RE: On Hell and Forgiveness
August 30, 2018 at 11:44 am
(This post was last modified: August 30, 2018 at 11:47 am by polymath257.)
(August 30, 2018 at 9:54 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote:(August 29, 2018 at 2:33 pm)polymath257 Wrote: Just because you are separating from 'pure love', why would that mean you are separated from love in all cases? Why would it imply you are separated from all beauty and joy? All it seems to mean is that you are separated from the 'pure' versions of these. But that is the case in life anyway, right?
Because God is literally love and goodness itself. Love does not exist apart from Him, the same way rain does not exist apart from water. Because rain literally is water.
As humans, we were made for love because we were created by Him, who is love. Meaning that is ultimately how we will find fulfillment - through love. Without it, we cannot be joyful, by nature.
In this life, we can find distractions. Like money, sex, activities, etc. A person who is greedy and has pushed everyone away and has 0 love in their lives but still has a lot of material things and a lot of bodily pleasures, isn't a truly happy and fulfilled person. But since they still have those distractions, they may not always feel completely empty.
However, when we die, we don't bring money with us. We don't bring our bodies with us. Meaning all that is left is our souls. There are no material possessions or bodily pleasures. So if you reject God (ie reject love), there is nothing to distract you from your lack of love. And since love is integral to our sense of fulfillement and joy, a person who rejects love in the next life cannot be happy.
Love is an emotion. It is mediated in the brain. It isn't some universal force.
That's not to say I think it meaningless or bad--quite the contrary! But to identify it with a supernatural entity just seems, well, unusual. To think an emotion is the same as a creator of the universe is perverse.
God is clearly *not* the same as love. When I love my wife, I don't have to have a belief in a deity, even though I believe that I have that emotion.
(August 30, 2018 at 9:58 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote:So, then, I experience 'God' whenever I see my wife? Really? Either I do not love my wife OR there is more than one 'version' OR you are simply wrong. And I know I love my wife.(August 30, 2018 at 9:18 am)polymath257 Wrote: Again, I don't see the logic. Why would we not be able to experience happiness even if disembodied? Why would it be excluded simply because we are removed from the 'pure' version?
Why would we not be able to experience intellectual stimulation? be able to think deeply about various concepts?
If hell is is simply being separated from God, I fail to see the negative side. If it is torture, that simply makes the creator evil. Either way, 'furthest from Him is best'.
No, not from the "pure" version. There is only one version.
