Cruel and unusual punishment?

Question

The US has laws against cruel and unusual punishment in our constitution. The worst of the worst of our criminals are treated in a humane fashion and even if facing the death penalty it is carried out in the least cruel fashion possible.

Why do most Christians seem to have no problem with the torture of the wicked with fire for eternity when even in a fallen world we would not do such a thing?

Eternity is a long time folks.

Pastor Art,
The devils and his angels were also created by God. He knew in advance that they would rebel. Your argument that hell and eternal suffering was origianlly designed for them points right back at their creator.

EyeLove Jesus,
I appretiate your sincerity. I am a Christian who is saved by grace through faith. My challenge to you is to figure out how I could ask this question and still claim to be a Christian.

I said "most" for a reason.

J P
Did God make His rules or have we as man misunderstood His word?

JP, Crack pot ideas?...lol If the blind lead the blind do not both fall in the ditch? You are blind my friend. I have attempted to open you eyes to no avail so you continue to follow your pagan beliefs which have no basis in the bible and I will continue to love and worship a God who is worthy of such; a God who loves His children and has provided them a way out of this fallen world and the wages of sin. The wages of sin is death my friend. It is not eternal life.

Answer 1

--THE IDEA OF HELLFIRE, is one of the worst perversions anyone could think of !
--THE GOD of the Bible never even had the idea of burning people alive for a NORMAL punishment of being incinerated!
--WHEN THE ISRAELITES became like the nations around them , they turned to many perversions: sexual, dishonesty and the one that covers your question FALSE WORSHIP!

--THIS IS HOW God felt about the ABOMINATION of burning alive any human for sacrifice,FOR RELIGIOUS PURPOSE, as the Israelites practiced:

(Jeremiah 7:30-31) “. . .For the sons of Judah have done what is bad in my eyes,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘They have set their disgusting things in the house upon which my name has been called, in order to defile it. 31 And they have built the high places of To′pheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hin′nom, in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire(alive as babies( my comment), a thing that I had not commanded AND THAT HAD NOT COME UP (my caps) into my heart.’”

--PLEASE NOTE how the apostate Israelites as a nation followed the offering of their children in burnt sacrifice in the worship of Molech:

*** it-2 p. 424 Molech ***
--Child Sacrifice to Molech. God’s law to Israel prescribed the death penalty for anyone, even an alien resident, who would give his offspring to Molech. (Le 20:2-5) Nonetheless, apostate Israelites, both in the kingdom of Judah and in the ten-tribe kingdom, passed their offspring through the fire.—2Ki 17:17, 18; Eze 23:4, 36-39.
--The ‘passing through the fire’ to Molech has been regarded by some as signifying a purification ritual by means of which children were devoted or dedicated to Molech; others understand this to mean actual sacrificing. That the Canaanites and apostate Israelites did sacrifice their children, there can be no question. (De 12:31; Ps 106:37, 38) King Ahaz of Judah “proceeded to burn up his sons [“son,” Sy] in the fire.” (2Ch 28:3) The parallel passage, at 2 Kings 16:3, reads: “Even his own son he made pass through the fire.” This indicates that ‘passing through the fire’ is at least sometimes synonymous with sacrificing. Likely, however, the worship of Molech was not always and everywhere the same. For example, King Solomon, under the influence of his foreign wives, built high places to Molech and other deities, but not until the time of Ahaz is mention made of child sacrifice. (1Ki 11:7, 8)
--Undoubtedly if this abhorrent practice had existed earlier, it would have been denounced along with the other forms of idolatry existing during the reigns of the various kings. For this reason some commentators favor the view that the expression ‘to pass through the fire’ originally applied to a purification ritual and later came to signify actual sacrifice....
“The passing” to Molech mentioned in the footnote on Leviticus 18:21 evidently refers to devoting or dedicating children to this false god. This text has been variously translated: “You must not dedicate any of your children to the service of Molech.” (AT) “Thou shalt not give any of thy seed to make them pass through the fire to Molech.” (AS) “Thou shalt not give any of thy seed to be consecrated to the idol Moloch.” (Dy) “You must not allow the devoting of any of your offspring to Molech.”—NW.
--Ahaz and Manasseh are the only Judean kings referred to as making their offspring pass through the fire. However, with the impetus given by these two kings to child sacrifice, the practice apparently became entrenched among the Israelites in general. (2Ki 16:3; 21:6; Jer 7:31; 19:4, 5; 32:35; Eze 20:26) The children, at least at times, were first killed, rather than being burned alive.—Eze 16:20, 21.

--WITH ALL the expressions of mercy that Christ taught , showed & practiced, CAN ANYONE imagine that he would back such a SICK treatment of anyone, even as a short execution?
--How much less---- FOREVER?

--HELLFIRE lovers follow the attitude of the inquisitors of Christendoms Inquisition of over 600 years in practice that ended in Spain in the late 1800's!
--WHEN PEOPLE make up their false god's and put evil & vivid cruelty as punishments they take on the disposition of their obscene god's!

--SO WITH THE start of Christendom(c300 A.D). by the murderer Constantine, who made HIS CHRISTIANITY , the state religion of the Roman empire, along came the cruelty of such false christianity!
----HE MURDERED his wife, and son and other family members because they would not be baptized into his perversion of christianity!

Answer 2

The bottom line is because someone taught them this. It would be pretty hard to change views of someone whose Christian grandparents (or other hero's) who they view as 'saints' had told them.

I believe that capital punishment does not work, and I also believe that most rehabs don't work either, .....solution? I don't have one.

However, I think that children need to be more accountable for their actions. I think that when an 11 year old commits a crime, they know EXACTLY what they are doing and something needs to be done then, not juvenile hall, not jail but something that will touch their heart and souls. If you can touch a child in such a way, I believe that fewer incidents of crime would occur.

I also believe in reincarnation. I am a Christian, but I believe that God gives us a chance to make things right, and perhaps we get to BE the victim of a crime in which we were the PERP. That to me is justice,.....and a little bit of hell.

Thanks for listening to my nonsense, LOL, but you asked.

Blessings!

Answer 3

I suppose the answer is that God made His rules (men put those rules into writing....if that tells you anything), and the United States Constitution is another set of rules (always changing and being re-interpreted), I fail to see what one has to do with the other.

ADDITIONAL: Do you just add comments about everyone's answer whether you've thought them out or not? There is no IF about God making His rules, period. Because humans make their rules (the US Constitution for instance), gives us NO RIGHT to judge God or His Rules. That is the way the game is played, dear. God is Almighty, you are a lowly creature. Why don't you just try living your life and leaving the theology to those better educated and intellectually inclined to proper debate.

Answer 4

We do have a problem with it. That is why we constantly tell people about the wrath to come and how it is that Jesus is the only way to escape it. You do err when you assume that humans can stand in judgment toward God. Adam and Eve did that in Genesis chapter three and we all see the results of the "fallen world." One sin against a holy and infinite God can only be punished by infinite separation from the One Who made us in His image; or there can be a substitute...God could take the punishment we deserved and He did. God the Son...Jesus...took that punishment. In other words God said don't disobey or you will die. Oh, you disobeyed, now you must die. Well, I will die in your place so you don't have to. Cruel and unusual punishment? Yes, for God.

Answer 5

Hell is a place where you wouldn't want your worst enemy to be. Hence, the Christian command to love not only your family and friends, but to love your enemies. It's awful. Beyond awful. Nobody in their right mind, understanding what hell means would ever really mean those words: "Go to hell." Because you really don't want anyone to go there. I'd rather die first than be the cause of someone going there. Mind you, I'm probably on my way there myself. I'm such a backslider.

Maybe we can form a "human ladder"

Answer 6

You need to remember that God does not choose hell for anyone. Heaven is offered for everyone.

Why God has chosen these two options what comes to eternity, I do not know. But there is no way that I would choose hell. Eternity is a long long time. : )

In God's court a criminal goes free but you need to accept that freedom. How hard is that?

Answer 7

I basically agree with you. However, I think capital punishment is severely misguided in our judicial system. Why is it that a murderer with one victim can be executed, while another killer who offed 20 people is given a life sentence? The whole thing looks like a crap shoot, frankly. It would be better if all murders resulted in capital punishment -- only THEN would the punishment serve as a true deterrent, as anyone contemplating homicide would know that if they were caught they would be executed.

Answer 8

I am so very glad that you said "most Christians"!
This particular Christian has read the Bible.
Did you know that, in Revelation, it tells us that Death AND Hell are BOTH going to be thrown into the "Lake of Fire"??
Death, we are told, is the last enemy to be (c'mon class, I want to hear you!) DESTROYED!!
Obviously, hell can't both be the Lake of Fire, and also be thrown into the Lake of Fire. We know that Death is to be destroyed, and this trip to the Incinerator is the last we see of it...come to think of it, it's the last we see of hell, too.

Ummmm.....
Could it be that hell really is just what the original word means...the grave...and that, when God destroys death, He will also destroy the grave along with it??
Makes sense to me...

NOTE:
Jesus Christ is God, in the flesh. Nobody will ever convince me that He is not.
Read about Him. It is not in His character at all to torture people, let alone through eternity.

Think about it.

Answer 9

Christians DO have a problem with it and that is why we try to share Jesus with people. God tells us that even HE does not want the world to go to hell and that is why HE sent HIS Sont so that all we have to do is ask Him to save us from eternal seperation from God. Our sins are what condemn us, not God.
What I don't understand about some of my FELLOW Christians is how they can be pro-life and also want the death penalty!!

Answer 10

Hello got_air.. :)

I do not want anyone to spend their life in hell, even for one day..

That is why I am here, to share with all the ask of me..that there is a different road you can take..but sadly, I cannot take it for you..For it is a 1 way highway..

Here is a video you can listen to if you like:

http://www.habeeb.com/fathers.love.letter/fathers.love.letter.english.html


In Jesus Most Precious Name..
With ~Love~ In Christ.. :)


ADDITIONAL: Because a lot of Christians claim to love, but their hearts are far from God..they have left their first ~Love~..

They have forgotten from whence they themselves have come..instead of caring about others and still being a witness for Christ..their hearts are hardened once again and start to become the judge, jury and executioner.. :(

Let us not forget, that our great commision..is to to win lost souls to Christ.. :)

Answer 11

I have a big problem with this, especially when it is purportedly at the hands of a "loving Father".

Edit- John D
"God does NOT need your approval."
Then why is He so concerned if I worship Him?
"Secondly, God does NOT send people to Hell. They send themselves when they do not accept Jesus. "
If He can not stop people from suffering in Hell, then He is not omnipotent. If He can, but chooses not to, then he is a sadist, not a "loving Father". Take your pick