--- title: What Christianity Without Hell Looks Like description: It would allow Christians to point upward to God’s love canonical: https://time.com/3544500/christianity-without-hell/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-28T20:30:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:15.149Z article:section: Ideas og:title: This Is What Christianity Without Hell Looks Like og:description: It would allow Christians to point upward to God’s love og:url: https://time.com/3544500/christianity-without-hell/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7351fca4646b4fc/6987631835ba6ff06dc04b2d/blue-sky.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3792 og:image:height: 2133 og:image:alt: Sky og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is What Christianity Without Hell Looks Like twitter:description: It would allow Christians to point upward to God’s love twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7351fca4646b4fc/6987631835ba6ff06dc04b2d/blue-sky.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Christianity Without Hell Looks Like > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=af291551-9157-4800-909f-107025faa6de&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) by [Patheos](https://time.com/author/patheos/) ## Patheos Contributor Oct 28, 2014 8:30 PM UTC  Bird flying in blue sky Bird flying in blue sky Getty Images by [Patheos](https://time.com/author/patheos/) ## Patheos Contributor Oct 28, 2014 8:30 PM UTC  _This_ [_article_](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnshore/2014/10/what-christianity-without-hell-looks-like/) _originally appeared on_ [_Patheos_](http://www.patheos.com/)_._ The idea that the Bible declares hell a real and literal place is no more valid than the [toxic lie that the Bible condemns homosexuality](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnshore/2012/04/the-best-case-for-the-bible-not-condemning-homosexuality/). Yet the idea that hell is real persists. Why? Because over the centuries those in positions of power within the institutions of Christianity have methodically, relentlessly, and with great art used the doctrine of hell to exploit the innate fear of death that is harbored by one and all. Show me a Christian terrified of hell, and I’ll show you a Christian ready to pay good money for the assurance that he is not going there. If you don’t think the “doctrine” of hell is about the accrual of money and power, then God bless your naiveté. For the rest of us, it’s certainly worth asking what a Christianity without hell would look like. Well… A Christianity without hell would be literally fearless. A Christianity without hell would have nothing to recommend it but the constant and unending love of God. It would allow Christians to point upward to God’s love—but never downward to His/Her wrath. A Christianity without hell would be largely unevangelical, since there would be nothing to save anyone from. A Christianity without hell would trust that God’s loving benevolence towards all people (emphasis on _all)_ extends beyond this life and into the next. Bringing peace about the afterlife, a Christianity without hell would free Christians to fully embrace this life, to heed Christ’s commandment to in _this life_ love our neighbors as we love ourselves. In short, a Christianity without hell would be a fearless, trusting, loving, divinely inspired source of good in the world. And this Christianity would be _more_ biblical—would be truer to not just the words but the very spirit of Christianity—than any Christianity that posits the reality of hell. I want that Christianity. I [insist upon](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unfundamentalistchristians/about-unfundamentalist-christians/) that Christianity. Tell me I’m not alone. _John Shore is the author of_ [UNFAIR: Christians and the LGBT Question.](http://www.amazon.com/UNFAIR-Christians-LGBT-Question-ebook/dp/B00657R2RQ/?tag=johnshorebook-20) _Read more from Patheos:_ * [Despising Mormon Polygamy: Why Joseph Smith Was a Womanizer Who Co-opted God](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kiwimormon/2014/10/on-despising-mormon-polygamy/) * [As Hispanics Leave Catholicism for Islam and Mormonism: Does the Church Ask Too Little of Us?](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theanchoress/2014/10/28/as-hispanics-depart-does-catholicism-ask-too-little-of-us/) * [5 Reasons Why Media Coverage of “Latina” Muslim Converts Does Not Represent Me](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/mmw/2014/10/5-reasons-why-media-coverage-of-latina-converts-does-not-represent-me/) _Read next:_ [_The Christian Way to Deal With Your Kid Coming Out_](http://time.com/3536756/christian-deal-kid-coming-out-of-closet/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3544500/christianity-without-hell/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3544500/christianity-without-hell/"},"headline":"What Christianity Without Hell Looks Like","datePublished":"2014-10-28T20:30:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:15.149Z","description":"It would allow Christians to point upward to God’s love","url":"https://time.com/3544500/christianity-without-hell/","keywords":["faith","Christianity"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7351fca4646b4fc/6987631835ba6ff06dc04b2d/blue-sky.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Patheos","jobTitle":"Contributor","url":"https://time.com/author/patheos/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7351fca4646b4fc/6987631835ba6ff06dc04b2d/blue-sky.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sky","caption":"Sky","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/faith/","name":"faith"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3544500/christianity-without-hell/","name":"What Christianity Without Hell Looks Like"}}]}] ```