Immorality part 2, honoring god (for xians)?

Question

1) What is your definition of immorality?
2) Please explain how this would justify allowing someone to be tortured for eons in fire if they don't honor god.

My point is, if someone leads a good life, but ignores god, is that truly immoral?

If you had a child, would you tell him/her "If you honor me, I'll make sure you live in contentment and peace. If you don't honor me, I'll let the man across the street take you into his basement of fire for the rest of your life. It's your call, I have no say in the matter"

Don't you actually have the option of leaving them alone? As in, "You can't stay here, you are on your own, but I won't just hand you over to the psycho" Why is that option wrong? Why would an omnibenevolent being not choose this option?

Seriously, what about the "fire" option is reflective of an omnibenevolent being? Does it have to do with morality? Or just a whim?

Answer 1

I agree, and I'm not alone. There are more and more Christians out there who believe that there's at least the possibility that people won't be suffering in hell, maybe just ultimate evil (which wouldn't include any people).
This includes Dr. Geoffery Wainwright, the leading professor of theology at Duke Divinity School, which is supported by the United Methodist Church.
(You may not find it in his writings, but he told a class full of seminary students so, I was one of them.)

.... have you noticed that some people just have form answers that they can just paste in to anything they think is close to applying?

Answer 2

Off the top of my head, I'd say that immorality was anything that did not conform to righteous morality.

The premises of your question #2 are flawed.

Although I used to agree with the popular notion of hell, as a "lake of fire burning with brimstone," that's actually a reference to where hell is eventually put (along with death, etc.) -- AFTER hell has been emptied of the souls it previously contained. Two thoughts emerge: (1) adjudicated souls receive both mercy and adoption, and are allowed into heaven; (2) adjudicated souls receive mercy, but are not adopted and they simply disappear into nothingness.

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RE: Your Question #2
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What goes into the Lake of Fire?
> Revelation19:20 (beast, false prophet cast into the lake of fire)
> Revelation 20:10 (devil cast into the lake of fire)
> Revelation 20:14 (death, hell cast into the lake of fire)
> Revelation 20:15 (those not named in the book of life cast into the lake of fire)

What is the Book of Life (aka: "Lamb's Book of Life")?
> Psalm 69:28 (apparently contains the names of both righteous and unrighteous humans)
> Philippians 4:3 (depends on how strictly constrained is the interpretation: it could refer to only the people specifically mentioned, or it could apply by analogy to many people throughout history)
> Revelation 3:5 (those whose names AREN'T BLOTTED OUT)

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Note: There is apparently a category of people who are neither righteous nor unrighteous, whose names were never written in the Lamb's Book of Life (Revelation 3:8).
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Note: Although some theologians distinguish between the "Book of Life" and the "Lamb's Book of Life," I found no distinction between them. The "Lamb's Book of Life" is apparently a roster of the citizens of the New Jerusalem.
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Note: In the OT, God says twice that He was going to blot out a certain party from the Book of Life; however, in each instance, He repented. Apparently, the text is intended to provide the reader insight into the calculus of God. The OT contains many pleas by man for God to blot out a certain party from the Book of Life, but these requests were apparently not approved.

THE ONLY text in which God makes a definite statement regarding what He WILL do regarding the blotting out of names from the Book of Life is found in Revelation 3:5 ("He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will NEVER blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.")
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Jesus spoke to this issue in Matthew 7. His comments presume a sane audience.

In the latter case, the phrase "I never knew you" is significant, especially since we have the broadly-applied Jeremiah 1:5 ("Before I formed you in the womb I knew you ..."): as an extra-dimensional being, God can sovereignly make it so that the dismissed soul never existed (which seems logically impossible, but there's a lot about that whole thing that is reliant on speculation).

See also my answer at ( http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AvW7Xukmhc7_5_e2I4BadV7sy6IX?qid=20060715063743AAgNCCt )

Answer 3

Just because someone doesnt believe in God doesnt make them immoral. Just not Christian.