I first heard about him on This American Life. As an atheist who was brought up in the Unitarian Universalist church (we pray, “To whom it may concern”), I thought that the notion of hell was not merely preposterous and silly, but actually quite monstrous. How could a supposedly benevolent god subject people to horrific punishment for eternity for even the most heinous crimes or sins committed on earth? It’s unbelievably disproportionate.
So I wasn’t surprised that a thoughtful person would conclude there was no hell. What shocked me was how absolutely essential the notion of hell was to almost everyone else in his community, both clergy and lay, and how few people were swayed by his arguments. I had naively thought that many, if not most, Christians didn’t truly believe that hell was literally real. Of course, I know that many liberal Christians don’t, but I thought that Pearson might have had more success, given his stature, persuading people with what were, to me, quite sensible positions.
So I was gratified to learn that he ultimately found a place in the United Church of Christ.