Some questions about heaven and hell (for any believer)

[SteveII]

---> If all sins can be repented and consequently forgiven by god, why does hell need to be eternal and not temporal? Depending on the severity of the sin, you could be tortured for a day, a week, a month, but why all eternity?

---> If no sin can be repented fully, does that mean we all risk going to hell?

---> If only some sins can be repented, how do we know which ones can and cannot?

---> Why does every sin worthy of hell always grant eternal torture? Should someone who commits an unforgivable sin start endlessly sinning (since he/she is going to hell anyway)?

---> Are Hitler and other immoral people who had faith in god enjoying paradise?

---> Are people who contributed to mankind, like scientists and artists, burning in hell because they didn't believe and committed some sins (like drug abuse)? If so, why does god punish those who help the earth?

---> If I never believed while I'm alive but repent and confess to a priest on my deathbed, can I get into heaven?

---> The former begs a more important question - Is simply believing in the divinity of Jesus and his resurrection (using Christianity just as an example) enough to get into Heaven, regardless of what I do?

---> Can I be really evil but still go to heaven if I believe and pray?

---> What is more important for getting into heaven - Good deeds according to the doctrine, or prayer?

---> Is being gay by itself enough to grant you a ticket to hell? What about premarital sex or simply having sexual thoughts about the neighbour's wife?

---> If you commit a sin while a the same time doing a good deed, which matters more? For example, if I hurt someone to make them believe (saving his/her soul to get into heaven) does the good of converting the person surpass the evil of hurting/torturing them?

---> Does god know (and distinguish?) between those who genuinely believe in him and his doctrine passed down to mankind and those who just pretend/wish to believe just to enter the kingdom of paradise?

---> To enter heaven, do important good deeds count more than small good deeds? Quantity or quality? Does god balance [mathematically] the amount of good and bad deeds (including thoughts) and determine if the overall score is positive or negative?

---> If god really values the institution of family, why doesn't he mind separating relatives between hell and heaven?

---> What the hell happens to fetuses and non-baptised children?

---> What happens to pre-Christian Humans (or pre-any religion)?

---> Isn't eternal torture a strong contradiction against god's strong love and devotion for his own creation (us)?

---> If Satan is evil, why does his house seem to have some of the coolest people on earth?

---> Finally - Do you believe if everyone goes to hell god will get bored?

This link is to a popular group of verses that answers many of your questions from Romans: The Romans Road http://christianity.about.com/od/convers...nsroad.htm

I don't know anything about the website this is from, I was just looking for the list of verses. 

[Salacious B. Crumb]

Some of those questions will be answered with the uneducated guess of a believer, others will point to their holy books, and some will have to dodge the logical question and make up some dumbass excuse.

Another simple 1st grade logical question would be: Why does god need angels if he can do anything? They would have to dodge it, and make up some dumbass explanation, instead of thinking about it with common sense, and saying, "HHMMMM, yeah, that is interesting, why would he need angels?"

---> What happens to pre-Christian Humans (or pre-any religion)?

I would say, "What were those 'souls' doing the whole time before jesus came and saved them? What was god doing? Just sitting there watching the souls, and then deciding after a massive amount of time, that he wants to save them all of the sudden? Give me a fucking break. There is no christian that can give a rational explanation for that.

Just another reason, on top of many, not to believe in it. Religion is man-made, and it shows!

[Tonus]

I'll do my best to answer these as I would when I was a JW.

If all sins can be repented and consequently forgiven by god, why does hell need to be eternal and not temporal? Depending on the severity of the sin, you could be tortured for a day, a week, a month, but why all eternity?

JWs believe that hell is just the grave, and not a place of torment.  They believe that when we die we cease to exist.  Thus this question doesn't apply.

If no sin can be repented fully, does that mean we all risk going to hell?

God recognizes our fallen condition and takes this into account when judging us worthy of salvation or not.  Sincerity (after works of faith) is of utmost import to him.

If only some sins can be repented, how do we know which ones can and cannot?

The Bible describes only one sin that cannot be forgiven, which is blaspheming against the holy spirit.  Once you do that, you might as well party like it's 1999, because your ticket to paradise has been officially canceled.

Why does every sin worthy of hell always grant eternal torture? Should someone who commits an unforgivable sin start endlessly sinning (since he/she is going to hell anyway)?

See above regarding both questions.

Are Hitler and other immoral people who had faith in god enjoying paradise?

Assuming Hitler was sincere, his works were immoral and unChristian in the extreme.  I would expect that he has no future at all.

Are people who contributed to mankind, like scientists and artists, burning in hell because they didn't believe and committed some sins (like drug abuse)? If so, why does god punish those who help the earth?

Not burning in hell, see above.  God punishes those who choose not to serve him, not with hell, but with the loss of eternal paradise.

If I never believed while I'm alive but repent and confess to a priest on my deathbed, can I get into heaven?

Only god can determine how sincere a person's conversion is.  If the intent is to seek a loophole, he'll know.  My guess?  No paradise for you!

The former begs a more important question - Is simply believing in the divinity of Jesus and his resurrection (using Christianity just as an example) enough to get into Heaven, regardless of what I do?

No.  Faith without works is dead.  You prove the sincerity of your belief by the way you behave.

Can I be really evil but still go to heaven if I believe and pray?

Nope.  See above.

What is more important for getting into heaven - Good deeds according to the doctrine, or prayer?

Out of the two, good deeds.  Righteous action always trumps prayer/ceremony in his eyes.

Is being gay by itself enough to grant you a ticket to hell? What about premarital sex or simply having sexual thoughts about the neighbour's wife?

In the case of such things, only the action matters.  "Being" gay is not a sin, but gay sex is.
(Note: this is in direct contradiction of Jesus words in his Sermon on the Mount, in which lusting after a woman was as bad as adultery.  I never heard the JW leadership clarify this to mean that impure thoughts were sufficient to damn a person.)

If you commit a sin while a the same time doing a good deed, which matters more? For example, if I hurt someone to make them believe (saving his/her soul to get into heaven) does the good of converting the person surpass the evil of hurting/torturing them?

There are situations where god may allow this, though only god knows his own mind.  For example, lying to save a person from an unjust end could be justified in god's eyes.  Or taking violent action to subdue a person who is about to hurt innocents, though that can get pretty murky.

Does god know (and distinguish?) between those who genuinely believe in him and his doctrine passed down to mankind and those who just pretend/wish to believe just to enter the kingdom of paradise?

Yes.  God knows our hearts, our intentions and our sincerity in anything we do.

To enter heaven, do important good deeds count more than small good deeds? Quantity or quality? Does god balance [mathematically] the amount of good and bad deeds (including thoughts) and determine if the overall score is positive or negative?

I think the only answer to this is that god expects us to do all we can to reach paradise.  Quibbling over which would be more efficient might blind us from simply doing our best.  As above, god knows if you're making a good-faith effort or if you think you can "solve" salvation through weighted ratios.

If god really values the institution of family, why doesn't he mind separating relatives between hell and heaven?

God values your relationship with him above any other.  If you have to choose between him and family and you choose family, he will similarly reject you.

What the hell happens to fetuses and non-baptised children?

Not really sure.  Children may be resurrected in the paradise and given the option to know god and serve him or reject him.  Fetuses... no clue honestly.

What happens to pre-Christian Humans (or pre-any religion)?

Those who did not have the opportunity to learn the truth and make an informed decision are resurrected in paradise and given the same option as children.

Isn't eternal torture a strong contradiction against god's strong love and devotion for his own creation (us)?

Yes.

If Satan is evil, why does his house seem to have some of the coolest people on earth?

That's what he wants you to think.  But all of his paths lead to sorrow and ruin.

Finally - Do you believe if everyone goes to hell god will get bored?

God cannot "get bored."  He's so interesting that he even impresses himself.  ALL OF THE DAMNED TIME.

How the fuck do you know that?

God uses the holy spirit to communicate with his 'faithful and discreet slave' (the JW leadership) and they pass this wisdom onto the world.  Except when they don't, because they're fallible men.  But you can trust what they tell you.  Most of the time.  But they really are god's conduit on earth.  Dammit, stop rolling your eyes!

If you believe there's nothing you can do to deserve god's grace, then why beat yourself up?

You don't try to earn god's grace, you simply are expressing your gratitude that he makes it available to all.

[Longhorn]

huh....how would I answer if I was still a believer?

You're all going to hell. all of you. except for me, cos I'm the reincarnation of the archangel Azrael, and Gabriel at the same time. and I'm supposed to annihilate everybody and blow shit up. and lots of rambling about sinners, and Babylon, and such. how do I know it? he told me himself

no worries tho, I'm all sane now....pinky promise

[Dystopia]

Thanks for your answer Tonus, some things JW's think are fascinating - Do you think believing you cease to exist if you don't earn the ticket to paradise is considered more frightening/effective to persuade believers than eternal torture?

[Exian]

Grace is a free gift, but for some reason you can't just take it and keep living your life as is. There's a catch. Suddenly you have to hate gay people, and stop having premarital sex, and listen to a guy talk about how great god is a few times a week. Among other things.

Ah, that's right. The catch is that you..have to.....deserve it?

[Tonus]

Thanks for your answer Tonus, some things JW's think are fascinating - Do you think believing you cease to exist if you don't earn the ticket to paradise is considered more frightening/effective to persuade believers than eternal torture?

It seems intuitive that it would be less persuasive, but I am not sure. I think that psychologically, we are more motivated to move towards the things we desire (heaven/paradise) than away from things we fear (eternal torment). We chase rewards, but we try to escape punishment. I also think that we really have no concept of eternity, so the idea of endless torment may simply not resonate. So the idea of hell may be less persuasive than it might seem at first glance.

I think that the idea of death being final is both comforting and makes a bit more sense. Imagine that god is a generally nice guy. He creates us all and gives us a world to live in, then offers a choice: praise him obsessively and get to live longer and longer, or ignore him and the ride ends at some point. That seems more sensible than having the second option be "I will cause you indescribable pain and suffering forever and ever" based on a life that last 60-80 years. Even the Genesis tale seems to push this idea: when god kicks Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden, they no longer have access to the Tree of Life, from which they got their immortality. God threatens death, but doesn't actually strike them down, he just shortens the length of their contract. Nor is there anything to imply that they would suffer eternal torment upon death; they simply became 'ashes' and 'dust' once again.

So I think it could be more effective by making god seem more reasonable and less malicious and vindictive. It lets you focus on the reward instead of the punishment.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

Ref. Post #1:  Hell is temporary.  According to the biblical fairy tale dead people go to one of three places:  hell; the sea; or death.  The good news is that all of those places are temporary and everyone will get out on Judgment Day.  And even if a person has been in hell he can still get into the gaudy bejeweled golden cube called New Jerusalem if he's a member of one of the twelve tribes of Israel.  Otherwise he will be tossed into the lake of fire, which is eternal.  

Now if a person is a muslim he can go to hell after Judgment Day where he will be tortured forever.  Islamic hell sucks big time.

The Zoroastrians believe that an angel judges dead people and assigns the bad ones to hell on a temporary basis until Judgment Day.  The God character then renders final judgment and will either let the person into heaven or else throw him into an eternal purgatory.  The New Testament copied that with a minor change or two.

http://www.hinduwebsite.com/zoroastrianism/beliefs.asp

[robvalue]

So Allah is prepared to constantly power a place whose only function is to torture people forever, without the slightest hope it will ever achieve anything except feelings of righteousness in himself and Muslims. But he won't lift a finger to stop children being raped.

[Longhorn]

I doubt he even minds children being raped. Think uncle Mo and Aisha....