On the subject of Hell and Salvation

[The Grand Nudger]

Hell is not syncretic fiction.

Make up your mind.  

There are realms beyond this world, where the lake of fire (which is metaphorical) purges with sulfur (a purifying agent, again metaphorical). The lake of fire exists to correct us, not to destroy or annihilate us. But neither is "hell" really a physical place. It's a spiritual reality, one where we all exist until the Lord delivers us, which is a long and excruciating process (crucifixion). There are many instances where "Sheol" is described in the Old Testament as a reality for people who were actually writing it, such as the Psalms and the book of Jonah:

"Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and He answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice." (Jonah 2:1-2)

If you die unsaved in this world, you die "in hell," after which you move on to the next world, which is still hell because you've not yet been delivered from it.

Hell-but-not-hell, except..hell.  

God never does wicked things. I will say that He temporarily withholds mercy from us, but we always need or deserve it. Your problem is you view some of His doings as evil because you lack the proper perspective. It's a very difficult thing to come to terms with the harshness of His judgments, true. But right now you're operating under certain assumptions and carnal rationale, neither of which are wise or useful in the grand scheme.

For instance, if the end result is that everyone is saved, absolutely everyone, and that every tear is wiped away, well...all is well that ends well, don't you think? And this is the truth, one for which you will one day be most thankful.

Consider that you are being made in the image of the Eternal and Omnipotent God. This is no small matter or responsibility. To be forged into this image, intense fire is required; crucifixion is required. I don't use these words lightly. Everyone must suffer intensely in order to be forged, but the end result is the strongest of steel. And how could it not be? It's not your power at work, but God's.

So hell-but-not hell, except hell, because bloodgod just has to use intense fire and crucifixion, and it's not wicked when god does it.  I gave you too much credit before, it seems.

One final point. The notion of Christ is not of pagan origin. This is a notion created by skeptics without any basis in fact. I'll use the film Religulous as an example. Practically all of the parallels Maher draws there are patently false or misleading. If you're unaware, you should look into it. Here is just a short example of rebuttal:

Go bitch about Bill Maher to Bill Maher.  There's a reason that jews are still jewish, and not christian.