God, Christianity, Control, & Fear

[WingedFoe]

I thought the Bible said the wages of sin is death not eternal torment. I'm not really clear on that.

---

Matthew 8:12 says, "But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Isaiah 66:24 reads: "And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind."

Daniel 12:2 describes the duration of hell: "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt."

Luke 16:22-24 uses a parable to describe hell: "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'"

Luke 12:5 says, "But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."

Mark 9:47 says, "And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell."

Matthew 23:33 reads: "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?"

Revelation 19:20 talks about the fiery lake: "But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur."

---

http://www.allaboutworldview.org/is-hell...le-faq.htm

So, yeah, the Bible mentions a place of fire and brimstone, says that God has the power to send you there, and says that it's a place reserved for those who sin and rebel against Him. I bolded "dead bodies" because those "dead" bodies are being tortured, so apparently "death" in the Bible means eternal torment

What did JC do? He let his enemies kill him. It showed that he really meant what he said.

Meh, Christians are always saying that he committed the ultimate sacrifice, but is it really a sacrifice if all he did was suffer for a few hours before living for an eternity in paradise? A true sacrifice, I think, would be to share the punishment he reserves for the unbelievers... eternal damnation.

Surely this is a mistake?

I can't speak for Caecilian, but I can give you my opinion on the matter. Christians themselves are not sick, evil, and twisted (well, most of them anyway), but a lot of the religion's teachings are. Christians generally take the good stuff and ignore the bad, but if you pick up the Bible you'll notice a lot of bad, like the concept of hell. A being who is willing to dole out eternal punishments for any crime, no matter how grave, is certainly not benevolent. I would even call such a being malevolent.