RE: A rational explanation for hell?
July 19, 2011 at 11:32 pm
(This post was last modified: July 19, 2011 at 11:51 pm by C Rod.)
(September 15, 2010 at 8:13 pm)Entropist Wrote:But if one says he believes in Christ and then sins uncontrollably does he truly believe in Christ. Bill gates helps because he can but Jesus said give all your possessions and wealth to the poor. I could pee in a forest a forest fire, i would be helping but it wouldn't be enough. Stalin killed millions of people and he will have to give an account of what he did. Should one that does not seek or want forgiveness be forgiven?(September 15, 2010 at 6:00 pm)Ace Wrote: "I have been invited by my friend to a group on facebook called 'so apparently I'm going to hell' which has a list of reasons ,stated by Mr. Micah Armstrong originally of the Assembly of God Church in Miami, of why you can go to hell...
Actually, according to orthodox (lower case "o") Christian doctrine, no one goes to hell because they've done any of these things. They go to hell (however one wishes to define the term "hell") because they have rejected Christ. The rest is just icing on the cake.
Just as one cannot be saved by works ("earn your way to heaven" etc) one cannot be condemned by works either. Bill Gates and Stalin accordingly are BOTH in hell-- what they did is irrelevant. Bill Gates philanthropy counts for nothing, but neither does Stalin's murder of millions. It is only because they both are/were atheists that condemns them. What those neurons in your brain do is more important than helping or harming people apparently.
(September 15, 2010 at 11:30 pm)Entropist Wrote:(September 15, 2010 at 10:48 pm)tackattack Wrote: I think this thread has derailed beyond the point of no return...
Why do you have jones for Bill Gates? Besides maybe he is evil, I don't know what he does. I know money is the root of all evil though.
No, I'm using him as an example of an atheist who (Windows Vista aside) uses some of his wealth in order to help people. I don't have a problem with that. My point is that, however one defines "hell" or whatever happens to those who are not "saved," there is no distinction between non-believers for what they have done. The bottom line for Christianity is that Bill Gates and Stalin are EQUALLY unsaved. Both are non-believers and based on that criterion alone they are unsaved, deserving of the Christian god's wrath. What "good" or "evil" they do, for whatever reasons is irrelevant to their punishment from the Christian god.
It doesn't matter to me because I don't believe in any of this stuff anyway. But I think it is a curious doctrine and Christians themselves contradict themselves when they say Stalin is going to "hell" because of the terrible things he did. Hypothetically speaking, he would not be deserving of the Christian god's wrath for what he did at all. He could have not killed anyone, or killed 15 million people, or 15 billion. Big deal-- he was going to hell anyway, right?
Jesus spoke that at the end the good will be separated from the evil. Gates still could be really evil no matter what we know of him. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.
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Quote:So where in the bible does it say hell is not eternal? Where does it give a less evil description of what punishment awaits us for sinning? I'm honestly trying to understand.Then it seems eternal and you should stop sinning or you will find out or you wont even know if your right, nothing truly mattered.
"Its not what your looking at that matters, its what you see." -Henry David Thoreau
♪Oh, I get lost in my mind Lost, I get lost I get Lost in my mind Lost in my Mind Yes, I get lost in my mind Lost, I get lost I get lost I get lost Oh, I get♪ -The Head and the Heart
"You are wise, witty and wonderful, but you spend too much time reading this sort of stuff.”- Frank Crane
♪Oh, I get lost in my mind Lost, I get lost I get Lost in my mind Lost in my Mind Yes, I get lost in my mind Lost, I get lost I get lost I get lost Oh, I get♪ -The Head and the Heart
"You are wise, witty and wonderful, but you spend too much time reading this sort of stuff.”- Frank Crane
