Priest says “Hell is an invention of the church to control people with fear.”

Vic Bishop, Contributor
Unlimited Inner Power

Religions invent concepts just like every other creative human enterprise, and they have unleashed some remarkably harmful ideas onto humanity.  The teachings that aim to control people and keep them subservient are the dangerous ideas because they limit people’s awareness of the possible paths for spiritual evolution and personal freedom.

One example is the Christian belief of heaven and hell. The concept of heaven and hell has been so ingrained into the human psyche that many people cannot see beyond this limiting paradigm to any other possibility. Retired Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong, however, doesn’t believe in the myth of hell, and during a nationally televised interview, he shared why convincing the flock to believe in the concept of hell is absolutely critical to the Church’s survival.

View the video below to hear the interview with retired Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong.  Here are excerpts from the interview.

“I don’t think Hell exists. I happen to believe in life after death, but I don’t think it’s got a thing to do with reward and punishment. Religion is always in the control business, and that’s something people don’t really understand. It’s in a guilt-producing control business. And if you have Heaven as a place where you’re rewarded for your goodness, and Hell is a place where you’re punished for your evil, then you sort of have control of the population. And so they create this fiery place which has quite literally scared the Hell out of a lot of people, throughout Christian history. And it’s part of a control tactic.”

Many people turn to religious teachings for solace and guidance in life, but, Bishop Spong seems to think religion disempowers people by programming them to not take responsibility for their lives.  He offers a courageous and unique perspective from the typical doctrines of Christian belief.

“The church doesn’t like for people to grow up, because you can’t control grown-ups. That’s why we talk about being born again. When you’re born again, you’re still a child. People don’t need to be born again. They need to grow up. They need to accept their responsibility for themselves and the world.”

“Every church I know claims that ‘we are the true church’ – that they have some ultimate authority, ‘We have the infallible Pope,’ ‘We have the Bible.’… The idea that the truth of God can be bound in any human system, by any human creed, by any human book, is almost beyond imagination for me.God is not a Christian. God is not a Jew or a Muslim or a Hindi or Buddhist. All of those are human systems, which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God. I honor my tradition. I walk through my tradition. But I don’t think my tradition defines God. It only points me to God.”

 

About the Author

Vic Bishop is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com .  He is an observer of people, animals, nature, and he loves to ponder the connection and relationship between them all. A believer in always striving to becoming self-sufficient and free from the matrix.

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