Copple’s Creations

Hell is not a place apart from God.

I know that may not be what many have been taught. Some may consider it a new concept that doesn’t match the Bible’s teachings. But if you’ll bear with me for a few paragraphs, I’ll show you how this ancient theological concept actually has abundant Biblical support.

But why am I throwing this out now? Quite simply, my Reality series has as its underlying theological foundation this fact. It is in fact God’s glory, His unfiltered, unhidden face-to-face contact that either puts one into a state of heaven or hell based upon the person’s relationship with Jesus Christ–their union with Him–so that His healing life can attune us to God’s glory and enable us to live in it.

First, we must state the nature of God to understand the rest. Hebrews 12:29 says it most directly: “…for our God is a consuming fire.”

We see evidence of that through the Bible. Deuteronomy 5:24-26:

and ye said, Behold, Jehovah our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth speak with man, and he liveth. Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

The same sentiment is listed in other passages like Deuteronomy 4:33, 18:6, and Psalms 50:3. The Old Testament also backs up what we find in Hebrews: Deuteronomy 4:24, “For Jehovah thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.” Moses experiences God as a fire around a bush that doesn’t consume it (Exodus 3:2). Fire is used to devour the sacrifices, the most dramatic example being Elijah’s duel with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:25).

In the New Testament, not only does Hebrews state this directly, Paul speaks of it when he talks about those who enter the next life in less than perfect shape:

(1 Corinthians 3:11-15) For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; each man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.

There are some key concepts in this passage. One, this fire is where the saved will be. This is God’s nature as an “all consuming fire.” It is coming into His presence which results in the dross of our lives being burned away. This is also stated in the Old Testament:

(Zechariah 13:9) And I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God.

Two, it is taken as a given that those who don’t have Jesus Christ as their foundation will experience this fire, but it will not be unto salvation or refining, rather it will be the second death, Hell itself. To be saved from this devouring fire, the minimum requirement listed is to have Christ as the foundation of our life. Those who are saved are enabled to live in the fire by Christ.

The premier example of that is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in Daniel 3. They refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol, and as a result the king had the fire heated seven times hotter than usual and tossed the threesome into it as a punishment. What did the king see? He saw the three dancing in the fire, unharmed, and a fourth with them like the Son of Man. Theologians generally say this fourth is Jesus Christ with them. I have a scene similar to this in Transforming Realities. Indeed in each of the books of the Reality Series, you will find a place where the one wearing the ring goes through some type of fire and lives. This is a type of being able to live in the “all consuming fire” of God’s presence.

But those who are not ready for it by the union with Jesus Christ will experience a different reality. Psalms 68:2 says, “As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: As wax melteth before the fire, So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.” Again, we see that Hell becomes a reality not away from God’s presence, but by being fully exposed to it.

This is why in Revelation 6:15-16 it says, “And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and freeman, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” They fear His presence even as Adam and Eve did the day they sinned, for they lost the clothing of God’s glory about them and could no longer bear God’s presence due to their nakedness. It is for this reason that no man can see the face of God and live, as God told Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 33:20).

But on the last day, the Day of Judgment, that will change. Then His glory will be fully revealed and it will result in dividing the sheep from the goats, that is, those who have Christ as their foundation (Matthew 25:31-32). The result of that event is those who have not been healed by union with Christ will be forced to see God face-to-face in all His glory, and it will result in their second death.

“Wait! Hold on,” I hear you saying. “Doesn’t it say in that parable that Christ tells the wicked to depart from him into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels?” Yes it does, Matthew 25:41. Keep in mind two things here. This is Christ talking to them, so he does have a resurrected bodily presence. So there is a sense in which they will depart from Him. However, that doesn’t mean they can depart from his fiery presence, for it is no longer hidden as it is now and fills creation. You see, when Adam and Eve fell, God allowed creation to fall with them so that they would not be immediately destroyed. Fallen creation acted as a buffer hiding the full presence of God from them. This is what it means that they were cast out of Paradise. But at the last day, creation will be redeemed and there will no longer be this life to hide from God presence. There will be no where for those without Christ to hide from His glory. Remember? There is no sun there because Christ’s glory will be so bright there is no need for one. They will depart from his bodily presence, but not from his “all consuming fire.”

In Revelation we see elements of this as well. John in describing what he saw around the throne says in Revelation 15:2, “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that come off victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing by the sea of glass, having harps of God.” This is known as the “river of fire” proceeding from the throne of God. This is representative of the fire that divides the sheep from the goats, refining and sending the former into heaven and the later into Hell.

But someone may still say, “But what about Lazarus and the Rich Man story Jesus told? It made it sound like the rich man was in a separate place apart from Lazarus and Abraham.” And in this instance, yes they were in separate places. There’s obviously a gulf separating them, but apparently of a different nature than distance since they could still talk with each other and the rich man seemed to think it would be possible for Lazarus to bring him some water.

However, the rich man is not in Hell as in the eternal lake of fire we’ve been talking about. Yes, some translations like the KJV use the word “hell” to say where he is, but the Greek word used here (per Strongs) is,

hades, hah’-dace

Properly unseen, that is, “Hades” or the place (state) of departed souls: - grave, hell.

When the Scriptures mean the literal lake of fire and not Hades, it uses the word,

geenna, gheh’-en-nah

valley of (the son of) Hinnom; gehenna (or Ge-Hinnom), a valley of Jerusalem, used (figuratively) as a name for the place (or state) of everlasting punishment: - hell.

This is why you will find some translations that use “hell” in relation to where the rich man is, but also Hades for that is the literal rendering of the word used, not the lake of fire. And there is a sense that the saved, like Lazarus, go to Paradise to await the final Day of Judgment, while Hades is the holding place of those who face death. That Hades and Hell are two separate realities is clear from Revelation 20:14, “And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.” Hades itself is destroyed by Hell. In the Reality Series, especially the last book, this reality plays a key part in what happens.

But it is because some reading that book where this division is made more clearer, they will have questions about both Hades and Hell not being the same thing, and what Hell really is, that I wanted to post this now. When people have those questions, they will have this reference to the theological reality being presented in the books. I pray this adequately clarifies and helps explain some of what happens in all the books, and how it plays into the final ending of the series and the ring’s journey.

I’ve not done a lot of movie reviews, so take this for what it’s worth. But being a long time Star Trek fan, though not in as deep as some others, it brought some thoughts to my mind as I watched it tonight and thought about it afterwards. So, here it goes without revealing any major plot spoilers.

First, I’ll say for sheer fun, the movie delivers on several levels. My wife is not a big action movie fan, and the wrong kind of tension can make her not like a movie. For instance, she hated the Mr. Bean Movie because of the tension of what he would destroy next. She’s not into “gross” stuff, like the one instance where the bug is dropped into a Star Fleet officer to get info out of him, pointing back to the “Wrath of Khan” movie opening. But despite that one scene she didn’t care for, her rating of this movie is “excellent.”  Anyone who isn’t a big Star Trek fan will enjoy this movie. It has the story, the character interaction, and even some genuinely funny moments without being stupid (well, okay, maybe one was a little on the stupid side, but it was played so well you really didn’t notice).

But what about ST fans? That was the biggest issue for fans of the old series. There are so many pot holes this movie could have fallen into taking on iconic figures like Kirk, Spock, and Bones. Could these actors really pull off making you believe they were these characters?

I’ll have to say a resounding yes. The main characters, while not dead duplicates of the originals, one really could believe they were the younger versions of the original cast. They even studied it appears, because you saw many characteristic traits of the original actors that really sold the suspension of disbelief. Even something as simple as the way Kirk leans over shouted, “Captain Kirk” at me. Not all was the same, for sure. And if there was one aspect that bothered me at all, it was Zachary Quinto’s Spock. He did a wonderful job of bringing the young Spock to life. But, and this isn’t a big thing, but it did hit me, the way his mouth is shaped makes it appear he’s about to break out into a smile at any moment. Just the slight upturned corners of his mouth, even in dead serious moments, that worked against him and deviated from the Spock character.

Luckily, his acting sold me despite that one issue. And I could probably point out a few other things, but overall they did an excellent job taking traits from the original cast and integrating them into these characters in such a way that you felt they really were younger versions of the originals, without simply copying them, and be able to generate that chemistry the original had. To me, that was probably the most difficult aspect of this movie they had to sell and do well if it was to get it right. And my score on them getting that right is 9 out of 10. Thank goodness.

The other aspect for Star Trek fans is simply whether it “fits” into the spirit of the original series and with what has gone before. They are able to do a prequel without doing a prequel. And without revealing too much spoiler, I’ll just say they’ve set this up where the future for more such movies or even another TV series with this crew won’t conflict with the older series.

But, keeping the spirit is still important even if you find a way to give yourself more plot freedom. One of my fears is that this would be another modern retooling of the Star Trek world into something more darker, dreerer, and depressing. While the trend nowdays appears to be for the gritter, darker, almost soap opera style shows, those don’t fit the Star Trek universe. Yes, you have an evil villian, the prospects look bleak, and Kirk manages to nearly escape death…even as a kid, several times. Yet, running through that is Kirk’s “never give up” attitude, his refusal to avoid a no-win situation even in the face of certain defeat. And somehow, he does come out on top. Who’da thunk it?

They succeed at creating the feel of the original series even while modernizing the movie experience itself. Even the humor fits to keep the movie from getting too heavy. You get a sense of the energy and unexpectedness of Kirk especially as you did in the original series. Maybe even more so. Simply put, it felt like the spark of the original series was there, it felt like a swashbuckling adventure. They get a 10 out of 10 on that score. Thank goodness.

One other aspect they have managed to maintain from not only the original series, but the francise as a whole, and that is plot holes. I do have to say, in some aspects, they make a more realistic film. Like, how a ship would go into warp from an objective observer is more realistic than how it is done in STNG. Space noises not being heard, for the most part, is another. But there were questions in my mind on some points (none of this gives away anything critical).

For instance, this drill the enemy uses to drill to the planet’s core…dangled from the ship in space? One, why would they want to dangle it down like that, just shoot it from the ship. Then your critical drilling platform isn’t exposed to anyone with a handy ray gun or armed ship.

And then, why didn’t Star Fleet send up ships to just shoot thing thing out of the sky, as exposed as it was? That would have been a simpler solution.

And then there is the black hole thing. Getting caught in one, and the stress of running the engines against the gravitational pull of one causes cracks to form in the ceiling, and yet…an explosion strong enough to break them from its pull causes nar a dent! Hum.

And why is Star Fleet so blind to the obvious? If ejecting the ship’s core can create such a huge explosion, why don’t they equip their photon torpedoes with those things instead? One direct hit would destroy the Borg and this enemy to. Boom! Game over. Yet in my memory, they’ve never decided to equip their weapons with warp-core explosives. Hum.

So, yes, it keeps the spirit of the series! And in a good way. What you have is fun for Trek fans and non-Trek fans alike. Strangely enough, this is like your daddy’s Star Trek, and yet, it’s so much more as well. For what it’s worth, it’s a must see movie for not only space opera fans, but anyone who likes engaging characters, a keep-you-on-your-toes plot, and great special effects. The new Star Trek movie delivers.

Travis Perry read my last post on is Sorcery and Magic Evil and had a valid comment which I wanted to expand upon. Here’s what he said:

I disagree with one basic point you make. A Biblical prophet is not really characterized as someone who prays for a miracle and gets it. Of course, this sort of thing DID happen for the prophets, sometimes. But far more often, a prophet is described as having “the word of the Lord” come upon him. Far more often, the prophet is called to preach to the people, make an announcement, or perform a symbolic act.
Prophets aren’t really about the miraculous, actually. A number of Bible prophets have zero miracles ascribed to them. All heard the word of the Lord (unless this itself is seen as a miracle).
Now if in Christian Fantasy we were to portray wizards in this way, as masters of the “Deep Magic” in that they are at it’s command, rather than the other way around, if we wrote wizards in alternate worlds who must do acts of good at certain times or make announcements at certain times, COMPELLED to do so by the power of obviously-symbolic- for-God’s- power-magic, then we’d have fictional wizards for all practical purposes the same as a Biblical prophet. (And I think such wizards would be interesting to read about.)

Thanks for posting, Travis. You do have a point there which I agree with. In that it isn’t a one-to-one correlation. At least, as you note, how wizards tend to be depicted. The main point I was making is that the source of the ability comes from the same place, whether we are talking about a wizard or a prophet. It just tends to be more overtly stated as such with the prophet for the reason you mention.

I think there are two levels here that are valid concerning a wizard who recognizes that their power comes from God, as opposed to the “evil” wizard who sees his power wrongly coming from another entity including possibly himself (or herself if we throw witches into it).

First, there is “magic” that would be no different than any other “talent” or energy that we might have and can control ourselves. Electricity would be one such example. It can be used for good or bad, and the one using it is either in God’s control which means they would tend to use it according to His will, whatever that might be. Otherwise they use it for themselves, their power, and use it for evil. It tends to be the kind most often portrayed in fantasy stories, like Harry Potter, but simply doesn’t exist in real life.

This is for those out there who think Harry Potter or others have some relation to the real-life occult: there is no such thing as a person born with the innate ability to harness a magical energy existing in the world. In the real world, there is no such magical energy like there is electricity by which someone born with the right genes (who doesn’t exist) could use it to create “magic.”

Such magic is a fantasy, and that’s why those stories are labeled as fantasy. Unless someone plays a trick, you will not find Harry Potter’s stories in the non-fiction-occult section of your bookstore or library. It’s in the fantasy section for a very good reason. Such wizards as are depicted in a story like Harry Potter simply cannot exist in the real world. One shouldn’t have to say that, but so many act like real-life occult is being communicated in those stories, and it is impossible.

The other kind of supernatural energy that could be depicted is more real world. That is, there is a spiritual world created by God as well that most of us never see. In it, evil spirits have some level of power and ability. So do angels. In either case, that all comes from God. But the corruption of God’s energy by demons and evil spirits is sometimes given to humans, and they can appear to do magic and miracles.

It is this corrupted power of God being used for evil purposes which is condemned in the Bible. It is this same power, but uncorrupted, that the prophets are given by God. And I agree, a wizard with this type of power, as opposed to or along side of the above traditional fantasy wizard/witch power, would be interesting.

Which is why I created the character Josh in my stories, Sisko’s friend who becomes a wizard. He has the standard fantasy type power mentioned first, but he also has another power that makes him the “most powerful wizard of all,” and that is God’s power working through him. And he can only use that power to bring people to repentance (or attempt to do so), not to destroy them.

You get a little taste of that in Transitional Realities that just came out. In the next book, already written and I’m currently editing, you get more of his history and how he became so all powerful and the “calling,” if you will, he receives as a result. Something to look forward to.

But yes, traditionally wizards are not often directly controlled by God as a prophet would be. My only point of comparison is where the power comes from is exactly the same in the end. But glad you pointed that out, Travis, and allowed me the chance to further delineate that.