RE: Why are you an Atheist?
December 18, 2019 at 4:31 pm
(This post was last modified: December 18, 2019 at 4:45 pm by maxolla.)
(December 18, 2019 at 4:16 pm)Simon Moon Wrote:(December 18, 2019 at 4:08 pm)maxolla Wrote: In old testament scripture there was a belief in the dead going to sheol. She'ol is translated as "place of darkness" and has been translated to english as “grave”. The Vulgate translation took that word and started another idea called “hell” in its place. As for the grave I don’t know much, I haven’t been. Pretty sure it’s not overly hot.
I am quite familiar with the OT and the NT. I've read them both several times.
I am also quit familiar with the OT concept of sheol.
Are you saying, that if I die as a non-believer, and you die as a believer, we will both end up in sheol? Our afterlifes will be the same?
I don’t see anywhere that says differently. If you have read and are quite familiar, then maybe you can help me with my misunderstanding, if in fact I have one, regarding scripture on this. Where things get interesting is in the eschatology found in revelation but there is much debate on the ideas found there and the meaning of language referring to “lake of fire” etc.
Sheol is not translated as life so when you use the word afterlife when referring to sheol it is not according to the translation of the word.
The idea that “believers” go directly to heaven and “unbelievers” go directly to hell is not supported in scripture. However, there is evidence of the destruction of Satan and the wicked in scripture. I’m not providing details (scriptural reference), but I could.
(December 18, 2019 at 4:08 pm)Rhizomorph13 Wrote:(December 18, 2019 at 3:27 pm)maxolla Wrote: Sure. We could start by recognizing that hell does not exist and never has it been depicted in the old or new testament within the original text. Yep, it was a completely made up fiction by 3rd and 4th century Christian leaders through the Vulgate translation. The Vulgate was the first translation from the original Hebrew and Greek in too Latin. Out of this translation we have derived much of the modern translations. Only recently have some modern translations begun to undo some of the misrepresentations of early translations.
Ok, so God was good enough to get the original work transferred into several people's minds and then written so that it is the inerrant work. A master work of scripture. But, that is where His power ends? He can't flex enough power to make sure the translators and councils keep the work whole? So if His power fails there, why wouldn't you just take it back a step further and realize that God has not produced a viable book that encompasses what it wants?
Thats not exactly how I interpret what I have read and what I know about scripture. Genesis is generally accepted to be written by Moses. It is also excepted that it was written in his own words. The bible is not infallible in that it has discrepancies within it because of how it was written (human writing). There are places within the Bible where it references God saying “write this down” and then what follows is generally accepted as the words of God. Since Moses was not alive during the story of creation it is believed that the story of creation was handed down through the generations starting with Adam and Eve and so on. The idea of a man named Abraham is also found in the belief and writings of the Muslim faith. The fact that the story of creation is found in many different ancient writings of varied cultures helps validate the story of Babel and the dispersion.
The fact that there are imperfections in scripture lends to the nature of humanity (Imperfect) interfacing with their Creator (perfection).