A rational explanation for hell?

[Epimethean]

"Dante was writing a work of fiction and labeled it as such. In fact, the intent was political satire."

The author's stated intent and the literary fallout (AP English classes notwithstanding) have tended to diverge (cf. the wackos who believe in the Necronomicon since Lovecraft made it up).

[The Grand Nudger]

Abdul Alhazrad lives. The dog faces cannot prevail.

[Godscreated]

@ Ace and FNM I'm not afraid of death not because it comes to all, because I'm only going to lose my physical body for a while and my spirit will be with God until the day my spirit and my new body are united. As far as salvation goes FNM there are no works that can get you there, only one's faith in Christ as savior, that's why christians can actually look forward to death when there lives are drawing to an end. Christians do not live in a state of delusion they live in a state of hope, the state that is a positive, knowing that God will take care of them.
Ace how do you know you will have another day let lone get old, that getting old thing is just a way of distracting yourself from the fear of dying to soon. When you get older,that is if you do, how do you know you will feel the same as you do now, by what you state you believe death is a long ways off for you and this makes you comfortable with the idea of death, but when you get older and death is truely close how do you know you want feel that death is coming to soon. You are right when you say that death will put you beyond space and time, your body like mine and everyone elses will be worm food, and when those billions of years pass if your unbelief in God is wrong will seem like only a few minutes of an everlasting eternity.

[Faith No More]

Christians do not live in a state of delusion they live in a state of hope, the state that is a positive, knowing that God will take care of them.

False hope is no hope at all.

[Epimethean]

Hope =/= knowing, GC.

[The Grand Nudger]

GC, looking forward to your death eh? Now I don't feel like such a shitty person.

You realize that you're very vividly describing your social groups divine privilege as opposed to the "others", whose "afterlives" will be inferior by comparison. Your social group is better and more moral by definition, in both life and death, due to an exclusionary principle known as faith. It's pretty uncomfortable when you sit down and think about it.

[C Rod]

You're just going to keep stating that death is mysterious? Waste of time.

Wow prove it to me simply. Give me reason. I see it as mysterious because you have not experienced it and any one that has can not tell us what it is.

[The Grand Nudger]

People who have their tongues cut out can't tell you about the experience either, does that make it mysterious? When you turn your TV to a channel it doesn't receive, do you wonder what episode of "I Love Lucy" is playing under the static, or do you say "hmn, nothing on this channel"?

There is nothing about you, in part, that survives as a whole after death. What mystery do you find in that? Death is obviously a mystery to you, but it is not a mystery to "us" as a species. We understand why we die, how we die, and what happens to the various bits and pieces after we're dead. We also understand how we come into being, how we experience the world around us (or anything for that matter), and how life differs from death in each of these regards. There is no mystery here. There may be mystery or intrigue in why people would imagine afterlives, or how their culture and environment shapes those beliefs, but the working part is absolutely not mysterious in any way that I've ever seen the word mysterious used.

[C Rod]

People who have their tongues cut out can't tell you about the experience either, does that make it mysterious? When you turn your TV to a channel it doesn't receive, do you wonder what episode of "I Love Lucy" is playing under the static, or do you say "hmn, nothing on this channel"?

There is nothing about you, in part, that survives as a whole after death. What mystery do you find in that? Death is obviously a mystery to you, but it is not a mystery to "us" as a species. We understand why we die, how we die, and what happens to the various bits and pieces after we're dead. We also understand how we come into being, how we experience the world around us (or anything for that matter), and how life differs from death in each of these regards. There is no mystery here. There may be mystery or intrigue in why people would imagine afterlives, or how their culture and environment shapes those beliefs, but the working part is absolutely not mysterious in any way that I've ever seen the word mysterious used.

Okay you justified yourself with the stuff that is not mysterious. But what of the conscious mind, my thought, what is that moment to me when i should so die to you. That moment i want described with observation. Im going on trip with some friends be on tomorrow night sorry wont respond till then.

[The Grand Nudger]

Glad to be of service, lifting the veils of the mysterious wherever possible. Just drop a word in when you get back.

I've been wondering btw, at what point would simply admitting that there are no arguments for gods existence, that the supernatural, as far as we can tell, is all bs..and still...you have faith. Wouldn't that make someone uber-christian by the doctrine of faith alone. I mean, faith against all, faith in spite of your own knowledge..gotta be the fast ticket to heaven, you'd probably get lifted away like Ezekiel.

(While you're tripping, consider this, there is very good reason to believe that dying is much like tripping. The "ego-death" experience reported by so many that it has been given a name is actually a fairly common hallucination across human beings...so, enjoy)

lol, going "on trip" ah the joys of language. What is the lowest form of humor, pun? Is that the saying? Epimethean?