Do you believe in Hell, Satan, eternal damnation, etc? Why? Please explain.?

Question

Many modern, liberal Christians seem to choose not to believe in God as a judging God. They seem to choose not to believe in the concept of hell as an an eternal resting place for people who do not end up being saved.

Why do you think this is?

Often it seems that thier main argument is that God is so good and compassionate that He could never permenently separate himself from one of His children. And He would never codemn someone to suffering forever, because He loves us so much.

This argument is somewhat logical, isn't it?

So what would you say to someone who espouses this idea? What would you say to good Christians who say there is no Hell, so Satan, no author of evil?

Answer 1

I believe the word hell is just a misused and mistranslated word in the bible. If you get down and study and dig deep, you will see that the word hell is nothing more than the common grave for man.

When you ask questions, that is the beginning of knowledge. God does love us, but if you choose not to love him back, he will cut you off. You will be eternally separated from him with no chance of ever returning. You will be wiped from his memory forever. You will be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. It is not a place of concious torment. It is your second death.

God is very compassionate and he loves all of us. Why would anyone want to think that he would want us to suffer in a torment of hell for all eternity. That would be cruel. God is not cruel. I am sure it saddens God to know that people think this of him. He is our heavenly Father. Would Parents burn their own children just because they refused to follow their rules? Would we as Parents want to see our own children suffer for all eternity? Why would God then. He is a million times a million more fair and just than us.

I believe in God. I love him. He is most high over all the universe. And although I do not believe in a torment of suffering forever, I do know that if I was separated from God, that would be my torment. That would be my eternal hell. And it would be for all eternity. That is scary to me.

Satan is real, but his time is short. He will be cast into the lake of fire in the end to. He will taste death. Satan is evil and has betrayed God in the worst way. Why would God let him be the king of a tormenting hell. Hasn't he destroyed enough? This makes no sense. To let Satan live and torment people for all eternity. Why would God want the reminder around? He wouldn't.

Answer 2

Neither the thought-approximately heaven or hell is better systematically interior the OT. yet, as for the regulation, you are able to study the term "karet". Many infractions carry this penalty which seems of course to make bigger previous this existence. certainly, a number of those require it via fact the sin is hidden. So your first declare isn't quite precise. the comparable could be mentioned of each thing Jesus taught. So if the Gehenna grew to become into in trouble-free terms directed at his Jewish contemporaries, then so is eternal existence. Jesus of course taught the certainty of eternal retribution for sin. there is basically no exegetically sound thank you to steer away from that. Paul additionally talks approximately fake prophets being anathematized (damned). it is trouble-free to omit this reference via fact it does not point out the word hell. properly, except you're a universalist you are going to could concede that some human beings are no longer likely to receive salvation. back, it incredibly is not probable very sturdy exegesis of the passage in question. there are dissimilar different places the place Jesus makes an absolute assertion tocontinual homestead a factor whilst the actual difficulty is a little greater nuanced even in accordance to him. The Psalmist is holding his faith interior the resurrection. This passage has no longer something to do with hell. The Creeds have been formulated as a effect of controversy. Hell grew to become into no longer arguable on the time. it is exciting which you do no longer cite any references from the apocalypse. that's the single place in scripture that deals critically with the final judgement. perchance the authors of your web site felt it does no longer probable be germane to look at those verses? perchance the symbolic language used makes the imagery inaccessible. yet by some potential, i do no longer think of that's the case. Hell is an quite unpopular concept those days. that's for specific. however the bible does coach it. despite if or no longer you p.c. to settle for what the scriptures coach right here is, of direction, as much as you. peace extra: concept in hell isn't a litmus try for Christian faith. So, mutually as we are in a position to talk the subject, it choose no longer separate us.

Answer 3

Because they, like so many of us, pick and choose what parts of the bible they want to accept( some consciously, and some unconsciously), and trash the rest. I would imagine the criteria would be that if it doesn't fit in with 'modern' thought, or is 'intolerant' towards other people, then it can't be of God, who is merciful and kind and compassionate and ....et cetera.

Let's look at what's going on here.

P1 - God is fully good and compassionate.
P2 - A fully good and compassionate God could not permanently separate himself from His children.
P3 - We are all God's children.
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C1 - God could not permanently separate Himself from us.

This is a valid form, but I can show that it is unsound (That is, it has no basis in scripture. Perhaps they would then argue that scripture is outdated, and not the only way to know God, to which
I respond, 'How then can one know God?' Say they respond with x, or y, or z, regardless, it is possible, if not probable, that their response doesn't include the Jesus presented in scripture. If
so, then I respond, asking 'Well where does Jesus come into play, if not the scripture?' Again, if they went with the 'more than one way to know God' route, I would simply respond saying that, if it doesn't involve Jesus, than it can hardly be called 'CHRISTianity' at all. But I digress...).

In light of what was just said, I ask that you grant that the scripture should have at least some bearing on the argument. Then...


Consider P3, 'We are all God's children.' I ask what the basis is for this claim. They could respond that all humans are the children of God, as we were all created by God. They could also
argue that we are all children of God through Adam and Eve(again, unlikely given that the 'liberal' Christian will probably consider this a myth, or a metaphor for evolution, something of that sort).So, what does scripture have to say about it. Search for 'Son of God' in the NIV translation and you find it occurs 41 times in scripture. In every instance (and they're all in the New Testament), Jesus is the only one they are talking about. Search 'children of God' in the NIV and again, all of the 10 instances are in the New Testament, and they tend to refer directly to those who accepted Jesus as the son of God. The very first hit, even, is John 1:12, which reads "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children
of God."

Once the context of each passage is examined, it is evident that accepting Jesus is a criteria for being a child of God (at least it is in the Bible, but since when did the Bible have anything to do
with Chrisitianity?).

So what does this mean? That only those who accepted Jesus are children of God. This shows premise 3 to be untrue, which, because the argument is valid and truth-preserving, shows that the conclusion one is untrue; God can permanently separate Himself from us(if we're not believers in Jesus the Christ).

Do I like it, no. Do I accept it as the truth, yes.

This was in no way a conclusive proof, but what arguments ever are...

Given what showed above, P2 is true, but it is misleading in its original context. I believe the scripture shows that there is a different way that man can be separated from God, i.e. of man's own choice to be so. But that gets into that whole free will thing (go compatibilism!!!), and I have neither the time nor the ability to address that.


Finally, let me say one more thing about those 'good Christians' at the end of your statement.

"There is none good but God."

Good evening.

Answer 4

I do believe in all those things, but they are something that only affects Christians and Muslims. I have a different faith with it's own afterlife. I do not beleive in any one true faith. Original sin and eternal damnation are, to me, extremist concepts borne of an oppressed people who hated their oppressive neighbors. Many ancient armies wandered through the Middle East acting most unsavorily to all they met. After a thousand years of repeated invasions from many different places and being enslaved, some of the cultures from the Middle East developed very insular societies. 'If they are not one of us, they are damned' was the general sentiment of the ancient Hebrew. Jesus came along and made Judeaism for Gentiles. His teachings were altered into 'modern' Christianity and we see intollerant, extremist philosophy poisoning the free thinking, democracy loving people of the Western world. The planet is chocked full of people. Each peoples have at least one expression of the thing that is the Human Spirit. No culture totally lacks any spiritual expression. That's alot of ideas. Too many ideas to say that they are all wrong because they aren't your ideas. The idea that there is one true faith is too extreme to be true. So, while I admit Hell, Satan, and eternal damnation exist, I know it has nothing to do with me or the path that I am on.

Answer 5

I'm sorry to say that these people are not real Christians. You asked why? It is so they could do whatever they want and go to church light a candle and pray for their sins. These people are fooling themselves by thinking God will forgive them. God is a loving God but He also is a judging God. Bible says that anyone who doesn't repent with the bottom of their heart they will not be forgiven. Anyone can sin and ask for forgiveness for the rest of their lives. They think they can outsmart the Lord but they don't know that the only person they are fooling is themselves. God Bless!

Answer 6

As you say yourself, "Hell" is a *concept* (of mankind) ... Hell, Satan and the such like are all imaginary places and characters that were written about by MAN KIND in some self proclaimed "holy" book which attempts to keep christians in line.

The whole jesus thing is pure myth.. stories and hearsay, that were created 1000's years before the jesus apparently walked the earth (the son of god - LOL ha! that one always makes me chuckle)

Just a load of old stories .. thats all.

Answer 7

Yes I believe there is a hell,a place that those who are lost are held.I know there`s a Angel that`s the prince of this world called Satan.We are Gods children only if we are saved.And yes there are those who become saved to backslide and don`t return to the fold.The word says in Revelations that the Devil and his Angels and those who are lost as well as HELL are thrown into the pit of fire .This is the second death.Burn up.They are no more ,nor will they be remembered.They don`t continually burn.

Answer 8

one of the more interesting ideas i've ever heard from christianity is that the final act of the whole story, struggle or whatever you think is going on is that God will accept everyone in hell and finally Satan himself back into heaven and everything will be back to square one (and maybe really end). Then some other preacher dismissed it as garbage. Way to kill the positivity, literalist bastard.

Answer 9

I believe there is a heaven and a hell, but not in the giant mansion with pearly gates in the front and a lake of fire. I believe heaven and hell is simply positive and negative energy. This physical life we live is only one step in life. Our consciousness evolves into one form to another. As pure energy, you're not gonna give a s*** about a mansion or a lake of fire. You have no physical body to enjoy physical pleasures.
As for Christianity and the Bible, there's nothing that says you're going to hell if you're not "saved". Just that you won't have a relationship with God while on Earth if you don't accept Christ. He doesn't even demand that you believe in him. He asks that you accept him. What a cool cat. However, this is just personal belief. There is no proof to support anyone's spiritual faith. So who cares? God bless.

Answer 10

The Christian hell concept predates Christianity, same with the devil....
eternal damnation is a concept that was added rather late to Christianity...