Re-Post: “Hell Fire and Christ Fire” - Episode 8 in the series, “Heaven and Hell”

In this final summer repeat of the heaven and hell series, Patrick and Jonah bring the conversation to the mystery of baptism. If the Christian path does not protect us by removing suffering, darkness, or adversarial forces from our lives, what kind of protection does it offer?

They explore baptism as an immersion into the life of Christ: his suffering, death, resurrection, and fire of sacrificial love. Through Peter’s confession, the gates of Hades, the Beatitudes, and Christ’s own words about bringing fire to the earth, Patrick and Jonah ask what it means to be protected from the might of hell while still living in a world where hellish powers are active.

At the heart of the episode is the picture that true baptism is not escape, but participation. To be united with Christ is to be joined to a fire that burns away what is not love and kindles in us the courage to keep loving in the face of darkness. This is the protection Christ offers: not that we cannot be wounded, but that what is united with his sacrificial love cannot be overcome.