Fear of hell

[Napoléon]

That I might go there because I've said in my past I though God was evil.

Let me put it like this.

If god is omniscient, then he will know everything there is to know about you. He'll know more about you than you even know yourself. If that is the case, then deep down he will know you have a good heart (whatever that means), and he will surely not send you to eternal damnation. If he does, and he knows you're good of heart, then do you really want to worship a being that will send you to hell forever even though it supposedly knows everything there is to know about you? Where is the christian forgiveness in any of that?

[SteelCurtain]

Well, what specifically is the fear?

That I might go there because I've said in my past I though God was evil.

Let's presuppose your belief in the Christian God and the Bible.

Have you repented? Do you regret saying this? Have you asked your god for forgiveness? Doesn't your Bible say that this is the key to forgiveness? Why are you still scared? Is it because secretly, in your heart of hearts, you know you still think this? Does the sheer amount of evil in the world speak to some tear in the fabric of your belief?

[Simon Moon]

I know you guys don't believe in hell, but can you guys help me, as a believer, not fear it so much? Because right now it dominates my life.

Think about all the time you spend worried about all the other hells of all the other gods you don't believe exist.

Do you spend a lot of time worrying about going to Jahanim (Islam hell)? There are 1.5 billion Muslims that do.

[Cato]

Nothing to fear. Hell is simply a crowd control tactic similar to your mother telling you that if you make funny faces it will become permanent, or that you'll go blind if you masturbate.

[KUSA]

[Nine]

I wouldn't worry about it. Even if hell is real given an infinite amount of time its inevitable that I will eventually raise an army and destroy the entire afterlife.

[Alex K]

So, if you ask us to help you stop worrying about it, does that mean that deep down you also don't find it convincing? It sounds like it.

Forget about it, hell is an idea some men invented to control you. As you notice, it works great. You would pass it on to your children, not because it's true, but because it instills so much fear. It's like a virus in a way.

[Cinjin]

I know you guys don't believe in hell, but can you guys help me, as a believer, not fear it so much? Because right now it dominates my life.

What exactly are we supposed to say to that?
"Um hey, don't believe in fictional places created by ancient primitives in a book that promotes rape, slave ownership and murdering children."

Seems like a no-brainer to me.

[Tartarus Sauce]

To the OP: Do you know there are some people that identify as Christians that flat out reject the concept of hell as valid and consider it a fabrication on the part of translators?

The more you know.

[KUSA]

Because right now it dominates my life.

I think it dominates your life because you really don't believe in god. You go through each day trying to convince yourself that it's true but deep down you know it's really bullshit. The fear keeps you stuck in your cognitive dissonance.

If you really were a good Christian you wouldn't fear it because you would feel saved. You need to let go of the delusion. You will feel a little bad at first because you will realize that you won't live forever. Once you get past that it is a non issue and you can live your life the way you want with no fear.

Besides, do you really want to kiss gods ass for eternity?