The idea of "Hell" is a beneficial survival trait for the religion that includes it.  Fear is a powerful motivator.

Why would evil suggest a devil, rather than, say, a god who is not all-good?

An attempt at obeying the law of opposites after heaven was invented.

My nacent theology believes in neither. A lot of quantum speculation involves parallel universes...many worlds,,,infinite unverses creating infinite universes themselves. When an event could have occured differently, a universe exists when it did. Soooo every time you die you will not notice it, because there is a universe in which you did not.

------------------------

Yep. You  are going to live forever. Maybe not in THIS universe, but in ....uh....yours.

Good news, eh?

Oh, not just you...everybody!

[quote=jon71]

I hold to a more traditional view of hell. I believe it is real and just like the New Testament describes. I do think the biggest torment is not the fire, it's the eternal seperation from GOD. Once in hell a person no longer has the chance to accept GOD.

So jon71 is the fire just a bonus then. Will the fire keep you warm on those cold days away from God?

Six things I believe about Hell...

• Hell is a definite place.
• Hell is torment.
• Hell is everlasting.
• Hell is intolerable.
• In Hell degrees of punishment shall be carried out against those who reject Jesus.
• Hell may be avoided. The way to avoid Hell is to trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. All other paths lead to Hell.

Hell is a DIY issue. 

Serena

Close to Mike Paterson's comment - Hell is here and now and it is a self imposed condition. We can walk out of Hell any time we want.

And things don't change in the afterlife. We can find our selves in Hell if that is our choice. But we can move ourselves out of that condition when we are ready - Hell is never everlasting.

To view otherwise is to believe in a punishing God. And yes Azdgari - "Hell is a way of dehumanizing and devaluing people who are not part of one's religious in-group."

Actually, the closest thing in the OT is Sheol, which in concept is just kind of plain, 'grey' "land of the dead," if you will. It's actually much closer to Ancient Greek idea of Hades than NT Hell is.

Hades may have changed to a place of torment later, but earlier on it was just a place everyone went when they died. The heaven-like "Elysian fields" (like you see in some parts of the movie Gladiator, for example) was a definitely a later development.

If you interpret 'eternity' to mean timelessness, then Hell and Heaven are places we can catch glimpses of here on earth. 

You don't need to look very far to find people who are in hell.  They're imprisoned in a cell they themselves have created, through sloth, envy, pride, anger (violence), etc. 

I very compelling image of what hell could look like is Samual Beckett's "End Game."  Everyone is stuck.  They can't move or really do anything, besides repeat things over and over again.  

I don't agree that Hell is seperation from God. God is omnipresent. Those in Hell will experience God in the form of His judgement.

So those in hell will only feel gods judgement and not seperation from god. So people in hell can ask god questions like why am I here god? Gods responce could be well you should have picked the right religion and now I will be laughing my head off when your burning in hell. Or is god Weird Al from in an Amish Paradise video.

[quote=Azdgari]

Dreamerman,

Do you think that it is reasonable to punish someone with eternal torture for having the wrong religion if that religion is all they ever knew?  Or even if they were exposed to Christianity, but not in a remotely convincing way?

 Dreamerman wrote this part right here.(NO!!! I don't believe torture should ever be used lrt alone eternal torture. I find it repulsive. I guess more poor excuse for homour didn't show through in my previous post. I guess I will have to show where someones post I am quoting stops and where mine starts.)

 Adzgari I guess you will have to ask this question to Jae. Jae and I seem to differ on what hell is.

I believe that those in Hell are not there for having chosen the wrong religion. Those in Hell are there because they do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

...which comes from not choosing (or having been convinced of) the "right" religion.

Jae, if I tried to get you to answer the post I'd directed at Dreamerman, would you shut down again and just post image-answers like a 10-year-old?

Hi --dreamerman-- I'v been reading some of the things you'v said. So I know your smart. I don'tthink I have to explain to you what I said .I was not talking in tongues. If I had I would have told you what I said. Your question, are santan and God one.No  I don't believe they are one . Very good trap. If you start a thread and ask . If they had been one ? Airclean33

?

Do It Yourself?

Discipline In Youth?

Divine Institution, Yikes!

Definitly Including You?

What?

(I am SO out of things...)

No, I don't believe so.

A person can have a personal relationship with Jesus and not be a part of any organized religion.

What was the question?

But God loves us with all our warts. I don't think that is where God wants God's children. In an everlasting , intolerable, tormented place.

Agreed.

And yet one can be culturally a Christian without having a genuine relationship with Christ.

Perhaps because they do not have one, which would be sad. It's why we Christians must take the Gospel to all nations.

There are many who are Christians now who were not raised in a Christian culture. I have a friend at church who is entire family are Buddhists. I had a friend who was the first Christian in his family, the rest being Hindus. There are countless others.

If she died without having a relationship with Christ, then, yes, I believe she deserves eternity in Hell. You do realize that I say that fully believing that I too deserve, on my own, an eternity in Hell. It is only because of the wondrous grace of God that I am saved.

Why does your deity employ such a flawed system to reach people?  Only a deity who wants people to suffer in hellfire would employ such a system.  A deity of hatred, as it were.  Then again, that is consistent with what you say later in this post...

They are a tiny minority.  I am talking about the ones who are not part of that tiny minority.

Ahh, such hatred of all humanity you express, Jae.  I have difficulty comprehending such hatred, myself.  To observe and agree with the judgment that all human beings inherently deserve eternal, horrid torture, is absolutely beyond the pale.

When our court systems decree that someone deserves to be put in jail, they are put in jail.  When a parent decrees that her or her child deserves to skip out on iced cream because the child had misbehaved, then the child is punished by skipping out on iced cream.  In general, when one believes that someone else deserves something, then one is more inclined to either give that person that something, or to at the very least accept it when someone else does.

For someone who believes that all of humanity deserves to be tortured eternally...of what horrors is such a person capable?  I shudder at the thought.