The doctrine of “Hell” was once a vital tool in scaring people into making a decision for Christ during the “Great Awakening” of the eighteenth century. However, from the nineteenth century forward it has been a psychological obstacle to the success of the Gospel!
The nineteenth century advances in the disciplines of science, philosophy and religion loosened the grip of tradition from searching minds; finally, hundreds of years of tradition looked set to be overturned. Yet, on both sides of the Atlantic it was strangely suppressed by those obsessed with conformity to tradition rather than a commitment to both biblical truth and a society whose world view had changed!