comes whilst I am away just ask them the question I asked you.’
(Peter leaves in a hurry)
(About a minute later who should walk up to the gate but John’s wife Hilda)
John: ‘Hello love, what are you doing here?’
Hilda: ‘Well I wouldn’t be here if you had fixed that cooker like I asked you to before you died, now move over and let me in?’
John: ‘Yes of course dear, you just have to answer one question and you will be straight through, Please spell TCHAIKOVSKY.’………………
There is a famous comedy sketch watched by millions of people over the years (it can be found on youtube.com) where we find comedian Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean, Blackadder) as the devil giving a welcome speech to all the people who have been sent to hell after the final judgment.
‘Here we like to keep things informal as well as infernal’
‘Christians, please come and stand over here, I am afraid the Jews were right’
‘Atheists, I bet you feel like a right bunch of nitwits’
‘See you all at the Barbeque later’
What effect does this have?: Humour of this nature implies that judgment is somehow funny, can be laughed off and therefore the reality is belittled. The first example gives us the impression that somehow your eternal destination is still up for negotiation after death. The bible clearly tells us that our eternal destiny is set before we die, there is no way to change it.
Language
Various unhelpful and misleading phrases have embedded themselves in the English language.
‘Go to hell’
‘Not till hell freezes over’
‘It hurts like hell’
‘This food tastes heavenly’