetings, building contracts and so forth. Semi-interesting stuff.

Anyway, for those of you who believe in prayer (if you don't the pastor will be happy to correct you), I need to make several big decisions in the next few days:

1) Do I want to stay in Kryfontein, or in Strandfontein with the original "host family" whom I still haven't met for the next few months? Kryfontein is safer, more central, and closer to wrestling facilities. Strandfontein is closer to my "work" and possibly more exciting.

2) Should I rent a car? The pastor has offered to let me rent his if I pay registration and insurance. This would cut down on all kinds of hassle of the despised public transport kind, but increase worries of the I'm-in-the-car-theft-capital-of-the-world kind.

3) My meeting with the YMCA people is on Tuesday. I am considering it an acid test for them, considering their spotty record of communication so far. Show up Tuesday, with a wealth of information, options and answers, and I shall be yours. Blow me off or offer vague generalities, and i shall spend some of my time doing other things.

Waterfall Climbing

Just to Scare my Mom...


Man, I love doing stupid stuff sometimes. Yesterday I climbed up the waterfall pictured. I had to shove my body through a thorn tree at one point, when the rocks got to smooth to grip onto. Fingers cut, knee bleeding freely, branches raking my sunburned neck and loose rocks and dirt falling down, but I made it up. Afterwards, I tried to climb out of the gorge I was in. About 15 feet up I thought better of it, and on the way back down my $10 G-Unit shoes slicked out, and my hat plummeted down as I hung onto a branch. A branch! It was friggin' cool, and I was low enough to find a safe spot and drop down unhurt. That was the biggest rush of pure adrenaline I've had in a long time.

Anyway, enough of climbing, I'm off to visit some missionary friends as soon as they answer their phone.

Arrival in South Africa

Hi all... I really have nothing to say but I'm online anyway.

My first few days have been fun. On my first day I arrived at 10 am and spent the day helping my sister move all her stuff from one residence to another, including but not limited to rolling a man-sixed box up 2 flights of stairs. Afterwards, I was dizzy-tired. On the 4th we went to the Waterfront, which is quite beautiful. We even saw some seals down at the docks, right behind the man assuring us "no seals here, no seals!" (The water front is the touristy area of Cape Town on the ocean, filled with restaurants and tour guides and trips to cool, exciting places like Robben Island. ) I also met a bunch of my sisters friends, who are quite cool. Today I climbed Devil's peak, the peak of Table mountain (see pic). I spend all morning up there, climbing up and down, and I am quite exhausted. Time to hit the beach!!!

I am now in Cape Town, South Africa. My flight was suprsingly painless. For Canada- London I read a book on the apocalypse, watched a movie about loss of innocence and looked up every reference to hell in the Bible. Fun times. I had a 10 hour break in London, which I spend wandering around and realizing how little I know about London. "What's that? Looks big.. there's a sign... ahh, Buckingham palace." I slept through much of the London-Afria flight, and played "Space Invaders". Hooray for South African Airways having video games!

And I'm Off!

If you haven't read about prison ministry yet, click here http://filth-man.blogspot.com/2007/01/from-archives-south-african-prisons.html or scroll down.

To read some gross, penisy Bible stories, click here: http://www.churchhopping.com/ten-verses-never-preached-on. If anyone can explain # 5, please do.

Reader's poll: what is hell? Who goes there? How do you reconcile hell with a fair and loving God? (please respond regardless of your religous beliefs)

I've spent a lot of time researching the Christian hell lately, and I think we may have it all wrong. I might write another post about it in South Africa, but I still have to read what Paul has to say about hell in the Bible.

How Ironic... "Leaving on a Jet Plane" is playing on my computer... which I am doing in 2 hours... bye everyone!!!

From the Archives- South African Prisons

Last time I was in South Africa, I spent 3 weeks doing prison ministry (Bible studies in prison). The work I do on my present trip may or may not be similar. I have purposely replaced names with "the Mission Organization" and the like, since these are my thoughts, not theirs.

Let’s talk about prison. South Africa can’t catch the vast majority of its criminals and it doesn’t have enough jail space for those it does, so it’s a safe guess that those who do jail time aren’t doing it for shoplifting.

Most of the people in jail are members of gangs. If you aren’t a menber of a gang when you go into prison chances are you soon will be. If you don’t are you will probably be abused and raped. The gangs actually have policies about this kind of thing: in some gangs male-on-male rape is acceptable or even an initiation rite, while other gangs don’t allow it on pain of severe beatings.

While prison life can be pretty rough, the prisoners I met were anything but. On the contrary they were polite, friendly and respectful- you wouldn’t realize they were prisoners if they weren’t actually in jail, wearing bright orange jumpsuits that say "Prisoner" on them Even their scars and tattoos don’t make them look scary. They are eager to come to Bible studies, Bible discussions and the like and are living monuments to the power of God to transform people.

The technicalities of prison ministry are easily explained. I visit a different prison every day (there are many near Cape Town), with a team of South African missionarries. The prison guards love to have Christians come into the jails, even if only because a converted prisoner is less likely to cause trouble.

All the prisoners that wish to attend lessons from the organization I work are brought into a room, where the mission people (myself included- I was thrown right in without real instruction) read the Bible, discuss the Bible, give testimonies, do Christian courses from books, all of that stuff. Sure, some of them only come to the classes because a Bible certificate looks good on a parole form, but God can affect people even when they aren’t planning to be affected. The only difficulty for me is that these guys are primarily Afrikaans speaking. My Afrikaans is improving rapidly so that I can follow along with a simple conversation, but when these guys start to get going the language is just too fast and too complicated for me.

Before going into prison, I was worried about my ability to relate positively to guys who have done such terrible things, but these guys are so changed, so repentant, and so eager to live new Godly lives that even when I know what one of them did I feel no anger towards him. In fact some of these prisoners could teach us lessons about willingness and eagerness to serve God.

It’s quite ironic that although I was worried about getting somehow hurt in the jails, the fact is that I have felt pretty safe, even though we have close contact with murderers. I have felt much more fear in the streets of South African cities. However, on one occasion something could have happened: a prison guard who was getting something from his locker failed to realize that his holstered gun was inches away from a prisoners face. The man’s eyes locked onto the weapon and never left it, like a dog stares at the food in a person’s hand. I was too far away to do anything and I didn’t want to accuse the guy of trying something (after all, he was only looking) so I watched nervously. The prisoner ended up not going for the gun, perhaps because the gun was bucked into the holster so it would take a couple of seconds to steal, or because another prisoner touched him on the shoulder and discouraged him with a subtle head shake.

Unfortunately, thes gang violence that is prevalent on the streets does spills over into the prisons as well, and while none of us have been threatened the prisoners themselves aren’t so safe. The most dangerous guys are not the older, hard criminals, but he younger gang members in their late teens or early twenties. They sharpen toothbrushes, smuggle razors into jail on bars of soap, anything to use as a weapon. One day while we were having a Bible Study a fight started outside the room. We couldn’t see what happened but there was a lot of noise, banging and crashing and then the barking of the prison dogs, which are brought in to break up fights because no one wants to mess them. What fascinated me was the reaction in the room- everyone was up and getting excited about it, myself included. "I want to be there" was written plainly on everyone’s face. Young men are drawn to violence for some reason. Perhaps a reason these people fight so much is just that they’re bored and it provides an adrenaline rush…

There are few things sadder than a women’s prison. I was warned beforehand but I was still struck by how depressing a place it is. A lot of men in jail seem to come to grips with their situation and make the best of it. Their tattoos and scars are, in many cases, like badges of honour. The women, of all ages and races look at you and try to act tough act tough but with a haunting terror in their eyes. They, too have scars, not those of street fighters but of abused wives and girlfriends. Their tattoos bear the names of old lovers- quite possibly the men who gave them those scars.

I also got to visit an holding prison where juveniles await trial It is an overcrowded, smelly, joyless place. Many of the inmates are no more than children- We go right into the cells, which are jam-packed fully of filthy, stinky boys who surround you and look at you in a way that is not entirely friendly. I didn’t feel afraid because African missionaries werew with me, but I didn’t feel too comfortable either. One young man in fascinated me because of the look in his eyes. He simply stared off blankly into space, and nothing you said to him got through. His eyes were dead, the stare of a corpse. He is likely dead by now- his cellmates threatened him constantly, for he had raped children. I also spoke to a young man who wanted to become a Christian, but was afraid of his cell mates killing him. I know the standard Bible answer, "whoever loses his life for my sake will save it" but how do I tell that to someone, knowing it might lead to his death? Could I believe, faced with that kind of consequence?

These were some of the "highlights". I apologize for the lack of conclusion. If you are a praying man, remember the men and women of South Africa's prisons in your prayers. If you want more or specific information about this kind of thing, please contact me.