Christianity and death metal are no match made in heaven.

When Christian metalheads grow up subscribing to a religion built on the concept of hell as punishment and delighting in a musical culture where hell is revered as freedom from religion, more than a few questions are bound to arise.

Filmmaker Kevin Miller brought the debate over hellB次元官网网址檚 existence and his own beliefs on the doctrine, as both a devout Christian and a certified metalhead to the screen in Hellbound?

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e struggled my whole life to reconcile the idea of a God who loves us with the notion of eternity in hell,B次元官网网址� said the Abbotsford-based filmmaker and contributor to The Huffington Post. B次元官网网址淧unishment should be designed to teach and to restore and the way hell is popularly conceived is that itB次元官网网址檚 basically pure retribution. I really struggle with that and I think a lot of other people do.B次元官网网址�

Theologians, academics, authors and the lead singer of costumed metal band Gwar weighed in on what Miller calls a nuanced look at Christianity, different from the fundamentalist opinions often given the most attention in mainstream media.

Barring Christianity TodayB次元官网网址檚 rather scathing review of the film B次元官网网址� the review criticized MillerB次元官网网址檚 choices in interview subjects B次元官网网址� Miller was surprised by how positively audiences across North America have received the film.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 asking some new questions and opening the debate,B次元官网网址� Miller said. B次元官网网址淚n Christianity, certain beliefs are beyond questioning. A lot of Christians tend to mistake their interpretation of the Bible for the Bible itself, so if you question their interpretation, itB次元官网网址檚 the same thing as questioning God and that becomes highly offensive to them.B次元官网网址�

Miller, whose writing credits include the documentaries Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed with Ben Stein; Sex+Money, spOILed and With God On Our Side, shot the film in 12 cities across the United States, Canada and Denmark, including at the Copenhell heavy metal convention in Copenhagen in 2011. The interviews he collected during his directorial debut led him to challenge his own beliefs.

B次元官网网址淭his isnB次元官网网址檛 just an abstract theological discussion because what we believe about hell is a reflection of what we believe God to be. And we all tend to become like the God we believe in,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚f the God we believe in is ultimately violent, itB次元官网网址檚 not going to be surprising when we become an ultimately violent people. If you believe thatB次元官网网址檚 what GodB次元官网网址檚 going to do in the end: separate the good people from the bad people, well, weB次元官网网址檙e going to start doing that on earth. There are definitely real-world ramifications.B次元官网网址�

Hellbound? screens at Cineplex Odeon Victoria Cinemas, 780 Yates St. at 7 p.m. on  Jan. 10. For those left with their own questions, Miller will be on hand for a post-show Q & A session.

B次元官网网址淭here are a lot of us walking around quite certain that we know whatB次元官网网址檚 true. Working on this film really taught me that we have to have an open stance. We have to be ready to engage with information that may change our beliefs. If youB次元官网网址檙e not changing and in constant motion, youB次元官网网址檙e out of step with the whole universe because thatB次元官网网址檚 the only constant.B次元官网网址�