So the Roman Catholic Church are changing their doctrine of Limbo.
I pose the question to everyone in blogland who has been to church in the last ten years. When did you last hear a sermon in which Hell was mentioned? Maybe it hs gone the same way as school playing fields and public parks and been sold off to a property tycoon or supermarket. Hell has not frozen over but been redeveloped with neo-georgian executive homes for 4x4 drivers. There might even be a branch of Tesco there.
I recall a time when the congregation was not happy unless they were threatened them with Hell at least once on a Sunday. What has the Church of England done with Hell?
Maybe I should break the duck and preach about Hell in my next sermon. I mentioned this to an evangelical friend who is from an independent chapel background. He smiled and agreed that even in his tradition he had not heard Hell mentioned for a good few years.
Of course those of us from a more liberal background have thought about Hell as being like a derelect industrial site where the former occupents have been released by the risen Christ. Like most derelect industrial sites it might just be redeveloped by some less than savoury business person with ill gotten pounds and a white van.Watching the trailers for the film Jesus Camp I can't help feeling that these property developers have arrived!