Ok, let's say there was plenty of evidence that a Christian God exists?

Question

and someone still chooses to not be with him, they dont choose eternal damnation they just choose not to be with him, why cant God just make them not exist instead of eternal torture? why cant God allow them to freely choose how they are going to spend eternity?

John, so then hell wouldn't be eternal, since no one has done anything that is infinately bad

John, so then hell wouldn't be eternal, since no one has done anything that is infinately bad

Rev T L Clark, why does "no" automatically mean eternal damnation, why cant a no to the question of would you like to spend eternity with God mean that you don't spend eternity with God, instead of you dont spend eternity with God and you are tortured for forever

Roxton P, i remember we have free will but with only two options we dont get to use much of it do we?

Answer 1

because he has a serious God Complex, and a God-sized ego.

Answer 2

Eternal damnation is a fictional tale. It is not what the Bible teaches.

Hell comes from two words: Hebrew "Sheol" and Greek "Hades". Both of these words mean "the grave."

Here is what the Bible teaches about this in a nutshell. Jesus is going to come again and get all the good people. The bad people are going to die. For 1000 years, the good people are going to live in heaven. This is called the Millenium. At the end of the 1000 years, the New Jerusalem is going to come down from heaven to this earth. Jesus will resurrect all the bad people. Then He will burn them with fire until they are all burned up, like stubble, and then He will recreate this earth, where we will all live for eternity in a beautiful place with no pain, sorrow, sickness, death, or tears.

This is what the Bible teaches. (I can prove this by the way - just contact me!) If you decide that you don't want to live eternally, fine. It's not what God wants...He loves you desperately and longs to bring you home. But say that you choose Satan's side anyway. Then you will be burned up quick. The eternal torment is being dead and separated from God for eternity versus living in complete happiness with God for eternity.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

...Because religion is one-sided and pretentious. It's a society of conformists that reject the ideas of free will and the fact that nobody has control over their thoughts and feelings.

A good reason though;
I pride myself and gain confidence in who I am knowing that I've gotten where I am in life without the help of a greater being. I know that I've accomplished and made it through my hard times because of my own ability.. It sure beats reaching to the stars asking 'why' every night before sleep in the walk of life..

Everyone says that God and Christianity allow free will to no end, but what's the point if you're expected to follow the path He's layed out already? That's tip-toeing on fate, and now contradiction sets in because free will can't exist in an environment where life has been pre-determined to an extent.

It seems like if God was so forgiving and all knowing, then He'd understand why some don't have faith.

I have this idea though; it's a far-fetched idea but not impossible.
All these people on here are saying you have two choices- 'YES' or 'NO'. What if it's all a scam? The KKK is considered a cult because of their beliefs, but Christianity, Catholocism, Mormanism, ect.. are as biased and unruling as any cult I've ever heard of. You never see any evolutionists riding bikes around your neighborhood trying to teach you about the Big-Bang theory while in their safari uniform, do you? So what if this biblical ultimatum the Good Book throws out is a sham to get you to join the ranks of the religion? These preaching telemarketer-like yahoos (hehe) trying to sell their beliefs to me can keep their ideas. They say there's proof supporting the existence of God, but there's not.

In a college Philosophy class I took, God was defined as 'That than which nothing greater can be conceived', meaning that the most glorious being that could ever be conceived in imagination, would be even more magnificent in reality. Some believe this to be proof that He exists. But I could say that about a chair, and then build it.

I took the wool off my eyes long ago. I was tired of searching for faith in the wrong darkened corners with no answers.
Just ones opinion though..

Answer 4

First, why do people insist on calling God "Christian"? Since when do Christians have some sole (or should that be "soul") claim to having a relationship with God? Didn't this God exist long before and wasn't he worshiped prior to Christianity?

If we acknowledge that the Christian God exists, then we are then acknowledging that the Jewish God (Yahweh) and the Muslim God (Allah) also exist, since these three religions are all centered around the God of Abraham. (I don't care what particular sects of Christianity say to the contrary, and I don't care what particular Christians say when they claim that Muhammad was tricked by Satan.)

And God does freely allow a person to choose how they are going to spend eternity; these three faiths explain what the options are.

A bad analogy, but if you go to Baskin Robbins and they acually have 31 flavors available, you can't choose one that they don't offer - at least, not if you are going to get ice cream there. Within Christianity, there are often two options - heaven or hell. Within Catholicism there is also the doctrine of Pergatory, but those who go to Pergatory are already destined for heaven, they just aren't quite ready yet.

Personally, I choose to love God (which seems to contradict some of my beliefs in Buddhism). But I choose not to accept Jesus Christ as my personal lord and savior (even though I previously have done so). Because of that latter choice, I am told that I will be eternally damned, regardless of whether I love God or not. This is not stated in your question, but it is voiced loudly in the Christian faith - my experience is that it isn't just about loving God (or knowing a loving God), it's about accepting that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son ..." and if you don't accept that expression of His love, then you don't accept God.

But on the topic of "eternal damnation" if one studies the Christian religion closely and in different denominations, one will learn of at least three different interpretations of what "eternal damnation" is. And one of those is just as you say - God just makes them not exist anymore. Another is, as you state, eternal torture. And a third is that "eternal damnation" is the permanent separation from God. (And there are also explanations for what the afterlife involves in Judaism and Islam as well.)

And just as Christians are not the sole owners of God, they are not the sole determinants of what the afterlife holds, either.

I dunno if I have ranted or actually offered an answer to your question.

Answer 5

First of all, there IS plenty of evidence that God exists. Secondly, He does give all people the choice of going to heaven or hell. Aethists willingly choose hell. The worst torture of hell is being denied the vision of Our Lord. Eternal torture is only deserving with such an utter blasephemous slap in the face. God gives you life and all that is good in this world. If you deny Him, you deserve eternal damnation.

Answer 6

There is no such thing as eternel torture. There is simply non existance after death. If you go back to the original language of the bible, hell is translated simply as the common grave of mankind, not as a place of firey torture. It is not a place, rather a condition. The bible tells us that god is love. If he would allow eternal torture, he would hardly be loving, would he? Death is punishment enough.
He does allow you to choose how you live your life. But make an informed choice. Talk to Jehovahs witnesses when they call on you next time. They can give you the answers to all of your questions.

Answer 7

The strange fact is: they ARE free to choose... but in this particular game, there are only two options... think of it as a YES-OR-NO question... Do you want to be avoid eternal damnation? Each of us is free to choose... saying NO to God is by default saying yes to the other. So since you have to choose... what's your choice?

Answer 8

It's questions like this that made me choose not to be Christian.
No kind and caring God would allow his sons and daughters (humanity) to be tortured for eternity just because they didn't believe in Him.

Answer 9

Good question...

To live in eternity with the Christian God requires us to have committed our lives to Jesus Christ as per the gospel (For a brief explanation of the gospel (of salvation through Jesus Christ), see http://www.godsci.org/gs/new/essence.html )

For those who choose to have nothing to do with the Christian God in this life... they will be judged based on the life they lived.

In eternity, they will reap the consequences of their actions on earth.

Hell is a place where people experience the Just consequences of the harm they did to others.

God's rules are intended to minimize the harm that we do to each other... and when we violate the rules, we increase evil and harm and pain in human society.

Cordially,
John

Answer 10

God gave us free will. We can choose eternity with him or without him. Of course it's in seperate places, but I've seen enough "hellfire and damnation" speeches on this site that I'm not going to go into that.

Answer 11

Because that's life, there are only two realms, good and evil. If you do not choose good, then by default, you get evil. The realm of evil is hell. God allows everyone to FREELY choose where they are spending eternity, but there are only two options.