In the same way that he broke away from Rome to create the African American Catholic Congregation, Archbishop George Augustus Stallings expects to stir up the Christian community with his new book challenging the belief in heaven and hell.
The title of Stallng’s book, “Beyond the Zoom: The Afterlife,” is being promoted with the same high-octane passion he had when he founded the Imani Temple African American Catholic Congregation on July 2, 1989.
“This book is revolutionary. It is explosive. It is controversial, and it will shake organized Christianity,” said Stallings, who is bristling for a fight with biblical scholars with his interpretation of scripture.
As opposed to a chapter-by-chapter critique of heaven and hell, the heart of the debate can be found in the title of Chapter 15: “Hell? No !”
“Is there actually a place called Hell, as commonly known, named, physical of eternal suffering and damnation…is it a place of torment with the material properties of a fiery furnace of brimstone where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42 NIV) The answer to this question is: ‘Hell? No!’”
Stallings said Bishop Carlton Pearson, who died of cancer at age 70 on Nov. 19, was condemned as an” heretic” because he made the same declaration in the mid-1990s but he will not back down.
“How in the Hell will there be weeping and gnashing of teeth when there is no body,” Stallings said. “I want to set the record straight on heaven and hell. Heaven is God, and God is heaven.”
Pearson, the former leader of Higher Dimensions Evangelistic Center, said that about 15 years ago, he heard from God that led him to reject the existence of hell. Pearson’s book, “The Gospel of Inclusion,” said that there is no hell and that everyone goes to heaven when they die.
However, the Rev. Nathaniel Thomas, pastor of Forestville Redeemer Baptist Church said, “It is important to know what we believe and whose report we believe.”
“Our country is sidetracked with a lot of wind and false doctrine,” Thomas said. “Just because a minister has public speaking skills doesn’t make their doctrine sound doctrine. The devil challenged Jesus but he said ‘it is written.’ Even the Lord was humbled enough to study the word.”
Thomas then quoted Romans 1:21-23: “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor thanked him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.”
Michele Clark Jenkins, co-editor of “The Breath Life Bible” by Thomas Nelson, said she takes a different view. She explained “The Breath Life Bible” is coming out on Feb. 13.
“Let me say first, that when anyone of faith meditates on the Word of God, I believe that God will bring revelation directly to that person,” Jenkins said. “What we have done is to highlight those places in the Bible that emphasize where having faith means that we act out our faith. Our contributors have written articles and commentary to direct the reader back to these scriptures.”
But Stallings said: “Heaven is not a place, it is a state of biblical existence. Hell is not a place in terms of a physical place,” noting Ecclesiastes 12:7 (NIV): “And the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
“Traditional Christianity has told us a lie and What we as Black preachers have done is pass on that lie,” Stallings said in an interview. “I have not read Carlton Pearson’s book [on] the gospel of inclusion, but when they come at me, I’m coming at them with all that I have.”
Thomas said, “The question is: ‘How can you call truth to a lie when you are not clear what the truth is?’ What he is saying [is that] you can do what you want with no consequences.”
The Rev. George Gilbert Sr., pastor of Holy Trinity United Baptist Church in the District, said, “The time we live in is postmodernism. You choose where you go based on your lifestyle and your behavior.”
“We are living in a time when people don’t like sound doctrine,” Gilbert said. “What’s going on in many churches today is people want to go to the show. They go on bus trips. We are in social clubs, but the Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.”