Hell and the suffering that is described in hell, as portrayed in Dhante Aligheni's "Inferno", Milton's "Paradise Lost", as described by St. Augustus, and as described in Revelations written by John Of Aquas, are all man made interpretations of what is to be experienced in hell. The Christian church thrived during the middle ages on "hellfire and brimstone" preachers who used the written descriptions to scare people into obeying there mandates.
For someone of the Christian faith to brow beat another participant with the "if you don't except Jesus you will burn in hell" rhetoric is not only childish, I find it severly pedantic. If one does not believe that God would send his children to hell, then this threat has absolutely zero overall effect to the person at whom you are hurling hell.
My conjecture is this, without hell, and the threat of hell, would Christianity have survived as a religion? Why do people have to be threatened with punishment just to be kind to their fellow man?
2006-11-13 13:34:23 · 16 answers · asked by trans fat is good! 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Beyond Revelations, you would be hard pressed to find any other descriptions of hell in the Bible, as the old testament, and the majority of the Bible do not support the conjecture that there is a hell. Most of our ideas of hell were formed centuries after the first compilations of the Bible, and were written by men with severly guilty consiences, who liked to link the sin you committed to the type of punishment you received. Man made hell, not God.
2006-11-13 13:37:04 · update #1
Okay, tardo's. Again, the promise of everlasting life, and heaven, is only a selling point if you look at the alternative which is hell. So hell is still the main selling point of christianity. Thanks for speaking up and proving to the world that you cannot possibly form independent thought on your own.
2006-11-13 13:49:40 · update #2
Again, I never said hell was fire. Christian authorities have written this. Please stick to the original question, I do not want to hear a description of what you think hell is.
2006-11-13 13:50:54 · update #3
no HELL is not their biggest selling point.
It's the FEAR OF HELL that is their biggest selling point.
2006-11-13 13:36:43 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
Nope. The biggest selling point is having a close relationship with the most powerful being in the universe.
I think that the easiness to convert has to be a very good selling point as well. Christianity is a very unique religion. All other religions are all about DOING good. BEING good. Not being bad. You have to PROVE that you deserve to be rewarded and not be punished. Not with Christianity. All you have to do is say "thank you Jesus" and you go to Heaven instead of Hell.
Why should Christians be good then? We do good out of thankness and reverence for our Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit works with us to encourage us to be good. Sure, we sin like everyone else, but Love is the greatest commandment given by Jesus Christ. And we are forgiven for our sins.
BTW, One can call hell the absense of God, though the lake of fire IS described in Revelations.
2006-11-13 13:52:26 · answer #2 · answered by SmartAlex 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There are actually not any flaws in the Jesus tale; you only don't have the skill to comprehend. Christianity makes a huge deal approximately Jesus because of the fact this is all approximately Jesus. he isn't in basic terms a son of God, he's God. The actual guy or woman born at Bethlehem to Mary is the Son, yet Jesus isn't in basic terms a actual guy or woman. It does not depend if that doesn't make experience to you. The resurrection of Jesus grew to become into mandatory so we are able to have a desire of resurrection. The early Christians have been replaced whilst they observed the resurrected Jesus; previously that, they have been cowards. with out the resurrection of Jesus, Christianity does not have survived the 1st century.
2016-10-22 01:14:42 · answer #3 · answered by gaidos 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would say that it is one of the biggest ones...I find that most Christians are scared of going to hell, and I often say that if there was no punishment for going to hell, then most people would not even believe in it in the first place.....Heaven is merely the saving grace....but from what? Heaven had become an unknown, but "positive" alternative......while hell is merely the forbidden, scary place that none of us want to go to at all. I remember on my own journey out of Christianity....the only thing that held me "back" was my fear of going to hell....once I got over that I was able to move on. Peace and love, many blessings!!!
2006-11-13 14:10:17 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Whose to say hell is exclusively fire? How about the abyss, or the darkness, or the great separation from God? Jesus described Hell in human terms by evidence of so many despriptions of it. Therefore, these description point to, like a sign, something that is even more terrible! If Hell was a lake of fire, those who are in Hell would probably want to be in that rather than in Hell!
2006-11-13 13:49:02 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't think Christianity would have survived without some concept of Hell. This is because, at its core, Hell is a counterpoint to Heaven. God gave us free will. Religion is entirely based upon this concept. What will a man chose to do? In order to have a choice, he must have an alternative NOT to choose.
But God does not "send" us to Hell. We send ourselves there through our rejection of Him. It's like blaming the judge for sending a murderer to prison. It's not the judge's fault the convict committed the crime.
God's desire is for all mankind to have everlasting life.
2006-11-13 14:35:40 · answer #6 · answered by Andrew 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Man did not make hell. God made it. Do you know who it was prepared for (originally)? Study your bible for the answer. You may be surprised.
The doctrine of hell is undeniably in the Holy Scriptures and a sad reality that I hope you are protected from.
God is gracious and will allow you to choose hell where you will eventually perish rather than inherit eternal life. Choose life! Choose Christ!
Check out www.thewayofthemster.com and see if you pass the "good person" test.
2006-11-13 14:01:35 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Hell isn't the burning pit with pitchforks hell everyone has made it to be. It's complete separation from God. And because God made everything, and everything, including our bodies, is of God , then Hell is basically eternal nothingness. You will be condemned to an eternity doing absolutely nothing, withe just your soul to float about forever.
But my real point is that Christianity's biggest selling point is forgiveness, Jesus Christ, and the promise of HEAVEN.
2006-11-13 13:44:49 · answer #8 · answered by Forget My Name. 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Sadly, many denominations use fear tactic such as preaching hell; unfortunately most of them live in continues fear, wondering if there going to make it, every time they slip and fall.
The good news is simply that!!
What I mean is the word Gospel means almost to good to be true news, its the good news about God's grace, we no longer have to try to live up to some man made standard keeping us in line;
The REAL selling point is about His love, Grace and mercy, you can make it, abundant life and so on.
2006-11-13 13:56:49 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Seems like it. I like science, you can't disprove it because it IS real. But if you choose to look the other way you wont get punished for it
2006-11-13 13:37:02 · answer #10 · answered by Sgt Know It All 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are many strong selling points...
1)everlasting life
2)unconditional love
3)no condemnation of my sins
4)salvation through grace
5)never having to carry a load on my own...God always helps.
Should I continue?
2006-11-13 13:44:31 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋