I have been reading the answers to some of these questions and I am amazed!!! When the reality of this world is gone and the Presence of the Lord is inescapable...will ALL these people really be shocked that they will be going to be burned alive forever???? It is unbelievable the lack of faith I am seeing...if you decide not to be with The Lord Jesus Christ, the only place you can go is a place that He is not in...HELL...He does not send you there - you divorced Him and sent yourself! Why on earth would anyone take this kind of risk? Please someone with a clear head tell me why you would do that to yourself?
2006-10-23 13:50:16 · 22 answers · asked by Matt 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
You have to believe in hell before you fear being sent there.
2006-10-23 13:52:27 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
You're playing with the mistake idea of Pascal's Wager. Pascal, the guy the wager is named after, made a bet stating that he would be a Christian because it was a win-win situation. If Christianity was real, he would go to heaven because he was a believer. If it wasn't, than nothing would be lost by having faith on earth except a few chances to get laid. However, that is assuming that your afterlife is defined solely between atheism and Christianity. You are neglecting to consider Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, etc. In those terms, Pascal's Wager (and your whole argument) becomes null and void. What if the "right" choice is some religion that's practiced by a six-person tribe in South Africa? We'll never know. The best you can do is take your chances and hope you're right.
2006-10-23 21:04:22 · answer #2 · answered by Evelyn's Mommy 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Here is my answer. I did it for a while. I attended a church where the pastor was very friendly. He invited me and another friend into his office one evening to speak with us. He was curious about us since we hadn't attended for long. All three of us had a wonderful time talking. l had never felt so welcome in a church before that. The next thing I did was go to a lady's get together in which the pastor's wife was coming to get me and we would carpool down to Albany. I kept answering all of her answers. Beginning the following Sunday at church she and none of the other ladies spoke to me. We waited a rather long time til the pastor came and shook our hands as well. After that I was so heartbroken that i lived as a nonbeliever. Luckily I have come back to the Lord Jesus Christ and found a good church that I attend.
2006-10-23 21:08:43 · answer #3 · answered by rubyred 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well, simply because I don't share your faith, that doesn't mean I don't have any. I could give you the long answer in which I would point out the variouse different hypocrasies, or the subbordination of women or even the fact that the entire childhood and most of adulthood of Jesus was infact left out of the bible so it is an incomplete text. However, you asked for a level headed answer. From where I stand, in order to believe in hell or that you will be burned alive for the rest of eternity you have to believe in Jesus. There for I do not believe that I am taking a risk with my afterlife by not sharing in a system that doesn't fit with my heart. I don't believe that your system is a bad one, infact, the bible is a great book to read for socializing youngsters and teaching the difference between good and bad, also the things not to do or to do in certian situations. I do however know in my heart that the question of god is ultimatly not answerable. So based on this I chose a beliefe system that most closely fit who I am and I try to be. I am not evil simply because I don't believe that jesus is god ( not I am not saying he didn't exist) I do good things and I live my life with love, acceptance ( not tollerance, I don't believe people should be tollerated, they should be accepted) and forgivness. If your god doesn't want me then that is his choice, I wouldn't want to be in an afterlife with Hitler, and Al Capone simply because they believed and prayed to Jesus. I would rather be where like minded souls are.
2006-10-23 21:01:18 · answer #4 · answered by Very Pagan Nightshade 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I for one can sometimes have a lack of faith. I do not blame God for things that happen in my life, i take them and see them as an opportunity to make myself stronger, but i have the biggest trouble finding a heaven to believe in and its really sad because if there is no heaven what is the point of living. But to answer your question, everyone is an individule and i also am unable to understand some people and their views. A person's background also is very dependent on their religious faith. Hope i helped somewhat!
2006-10-23 20:55:07 · answer #5 · answered by nicky_8_0_8 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I hope you're reading your bible man. You shouldn't be all that surprised. We are speaking a different language (spiritual) and God has blinded some to the truth because they have hardened their hearts so much. Many think that just by not believing in heaven and hell, they can escape the latter. Kinda like a game my kids would play when they were little(er). They would close their eyes and think that they were hiding from me because they couldn't see me. Well, obviously I could. The same goes with believing in God. Wether we do or not, the fact is that we will be judged by Him someday. Our belief in something doesn't make it true or untrue. Truth will happen all on its own.
Here's a fact. 100% of all people die. What they think happens after that varies, but is very important. Who is right? If you believe that you'll just rot in the ground. You better hope you're right. Or if you believe in work based righteousness. You better hope you're right. Cuz, what if you're wrong? If you're right, I'll rot in the ground with you or I'll end up in a different level of heaven. If you're wrong... You'll burn in Hell.
....think about it.
2006-10-23 21:08:20 · answer #6 · answered by ScottyJae 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Many of them are teenagers and dont take God seriously yet nor the proposition of hell. They think they have all the time in the world and right now life is all about having fun and teasing others that are different.
The ones that are older should know better but have become a friend to the world.
2006-10-23 21:02:27 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The gates of hell are wide because many who claim to be Christians and even think they are going to heaven, will be there. Read Matthew 7:22,23.
think about it. in this country most claim to be Christians and go to church, but their hearts are actually far from Jesus. If everyone went to heaven who believe they will, then the gates of heaven would be wide. Those of us who are not Christians will not be surprised if we were wrong because we did not believe we would go to heaven anyway. Those who will be surprised are those who do their will instead of Jesus will. Everyone I know who tell me I am going to hell are preaching their gospel, not jesus gospel.
2006-10-23 21:10:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
FREE WILL. Free Agency. Whatever you call it. We can be taught, told, asked, begged, tortured, terrorized, etc into trying to get us to believe in something but in the end it all comes down to our personal choice.
That great gift that I believe we were granted by a loving God, who cares about us and wants us to grow in our understanding.
Every choice I make will have a consequence, be it good or bad. But the whole point is that it is I who will have made the choice and therefore it is I who will pay the consequences.
Some have made the choice to believe, others not to believe or worse yet believe and blasphem/renounce Him.
The one thing we all have in common is that we were free to make those choices and will have to pay the consequences.
2006-10-23 21:10:06 · answer #9 · answered by sleeper248248 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jesus couldn't have been the messiah. He failed to fulfill the prophecies. In fact, stuff was added to his story that was borrowed from other religions despite them not being required of the messiah.
So, no worries. G-d's plan is on track and G-d would never torture for infinity, punishment is annihiliation, not torment.
www.jewsforjudiasm.org -- Read the proof texts and figure out how Jesus could possibly be the messiah despite all the prophecies he failed or broke.
2006-10-23 20:54:57 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
my head is clear and i think(that means "IN MY OPINION"-dont get all hot and bothered from my answer) that the ideas of heaven and hell were created to give people something to look forward to and something to fear..if you do good(aka your hetero and you pray every night) you'll get into heaven, if you do bad(aka your gay and you have an abortion) you'll go to hell...kinda like "hey kids, if you are good all year santa will bring you presents, if not you will get coal"....similiar to me...seems like someone hundreds of years ago had a pretty good idea when they created this story to keep society in line...and to give some meaning to this life...BUT thats just my opinion and when i die ill be just fine..i live my life the right way...i help people in need, i love and respect my family and would lay down my life for them in a heartbeat....i dont steal or cheat or harm any living things..i cherish the life that i have and respect everyone elses....so ill be fine without asking some divine being to let me in every night....thats my take on it....=0)
2006-10-23 21:04:17 · answer #11 · answered by thatgirluknow 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋