If God is a loving God that many claim and that God will forgive you if you ask; than why is there a hell for you to suffer ???
2006-11-30 05:03:06 · 21 answers · asked by d d 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The word hell in its original meaning meant only the grave. It is not a place of punishment or damnation only the final resting place for everyone.
As far a the dreaded lake of fire is a religious delusion that is used to scare people into following a religion they otherwise wouldn't give a fart in a high wind about. In short it's about control and money. After all these churches will guilt people into giving them tons of money and these people will buy into it because they've already got their identity wraped up in the stupid beliefs of this religion!
2006-11-30 05:09:43 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hell is properly translated to mean the common grave of mankind. There have been many who have improperly applied a meaning not intentioned by the Bible, as in Dante's Inferno. God is a loving God and would not create someone just to later burn them in a fiery furnace (so to speak) forever. It would be impossible to burn forever anyway, as we would soon turn completely to ash and disappear! With sincere study of God's Word the Bible you can gain the proper understanding of it and also get to know God personally. This is what God said of someone being burned by fire...
Jeremiah 7:31: "They (Apostate Judeans) have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had not come up into my heart." (If it never came into God's heart, surely he does not have and use such a thing on a larger scale.)
Illustration: What would you think of a parent who held his child's hand over a fire to punish the child for wrong doing? "God is love." (1John 4:8) Would he do what no right-minded human parent would do? Certainly not!
Also in the Bible fire is meant as a permanent death, a permanent end to something...
Revelation 20:14 & 15: "And death and Ha´des were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire. 15 Furthermore, whoever was not found written in the book of life was hurled into the lake of fire.
Notice if you will, what the lake of fire means...the second death...from which there is no hope of a resurrection from. It is the end of something...as you see even death and Hades(common grave of mankind, also) are thrown into the lake of fire. ..they are completely done away with...that means that after this time there will be no more death for mankind. That wouldn't matter if there was an end to mankind as well, but there is a continuation of life on earth...mankind.
Psalms 37:9-11,29: "9 For evildoers themselves will be cut off,
But those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth.
10 And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more;
And you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be.
11 But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth,
And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.
29 The righteous themselves will possess the earth, And they will reside forever upon it.
2006-11-30 05:28:42 · answer #2 · answered by wannaknow 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are 100% correct - there can be no hell for a god that is unconditional love. However, Jesus' message was radically changed because the human ego did not like it (and didn't understand it). SOME of his parables have retained their original form, especially the prodigal son parable. This parable gets across the exact dynamics of the 'believer' via the 'good' son -- the 'good' son lives by his ego thought system (as does the 'prodigal') and doesn't get the concept of God AT ALL. The 'good' son can't fathom a god that doesn't give a 'special reward' for all the obedience, faith, striving to do good, etc. God tries to get across the nature of Himself and His children -- one of unconditional love and that, despite His children's perceptions and ego thought systems -- the 'reward' is just the REALIZATION that their perceptions about sin and god are not real -- that there is no punishment and no atonement -- that God is always there and never judges and that our preceptions can't change this at all -- that the 'reward' is the fact that they can't do ANYTHING to change their reality of being unconditionally loved by god and that ONLY their own misperceptions keep them from God. But our egos -- like the 'good' son -- don't like this. We get angry and will want to change this because it violates our whole human thought system: the concept of people striving and obeying and doing good and being obedient and then getting a reward whereas others who don't do this shouldn't get the same reward. I've suggested this to devout christians and they react very angrily (again, like the 'good' son). The point is that god's unconditional love is a threat to our ego's thought system and, therefore, our egos will try to change this to make it fit. People will try to say that god's love is unconditional but that it's our choice to accept and if we don't our decision to not accept it results in hell because this IS true love (like a loving parent who gives his kids repercussions for bad behavior). This is so foreign to unconditional love but it makes our egos feel good so ...
2006-11-30 05:27:20 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This question can be turned around, If God is a loving God could he allow Adolf Hitler to spend an eternity without getting justice for his crimes? The vileness of some of the people here on this forum should prove to you that some people enjoy being hateful. Those people don't want anything to do with God except to harrass his followers. Should those people be forced to spend eternity with a God they hate? Hell is for them they will get their wish an eternity away from God and every good thing he created.
2006-11-30 05:17:11 · answer #4 · answered by Mad Maxine 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Dear dd, Let me explain by asking you a few questions........
Do you Consider yourself to be a good Person?
Have you ever told a Lie? what does that make you? (liar)
Have you ever stolen something? even if its small? (thief)
Have you ever used Gods name in vain? (blasphemy)
Have you ever looked at someone with lust? (adultery of the heart)if you have said yes to these three questions by your own admission, your a lying thieving blasphemous adulterer at heart, and thats How God sees you and you will have to face God on Judgement day. TheBIble says the penalty for your sin is hell. hell is the prision God sends lawbreakers and he punishes them there because He is Holy, he cannot look upon sin. Now, the good news is that God sent Jesus christ to suffer and die on the cross for your sins. he payed the penalty you deserve, s if you will repent (turn from sin) and trust in jesus, God will then forgive you and grant you eternal life.
God Bless
WDJD
2006-11-30 11:58:47 · answer #5 · answered by WDJD 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you ask for forgiveness and believe in the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, their is no hell for you.
God is perfect and without sin, God will not tolerate sin in any amount, it can not be in his presence. Sense all men are in sin we must be in Christ to fellowship with God.
God could have created us to do exactly what he said, no choice, no decisions, just absolute obedience. He loved and respected us enough to give us free will, that set us above the angles, that made us the most precious of all creation.
Hell is not there because God needed a place for you to go, it there so you get to choose, God made it very clear that you have a way out, a simple choice. Repent and follow Jesus or rebel and follow your own path.
God loved you enough to die for you so that you would have that choice.
It is not as complicated as people make it out to be.
Your choice.
2006-11-30 05:15:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Your parents claim to love you, yet they discipline you. Is this a contradiction in terms? The God that is Love, is also the God that is Justice. If you deliberately reject God's discipline, then you suffer the consequences of God's judgement. It's the parental thing in a nutshell. Either obey the rules, or suffer the consequences.
2006-11-30 05:12:03 · answer #7 · answered by Dodi 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Did you ever say you were sorry for something, even if you weren't really? God knows the difference. Heaven is only for those that are truly sorry for their sins and want forgiveness. Not the 'little' things, like teasing your kid brother, or running red lights. Some are so evil that there is no place in heaven for them, the Hitlers of the world, and others that are evil through and through.
2006-11-30 05:09:33 · answer #8 · answered by I_Love_Life! 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is no eternal suffering. Hell is the grave where dead sleep awaiting the resurrection.
Hell will be destroyed in the Lake of Fire. Those not granted eternal life will be destroyed in the Lake of Fire, not tortured forever.
Death is also to be destroyed in the Lake of Fire.
Death is a condition, and cannot be tortured.
2006-11-30 05:10:00 · answer #9 · answered by Abdijah 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
well i was watching the history channel a while ago, and they were talking about the books that were banned from the bible. in one of those books, it says that after the world ends all of the souls in hell will be released and let into heaven. that book was banned in the middle ages because the christian church decided that the only way to control their followers was to encourage fear in them. but ofcourse thats fine with the christians because it was all in the name of god and all to gain more followers of their religion. so yeah thats fine if they do it but if you lie to people you go to hell. horray for christianity.
2006-11-30 05:15:55 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋