Do you find the teaching of eternal damnation thoroughly repulsive and the epitome of unjust?

[Christ's Prophet]

When I sometimes hear about heinous crimes on the news I want the perpetrator to be PUNISHED, capital P. That said even I couldn't justify eternal torture, even for Hitler. Hitler was an evil guy but if you indulge in the same behavior he did, regardless of the reason, your no better then he is. If an imperfect being such as myself can understand that, how can a being that doesn't understand it be called perfect? Only a sadist would attempt to justify or indulge in torture.

Secondly, what is your god's definition of justice? Is it an eye for an eye? Is it two eyes for an eye? Justice that requires inflicting suffering on others sounds like the idea of an earthly bloodthirsty tyrant, not a spiritual being that embodies all that is good. Just saying.

Firstly, when you consider the courts of human justice, there are a lot of criminals who get away with it on a technicality and cannot be tried again and all innocent people can only throw up their hands in despair. Even criminals in prison are fed well and looked after. But God’s justice is perfect, because He knows the hearts and minds of all men and therefore can judge perfectly. Those who go to Hell are the desperately wicked and the unrepentant and nothing more can be done for them or with them. In Hell, there is no repentance or regret by the residents.
If there is no Hell, then that is an invitation for people to do whatever they please because there are no long lasting consequences for their actions.
There is a saying that God does not send anyone to Hell. In their arrogance, they send themselves to Hell because of their rejection of God. Christ told of Hell 46 times in the Bible so that the message it is unmistakeable. We should not try to argue with God, but we should agree with God and endeavour to understand the truth of the matter which is the necessary question. Those who go to Hell, don’t want God and they will eternally get their wish. In this world, God in His mercy allows the rebellious man to have protection from the wrath of God against sin, but in the next world that protection is taken away. God’s character is perfect and hates sin, and that is why His Son came to be a satisfaction for sin, so that we can be reunited to God if we want it. But sinful man has to make his choice. Christ has been to Hell so we don’t have to. God does not want anyone in Heaven who does not want to be there. For any practising filthy unrepentant and rebellious sinner to be in a pure holy Heaven is a contradiction.
Secondly, you talk about an eye for an eye:-
Matthew 5:38-39 (KJV)
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Christ talks about forgiveness, because our time on this earth is short and we want our enemies to repent and turn to God. While most people are happy to render good for good, we are instructed to render good for evil. An eye for an eye was an outcome of justice in Jesus’ day, but Jesus wanted us to go beyond that to try to make peace with our adversary. We are to show Christ’s love in this way so that people will sit up and take notice. Christ’s principle was that Christians should make every effort to live in freedom and harmony with every person. There are the two forevers. Heaven is forever, so likewise Hell is forever. We have to accept the fact of Hell, because it is a fact. Whether we like it or not, is not the issue. Passing judgment on the issue of Hell on our part is flawed from the start, because we are imperfect and flawed. Therefore placing our judgment over God’s judgment is doomed from the start. However God is perfect and sees everything perfectly and understands everything perfectly, and therefore can judge everything perfectly. At the heart of the matter is having a reverential fear of God which leads to accepting His judgment. Hope this helps. Certainty for eternity.

 

[Christ's Prophet]

Except that people all over the world have different ideas about God or Gods, and it is virtually impossible to state which may be true. You believe in the Bible, but it certainly is not the only set of scriptures in this world.

"Theory" means something very different in science than it does in common usage, as a scientific theory entails various hypotheses, theorems, and axioms. Life has evolved on Earth and there's no indication that it'll stop evolving.

The founders of all religions, except one, are still in their graves. The story was told of a smart man who approached a Christian Pastor and said. 'Your religion sucks, I want to start my own religion. So what do I have to do to start my own religion? The Pastor thought for a moment. 'All you have to do is to die and be certified dead, be buried for three days, and then rise from the dead, show yourself to everyone and you will find you will have a following.' Christ is the only One who is Lord over life AND death. All other religions are phonies. I choose the genuine Lord of Lords because I want to be a winner. Hope this helps. Certainty for eternity

 

[metis]

The founders of all religions, except one, are still in their graves.

And how could you possibly know that?

Just a reminder that "fact" and "belief" are not synonymous terms.

 

[metis]

All other religions are phonies.

OK, you make the claim, so now go ahead and prove it.

Note that I don't make any claims one way or the other. [see my signature statement at the bottom of this post]

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

Could we equally ask the question "Does anyone find it repulsive that a judge would condemn a murderer to 3 consecutive life sentences" and... "Was it the judges fault that the sentence was given"?

Does the judge have the power to make a person live 3 entire lifetimes? It's just a BS sentence. There's one life to live. Even if one believes in reincarnation, the crime only took place during ONE lifetime, not all of them...

The only other option is that when people die, they cease to exist, that is they go into annihilationism.

Thanks for the opinion, False Dichotomy Man.

We have to be careful then that we do not start to create our own set of beliefs that suit ourselves, but have no basis in reality.

LOL, clearly you've never thought that your own beliefs are ...

The reality is that Jesus Christ spoke plainly about Hell more than 46 times in the New Testament, and He should know.

Why should he know? Supposedly he never even goes there until he dies.

If there was no Hell, then where is the justice of God?

In rehabilitation, as God is not as pathetically stupid as we are and has more options to deal with things.

All the Stalin’s, the Hitler’s, the Idi Amin’s, the Pol Pot’s, all the ruthless murderers, where would the justice be if they die and go into non-existence?

How does their going to hell help the victims either?

God is a God of Love, but He is also a God of Justice and will not allow wickedness to go unpunished.

The book of Job is a fascinating read regarding the fairness of God's judgement. Might I remind you that your opinion is like that of Job's "friends", who are called fools by God (and per Jesus, anyone who calls another a fool goes to hell, so I guess both Jesus and God had to go ...).

Whether you think Hell is just or unjust, whether you like it or don’t like it, is irrelevant.

On the contrary, if morality is objective, then saying Hell is moral just because God said so is very relevant.

Hell is a fact, and you have to get used to it and believe that a perfect God knows what He is doing. Certainty for eternity

Nothing is eternal. Time is relative.

I like this idea, but cant reconcile concepts like "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me" and what you are saying. Jesus also spoke about how one could not get to Heaven on good deeds alone.

Jesus' ideas depend on the author, though.

That is why we must judge the tree by its fruit and cast off broken or diseased branches.

After all the parable of the Good Samaritan tells of a man who is saved by his good deeds
and not by which sect he belongs to.

Technically, the question was "which was the neighbor", not "which one was going to heaven".

Whilst faith can be defined as such

I am not a Paul fan. Do you have something more objective? I tend not to listen to someone who basically is telling me I have to believe him blindly and remain ignorant so he can keep his leadership position the others didn't want of him anyway.

Life has evolved on Earth and there's no indication that it'll stop evolving.

Yes, even theologies evolve.

Perhaps I am Thomas. I must feel the wounds. But no wounds are offered to me to feel.

What I question is how Thomas only feels palm wounds that shouldn't exist because the holes would be in the wrists AND there should be basically a human hamburger sitting in front of them, given all the torture he went through, but no one seems to think he looks like raw meat.

Kind of reminds me of George Zimmerman, claiming to be beaten to a pulp yet there are no medical records nor photos to present that show such catastrophic damage. (I'm a nurse, so inconsistencies in medical data bug me, LOL.)

Those who go to Hell are the desperately wicked and the unrepentant and nothing more can be done for them or with them. In Hell, there is no repentance or regret by the residents.

Evil people should go to heaven, not hell. People who like suffering shouldn't be placed in a veritable all-you-can-eat buffet of it. Send them to heaven, where the "niceness" will drive them batty for eternity.

The founders of all religions, except one, are still in their graves.

You've been to all their graves to verify this?

The story was told of a smart man who approached a Christian Pastor and said. 'Your religion sucks, I want to start my own religion. So what do I have to do to start my own religion? The Pastor thought for a moment. 'All you have to do is to die and be certified dead, be buried for three days, and then rise from the dead, show yourself to everyone and you will find you will have a following.'

LOL. People make religions out of obvious science fiction that people were around to see being written. You DON'T have to die and be resurrected to start a religion. Any stupid thing will suffice.

 

[Kenny]

Does the judge have the power to make a person live 3 entire lifetimes? It's just a BS sentence. There's one life to live. Even if one believes in reincarnation, the crime only took place during ONE lifetime, not all of them...

Do you always fail to get the point?

 

[JustWondering]

Firstly, when you consider the courts of human justice, there are a lot of criminals who get away with it on a technicality and cannot be tried again and all innocent people can only throw up their hands in despair. Even criminals in prison are fed well and looked after. But God’s justice is perfect, because He knows the hearts and minds of all men and therefore can judge perfectly. Those who go to Hell are the desperately wicked and the unrepentant and nothing more can be done for them or with them. In Hell, there is no repentance or regret by the residents.
If there is no Hell, then that is an invitation for people to do whatever they please because there are no long lasting consequences for their actions.
There is a saying that God does not send anyone to Hell. In their arrogance, they send themselves to Hell because of their rejection of God. Christ told of Hell 46 times in the Bible so that the message it is unmistakeable. We should not try to argue with God, but we should agree with God and endeavour to understand the truth of the matter which is the necessary question. Those who go to Hell, don’t want God and they will eternally get their wish. In this world, God in His mercy allows the rebellious man to have protection from the wrath of God against sin, but in the next world that protection is taken away. God’s character is perfect and hates sin, and that is why His Son came to be a satisfaction for sin, so that we can be reunited to God if we want it. But sinful man has to make his choice. Christ has been to Hell so we don’t have to. God does not want anyone in Heaven who does not want to be there. For any practising filthy unrepentant and rebellious sinner to be in a pure holy Heaven is a contradiction.
Secondly, you talk about an eye for an eye:-
Matthew 5:38-39 (KJV)
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Christ talks about forgiveness, because our time on this earth is short and we want our enemies to repent and turn to God. While most people are happy to render good for good, we are instructed to render good for evil. An eye for an eye was an outcome of justice in Jesus’ day, but Jesus wanted us to go beyond that to try to make peace with our adversary. We are to show Christ’s love in this way so that people will sit up and take notice. Christ’s principle was that Christians should make every effort to live in freedom and harmony with every person. There are the two forevers. Heaven is forever, so likewise Hell is forever. We have to accept the fact of Hell, because it is a fact. Whether we like it or not, is not the issue. Passing judgment on the issue of Hell on our part is flawed from the start, because we are imperfect and flawed. Therefore placing our judgment over God’s judgment is doomed from the start. However God is perfect and sees everything perfectly and understands everything perfectly, and therefore can judge everything perfectly. At the heart of the matter is having a reverential fear of God which leads to accepting His judgment. Hope this helps. Certainty for eternity.

So your line of "reasoning" is that you were taught god is perfect and there is a hell so don't question it. If that's the case then you are not here to discuss or debate but to simply spout unsupported superstitious claims. Embracing blind faith/willful ignorance isn't a rational or wise way to build your world views.

I find it hilarious that Christians cannot agree on countless issues when it comes to their own religion. It's even more hilarious how they ignore the fact that other religions besides Christianity exist. Have you ever actually thought about why there are so many different religions? Have you ever thought about what religion you would be all spun up about if you were raised somewhere that had a different religion, like India or the middle east? If you were spoon feed a different religion your whole life you'd blindly be spouting unsupported superstitious claims about that religion right now and dismissing Christianity as a false religion.

 

[Christ's Prophet]

You've been to all their graves to verify this?


If you thought about that question more, you would not be asking it. Just on the spur of the moment, let me suggest for example:
1) Consider the tomb of Mohammad which figures at the centre of the Hajj for which every Muslim must make his journey to Mecca.
2) Consider the grave of Charles Taze Russell the founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
3) Consider the grave of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons. He is still in the grave.
4) Prince Siddharta Gautama started the religion of Buddha died in about 500BC. He died when he was about 80 yrs. old. His body was cremated.
5) In Hinduism, there is no documented origin. They worship many many gods.
6) Consider that if any movement has an aspect of rising from the dead, then they would be spruiking it loud and clear.
7) Christ is the only One to have been killed, to have been buried and to rise from the dead. He has showed that He has the authority over life and death. (see 1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
8) Certainty for eternity

 

[Jenny Collins]

Hell fire is an incredibly evil concept and is beyond absurd! Since I know that people can have entrenched ideas, I try to be patient with them but at some point in life, if they don't come to the realization that this concept has nothing remotely to do with a loving God, they are being willfully ignorant! Shame on anyone who claims that it eternal torture is loving and merciful! And fire in the Bible is symbolic of eternal destruction anyway