Hellbound - Who is Condemned?
Hellbound is a show that often seems to have Christian undertones using language like sinner, hell, angel of the Lord, righteousness and more, but I continuously found myself saying: “this is not a God I know”. I know many people have prayed and hoped God would act in such as are presented in Hellbound. Why doesn’t God just created justice? Why doesn’t He just punish those that have done wrong? Why is the world still so corrupt if we have a just God? So Hellbound explores what seems at first, to be a wrathful, vengeful God. That is also the way God is presented by His spokespeople in the arrow and they live out that judgment.
I like to think I have a pretty Orthodox understanding of the Bible, so I take time to hold up the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New Testament and find that they are one and the same. There is a wrathful side of God there, where He punishes and smights, but in the very midst of those stories, we actually find that God is incredibly patient, slow to anger, giving opportunity for mercy continuously. Look at Ninevah, or Sodom, or Canaa, or Israel, or King David or King Nebachenezar (all old testament examples), God continuously gives people, even whole nations opportunity to change their ways, even after years of awfulness. A God that would condemn someone outright and not give any opportunity for redemption, or repentance or mercy does not fit. That is not the God I know. Has God punished in painful ways, yes. He has let us face the consequences of our pride, ego, selfishness, greedness, gluttony and so much more and the result is that experience the consequences even now and possibly in the time to come. Consequences are God’s natural way of showing us that we have gone wrong. We can ignore them, but that has consequences unto itself.
So that brings us to the seeming purpose of the context for the show, these negative miracles of condemnation. How are we damned in the Christian faith? There are plenty of reasons given in the show: stealing, cheating, killing, laziness and so much more. But, our damnation does not come simply because we have done something wrong, it comes because we continuously remove ourselves from the source of our life. The more and more we reject God, in Christ’s love, His plan for our lives or the world, or how we reject him in one another, the more we are preparing ourselves for hell, but also experiencing it already on earth. Of course doing something wrong has a part in this, but it is much more about being faithful with what God gives you in every possible moment.
This also poses the opposite question though: how are we saved? There is a very quick answer: Accept Jesus Christ as Lord and follow Him before anything else. Throughout your life you will continually be challenged to grow into this, but this is the bedrock to a life long journey towards paradise: creating it in this world and for God’s recreation of it in the future.
Lastly, a lot of time in Hellbound is wrapped around the cultish organizations and practices that surround these miracles. There are some things, like confession and using the time God has given you to redeem your misdeeds or the fact that even some of the leaders know they are sinners, this is good, even if often misrepresented in the show. The thing that struck me most however was these organizations practice of judging. We are meant to judge, we are to judge right from wrong, we are meant to stear people away from wrong, we are meant to pull people out of their evil when we can, but we are not to condemn. For in the way we judge, so will we be judged. God says it will be just as bad for us if we treat people like this. We also hear that we are to make space for God’s judgment and trust that He knows and will do what is needed. Obviously, this takes a lot of faith and trust, but we don’t really see that in this show. We realize later that their practice of judgment is more to legitimize themselves as it is to legitimize God.
This is one of those shows that wrestles with a lot of questions, but because it is not founded in truth does not really explore it. It explores a lot of human nature, of human desire and creates great drama because of it, but a viewer must bring a lot of the real world and God’s word in to explore the questions it presents in helpful ways. I am interested to see where the show goes, if it explores the idea of resurrection, demons, forgiveness, redemption or any of the other theological ideas that seem to bubble under the surface.
Here are some other questions to explore. In this particular context I have given some extra guidance to help direct you.
The show presents that humans don’t have autonomy because of sin - how is this true?
The show tell us to live more just lives - is the only way?
Scripture says fear is the beginning of wisdom but Faith in Christ is the only way
The show presents freewill is to choose God’s will. Is this true, or is there variety in how we might participate in God’s will?
Sinners confess and make it known in the show, but what should our confession look like? Where is forgiveness, public confession, redemption in how we work with God to make up for our wrong?
Is everyone bound for hell?
Remember 2 Peter - God wants everyone to be saved, immensely patient, slow to anger
Blaspheme the spirit, those who choose Satan in the end, satan himself
We create our own hells
Can a baby be a sinner? What is a sinner? Does a dying baby go to hell?
What God is this? What religion? They use Christian terminology - sinner, hell, angel of the Lord, righteousness
What makes someone righteous?
Remember Abraham was seen as righteous because of his Faith but his acts often fell short
How is shame is hard to overcome?
Should we sympathize with sinners? If yes, why?
Could these three beasts represent the three beasts at the end of revelation that convince people to follow
There was a vision of redemption and salvation how does a parents sacrifice play into this? What does this tell us about God our Father’s sacrifice for us?
