(December 28, 2013 at 1:18 am)Stimbo Wrote:eternal separation from God not because of an intellectual problem with believing in the existence of God but because of a deliberate willful rejections of God's plan of salvation which is that Christ has borne on himself the divine judgment to the full satisfaction of God. only one thing that is required of an individual to complete the transaction to enter into God's plan of salvation: to believe that it was done for them. the reason it's so simple is that salvation is God's work and thus man can't added anything to it.(December 26, 2013 at 9:19 pm)snowtracks Wrote: hell, the unpardonable sin.
Two-part question:
1) What is hell? (Place of eternal torture, separation from "God", something else?)
2) Assuming I and other nonbelievers end up being sent there, would you be ok with that as an outcome?
the Third Person of the Trinity (Holy Spirit) is the one that makes it clear to the person that this is truth. Christ was the one who said all sins can be forgiven except one: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (known as the unpardonable sin) which is a rejection through a person's free will of the salvation message and it takes affect the moment a person dies, that person's is said to be cut off and without remedy.
the word 'torment' is an archaic translation which connotes sadistic cruelty. the word 'restaint' is a more accurate word to describe what is meant by 'torment'. God doesn't torment that would be a violation of His divine nature. hell's inhabitants depending on their demonstrated propensity for evil will have various level of restraint placed on them to protect the other inhabitants. but, that aside, hell is not describe as pleasant place for no other reason then it's inhabitants, spiritual darkness, and duration.
how do i feel is about this is the question - 1. to those living: nothing matters as much as this issue. no person alive has totally missed hearing God's call. ignorance of God and His offer comes from distorting and defying the truth He makes available to each person. for some the torment of hell is better than eternal fellowship with God, so some choose rejection. 2. those who have passed on and have rejected God's gift of eternal life with him: they will have been treated with the utmost fairness and goodness and God will continue to show his love to them by restraining the individual inhabitants.
Atheist Credo: A universe by chance that also just happened to admit the observer by chance.