I do, because I know that God is love (1 John 4:16)
I cannot see God as a merciless torturer of souls who torments the people not in the Book of Life for eternity.
I believe when God says the wicked and unrepentant are destroyed he really means destroyed as in dead - never ever existing again. That is enough for God I cannot see the benefit and joy God will have in the most barbaric way of tormenting souls.
Just does not go with the God I know who is love.
God is love and love doesn't torture.
2006-09-05 02:21:59 · 30 answers · asked by Gingerbread Man 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
steve, you show me where burning hell is in the bible then I could believe.
2006-09-05 02:27:16 · update #1
onefatwhiteguy, you say I take one scripture out of the bible and make what i want out of it. Why are you saying I am making it up that God is love?
Scripture says what is says.
2006-09-05 02:29:56 · update #2
Where is burning hell from?
2006-09-05 02:33:29 · update #3
You are right God does NOT torture people forever. The wicked will be destroyed.
Hell does NOT go on foerver. the people in Hell will be destroyed.
What does God say "the wages of sin is DEATH", not eternal life in the fire.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son theat whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
What is the definition of perish
1)to become destroyed or ruined : cease to exist
Who gets eternal life? the people who believe in Jesus
"Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it." Isaiah 47:14
Rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.Matthew 10:28
If God wants to destroy sin then wouldn't eternal life in the fire make sin ... eternal
people say the fire is eternal so sinners burn forever but
In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. Jude 7
is Sodom and Gomorrah still burning? No but but the EFFECTS of the fire are eternal
When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever" (Ps. 92:7). wicked->destroyed
"The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy" (Ps. 145:20). wicked->destroyed
"I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire" (Ezek. 28:16). Satan->destroyed
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat" (Mat. 7:13) wicked->destroyed
"Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee" (Ezek. 28:16, 18). Satan->Ashes
God said you will die the Devil said you won't REALLY die the problem is the children of God believe the Devil over God
Think about it Revelation says God rains fire and brimstone on the wicked. Jesus says the meek inherit the earth, God is going to make a new Heaven and a new Earth so if hell fire goes on forever and ever then doesn't that make God a liar?
This video talks about it
http://www.bibleuniversity.com/Video/CourseID2/NR11.asx
you can email me if you have other questions
2006-09-05 03:13:01 · answer #1 · answered by Conundrum 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I personally don't have any problem with that, and why should i if it were true? See, God truly is love, He is most merciful, most caring, most understanding, but He also said that:" if you don't obey, you shall suffer the consequences..." What does this mean to us? He doesn't just torture, he has a lot of forgiveness to offer. If you sin you can repent, and then if you sin you can repent, and then if you sin again you can repent, as long as you're convinced that you're sinning and that your intention is not to do it again. But if you die and haven't repented that means that you're doing exactly what He told you not to do, and for that reason you'll be punished as hard as He promised us to be punished if we fail to obey Him, this doesn't make Him unjust, because He warned us and gave us ample of time to repent.
So the teaching of burning hell is correct because it's true. Just because you or some people don't agree with it doesn't make it incorrect. They teach it because it's a fact, most people believe in this truth, then you have atheists who are a small minority who chose to be smart enough not to believe in Him, those will see Him when they die, and then, there will be no turning back.
And i honestly feel that in 2006 we have enough proof that He IS in fact out there, if some one chose to be an atheist, they really have some serious complex.
Also, if there were no hell, do you think that good people and bad people should be rewarded the same? If you were a really good person who doesn't cheat, lie, steal, etc. and who serves God immensly, and then you have Al Capone or Hitler, do you think that both of you deserve to end up in the same place? And if these bad guys don't have a punishment in the afterlife, what's the motivation of being nice? If there was no hell, we can all be bad, steal money, lie, cheat, no?
That's my opinion though!
2006-09-05 02:39:12 · answer #2 · answered by American Wildcat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, God is love, but that does not mean He cannot and will not punish His children whether they are saved or not. When I say saved I mean people who are saved through Christ those who believe that Christ is God in the flesh and only through Him can one enter into Heaven.
When you say that your God would do x or x that is called having other God's before you, that is breaking the 1st of the 10 Commandments. Unfortunately just because one does not agree with all with something in the Bible does not make it alright to ignore it or to change it.
Christ said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (life meaning eternal life) and that no one can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but by Him.
In Rev. 20; 14-15 it says that death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire and whoever was not in the book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire. Also, in 1 Corinthians 6:9 states who will not be going to Heaven, basically it’s listing people who are not saved (written in the book of life). Romans 10:9 explains about getting saved.
2006-09-05 02:50:45 · answer #3 · answered by jogden2k 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do not have trouble with the teaching of burning in Hell.
Revelation 22:19 says And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
It isn't God's fault if we choose to go to Hell. He gave His Son to die for us so that we could be saved from that, but He won't FORCE us to accept that salvation. If we go to Hell, it is because we didn't believe and obey. If no one teaches that, how will people know?
2006-09-05 02:36:32 · answer #4 · answered by Still Blessed 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He is not in the lake of fire yet because his purpose is not yet fully fulfilled. Read the book of Revelation and it speaks of his eventual end. Which first he will be cast into the bottomless pit(tartaros) for a thousand years and after released for a little while and then cast into the lake of fire forever. What is his purpose? To provide a trial and a test for the people of earth to see if they will follow good or evil. That is all he is really here for. This life is a test. Even Jesus who is God manifest in the flesh was tempted by satan. God did not put on us what He was not willing to face Himself. But, if we stay true to the end just as Christ did and past the test of this life then we will be saved. He did it without ever giving into satan once by sinning. But if WE sin, then we have forgiveness by repentance and the blood of Christ if we are saved in Him. Also even the angels in heaven faced temptation, they had the choice to follow satan or God also. Very many of the angels followed satan (he has a whole army of followers) ... But the majority stood with God. Everything in God's kingdom will be tried in the fire of temptation and afflictions to see if it is worthy ... Imagine a tree and you shake the tree. And all kinds of dead twigs and leaves fall off but the green leaves and everything that is alive stays on the tree. That is what the kingdom of God is like, and that is why God puts people through tests and trials by satan's hands.
2016-03-26 22:53:01 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You know, history is very fragile and it is distorted easily, quickly, and most often permanently. Most of the old testament doesn't even deal with an afterlife, but instead talks about how to live your life here on earth. Some speculate that the afterlife was injected into Judaism and therefore Christianity by the Egyptians, who did believe in an afterlife. Of course, it isn't our place to question God, but I do question man, and man has had a lot of influence on the content of the Bible. Eternal punishment for not believing some certain facts, without any proof seems a bit unfitting for the "crime", and I would certainly like to think that God is more merciful than that.
2006-09-05 02:27:47 · answer #6 · answered by bender.bitemyshinymetalass 1 · 2⤊ 3⤋
God is love but the whole purpose of the Bible is so that you may delight in His truth. Hell was made because Lucifer thought himself to be bigger than God and thus hell was created where Lucifer was cast out to. He is not a merciless torturer but if you choose to delight in wickedness there is a place for you called hell. Where you and Satan and all his imps and demons dwell.
2006-09-05 02:27:26 · answer #7 · answered by Southern Lady 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
So what you are saying is that you only believe the "good parts" of the Bible and do not believe the parts that you do not like?
It doesn't work that way. If you are going to believe the Bible, it must be the whole Bible, not just bits and pieces. That's where religious cults develop.
You either believe the author, God, or you don't. Pick one.
2006-09-05 02:24:59 · answer #8 · answered by steve 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I do not believe that hell is a firey place of torment. I don't believe a loving God would creat such a place.
I do believe that the "torment of hell" is the knowledge that you do not get to go to heaven, may it be heaven above, heaven on earth, wherever heaven may be. The knowledge that you do not get to enjoy the perfect new world where there is no pain and suffering...etc. Therefore, hell as a firey place of torment is more symbolic than an actual furnace with people screaming and burning eternally.
2006-09-05 02:27:57 · answer #9 · answered by Tracey H 2 · 3⤊ 3⤋
Thank you, thank you, thank you....I agree 100%. I teach the same thing about God being so loving. I mean really now, if you are a father could you really send you child to "burn" in hell? I don't believe in hell, or Satan. I think that that was all created by man to control others with fear. No more no less.
I do believe in reincarnation that we will have to pay for our "sins" or the bad that we have created. I mean to me it makes more sense to make someone come back and pay back to society what that they did in a previous life, than to send them to hell. I have meet so many people in my life time that use the saying: "The Jones are such nice people and boy they have had such bad times, I mean it is one thing after another that happens to them." I think to myself, humm I wander what they are repaying back to society.
Great Statement you have a Blessed and Beautiful day my friend.
2006-09-05 02:29:55 · answer #10 · answered by cinson1999 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋