Do you really believe that people who choose not to accept Jesus Christ are doomed to hell?

Question

If you REALLY do think this, tell me why -- beyond a bible quote and ... what can we expect in hell? Will I be in a body? Just a "soul"? Will it hurt?

I don't believe -- but I used to. Now when I look back, I can't even imagine living under that horrible abusive oppresion called religion.

oppresion = oppression (typo in my original post... am i going to hell for that?)

Answer 1

its pretty sick that people would think that isn't it

Answer 2

I don't blame you for how you feel. But what you need to understand is the truth! The truth is that all you learned in your life is as you see it? (oppresion called Religion)
If you can take a minute and ask yourself if you believe that there is a God? By looking at all the things you see and the way they all work? Example Human body, universal laws, such as Gravity,Motion,Air, and so on.
Every house has a builder, and every builder has a set of plans. It's not too hard to find the answers if you look.
Before you ask a question like the one you are asking you need to know the basics, What is Hell? There are two thoughts on this word,
One is what Professed Christianity says it means and what you are thinking it means.
The other! Then If you trusted in the a Creator who never lies, and you take his written word, and use it as your authority, It says Hell is the Grave. So do you trust what men say or what God's word says? You can expect to be asleep in death in hell, and it won't hurt.
So now I will quote a scripture or two, If you choose to look them up thats your choice.
Soul : Gen 2:7 How man came to be a living soul?
Ezk18:4 souls die?
Life : Eccl 3:19 Man and animals same eventuality?
In any case if you can seperate the truth of the Bible from the teachings of men then you will know that how you feel was caused by false teachings and doctrines of men.
If you doubt this, just put it to the test. ask a question and see if you can get a answer that you like and believe? There's nothing heavy about truth. [e-mail]

Answer 3

There are two aspects of hell and they are hotly debated. One is the grave (Gehenna) and the other is often confused with the lake of Fire which is not hell. The other valid possible idea of hell is a hot dark place (Hades).

For the sake of argument, lets just use the Grave as the proper definition of hell. Can you or anyone you know of escape the grave (hell / Gehenna)? Do you personally know of anyone who can of themselves escape death?

Whether you want to view hell as the grave or a hot prison - Jesus came to deliver us from the grave, permanently. On Judgment day for those who have accepted Jesus gift of salvation from the grave will live on forever.

Those who reject him, and would rather embrace sin, have in essence opted for the very thing that sin brings.., death. No one sends us there but ourselves when you get down to basics. Embrace sin and it will also lead sinners to be cast into the lake of fire, to be consumed by its flames into nothingness.

Only God alone has the power to destroy the body and the soul in the lake of fire - once and for all. The new heaven and new Earth will not have any sin, nor will it be risked.

Just as even the most civil government would annihilate an entire populated village that is infected with a lethal highly contagious incurable disease (to prevent massive global wide deaths) - God even more so has this right to prevent sin from infecting the new heaven and earth.

This is the short version - as the details would take a while to write and read.., but in essence - this is true. Call it oppressive or not - we cant change the reality of what is. Wishful thinking does not change what is. Proof of this can be seen if someone wills that fire will not burn him and he places his bare hands in the furnace - his wishful thinking will not prevent reality from taking place. He will be burned.

Answer 4

No. The whole idea of "accepting" Christ, as though he were a credit card, does not make sense. Therefore, the idea you propose implies that EVERYONE goes to Hell.

There is absolutely no evidence in favor of the existence of a Hell and, given that one exists, that you must accept Christ to avoid it.

Religious texts contain a lot of oppression (look at God in the Bible, especially some of the Old Testament; the Quran is even worse). Most conflicts causing the deaths of huge numbers of people are based on non-religious causes, but religions make these far worse, with their Crusades and Jihads.

You probably feel freer to live the life you want, now that you have thrown off the yoke of traditional religion.

Answer 5

No. God is merciful. You will be rewarded for every bit of good you do once you've paid the price for your sins. I don't think the after life is heaven or hell (pass-fail) but more of a grading system--A through F. The more good you do the better life in the next world is for you. The only ones who go to hell are those who know Jesus is the Christ and then deny him. Doesn't sound like you are in that category. I guess, you'll go to heaven--cause you do lots of good, just one of the lower levels--but it'll still be more wonderful than you can ever imagine right now.

Answer 6

I think the real hell will be knowing what you could have achieved with this life but you didn't.

One of the main reasons that we came to earth was to receive a body. To ALL people ever born into this life, this body is a free gift made possible by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So, yes, all people in the next life will have a perfected, immortal body.

Those who do not achieve heaven, eternal life with God, will achieve some other glory according to how they lived their life. The Apostle Paul described differences in the next life to be compared with the glory of the Sun, the moon, and the stars, and even the glory of each star is different from the other. So it is, we will be judged according to the things we do in this life and will receive a reward that is more than just according to our life here. No, I don't think it will hurt.

Answer 7

No,I don't believe.There's really no way to prove it,but you have to use your instinct and moderate that instinct with rationality,open-mindedness,etc...put all your feelings and senses into consideration.I have done that,and I just can not concieve the concept of people going to hell just for not choosing a certain religion.The only way I would think it'd be justified is if you knew Jesus was lord without a doubt,but you still rejected him.

Answer 8

yes, i do.

the only way to heaven is through Jesus "i am the way the truth and the life. no one comes to the father but through me."

hell is all of your worst nightmares. one of the greatest examples i have ever heard was that there was a room full of people dressed like princes, but their clothes were dirty and torn. their ribs showed and they looked starved, yet they could not die. in the middle of the room was a large pot, full of Delicious food. each person held a spoon, but the spoons were as long as their arms, and so they could not eat. that is hell.

in another room was the same pot, but these people were dressed simply and humbly, and they were happy. they had the same long spoons, but they had learned to feed each other.

if your old religion was abusive and oppressive, what was it? i cannot imagine. i love my church and everyone in it. find a baptist church and ask them some questions.

but you should never completely deny your faith. Jesus is not religion, it's a relationship with someone who loved you enough to die a horrible death, even when he could have stopped it with a single word.

Answer 9

Religion is what you make it, quite simply.
It can be a big deal, or it can be something that is not a big deal.

I don't think that you'll be doomed to hell. :) In the end, I think it comes down to morality - so long as you're a good person in general then why not come to heaven? I hear it's much nicer. :P

I might get some negative feedback because I'm "bending the rules," but to be honest I believe that each and everyone of us decides what rules to follow. We have a conscience - we're capable of making decisions and know the different between right and wrong.

MaybeLater_x

Answer 10

I think that Jesus was the only being in recorded human history who is a perfect template for the average human. If a person chooses to ignore his words they are dooming themselves to 'the hell we go through' here on earth. let alone what to be expected 'later'.

Answer 11

I Agree that the myths & lies of man-made religions are Horrible, Abusive, & Opressive -- leading to ALL kinds of Unecessary Suffering!
That's what turned Me off to religion, too ...
Until I found out that what the Bible teaches is entirely different from what man-made religions teach.

These articles explain in detail what hell really is,
& what else death isn't:

'Hellfire' is 1 of many myths:
http://watchtower.org/e/20020601/article_01.htm

What Hell Really Is:
http://watchtower.org/e/20020715/article_02.htm

Next to them are listed links to articles that explain what death really is, too, and what happens to us when we die.