Hell is eternal because God is infinite?

[RosieLass]

Studying some of the Christian rational for an eternal hell (and yes, I know there are those who don't believe it's eternal, but the people I'm talking to do). I feel that logically, eternal punishment for finite crimes is irrational. But they claim hell is eternal because we are sinning against an infinite being. The explanation they gave was, "when you do something wrong you are not only offending the person you harm but also God (If that doesn't make sense, think of it this way, if you you hurt someones kid are you only responsible to the kid or do the kids parents have some right to be pissed?). If you are also offending God then you are offending an infinite being, so the offense is then infinite." Can anyone explain to me what the hell that actually means (I'm a very concrete thinker so something that abstract goes right over my head), and more importantly, provide some help in forming a rebuttal? I can't even answer on the subject because it sounds batshit crazy to me. I did look for anything on this on here already, but most of what I found winds up degenerating into a discussion of whether hell's eternal to begin with. Thanks in advance for any help.

[theVOID]

So what? All it means is their God is such an asshole that if you piss him off enough he'll fuck you up the ass for all eternity.

Another reason to think these people are brain damaged.

If they really believe in a God that is so fucking petty that he can NEVER forgive your actions then he's also a hypocrite. After all, isn't forgiveness sort of the whole fucking point of being a 'good Christian'?

As for that "bear the sin of the father for 4 generations" shit, there is another passage that says the sins of the father die with him.

[RosieLass]

So what? Because I'm talking to someone who's actually open-minded about understanding why I'm an atheist. He's even said he believes it it logical to believe in Christianity, but he's willing to be convinced otherwise. Personal attacks or unnecessarily angry or aggressive responses won't help make my point. This particular issue will never be a mind-changer for him, but I'd still like to be able to explain the rationale behind atheists' rejection of it. Of course, having a rationale in rejecting something implies it's rational to begin with.

[theVOID]

That's a totally different question

Why we don't believe in God is (usually) because there is absolutely no evidence indicating such a being exists, no logical necessity for such a being and no requirement that we conclude upon the questions such as "why is there something rather than nothing?". Every argument for his existence is a failure, riddled with fallacies or relying on stupid shit like Plantingas "true basic" belief idea. Essentially our epistemological standards are far too high to accept any of their reasons as sufficient to believe.

Christians assume that they are justified in their conclusion to these questions, they are fooling themselves by believing that these answers are available, and being arrogant by claiming that they are the ones with the answers.

Oh, and you don't have to quote me verbatim if my response is too harsh for them. I'm not the one who's having the discussion with them so frankly I have no reason to be polite about it.

[Anomalocaris]

Hell is eternal because eternal is the only scary big word the yokel apostles knew? And now that one can draw on 20 more centuries of knowledge about the world it would haven been a disgrace to be beholden to the thrust their bullshit stories, much less also beholden to the specific clumsy yokel way with which they told it?

[solja247]

Why we don't believe in God is (usually) because there is absolutely no evidence indicating such a being exists

I have never understood that. Just because YOU dont believe in God doesnt mean He doesnt exist, it doesnt make sense.

Hell is eternal because eternal is the only scary big word the yokel apostles knew?

Actually, they most likely didnt believe in an afterlife. The after life idea came about 150 years before Christ. All a Jew knew is that the dead go to sheol...
In Act we read Paul makes a large dispute between people who believe in an after life and those who dont...

The idea of eternal hell is not biblical, neither is it logical...

Christians today long for heaven, early Christians longed for the resurrection, Jesus's second coming...

[Ashendant]

Why we don't believe in God is (usually) because there is absolutely no evidence indicating such a being exists

I have never understood that. Just because YOU dont believe in God doesnt mean He doesnt exist, it doesnt make sense.

He doesn't exist because there is nothing hint or proves that he does, it's the makes as much sense as saying that unicorns, supernatural and fairies are real, you will find that same amount of "proof" for the existence of these things as for the existence of god

[IceSage]

Why we don't believe in God is (usually) because there is absolutely no evidence indicating such a being exists

I have never understood that. Just because YOU dont believe in God doesnt mean He doesnt exist, it doesnt make sense.

Okay. Just because YOU don't believe in dragons and fairies, doesn't mean they don't exist!

Solja247, how come you don't believe in dragons and you HATE dragons? What about fairies, and leprechauns?

There's a Dragon named Solthar in my house right now. He tells me that Christianity isn't real and that he is the one true god. He created the Earth, and is the oldest being. He says if you don't give me 22 million dollars, or whatever amount of money you have in your back account, that he'll send you to the center of the earth, where you will burn, until he sees fit.

Better get started on sending that money.

[little_monkey]

The only reply I would have is that as an atheist, God doesn't exist, how in the world can I ever offend that which doesn't exist! If your friend is as open-minded as he claimed to be he will accept this argumernt. If not, then he is not as open-minded as it is claimed.

[KichigaiNeko]

I am thinking that....to the majority of atheists, what ever the individual BELIEVES rules that individuals life and "becomes real" to said individual?

Hence....atheists do NOT 'believe' a god or gods (or 'higher power') exists ergo ...on the basis of lack of evidence "there is no such thing as 'God/s or higher power' other than mankind's own imagination".

Hence...theists DO 'believe' that there is the above stated bullshit and to them this is their 'reality'

Personally .....I have convinced myself that 'House Dragons' are "real" and live in my house. Currently I have three (I like the number) and prior to my current abode I had a Black and Silver Dragon on my back fence (to protect me and my children from unsavoury persons who might climb said fence) and a Gold and Red Dragon @ my front door (to protect me and my children from unsavoury persons who may try to enter our house from that direction)

Suffice to say...whilst I KNEW this was a whole load of bull crap I STILL convinced myself of the presence of Dragons and can initiate the SAME delusion no matter where I am no matter what mental stress I am under....the feelings and 'visions' I believe are no different to the theist visions and delusions to "keep one safe" and are "just as real" as anything I could come up with

my point being ...is to demonstrate that the human mind is a wonderful tool and sans any evidence to the contrary will be susceptible to ANY suggestion... AND MAKE IT REAL

aka religion is a delusion on a massive scale along with hell and heaven and anything else one would want to come up with From the minds of desert dwelling goat herders with inferiority complexes the "abrahamic religions" make perfect sense (for the intellectually inept and the terminally insecure) and should be banned