Am I going to hell?

[Ponder the Box]

Greetings

This is something that has bothered me for a while now: In a lot of conversations with (mostly) reborn again Christian friends of mine, yes FRIENDS, I have asked the question of them regarding what is going to happen to me when I die. Since I've spent just about my entire conscious life trying to find something to believe in and they on the most part profess to have found a belief that they can centre their entire lives around, it seems sensible to get to grips with their viewpoint. One of the main things I have been completely unable to wrap my head around is that a lot of them are quite looking forward to their eternity in heaven and yet when pressed will happily describe to me visions of my eternal suffering. What's an eternal bliss when your best friend is roasting in a fiery pit?

Thanks for listening.

Cheers.

 

[Mike182]

you will not go to hell for being an atheist, thats just silly (in my oppinion)

if everyone who did not believe in the christian God went to hell, then a lot of generally good people would be suffering at the hands of a creature not worthy of the title of God (in my oppinion)

hope that makes sense

 

[nutshell]

Greetings

This is something that has bothered me for a while now: In a lot of conversations with (mostly) reborn again Christian friends of mine, yes FRIENDS, I have asked the question of them regarding what is going to happen to me when I die. Since I've spent just about my entire conscious life trying to find something to believe in and they on the most part profess to have found a belief that they can centre their entire lives around, it seems sensible to get to grips with their viewpoint. One of the main things I have been completely unable to wrap my head around is that a lot of them are quite looking forward to their eternity in heaven and yet when pressed will happily describe to me visions of my eternal suffering. What's an eternal bliss when your best friend is roasting in a fiery pit?

Thanks for listening.

Cheers.

Well, despite what many born-again Christians might think on the issue, it's not for me or them to judge you. Where you go after you die is between you and God.

 

[dawny0826]

Keep in mind that your friends are Christians. And most (not all, mind you) but MOST Christians do believe that when you pass on...you go to heaven or hell.

If you're not saved...if you haven't accepted Christ...well...there you go. Most Christians believe your after life (eternal) will be spent in hell. If I were to discuss Hell with a friend, my motive would be to put "fire" under their behinds to begin to question whether or not that's what they want for their eternity. From the Christian's perspective...there's either heaven or hell for eternity...no in betweens and I wouldn't wish the HELL that I believe in ON anyone. I would however, discuss it, in hopes of someone thinking on it and questioning their spirituality. The choice is always yours, of course.

I hope that your friends have lovingly witnessed to you but nothing they've said to you isn't biblical. They're only reiterating what they've been taught and believe.

There's a very, very small book that I recommend to anyone which really sent shivers up and down my spine. I read it after I had become a Christian as well. It's an eye opener.

It's called "I Went To Hell" by Kenneth Hagin. Even for those who aren't the least bit interested in Christianity...it's a thought provoking read.

Warm wishes.

 

[sojourner]

Frightening people into belief with threats of an eternity spent in agony is not the Christian message as I see it. The good news is that Jesus has eradicated the death caused by sin. Everyone is now free to enter the party. The responsibility of the individual who hears that news is this: "Now that I know this, what do I do? How do I respond to this good news?" I respond by loving God and loving others. Even those who don't believe in Christian theology can still love the "higher power" and can still love others.

 

[dawny0826]

Frightening people into belief with threats of an eternity spent in agony is not the Christian message as I see it. The good news is that Jesus has eradicated the death caused by sin. Everyone is now free to enter the party. The responsibility of the individual who hears that news is this: "Now that I know this, what do I do? How do I respond to this good news?" I respond by loving God and loving others. Even those who don't believe in Christian theology can still love the "higher power" and can still love others.

We are free to enter if we CHOOSE to enter.

We've already established the you and I read the Bible VERY differently.

You can love everyone...you're SUPPOSED to LOVE everyone but unfortunately, GOOD and loving people in this world have rejected the salvation that they have in Jesus Christ. And according to every BIBLE I've EVER read...those people are NOT granted eternal life with God. They WILL perish.

So, again...it always boils down to whether or not you trust and believe in God's word.

I for one don't claim to know the answers...I don't claim to be perfect and I DO very much love and care about others. When I read my Bible...the message is pretty clear...there's one way or the other...the righteous path is a very NARROW path.

 

[Halcyon]

Believe in me or suffer forever.

Is God blackmailing us, or is he just a nasty person?

 

[dawny0826]

Believe in me or suffer forever.

Is God blackmailing us, or is he just a nasty person?

God simply presented us with a choice. In a very real sense...WE control our spiritual fate.

 

[d.]

Believe in me or suffer forever.

Is God blackmailing us, or is he just a nasty person?

you'd certainly think so. or maybe it is some of his followers who are nasty?

wouldn't god's love be enough of a motivator?

this view of god as one who punishes out of love - i've heard certain christians refer to hell as something god created out of love for humanity - seem to fit the image of an old-style patriarch perfectly. the kind of 'family leader' who beats children out of love...

 

[dawny0826]

you'd certainly think so. or maybe it is some of his followers who are nasty?

wouldn't god's love be enough of a motivator?

this view of god as one who punishes out of love - i've heard certain christians refer to hell as something god created out of love for humanity - seem to fit the image of an old-style patriarch perfectly. the kind of 'family leader' who beats children out of love...

God's love SHOULD have been enough to motivate us but MAN has continuously failed to embrace it.

 

[d.]

God's love SHOULD have been enough to motivate us but MAN has continuously failed to embrace it.

so MAN needs a divine 'spanking'?

 

[dawny0826]

so MAN needs a divine 'spanking'?

:biglaugh:

You'll have to ask Him that one.

 

[may]

false religious teachings about hellfire are not a bible teaching it is a manmade thing

Hell​

​

Definition: The word "hell" is found in many Bible translations. In the same verses other translations read "the grave," "the world of the dead," and so forth. Other Bibles simply transliterate the original-language words that are sometimes rendered "hell"; that is, they express them with the letters of our alphabet but leave the words untranslated. What are those words? The Hebrew she’ohl´ and its Greek equivalent hai´des, which refer, not to an individual burial place, but to the common grave of dead mankind; also the Greek ge´en·na, which is used as a symbol of eternal destruction. However, both in Christendom and in many non-Christian religions it is taught that hell is a place inhabited by demons and where the wicked, after death, are punished (and some believe that this is with torment). this word hell in many bibles has been given a wrong thought for many centurys ,and many have been misled to believe it, the bible does not teach hellfire. i wonder what the god of the bible thinks about this false teaching that makes him look like an evil God

 

[dawny0826]

false religious teachings about hellfire are not a bible teaching it is a manmade thing

Hell​

​

Definition: The word "hell" is found in many Bible translations. In the same verses other translations read "the grave," "the world of the dead," and so forth. Other Bibles simply transliterate the original-language words that are sometimes rendered "hell"; that is, they express them with the letters of our alphabet but leave the words untranslated. What are those words? The Hebrew she’ohl´ and its Greek equivalent hai´des, which refer, not to an individual burial place, but to the common grave of dead mankind; also the Greek ge´en·na, which is used as a symbol of eternal destruction. However, both in Christendom and in many non-Christian religions it is taught that hell is a place inhabited by demons and where the wicked, after death, are punished (and some believe that this is with torment). this word hell in many bibles has been given a wrong thought for many centurys ,and many have been misled to believe it, the bible does not teach hellfire. i wonder what the god of the bible thinks about this false teaching that makes him look like an evil God

Depends on which translation you're reading.

 

[may]

Depends on which translation you're reading.

The meaning given today to the word "hell

is completely foreign to the original definition of the word.

"Hellfire" has been a basic teaching in Christendom for many centuries. It is understandable why The Encyclopedia Americana (1956, Vol. XIV, p. 81) said: "Much confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades and Gehenna by the word hell. The simple transliteration of these words by the translators of the revised editions of the Bible has not sufficed to appreciably clear up this confusion and misconception." Nevertheless, such transliteration and consistent rendering does enable the Bible student to make an accurate comparison of the texts in which these original words appear and, with open mind, thereby to arrive at a correct understanding of their true significance.

 

[lovedmb]

God simply presented us with a choice. In a very real sense...WE control our spiritual fate.

Some choice. Sounds like a really nice guy.

 

[lovedmb]

Depends on which translation you're reading.

And why is that do you suppose? Don't you think if you gave someone two choices and one was as horrible as an eternal pit of fire that you would at least have the decency to get the instructions to them straight, so the message was clear, easy to understand, and everyone agreed upon what it said?

Again. Sounds like a really nice guy.

 

[Halcyon]

The meaning given today to the word "hell

is completely foreign to the original definition of the word.

Original definition of the word, from wikipedia;
"In Norse mythology, the realm Hel, shares a name with the goddess Hel who rules it. As described in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda it is a place thronged with the shivering and shadowy spectres of those who have died ingloriously of disease or in old age. Hel is also home to dishonourable people who have broken oaths. Hel is cold and low on the overall order of the universe. It lies beneath Yggdrasil's third root, near Hvergelmir and Náströnd. It is uncertain if Hel and Niflheim are completely different places, if one is part of the other, or if both are names for the same place."

 

[nutshell]

Original definition of the word, from wikipedia;
"In Norse mythology, the realm Hel, shares a name with the goddess Hel who rules it. As described in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda it is a place thronged with the shivering and shadowy spectres of those who have died ingloriously of disease or in old age. Hel is also home to dishonourable people who have broken oaths. Hel is cold and low on the overall order of the universe. It lies beneath Yggdrasil's third root, near Hvergelmir and Náströnd. It is uncertain if Hel and Niflheim are completely different places, if one is part of the other, or if both are names for the same place."

It doesn't matter what the original meaning was. What's important is the meaning the word had when it was recorded in the scriptures.

 

[Darkdale]

Believe in me or suffer forever.

Is God blackmailing us, or is he just a nasty person?

He's just nasty. I don't worship that god anymore. Of course, in the heathen faith, everyone goes to stay with "Hel" after they die - until the fall of the gods and the destruction of the universe. There is no lust for immortality in most pagan ranks.