if they were separated from God while on Earth willfully. I've read that Hell doesnt need fire to make it hell. eternal separation is said to be the greatest(huge) punishment. To me it doesnt sound that bad. Could u explain to me how eternal separation is really more devastating than fire could ever be?
2006-10-30 16:18:37 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No, it doesn't sound all that bad. What could make God so awesome that we could miss him like that? We could imagine never being able to see our favorite person again. But if we don't know God all that well, it's unconvincing.
Maybe it would help to imagine it from our side. It would be like permanent solitary confinement, just being alone with yourself forever. Does that sound a little more ominous? I mean after a thousand years or so. I think that's the idea they're trying to get across.
If you believe in heaven or hell at all, you should not expect anything in human experience to equal them. Punishment and isolation are just metaphors to describe the stakes involved. The point is to avoid it, not to do a cost/benefit analysis.
2006-10-30 16:43:26 · answer #1 · answered by skepsis 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am not Christian but I see it in this way. . . We are not seperated from God while here on earth. As long as there is love, kindness, hope and compassion.. there is a God. Seperation from God is fear, guilt, doubt, addiction and all of the other mind states that are also here and make it a living hell on earth for some. Eternal seperation would be the void.. the nothingness of never feeling happy again... Could you even imagine? Fire is only a physical sense... those come and go and can be tolerated to some extent. Psychological peace of mind is much more valuable.
2006-10-30 16:46:04 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Jesus described Hell as a place of danger (Matthew 5:22); a place you will not go willingly, but have to be thrown into (Matthew 5:29); a place where you'd be better off losing body parts, than going to (Matthew 5:30 and 18:9), a place you will be condemned to go (Matthew 23:33); a place of torment (Luke 16:23), a place where the fire never goes out (Mark 9:43).
Yes, this is also eternal separation from God. But, Jesus never mentions that. Why not?
It may be true we're separated from God now. But I also suspect we're a lot closer to Him and His blessings than we ever realize. Maybe it's true that eternal separation from God is worse than eternal fire - maybe not.
I think Jesus told us about the negative consequences of hell, apart from the eternal separation from God, because he knew this is what would, and should, make us fearful.
2006-10-30 16:55:11 · answer #3 · answered by The Non-Apologetic Apologist 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think anything could be worse than that.
There is a lake of fire that burns with fire and brimstone
There is a lower hell, made for the devil and his angels
There is outer darkness, completed separation, that is a part of hell
No light ever, no sound, nothingness. A void.Can you imagine a place where you are in all that?
I don't know which is any better.
But I sure don't want to go there.
We have a choice, it is our decision
We have a free will, don't think will be peaches!!
2006-10-30 16:32:20 · answer #4 · answered by Gifted 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not only will it be separation from God forever...the person who will end up in hell will know they chose the wrong path. Because the bible says at one point in time "every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord". That means before a person is consigned to eternal torment, they will know exactly why they are being sent there; they refused the truth of Jesus Christ...it will no longer be something "arbitrary"...they will know forever that it's true; that He died on a cross for sin, and they would not believe.
Personally, to me that sounds very sickening; to know I was a fool for all of time.
2006-10-30 17:00:24 · answer #5 · answered by Esther 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
while alive and living on this Earth we all receive measures of good and also bad . If one is in a lake of fire separated from God there's no source of good, no hope or light - only pain and suffering for an eternity...
It also occurred to me that in times of war - our enemies like to torture the captives by putting them in a dark hole (no sunlight or food etc.) --- many have died from this - while others are broken down and suffer emotionally from this torture for a life time...
2006-10-30 16:47:31 · answer #6 · answered by jaimestar64cross 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think an eternity of pleasure would send you insane only slightly slower than an eternity of pain. Which is to say, because the concept of 'fast' and 'slow' have no meaning in an infinite existence, you would go mad effectively instantly.
2006-10-30 16:43:12 · answer #7 · answered by DoctorScurvy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Even if people don't choose God on the earth? He's still here. His presence is on the earth, He's with each and every one of us, even if we don't choose Him, whether we like it or not. No one can possibly understand what it would be like or feel like if He just up and disappeared from us entirely, especially if they don't even know He's here in the first place. It would be awful....... :( !
2006-10-30 16:30:33 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Bible says that there is weeping and gnashing of teeth in hell and that they are toremented forever and ever and the spearation from God means that they know there is no hope of it ever changing.
2006-10-30 17:44:42 · answer #9 · answered by judy_derr38565 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God is love, and Hell is the absence of God, so Hell would be the absence of love and happiness
2006-10-30 16:29:04 · answer #10 · answered by suan_tian 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋