Plagiarism and the love of God

I was struck by two news articles I read in this morning's paper that on the surface have little to do with each other, but given my present state of mind promoted some furious thinking.

The first ("Schools not yet minding Minister's cheating edict," National Post, Sept. 28/11, p. A1) bemoaned the fact that in Saskatchewan students caught cheating and plagiarizing had only to re-do the assignment, with no impact on the mark received.

[As a former university dean who dealt with student discipline issues, I can assure you that plagiarism and purchasing essays from paper mills are academic problems in far more places than just that prairie province. Amazingly, when they are caught in this particular act, students are very surprised that they are given an F for the paper, or in a few cases, for the course. They anticipate a little lecture from the kindly official, a slap on the wrist, and a chance to make it up in some progressive fashion. They found that they were dealing with the wrong dean.]

The second article ("Hardly draconian: A law professor takes readers through the government's omnibus criminal-justice bill," National Post, Sept. 28/11 p. A13) addresses, among other things, the lack of accountability for the perpetrators of serious crimes, particularly towards children.

Accountability for deliberate and serious wrongdoing is the common thread, of course. What this prompted in my mind was last Sunday's discussion at neXus on the doctrine of Hell. As those in attendance know, a local pastor and writer named Brad Jersak has written a book that attempts to show (pretty well, in my view) that the teaching regarding Hell is metaphoric and that it was never intended to indicate a literal place to which a large portion of the human race would be consigned for all eternity for their sins.

I enjoyed the discussion very much, and heartily recommend Jersak's book, Her Gates Will Never be Shut. It did leave me with a problem, however. Hell has always been seen as a means of accountability. Reject Christ--go to Hell. Too much sinning--broil for eternity. Consider the revivalist American preacher Jonathan Edwards:

The sight of Hell's torments will exalt the happiness of the saints forever...Can the believing father in Heaven be happy with his unbelieving children in Hell...I tell you, yea! Such will be his sense of justice that it will increase rather than diminish his bliss ("The Eternity of Hell Torments" (Sermon), April 1739 & Discourses on Various Important Subjects, 1738).

Or my former colleague at Regent College in Vancouver, J.I. Packer:

...love and pity for hell's occupants will not enter our hearts. "Hell's Final Enigma" in Christianity Today Magazine, April 22, 2002.

Strong stuff. But if we don't believe it (and I don't), what sort of accountability is left. Does everyone who, to use old-fashioned terminology, enters heaven start with a clean slate? John Wesley and Jim ("There is no Christian way of doing business.") Pattison? George Grant and George W. Bush? Mother Teresa and Tariq ("Mother of all battles") al-Aziz?

Once again I head out into forbidding terrain. I haven't got a clue what shape accountability takes, for members of God's kingdom, either in this life or in the one to come. I'll lay on my usual supply of pain killer (i.e., wine and Tylenol) while I plumb the depths of what is, for me, another mystery.

Wish me luck. Or drop by the wine store on my behalf. I'll be needing copious amounts of both.