66th Live Stream with Carlton Pearson - Get the Hell out of my Bible

About this sermon

"Get the Hell out of my Bible" The only "literal" hell there is, is the one we create for ourselves and for others. No one goes to hell, but we all go through it. The belief in hell, as we've been taught and have taught it, is a concrete block tied to the ankles of trapped souls and minds. Until they are released from that single doctrine, it is difficult to progress into the wider experience of your God self, the part of himself that Jesus seems to have accessed within and encouraged us to. He loved to call himself "son of man", not "son of God", but recognized both aspects of himself and encouraged us to. Gehenna is commonly used by misconceiving Christians to mean Hell, when in reality it was a garbage dump. I now believe that the entire concept of Hell in traditional evangelical Christianity is erroneously based on both superstition and the influence of ancient pre-Christian pagan mythologies. Yet the idea of Hell remains the most pernicious myth of Christianity and one unique to Christianity. Judaism does not have a place called Hell; Islam has one but it is not a central feature of the doctrine. What about our theology — and what about us as people — compels us to perpetuate the idea of a cosmic torture chamber where our brothers and sisters will be tormented in brutal agony forever? What does this say about the kind of people we have become? Just as important, what does this fervent Evangelical belief say about where conservative Christians stand in relation to most Americans, who, according to that previously quoted study, think people can save their souls not by adhering to some outdated doctrine but simply by being good people? As I see it, the evidence is incontestable: Christians risk becoming utterly irrelevant in their own culture if they continue to separate people into "We, the Saved" and "They, the Damned." Again, I ask, do we need Jesus to protect us from God? Is that what Christianity as we've known it is about? Are we saved from God by God? Carlton Pearson After college at the Oral Roberts University in Tulsa Oklahoma he served for 15 years on its Board of Regents, and two years as Associate Evangelist of The Oral Roberts Association, (ORA). In 1977, Pearson founded Higher Dimensions Ministries (now New Dimensions ), in Tulsa, which grew to over 5,000. Bishop Pearson was consecrated to the office of Bishop in 1996 thru a College of Bishops headed by Bishop Charles E Blake, presently the Presiding Bishop of the Churches of God In Christ, the denomination he was raised in and through whom he was ordained in 1971. In 1993, Carlton married the former Gina Marie Gauthier who is a professional Life Coach and Yoga teacher. More recently, he has felt a passion to proclaim the "Gospel Of Inclusion" and has written a widely acclaimed book by that name, published by Simon and Schuster. It confronts the Christian church's exclusivism as being inconsistent, in spirit with the teachings of Jesus. Pearson's frank and often controversial take on a number of different subjects has earned him appearances on television programs such as NBC and MSNBC's Dateline, ABC's Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley, The Edge with Paula Zahn and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, The Monique Show on BET, and a number of other television, radio and print media outlets. Bishop Pearson was recognized as one of America's 10 Most Influential Black Ministers by Gospel Today and Belief.net. He has received several honorary doctoral degrees. Bishop Pearson recently served as the Interim Senior Minister at Christ Universal Temple in Chicago. He and Gina now host New Dimensions of Chicago, building a local multi-cultural and radically Inclusive spiritual community that emphasizes expanded consciousness and Self Actualization. His newest book, God Is Not A Christian, Nor A Jew, Muslim, Hindu...God Dwells With Us, In Us, Around Us, As Us was published by Simon and Schuster and released in the spring of 2010. Visit our Youtube Channel for more video! Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/bishoppearson Website: http://www.bishoppearson.com Join Email List: http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?llr=cqgwpvn6&p=oi&m=1011112155650

Topics

• Bible Study
• Hell & Judgment