Can anyone offer an opinion on this womens view on hell?

Question

I read this book by a women Choo Thomas and in it she claims to have been visited by God and taken on a journey through heaven and hell. The book is called something like "Heaven is a reality". In her chapter on hell she tells how God showed her hell and how everyone who did not accept His word was damned to an eternity there. But she also said that God was sad because some people had to go to hell. Now this raises some questions for instance why if God is saddened by the plight of the damned did he send them to hell. Why didnt he just change the admission rules so that anyone of any faith could get to heaven. For instance Cho mentions her parents are in Hell because "they never knew the Lord". If God is sad and he did it, it makes it seem like he MUST send people to hell and that he is bound by certain rules and regulations (made by whom?) Suggesting he is not all powerfull. I found this a little strange. Can these claims be refuted Biblically? Or just by applying some common sense.

I just always fear that many Christians take claims like these seriously without critically examining it because it is easy to claim that it comes from the Holy Spirit and then nobody wants to question it.

Answer 1

I guess there could be a couple ways of looking at it.
Thought #1
For some, hell is a place of fire and torture etc.. If you do look at it that way, then I suppose a god would be bound by its own rules. If you created all of science and existence in the universe, you would set it to specifics. You later would not be able to go back on those specifics.

If I created a room, I would not be able to stick my arm out past that room (assuming I created no doors or windows and I never created myself a sledgehammer) even though I am its creator.
:)

Thought #2
For many, hell is not a place, but a state of consciousness. I read somewhere that the actual translation from the original bible languages is simply to mean something like "without god." The torture of a person in "hell" is simply to exist for all eternity without knowing god or having god's graces in your heart.

If that is the case, "god" or "love" or "all that there is" however you view this concept, would want to be accepted or a part of all people, but could not force people to be a part of or connected with him/her/it. It is the burden of people having free wil; people can choose to not be connected to and accepted by god.

Answer 2

I can't get into the mind of God and explain why things are the way they are with salvation vs. damnation--I've known some non-believers who have done more good in this world than a whole churchful of believers, and to think they may be in hell because they didn't believe makes me want to ask God some questions.
As for the book, I haven't read it, but didn't some guy named Dante write a book about visiting heaven and hell? Is this woman just doing a modern take on that story? Just because someone claims something is of the Spirit doesn't mean it is. And no, I don't have the gift of discernment to know when it's real or not.

Answer 3

Great question! And you have some great answers. I speak has given you the best answer so far. I couldn't have put it any better. It's sad to hear so many people do not have a accurate understanding of death, the grave, and hell. It's sadder when you hear people use select Bible texts to support their theory that hell is an actual place where the wicked are tormented forever. People who do this only use a select verse or 2 and sometimes they don't even use the whole verse. They just pull out the words that suggest an eternal hell. But when you accurately study the Bible in all its context, you will get a complete understanding of the meaning of hell. Never just take one verse, you need to read all the texts involved in the explaination of any topic. Then and only then will you have a fuller and deeper understanding of God's power and love.

Answer 4

I don't know what her book says about heaven or hell so I can't comment specifically on that but I do know that God is not willing that any should perish.

Hell is not a place where people burn for eternity. People are using another persons book "Dante" to establish this doctrine and its a work of pure fiction. Hell is the grave. When you die your dead. When you are resurrected If you have not accepted Yahshua as your personal savior then you will be cast into the lake of fire which is the second death after the judgment.

Answer 5

Those are books of fiction. If anyone says they were in hell or
heaven, don't believe them. There are many liars in the last days.

Answer to your question. God wants all to come to repentance,
but he gives free will as the 1st. gift and won't change your free
will. You must understand God has many attributes and justice
and righteousness are two. We are all condemned to hell because of the 1st sin of Adam, but we all have a chance to
believe in the 2nd Adam, who is Christ who paid for all the sin. If you reject that you will go to hell on your own free
volition.

To understand the Lord you need a good Pastor-Teacher
and log many hours under the teaching of the Word. You
just can't make blanket statements. That's what many untaught people do on YA and it takes alot to try to explain it.

Answer 6

They can be refuted Bibically and by means of common sense. Common sense tells us that no sane person would punish someone FOREVER because of something (s)he did not know. Especially in such a cruel way. Much less would a God of love do so. (1John 4:8)

Let's look at it Bibically.


Eccl. 9:5, 10: “The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all . . . All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, the place to which you are going.”
Ps. 146:4: “His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.” (No conciousness means that a person can not suffer)

Acts 2:25-27, KJ: “David speaketh concerning him [Jesus Christ], . . . Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”(The fact that God did not “leave” Jesus in hell implies that Jesus was in hell, or Hades, at least for a time)

Rev. 20:13, 14, KJ: “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.”(So the dead will be delivered from hell. Notice also that hell is not the same as the lake of fire but will be cast into the lake of fire.)

Answer 7

Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Rom 9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Rom 9:25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
Rom 9:26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
Rom 9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
Rom 9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
Rom 9:29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha
jtm

Answer 8

She is a lunatic,No one gets to see Heaven or hell and comes back to tell.

Answer 9

My opinion is that Choo Thomas is either delusional or a liar.

Answer 10

Have you ever seen someone tortured?Hopefully not! Deliberate torture is sickening and abhorrent. What though, of torture inflicted by God? Can you imgine such a thing?
Yet this is exactly what is implied by the teaching of hellfire, an official doctrine in many religions.
Imagine, for a moment, the following horrific scene: A person is being roasted on a hot iron plate. In his agony he screams for mercy, but nobody listens. The torture goes onand on, hour by hour,day by day----without any pause!
Whatever crime the victim may have commited, would not your heart go out to him? What of the one who ordered the torture? Could he be a loving person?In no way! Love is merciful and shows pity. A loving father may punish his children, but he would never torture them!
Nevertheless, many religions teach that God tortures sinners in an eternal hellfire. This, it is claimed, is divine justice. If that is true, who created that terrible place of eternal torment? And who is responsible for the excruciating agonies inflicted there? The answer would seem obvious. If such a place really exists, then God would have to be the creator of it, and he would be responsible for what happens there.
Can you accept that? The Bible says:"God is love."(1John4:8) Would a God of love inflict torture that even humans with any measure of decency find revolting?Surely not!
Still many believe that the wicked will go to a fiery hell and be tormented forever. Is this teaching logical? The human life span is limited to to 70 or 80 years. Even if someone perpetrated extreme wickedness for his whole lifetime, would everlasting torment be a just punishment? No. It would be grossly unjust to torment a man forever for the limited number of sins that he can commit in a lifetime.
Who knows the truth about what happens after we die?
Only God can reveal this information, and he has done so in his written word the Bible, referred to above. Here is what the Bible says:"As (the beast) dies, so the(man)dies; they all have bbut one spirit.... all are going to one place. They haveome to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust(Ecclesiastes3:19,20) There is no mention here of a fiery hell. Humans return to dust-- to nonexistence----when they die.
In order to be tormented, an individual has to be conscious. Are the dead conscious? No."The living are conscious that they will die, but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the rememberance of them has been forgotten. (Ecclesiastes9:5)
Does that mean that we are not punished for our sin? No, that is not the case. Our holy God punishes sinners, but he does not torture them. And when sinners repent, he forgives them. What is the punishment for sin? The Bible gives a forthright answer:"The wages sin pays is death."(Romans6:23) Life is a gift from God. When we sin we no longer deserve that gift and we die.
You may ask:"How is that just? Why, everyone dies!" That is true because we are all sinners. In effect, no one deserves life. "Through oner man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they all had sinned." (Romans5:12)
At this point you may be thinking:"If we all sin and sowe all die, why should we tryu to be virtuous? It seems that the wicked man is treated exactly the same as the man who tries to serve God," But that is not the case. Although we are all sinners, God forgives those who sincerely repent and try to change their ways. He rewards our efforts to 'make our minds over' and do good.(Romans12:2) These truths are the basis of a marvelous hope.
We cease to exist when we die. But that does not mean that everything is finished. The faithful man Job knew that he would go to the grave(Sheol) when he died. But listen to his prayer to God:"O that in Sheol you may conceal me, that you would keep me secret until your anger turns back, that you would set a time limit for me and remember me! If an able bodied man dies can he live again?....You will call, and I myself will answer you."(Job14:13-15)
Job believed if he was faithful until death, he would be remembered by God and resurrected. This was the belief of all of God's servants in ancient times. Jesus himself confirmed this hope when he said:"The hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who did vile things to a resurrection of judgement."(John5:28,29). The Bible does not upport this woman's claims for if God had truly communicated with her then what he said to her would confirm what he says in the Bible, he would not contradict the Bible his Word. But there is someone who does want people to believe that God is not really love and that he is cruel to his people because this one is the enemy of God and he wants people to worship him, instead of God, This is wehy he has introduced many lies to make people believe lies that will get people to follow him rather than the true God.(2Corinthians4:4) even though by doing so it is detremental to peoples wellbeing.