Christians: this Hell thing?

Question

OK, say I reject your god. From what I gather, there are two opinions on this

a) you will be roasted over a lake of fire by demons for eternity
b) you die the 'second death' meaning you are, for all eternity, gone.

My questions are
- is this correct or have I misunderstood?
- which group believes what?
- are there other christian beliefs that are different?

For the 'second death' group an additional question, what would it take to actually get into hell, or is that all a scam?

I_want_u2: If it is filled with fire how can it be dark?

Red Gamine: you are not a christian but you think like is some kind of game show? Wow.

Jeancommunicates: next time answer the freaking question or go away.

Answer 1

I say you will die the "third death", the one that comes of knowing you lived your life with compassion and strength and kindness not for some god or gods but for the betterment of yourself, your loved ones, and humanity. It's quite funny to me that so many Christians do not answer the question posed or have different viewpoints on Hell, and sometimes I wonder if those viewpoints differ by how great the individual's fear of death is or by where the individual believes they'll end up.

As for the second death, these are the ones who take the word "hell" to mean 'the common graveyard of all mankind' because of some Hebrew translation of some word they don't know because they've never read the original texts, let alone the entire Bible itself. They have bit more empathy in them and don't want to see us non-believers tormented too much and so allow us to be as dead as dead without hellfire and brimstone. Meanwhile, their dead bodies ascend to Heaven where they stand around sipping Margaritas and saying "I sure am glad I believed!"

The "first death" is the one used most as the propaganda device to frighten people into religion. Their God is an evil tyrant whom they believe will somehow overlook them and punish us for our lack of worship. What they fail to realize is that any God that awful would be quite happy to have them all join us.

Bring some marshmallows and hot dogs with you when you plan on dying. Think about whether or not you'd like to spend eternity with the all-powerful creator of a vast wasteland or live your life seeing the beauty and good in the world and choosing to make creating more of it your life's work. If we are wrong, acid z., I'd rather spend my time in hell roasting marshmallows with you then any amount of minutes in heaven watching the pious congratulate themselves.

Answer 2

Well Acid....I think this belief in heaven and hell is a to each his own type of thing. Why does one religion say you get a bunch of virgins if you're a good follower ( what do you do with them when you get into heaven...fornicate in the presence of your god?) and another says, you get to go to heaven and sit at the right hand of god ( waiting for a big war?) Scam, Scam, Scam.
I have seen death many times...the truth is in the eyes of the dieing....some go peacefully and some go fighting till the last breath. I believe death has a door... locked....you hold one key...the key to peace. At deaths bed you are faced with reflections of your life, if guilt swells that key, so as not to fit the lock, you cannot pass peacefully. If you " ask forgiveness for your transgressions (trespasses) as you would forgive those who " trespassed " against you..the key will shrink, and you can pass peacefully. Dark, light, hell, heaven, fire, cotton candy, beer, who knows ...dead is dead...it's the EXIT of life that you'll be concerned about in the end. With that said, may I add that...I have seen "Good Christian" folks pass in terrible pain, caused ( I believe) by guilt instilled in their minds by religious beliefs.

Answer 3

I'd like to know too. From my research it certainly appears that the lakes of fire and dying the second death comes straight from Egyptian mythology to the bible.

The Egyptian book of the dead, which is far older than the bible states that when a person dies they go to the underworld and walk through the Valley of the Shadow to be judged. If they are found to be a righteous person they will then proceed to heaven, if not they are cast into the lakes of fire to die the second death.

Very interesting, that sound kind of familiar.

Answer 4

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire


The Lake of Fire is the Second Death. What does the Bible mean when it says that "death and hell" were cast into the Lake of Fire. Well, "hell" (Hebrew: "Sheol," which is the equivalent of the Greek: "Hades") is a place within the earth where the dead go when they die. In the Bible "hell" has different meanings. Sometimes it refers to "Gehenna" which is the Lake of Fire. In 2nd Peter 2:4 "hell" means "Tartarus" and is a special place of punishment for certain fallen angels (demons). Hell (Hades) is composed of two compartments: Torment and Paradise. The Old Testament saints went to paradise when they died; but all saints go to Heaven today. The unsaved today still go to the place of torment, in Hades. All those who die today without Christ will go to the place of torment (Hades), and one day in the future WILL be cast into the Lake of Fire (Gehenna) after The Great White Throne of Judgment. "Death" in Revelation 20:14 simply means that once the last soul is cast into the Lake of Fire, death will be no more ... and the memory of the wicked shall be forgotten,

I must admit that I copied and pasted this text,however,stated above is my position on the subject.

If so inclined, I will submit for your review, an interesting testimony of one who claims to have visited Hell for a period of 23 minutes. I do not know for sure but the story seems to be valid. I do not believe that the man is lying. "Bill Wiese 23 minutes in Hell"

www.spiritlessons.com

For the record,I do not necessarily endorse this testimony. I do,however endorse the biblical texts that are in harmony with it.

Answer 5

Although Hell is mentioned in the bible, it is hard to believe that a just and fair Creator and God would allow such a place to exist but then again you have to look at all the suffering and hatred in the world that is allowed to take place. I think that if you are a good person through out your life regardless of your faith I think that you should be rewarded.

Answer 6

I expect the closest classic christianity ever really got to defining hell was along these lines:

"Its a really really bad and nasty thing that you wouldn't like"


As for what that actually translates to in real terms... well... who knows? It's the lowest common denominator as regards theoretical punishment... skipping the process entirely and getting to the "you wouldn't like it" part.

Worth taking with a pinch of salt really.
Though worded the way I worded it, at least there is no question as to whether a particular individual might not mind it...

Answer 7

Hell is the lake of fire...in the bible somewhere...the Lord takes us all by that place and we see satan...and say to each other...THAT THING weakened the nations....you know where it is ..... in hell where we see him.

He is on the side of that place .. scanning that wall it must be

horrible....there is NO clocks in that place...but it's a fact they can see the people who made it to heaven.
I think people that go there are screaming and crying and gnashing their teeth for a reason.

It is dark....light a fire and go away from it...its still dark.
demons in that place will have thier hands on you....why take the chance....get saved

geeech....its called SAVED for a reason. hell was made for demons and satan....it was not made by God for humans. people choose to go there on there own free will.

Answer 8

there is good and evil......

in divine justice, the good will be rewarded, and the evil will be punished..maybe not immediately, to give the evil time to repent, but eventually......

hell is punishment for the wicked....either
punishment is eternal or
the effects are.....when the evil is burned away from the soul....

there is some evidence of fire...and maybe it is a physical place..like the center of the earth...how long woudl any body last down there? not long..so maybe the evil is burned away and the soul finally saved..not sure... i just do not want to find out the hard way.

Answer 9

You are right on some of it. Yes, if you do not believe in Him, then, after you die, you will be sent down into hell. But if you believe that Jesus died on the cross to save you from your sins, when you die, you will be sent to heaven, to live with God forever,but you cant just believe. You have to lead a Christian life.


God Bless

Answer 10

I believe that Hell is the absence of God.

I don't necessarily believe all that stuff about fire and demons etc etc, but I do believe that your suffering will be greater than anything you could possibly conceive as you realize that you had this opportunity to be with God, and you chose against it.

You don't "get into Hell", you fail to gain entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.