Burn in Hell for those Shifts in Focus
Generally, an expository paragraph begins with an idea or claim, which it then explains, develops or supports with evidence. There's this term, though, that sounds like something a city planner would use--"paragraph sprawl"--for how I find myself digressing. I've often used paragraph sprawl with all its might and meandering. These digressions and deviations arrive in the form of shifts in focus.
Growing up as a preacher's kid, I believed in Hell, a place of fire--real fire--burning forever, and if I went to Hell, I'd feel the pain of my body burning forever but I wouldn't die. This tormented me as a child. Fear of sinning, while being told repeatedly in Sunday School we were all sinners and would continue to sin, was a Catch-22 of demonic proportions. In the Bible, in the original Greek text, the word was "Hades." "Hell," an English word used in the King James version, was not this place of fire and brimstone, but a word that meant "grave" or "death." Fire burning flesh forever is a supernatural concept arising out of the church instilling fear of sin. To understand the Bible, we must understand the Greek text, since translation has distorted the intent of the inspired writings of the Bible's authors.
None of these sentences in this paragraph were completely irrelevant to the general topic of Hell. But was there a shift in focus? Hell, yeah.
Growing up as a preacher's kid, I believed in Hell, a place of fire--real fire--that burned forever, and if I went to Hell, I'd feel the pain of my body burning forever but I wouldn't die.
This first sentence established the generally accepted idea that Hell was a place of everlasting, real torment.
This tormented me as a child.
This personalized the idea. So far, so good.
Fear of sinning, while being told repeatedly in Sunday School we were all sinners and would continue to sin, was a Catch-22 of demonic proportions.
I am expounding upon the reaction to how Hell is used by the church in the futile attempt to prevent sin. So I am still discussing how Hell affected me as a child.
In the Bible, in the original Greek text, the word was "Hades." "Hell," an English word used in the King James version, was not this place of fire and brimstone, but a word that meant "grave" or "death."
Here in the fourth sentence, though, the focus shifts to a theological perspective, doesn't it? Hell, yeah. Am I writing about translations? Hell, no. Greek text and the King James version have little to do with how a child feels about Hell and the earthly torment it invades upon an innocent mind.
Fire burning flesh forever is a supernatural concept arising out of the church instilling fear of sin.
This is a better sentence for transitioning to why Hell is taught this way by developing the link between the teaching and the church.
To understand the Bible, we must understand the Greek text, since translation has distorted the intent of the inspired writings of the Bible's authors.
Hell and damnation! There I did it again! Another shift in focus. Back to what I was writing in the third sentence. I might read this and think, Well, all I'm doing is developing the cause and effect of Hell in the Bible. But that's not what I set out to do. Hell, no! What was my first sentence? It was about burning forever in Hell. Hell, I have to make a choice. Am I going to write about the child's perspective or the theological accuracy of what was taught? At this point, Hell if I know! Putting both topics in the same piece might be great if I intend to submit it to a theological publication, but then my opening sentence should be just one of several examples of how Greek text has been lost in translation and then how it affects children.
Hell, this is what I'm trying to say: My best writing has topical focus. Hell-o! If I'm interested in Hell's affect on children, then who the hell cares that back in the King James' days when they put a potato in the ground, they said it was in Hell. If my topic focus is the institutional evolution of translations, then that's what I should write about.
A shift in focus isn't a sin. But I can write heavenly prose by knowing my topic, my point of view, my evidence for the topic and staying on it. Right? Hell, yeah.
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