Comments on THE BIBLE DOES NOT DESCRIBE THE HELL THAT CHRISTIANS DESCRIBE

Go to HELL!!!!!Add a commentGo to THE BIBLE DOES NOT DESCRIBE THE HELL THAT CHRISTIANS DESCRIBE

Re: Hell and heaven go back way beyond the biblical times
thank you Soterios

posted by Xeno-x on May 18, 2007 at 10:16 AM | link to this | reply

Hell and heaven go back way beyond the biblical times
The belief in the spiritual realms of heaven and hell go back much farther in recorded history than biblical times.

Hieroglyphs depicting an underworld go back as far as ancient Egyptian times, many thousands of years before Christ. Images of The divine scales which are overseen by Seth son of Osiris and Anubis son of Sakla, depict the soul being weighed with these two spiritual figures overseeing the process. The good souls which weigh less than the feather (divine standard) rise up into the afterlife, while the souls who are heavy with sins first have to go down into the underworld where they are purged.

Seth - the good, who was the son of the Son God Osiris, while Anubus was the messenger of Sakla the crocodile God (Satan). Souls which failed to purge themselves in the underworld would not be able to rise into the afterlife.

posted by Soterios on May 17, 2007 at 11:58 AM | link to this | reply

Re: Re: Re: Hell is a real place -- by 1997
I said -- there is not one single description in the Bible of the Hell that you and other Christians have conceived of.

posted by Xeno-x on April 28, 2007 at 2:06 PM | link to this | reply

Re: Re: Hell is a real place -- by 1997
You are right about the fact that the true biblical God is a god of mercy. However, he is also a holy and just God who will not and cannot tolerate evil(sin). Ever since the original fall of man(Adam), all of mankind has been under the curse of sin. We all inherit a sinful nature from birth, which makes it impossible for us to be good enough for God to just accept us as we are. There is nothing we can do to earn favor/salvation with God. Since even the "good" things we do are tainted with evil motives that we are often not even aware of, they are not enough to save us. That is why God sent his only son, Jesus to pay the price for our sins, so that whoever believes in him can receive the gift of God's grace, which is eternal salvation. This is the only way we can be eternally saved. If you think about it, would God send his precious son into this evil world to suffer a horrible death by crucifixion if it were not necessary? If God were merely a merciful god who willingly overlooks our sins, granting us automatic salvation, why would he put his son through what he did? God is first of all a god of justice and holiness. He chose to create man knowing beforehand that we would chose to rebel against him. In fact, he already had his plan of salvation in order before he ever created the earth and its inhabitants. He could have created us as perfect human beings who never did wrong, but then we would merely be robots. Instead, he wanted to create a world full of people who could freely choose to either love and obey him or reject him. Unfortunately, with that scenario came much evil and suffering in the world. Since God has given us a choice of whether or not to accept his plan of salvation, he has the right to punish those who choose to reject it. Hell was originally created for Satan and his angels(demons). God's desire is that all people would be saved, but he will not and cannot force anyone to accept his plan of salvation. Think about it, if someone who spent their whole life distancing himself from God was forced to spend an eternity with him in Heaven, that would be literally hell for that person. God respects our free choice- we can either choose to obey him or turn away from him. However, those who reject him have no way to compensate for a lifetime of sin, so they must pay the price in hell. It sounds harsh to us because we don't look at sin the same way God does. One sin is all it takes to be eligible for hell. That's how seriously God views our sins. Contrary to popular belief today, all paths do not lead to God. According to the Bible, which is God's word, the only way to God the Father is through his son, Jesus Christ. Furthermore, Jesus himself said that only a "few" would be saved in the end(Luke 13:22-30). Being a true christian involves a lot more than just saying a simple three-step prayer of salvation. A true christian will repent(turn away) from deliberate sin and develop a strong desire/love for God's word and his fellowship. These changes take place after salvation, not before, since we can only be saved when God draws us to himself by the holy spirit. But, if we truly believe God's message of salvation in our hearts, not just our heads, there will be a dramatic change in the direction of our life. We will literally be "born again," with new desires and behavior. I'm not saying that true christians are perfect by any means. We still have a sinful nature within us to deal with. But, through the power of the holy spirit living inside of us once we are truly saved, we can choose to turn away from sins that we were powerless to stop before.Finally, I totally understand how difficult it is for you to accept the reality of hell, since I have a hard time accepting it myself. However, since I believe what God's word says about hell, I have to accept it as a reality. One last thought- there are many professing christians today who believe they are saved when in fact they are not. Merely believing intellectually in God and Jesus is not enough. We must truly believe in our hearts, the evidence of which will be a changed life.

posted by 1997 on April 28, 2007 at 11:51 AM | link to this | reply

Re: Hell is a real place -- by 1997
the bible does not describe the Hell that Christianity has described for several centuries.

basically, all you see is a fire -- Gehenna Fire in Matthew, comparing the results of not treating others equitably to the trash heap outside Jerusalem.

It is recocognized that the fire in the New Testament is a purging and cleansing fire (copmpare passaged in Timothy and Thessalonians about fire purging a man's works and yet the man himself shall be saved.

the God of the New Testament is a merciful God.  The god of too many Christians isn't.

I understand why so many people are either atheists, agnostics, or just not religious at all.

In a sense, they "worship" the real god, where Christians don't.


posted by Xeno-x on April 28, 2007 at 8:45 AM | link to this | reply

Hell is a real place
There are many scriptures in the Bible that describe hell as a reality. One of the best descriptions can be found in the book of Matthew, chapter 25-verses 31-46. Also, read the book of Jude and Revelation, chapter 20. You might also want to read 1John3:11-15. Not everyone is going to be saved in the end. I just found another scripture-John 5:24-30. Finally, read Matthew 23:15; Mark 9:43-48; Matthew 8:21-23; and Matthew 7:13-14. It is obvious that hell truly exists, if you believe that the Bible is the word of God. Believe me, I wish it wasn't true.

posted by 1997 on April 27, 2007 at 5:30 PM | link to this | reply

No definate location
Heaven and hell are not located anywhere, they are not really places.

In the spiritual realm there is no distance. If there was distance, then time would be significant. Since we know it is timeless and distanceless, then it follows that you don't go anywhere by human perception. In the dream state though, there is very often a sense of distance perception. The dream life, is the life of the spirit man, therefore it is the spirit life.
Heaven is simply a place where love is concentrated. This is then what heaven is (the light). Since God and his angels are spirits, the agglomeration of these spirits together are the essence of the light and in their midst there would likely be a concentration of high frequency spiritual energy emanations of love, order, peace, warmth, joy, happiness, wisdom, bliss, humour etc.

Hell on the other hand, is where the light isn't. It is an absence of light. Simply where God's love isn't.  Depending on the person you are, you will probably be attracted to that place on death, if your spirit is in harmony with those vibrations. If you spirit is angry, hostile, bitter and unforgiving you will probably want to stay well away from the light. The light exposes those things which are not of love.
Hell is likely to be a place of no love, chaos, strife, cold, misery, hatred, ignorance and suffering.

posted by Soterios on April 27, 2007 at 3:58 AM | link to this | reply