Well, the Biblical/New Testament reason (or maybe an Evangelical interpretation thereof? I can't remember any specific quotes off hand that cover it) is that following the Fall, our faces would indeed melt off, and/or (insert fiery demise of your choice here) in the presence of a holy God, what with us all being unholy. Which is why we need the Jesus-patented re-holyisation treatment before we can get back with him.
This ties in quite neatly I think with my (and many other people's) interpretation of "the problem of hell"). Basically, sin spontaneously combusts in the presence of God. Hell is simply the place outside the wall/boundaries of the Kingdom of God where we dump all that sin to burn safely out of harms way. Redemption is needed so that we can be disentangled from our sin and able to walk safely into the presence of God. Thus, heaven/hell is a free choice: Your sin is going to be dumped on the fire. Your choice is whether to go with it, or let go of it.
The tough part is that over te course of a lifetime, our sins can get so tightly woven into our lives that we think of them as part of ourselves. Letting go of them can be dificult, plainful and time-consuming. When the final crunch comes, those who've spent most of a lifetime regularly disentangling themselves from sin will have a distinct advantage over those who've never tried it before, e.g. because they never believed it needed doing, or the concept of sin was even meaningful... None of us can do it alone, only God/Jesus has the skills required for the actual surgical separation of sin from self - but those who've at least addressed the issue a few times before will be more willing/confident to submit to the knife.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-09-26 08:25 am (UTC)This ties in quite neatly I think with my (and many other people's) interpretation of "the problem of hell"). Basically, sin spontaneously combusts in the presence of God. Hell is simply the place outside the wall/boundaries of the Kingdom of God where we dump all that sin to burn safely out of harms way. Redemption is needed so that we can be disentangled from our sin and able to walk safely into the presence of God. Thus, heaven/hell is a free choice: Your sin is going to be dumped on the fire. Your choice is whether to go with it, or let go of it.
The tough part is that over te course of a lifetime, our sins can get so tightly woven into our lives that we think of them as part of ourselves. Letting go of them can be dificult, plainful and time-consuming. When the final crunch comes, those who've spent most of a lifetime regularly disentangling themselves from sin will have a distinct advantage over those who've never tried it before, e.g. because they never believed it needed doing, or the concept of sin was even meaningful... None of us can do it alone, only God/Jesus has the skills required for the actual surgical separation of sin from self - but those who've at least addressed the issue a few times before will be more willing/confident to submit to the knife.