Hell Disappeared. No One Noticed. A Civic Argument

An abstract of this essay would reveal two interests, one civil and one religious. The first has to do with a public debate over values in American elementary and secondary education and what this debate symbolizes about national life in general. Specifically, I want to suggest that the stated inten...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Harvard theological review 1985-10, Vol.78 (3-4), p.381-398
Main Author: Marty, Martin E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Catholicism
Children
Christianity
Churches
Contemporary period
General subjects
Heaven
Hell
History and sciences of religions
Judaism
Morality
Pastoral theology
Public schools
Teaching. Education
Theology
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Summary:An abstract of this essay would reveal two interests, one civil and one religious. The first has to do with a public debate over values in American elementary and secondary education and what this debate symbolizes about national life in general. Specifically, I want to suggest that the stated intentions of citizens who demand religious instruction in the public schools could only be fulfilled, logically, if this instruction included doctrines of eternal punishment—in short, the possibility of hell. This is especially true if they wish to restore moral instruction “as it used to be.” My second argument urges that such a teaching would impose on schools a doctrine that has disappeared or been drastically diminished in the preachments of most American religious groups. It is a doctrine that is hence not culturally available.
ISSN:0017-8160
1475-4517
DOI:10.1017/S0017816000012451