When I was 26, I found out I was going to hell. Young, impressionable, and without a strong faith, I listened intently as the pastor of a church I was visiting described in graphic detail the tortuous, unquenchable flames that would burn human bodies forever and ever. He spoke of worms eating away at decaying flesh, total darkness without the presence of God, and worst of all, no release from those horrors for all eternity. I certainly didn't want to be one of those unfortunate many to feel the flames licking at my feet soon after leaving life in this world. So I took out the proper fire insurance and asked Jesus to save me from my sins and, therefore, from eternal torment in hell. Whew! That was 25 years ago, and hell is still a hot topic.
Hell haunts me deep down inside, where I fear to tread and fail to admit uncertainty lest ripples of doubt disturb my secure little world of faith, lest someone find out and think me less Christian and more heretic. I have no intention of doing away with hell. I can't -- certain verses in the Bible won't allow me to do that. So I am very concerned about remaining faithful to the Christian scriptures; but I'm even more concerned about remaining faithful to the God of love, who loves the worst of the worst, the world's enemies, including, even, the Hitlers, the Idi Amins, and the Osama bin Ladens of the world. Our traditional views of hell as a place of eternal punishment where unbelievers dwell in undying flames contradict the image of God as merciful, forgiving, and compassionate. Our traditional focus on hell as an evangelistic tool does not genuinely communicate the very heart of the gospel. If we receive Jesus as Savior merely because we want to avoid hell, we miss the entire point.
I am also very disturbed by the behavior of those who claim kinship with God through Jesus, who for centuries have instigated and participated in horrendous violence in the name of God. To stem the tide of religious violence in the world, we must offer an alternative image of God that more closely resembles the teachings and life of Jesus of Nazareth. If we do not hear the call of the kingdom, if we forget the meaning of Jesus' life and death, then we will continue to live as if Jesus never died. We will continue to solve the problem of violence violently, including our buying into the violence of hell.
So I've written a book that rethinks the issues surrounding traditional notions of hell as a place of eternal punishment in favor of a view more consistent with that of a loving God. What follows are my reasons for wanting to raze hell:
I wonder how many other pastors pounding pulpits across the world have their parishioners running scared out of their wits and into the kingdom of God, taking out fire insurance as a precaution against the threat of hell. "Who cares?" you might say. "As long as they purchase their policy in time, who cares why they buy?" God might. God may desire to save us from the flames in order to spend eternity in loving communion, not by scaring us to death but by luring us with divine compassion, urging us gently with a caring hand, forgiving, reconciling, and calling us to do the same.
Valerie Tarico: God's Emotions: Why the Biblical God Is So Human (Part 1)
7 Reasons Why Sharon Baker Wants to Raze Hell - Flunking Sainthood
We have been given *plenty of ideas as the the existence in the presence of the glory of God (Jude 1:24, Matthew 25:34, 1Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1stCorinthians 2:9.
We have been told of the grim fate that awaits those who refuse His salvation in Messiah Yeshua (John 3:36, Matthew 25:46, Revelation chp. 20)
And relative to your last sentence, yes, this *is an act of faith to believe in God's word, the Bible for these truths, and again, yes, we will *all know these truths... when, "death do us part" occurs.
But I would caution against approaching the Throne of God (ie. Judgment Seat of Christ) based on our own works... however well intentioned.
It is by grace that we are saved, through faith... and not that of ourselves, it is the gift of God- not of works, lest any man should boast. (...an Ephesians 2:8 reference ). Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, is the Way of salvation.
--ms
Think for a moment of the dedication, faith and obedience of a family of believers who dedicated themselves to the work of God their Creator over a 100 year period while they were mocked by locals. There is one more piece of information available to us from the New Testament, 2nd Peter 2:5 which declares Noah to be "a preacher of righteousness".
So then, what we have is a world of people, who received advance information about the sovereign judgment of an Almighty Creator God. A few received and acted on His word. Many others who also heard via a preacher of righteousness, either did nothing or engaged in mocking of that word.
Ultimately in 1656AA, exactly on the day God said that it would happen, the rains began and there were at that moment but two kinds of people on the earth, those inside of the Ark and those outside.
Jesus of Nazareth directly compared the end judgment of the world with this event Mt24:37-39.
--ms
Exactly. The same story repeated many times throughout time. Different "preachers of righteousness" and different mockers.
Baker states, "This [the hopelessness of eternal hell] leads us to the belief that God withdraws unconditional love once a person's body dies. In other words, God's love for us is tied to the physical body and the temporal realm, and grace disappears for unbelievers after the physical life is gone." This is incredibly far off the mark! Saving grace is a gift from God to believers (Ephesians 2: 8-9). Once saved, always saved. Judgment is the eternal fact of those that die without Christ. Understanding this truth is important to individuals' salvation.
The notions of heaven and hell are the oldest versions of positive and negative reinforcement. Be good, and do what we tell you, and you go to heaven. Be bad, and rebel against what we tell you, and you face eternal damnation. The most effective method of control on the planet.
6] And all the days of thy life have God in thy mind: and take heed thou never consent to sin, nor transgress the commandments of the Lord our God. [7] Give alms out of thy substance, and turn not away thy face from any poor person: for so it shall come to pass that the face of the Lord shall not be turned from thee. [8] According to thy ability be merciful. [9] If thou have much give abundantly: if thou have a little, take care even so to bestow willingly a little. [10] For thus thou storest up to thyself a good reward for the day of necessity.
[11] For alms deliver from all sin, and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness. [12] Alms shall be a great confidence before the most high God, to all them that give it. [13] Take heed to keep thyself, my son, from all fornication, and beside thy wife never endure to know a crime. [14] Never suffer pride to reign in thy mind, or in thy words: for from it all perdition took its beginning. [15] If any man hath done any work for thee, immediately pay him his hire, and let not the wages of thy hired servant stay with thee at all.
Living a good life and knowing that you left the world a better place than you found it is its own reward.
Living a selfish and dishonest life, and recognizing that you've diminished the world, and therefore yourself is its own punishment.
Silly girl, everyone who passed freshman Chemistry and Physics knows that Heaven is hotter than Hell:
The temperature of Heaven can be computed. Isaiah 30:26 says: "Moreover, the light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days." Thus Heaven receives from the Moon as much radiation as we do from the Sun, and in addition 7 x 7 (49) times as much as the Earth does from the Sun, or 50 times in all.
The radiation falling on Heaven will heat it until the heat lost by radiation is just equal to the heat received by radiation, i.e., Heaven loses 50 times as much heat as the Earth by radiation. Using the Stefan-Boltzmann law for radiation, (H/E)^4 = 50, where E is the absolute temperature of the earth (-300ÂșK), gives H as 798ÂșK (525ÂșC).
Now, Revelation 21:8 says "But the fearful, and unbelieving ... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." A lake of molten brimstone [sulphur] means that its temperature must be at or below its boiling point, 444.6ÂșC.
So, Heaven, at 525ÂșC is hotter than Hell at 445ÂșC.
If you want someone to love you just as you are, then maybe they dont need threats. Thats my problem with the bible. The whole idea of choice or no choice makes to accept jesus doesnt really make sense. Pick me or go to hell, but you must pick me from out of love??!!! wtf? some choice.
http://www.youtube.com/user/NonStampCollector#p/u/32/aUtSM2oVy_E
A Question: Is the Biblical Account of the Rich Man and Lazarus from Luke 16:19-end a factual event or a parable?
Electorate:
1. mstevens73 ............... factual event
2. Dr. Oliver B. Greene ... factual event
3. ..................................
4. ..................................
Luke 16:19-31 KJV
(19) There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
(20) And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
(21) And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
...continues through the end of the chapter. --ms
Do you believe in spacemen? Come on admit it you think there could be aliens out there donât ya? The odds would certainly be on your side, I donât think many other ideas have as many chances of actually being possible.
Have you ever seen one?
Just a thought
In Hinduism and Buddhism there are "hell realms" and "heaven realms" or states of consciousness that a soul dwells in for an indefinite period of time then reincarnates. These realms are not punishments or rewards for anything, they are realms of experiences appropriate for thoughts and actions on Earth. Buddha said something very appropriate about this, "We are not punished for our sins, but by our sins." Our thoughts and actions have their own results. Nothing religious about that.