2007-01-12 07:57:30 · 22 answers · asked by Christine5 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
1st; I'm an Adventist, and this is what the Bible says about hell:Hell
The wages of sin is death, not eternal punishing. It's in the Bible, Romans 6:23, NIV. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The wicked will perish. It's in the Bible, Psalm 37:20, NIV. "But the wicked will perish: The Lord's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields, they will vanish—vanish like smoke."
The wicked will be burned up and nothing will remain. It's in the Bible, Malachi 4:1, NIV. "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord Almighty. Not a root or a branch will be left to them."
When Christ spoke of everlasting punishment he did not mean everlasting punishing. It's in the Bible, Matthew 25:46, NIV. "Then they will go away to everlasting punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Sodom and Gomorrah suffered eternal fire but they are not burning today. It's in the Bible, Jude 7, NIV. "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."
The fire will be unquenchable, but when there is nothing left to burn it will go out. It's in the Bible, Matthew 3:12, NIV. "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering the wheat into His barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Jeremiah 17:27, NIV says, "But if you do not obey Me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses."
The entire earth will be cleansed by fire. It's in the Bible, II Peter 3:10, RSV. "And then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up."
Who is destroyed in the lake of fire? It's in the Bible, Revelation 20:15, NIV. "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
Hell is an event not a place. It's in the Bible, Revelation 20:9, NIV. "But fire came down from heaven and devoured them."
P
2007-01-12 09:50:28 · answer #1 · answered by legzmilner@sbcglobal.net 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
There is no hell, it was made up with a misunderstanding to the Bible. The Greek word hai'des (hades) represents the common grave of man. Sheol is also a Hebrew word that has been mistranslated as hell, but again is the common grave.
What God of love would allow a place of torment to exist? The Bible is pretty clear that when we die we do not feel anything at all. Which is pretty comforting knowing that we will be alseep in death not dreaming and then one day when God chooses to resurrect us we will be awake.
Some scriptures to look up in your own Bible would be Eccl. 9:5, 10, Ps. 146:4, Ezek. 18:4. All of these talk about man not feeling anything when the die or returning to the ground.
I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses, by the way.
2007-01-12 08:10:20 · answer #2 · answered by Michael O 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm an Ásatrúar and we do not believe in the Christian version of the afterlife, heaven or hell. There's many different afterlives, but none of them are anything like the Christian's fiery pit of eternal torture.
We do have Hel (which is where the Christians stole the word from), but it is a rather pleasant and cheery place where some souls await rebirth. It is not a punishment, nor a place you go to if you didn't live a good life. It has nothing to do with that. You go there if you die an untimely death, for example, the God Baulder went to Hel because he was murdered.
The Norse Gods do not punish people for not worshiping them. In fact, I think any God that would sentence someone to an eternity of torture just for not believing or worshiping them, does not deserve to be worshiped in the first place.
2007-01-12 08:04:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I am Pagan. I do not believe in Heaven and Hell, but just one Otherworld, or Summerland.
Step 1: After you die, you go to Summerland, where there is no time. (Time is a man-made concept.)
Step 2: You are there, probably in Spirit form. What happens there is not for us to know yet.
Step 3: After you have spent enough "time" there, you come back to Earth in another body, which may be anything.
Step 4: repeat Steps 1-3 until ...? Maybe until you have learned all there is to learn? Maybe until the universe goes away...? That is something else not for us to know yet.
2007-01-13 09:42:06 · answer #4 · answered by Shelby 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am Wiccan and the only hell I know of is the Christian hell which is for Christian sinners and Hel, the Norse Goddess of the Afterlife who was Loki's daughter, She rules the realm of where those that don't die a worthy death go to.
Personally I don't feel that I am going to either place as I am not Christian or Asatru (worshipers of Norse Gods) and I believe I will be reincarnated after I rest in Summerland.
Blessed Be )O(
2007-01-12 08:08:33 · answer #5 · answered by Stephen 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My understanding of hell is: it's not a place that's been physically constructed to house "evildoers" but rather a place in which one takes rebirth due to bad karma accrued through their lives, due to grasping, attachments and aversions... all the products of ignorance and such. This is a rough version... for more info you'd do better, IF you care, to read about Buddhism.
I don't 'represent' but am a practicing Gelug Tibetan Buddhist, and not a very darn good one at that...
_()_
2007-01-12 08:05:57 · answer #6 · answered by vinslave 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My understanding of hell is that it is a made up place of suffering created by the early Christian church to scare the masses into submission.
I do not "represent" any religion just my own beliefs.
2007-01-12 08:01:40 · answer #7 · answered by PaganPoetess 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I am a Hindu. We have no concept of hell. Hinduism teaches that after death one's consciousness creates the state of existence between incarnations (this is assuming you've not attained moksha). The goal of most Hindus is to die consciously so that they, not their karma, will create the temporary heavenly state of existence. To die with your awareness not focused means that when you pass and leave your body that your karma will take over. This could lead to a temporary state of turmoil if your karma is bad enough, but generally Hinduism teaches barely mentions this in the sacred texts because it assumes that most of us have gotten our lives in fairly good order and that none of us are that bad that we'd have such really bad karma to produce such a bad temporary state. On the positive side, it's just temporary. On the negative side, the temporary state of existence lasts for as long as you want. Thus while in the heavenly state you'll be there until you feel the urge to incarnate again and continue working towards moksha. Again, though, this is all assuming you've not reached moksha...the highest goal of every Hindu. Moksha is union with God. Saivites say moksha is when the atman (soul) merges back into God, Vaishnavas say moksha is when the atman unites with God and is Its eternal companion (i.e. the soul doesn't merge, but is close).
So that's Hinduism's teachings regarding the subject. Hope it was helpful.
Peace be with you.
2007-01-12 08:36:05 · answer #8 · answered by gabriel_zachary 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would classify myself as a Wiccan -if I were in need of a classification :-)
My personal belief is that THIS lifetime is the equivalent of Hell because I believe this is the time we must learn and grow for the next lifetime (in effect, making mistakes and making amends for past mistakes) That is not to say that this life is bad (as some traditional religions view Hell), but it is the soul's proving ground to reach enlightenment.
This is, of course, a VERY limited explanation, but for the sake of time and space, I hope it answers your question sufficiently.
2007-01-12 08:05:20 · answer #9 · answered by Lea 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Wicca: There is no hell. There is neither any heaven. Three is only Summerland - a place of rest and quiet for spirits were they may recuperate before resuming (should they choose to do so) their spiritual journey through reincarnation.
If a spirits chooses, they can also end their existence in Summerland. Some spirits get tired of existing after awhile and choose to cease their journey entirely.
2007-01-12 08:02:22 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
I don't believe in hell. I think life on earth is for learning and maturing. We are reincarnated after we die until we have learned our lessons. After that I am not sure what happens. Could be anything.
I am a Pagan but my views do not reflect the views of all Pagans.
2007-01-12 08:04:25 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋