Although God is love and has mercy, God is also just and righteous.
Thou [God] art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity… (Habakkuk 1:13)
[concerning God] …and by no means clearing the guilty… (Numbers 14:18)
2007-10-08 08:26:26 · 32 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The God of my understanding did not create a hell. God is not capable of revenge or punishing his children for eternity. If this is what an all loving God does, then what would an all hating God do?
2007-10-08 08:30:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋
God is forgiving of the weaknesses and failings of a man that is trying to live as God directs. However, when a man does not try to live a life that is pleasing to God, that is not weakness and failings, that is rebellion!
God's word, the Bible, tells all what God desires. If you choose a life of sin, then you have chosen to be seperated from God! That would be your fault, not God's!
2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
God has provided a way for men to be saved, but many will reject it! God has done His part! At the end, our judgement will depend on our reaction to God's plan. The choice is yours.
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10)
2007-10-12 03:45:55 · answer #2 · answered by JoeBama 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christians believe God is alpha and omega ---he existed in the beginning before all things and created all.
If so he created the devil and sin.
All have sinned and fallen short of his Glory.
Why did he make me sinful and if he did what confidence do I have that he has provided Saviour.
Was it necessary for Christ to die because of sin which in the first place was not the fault of man.
The whole creation is a problem with Cain committing murder and within a few generations the world being destroyed by flood.
I simply do not know but consider this to be important.
2007-10-08 09:21:22 · answer #3 · answered by confused gardener 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are very right the True God is merciful, kind, forgiving, patient, and wishes all of us to turn to him with deep respect and love [a love that we have for our Parent]
He is also a God of justice, as by your scripture, Numbers 14: 18, the creation of hell has to do with man, and religious leaders, and has to do with the words of the Hebrews and the Greeks wording for death, also the Hebrew word - Gehnna, which is the garbage dump outside of the walls of Jerusalem, which continually burned, to get rid of the garbage that was thrown out. Criminals that received a death sentence were killed and their bodies were "thrown into Gehenna"
Also, the idea of burning forever is represented by Sodom and Gomorrah, they were burned by God, and they 'burn forever' in the fact that what happened to those cities is still remembered in our lifetime. Luke 12:5 - James 3:6 - Matthew 5: 22, 29, 30.-- Genesis 18:20 --19:24
There is nothing left of them, they are gone, yet, they are in mankind's memory
2007-10-08 08:49:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well if you study the true meaning of Hell you will learn that Hell is actually the grave or eternal death not a place that burns forever and ever. So to answer your question God is merciful as sinners are sent to the grave for eternity or the second death. You can read about the second death in Revelation. If a sinner burns forever and ever in place called hell then in a sense they become immortal. but the bible says that the wages of sin is death. Use some common sense and really study the words and there meaning in the bible and then you can only come to one conclusion and that is that God is Merciful and loving!
2007-10-08 08:39:18 · answer #5 · answered by Bride of Christ 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
In studying the ancient languages, Aramaic, to Hebrew, to Greek, you will find "the pit", "hades," "earth"
That Hell is here on earth!
Think about it:
a) You are spirit
b) Temporarily stuck in the material world
c) Unable to find exactly what it is that your soul yearns for, which is to return t the Other Side, which is the exact opposite of what earth represents
This is Hell. But here we can allow the soul to evolve, through experience.
What did you ever really learn when times were good/easy?
Is the difficult times that we grow from.
But the whole fundamentalist belief system believes in a god (false God doesn't warrant capitalization) that not only condones slavery, but actually laid rules down about the subject! Lovely! Can't lead me!
I have a question for you...
Did you know that the christian bible states:
"They (meaning mankind) were made in the image of Elohim."
In Hebrew,
El=male God
Elo or Ela=Goddess
Im=Plural
It goes on to say, "They were mad in OUR image.
I believe when attempting to form a phoney religion, the fundies, ( who actually stole EVERY one of the dates of celebration from the Pagans) fogot to cover up their theft,when they used what was written in Hebrew!
this earth is as hot as it gets hon. Welcome to Hell!
2007-10-08 10:08:43 · answer #6 · answered by Candy S 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The scriptures of Hinduism can give some mystical answers .
Who is God? Where is God? How can I come to know God?"
God has no names, but all names are the names of God. Whether you call Him this or that, He remains Who He is. But in our tradition we call God by the loving name Siva, which is only one of His 1,008 traditional names. Supreme God Siva is both within us and outside of us. Even desire, the fulfillment of desire, the joy, the pain, the sorrow, birth and death -- this is all Siva, nothing but Siva. This is hard to believe for the unenlightened individual who cannot see how a good, kind and loving God could create pain and sorrow. Actually, we find that Siva did not -- not in the sense that is commonly thought. God gave the law of karma, decreeing that each energy sent into motion returns with equal force.
In looking closely at this natural law, we can see that we create our own joy, our own pain, our own sorrow and our own release from sorrow. Yet we could not even do this except for the power and existence of our loving Lord. It takes much meditation to find God Siva in all things, through all things. In this striving -- as in perfecting any art or science -- regular daily disciplines must be faithfully adhered to.
Siva is the immanent personal Lord, and He is transcendent Reality. Siva is a God of love, boundless love. He loves each and every one. Each soul is created by Him and guided by Him through life. God Siva is everywhere. There is no place where Siva is not. He is in you. He is in this temple. He is in the trees. He is in the sky, in the clouds, in the planets. He is the galaxies swirling in space and the space between galaxies, too. He is the universe. His cosmic dance of creation, preservation and dissolution is happening this very moment in every atom of the universe. God Siva is, and is in all things. He permeates all things. He is immanent, with a beautiful form, a human-like form which can actually be seen and has been seen by many people in visions. He is also transcendent, beyond time, cause and space.
That is almost too much for the mind to comprehend, isn't it? Therefore, we have to meditate on these things. God Siva is so close to us. Where does He live? In the Third World. And in this form He can talk and think and love and receive our prayers and guide our karma. He commands vast numbers of devas who go forth to do His will all over the world, all over the galaxy, throughout the universe. These are matters told to us by the rishis; and we have discovered them in our own meditations. So always worship this great God. Never fear Him. He is the Self of your self. He is closer than your own breath. His nature is love, and if you worship Him with devotion you will know love and be loving toward others. Devotees of God Siva love everyone.
This is how God Siva can be seen everywhere and in everyone. He is there as the Soul of each soul. You can open your inner eye and see Him in others, see Him in the world as the world. Little by little, discipline yourself to meditate at the same time each day. Meditate, discover the silent center of yourself, then go deep within, to the core of your real Being. Slowly the purity comes. Slowly the awakening comes.
For more info,please visit http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/wih/
2007-10-09 22:15:17 · answer #7 · answered by Siva 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, hell isn't necessarily just for Satan (as someone answered) though he does have dominion of it. Of course, he is also able to freely roam the earth causing misery while spreading lies and temptation that we humans are so quick to accept. One day, Satan will be bound to hell. Meanwhile, earth is a battleground for human souls who are won either to the kingdom of light or to that of darkness (hell). Because Satan knows he will be bound to hell, he will fight to bring as many of us with him as possible to share in the misery.
God didn't create hell with the hope of sending us there. We are allowed to make our own choices. Some of us will choose to live for "fun" (greatest lie) in the short term with no regard for the wonderful joyous lives our Creator originally wanted us to have both here and in the eternal scheme of things afterwards.
Yes, God is pure. No unclean thing can enter His presence. That's why he created Hell. If we receive God's forgiveness for our weaknesses and failings (sin), we will not have to endure Hell. But we can't be forgiven until we are honestly brokenhearted over our own sin and ASK for that forgiveness.
2007-10-08 08:46:24 · answer #8 · answered by DustyShoes 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
A loving God wouldn't create such a place.
I want a God I can look UP to and be in AWE of, which means that Diety needs to be infinately more merciful, wise and just than I am.
It is not just to send someone to hell for eternity when humans have a lifetime to learn and grow and change. It is rather a waste of human potential.
Even Hitler would eventually live out the suffering of every single Holocaust victim 100 times over in hell. Certainly SOME form of recompense, realisation and contrition would have occured by then. So what is the purpose of eternal torment?
It is even more unjust to dole out eternal punishment and reward based on something as subjective as faith. It means a good Hindu woman who lived a decent life and was attracted to the Hindu faith not the Chirstian faith would be tormented forever in hell. However a serial rapist and murderer who converted to Christianity would experience eternal bliss.
That does NOT sound like Divine Univeral Justice to me.
I am glad I believe in a God that allows us to reap exactly the equal consequences of our actions and no more, no less and gives us an eternity to perfect ourselves and get closer to that Divine level.
2007-10-08 08:36:22 · answer #9 · answered by pixie_pagan 4 · 3⤊ 4⤋
Hell is a place that was created for Satan and His angels (demons) because of their SIN. It was not intended for mankind. Then SIN entered into humanity through Adam and Eve's disobedience to God. God does not want mankind to have to go to Hell, but that is the place created for SIN. God is Holy and will not allow SIN in His presence.
God provided mankind with a way out. Jesus is that way. God is so merciful that He personally paid the price for mankind's admission into Heaven. He gives His forgiveness to everyone who asks Him for it on "His" terms.
God bless you.
2007-10-08 08:37:44 · answer #10 · answered by the sower 4 · 4⤊ 3⤋