Do you believe in Hell and why?/why not?

B-74 · Feb 7, 2012

Who do we cry out to when there is no one to turn to and ask for help? The Lord.

If all good things come from God and we are separated from Him, what good will there be? Who will we cry out to when we are suffering from having nothing good at all in our existence, and there is no one to help us, no one to cry out to?

That's Hell.

Cain Spencer · Feb 7, 2012

B-74 said:
I believe hell may possibly be separation from God. All good comes from God, even to those who don't love Him, so hell would be the loss of everything good. That is the worst suffering imaginable.

Have you ever felt like God was no where to be found and there was no hope, just emotional pain and suffering, loneliness, despair, deep depression?

Yes, I have. It made me think though, how does that feeling compute for atheist? They must put it down to emotions.

I have but God delivered me from it. But what if there wasn't a God to save me?

What if...? I don't know. You'd have to imagine your happiness and live the lie.

That is just a taste of hell. No thanks, i don't want to see the real thing.

God help us all, from each other, from depression and from hell.

B-74 · Feb 7, 2012

Cain Spencer said:
Yes, I have. It made me think though, how does that feeling compute for atheist? They must put it down to emotions.

What if...? I don't know. You'd have to imagine your happiness and live the lie.

God help us all, from each other, from depression and from hell.

My depression came about because things got tough and i wasn't as close to the Lord as i needed to be, i wasn't abiding in Him or His strength. I think God puled away from me long enough for me to notice he was gone, and then he said, this is hell, don't go there. Not in words, just that i thought that is what God was showing me.

MariaRegina · Feb 7, 2012

Cain Spencer said:
I have never believed that people who enter hell actually suffer. I think it's just lack of Gods presence.

Hell will not be a final place until the Last Judgment.

Until that time, there is Hades.

Whether in Hades or in Hell, the damned will experience the Presence of God's Divine Energies as Purifying Fire.

Before the Last Judgment, God's Divine Energies will be as a Purifying Fire that will sear the consciences of the damned. They can try to escape it, but they cannot because God's presence is everywhere as the psalms state.

If I climb to the highest heavens, God is there.
If I descent to the lowest regions of Hades, God is still there.

However, for the righteous, God's Presence will be sheer delight and joy.

MariaRegina · Feb 7, 2012

B-74 said:
My depression came about because things got tough and i wasn't as close to the Lord as i needed to be, i wasn't abiding in Him or His strength. I think God puled away from me long enough for me to notice he was gone, and then he said, this is hell, don't go there. Not in words, just that i thought that is what God was showing me.

God is always with us, but sometimes we are in denial.

Turn to God in prayers, in psalms, and in hymns. Take a walk and enjoy the sunrise or sunset. Go to the mountains and take in the view. God is truly everywhere present and fills all things.

This is why I like the following prayer:

"O heavenly King, O comforter,
The Spirit of truth, who art in all places
And fillest all things;
Treasury of good things and Giver of Life:
Come and dwell in us
And cleanse us from every stain,
And save our souls, O gracious Lord."

A Prayerbook for Orthodox Christians, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, Englewood, New Jersey, 2000, p. 5.

omanid · Feb 7, 2012

It really makes no sense to me. God says His chosen were written in the Book of Life before the world was made. The people who He didn't choose are going to be sent to Hell to be "eternally tortured?" Really? Come on.

B-74 · Feb 7, 2012

MariaRegina said:
God is always with us, but sometimes we are in denial.

Turn to God in prayers, in psalms, and in hymns. Take a walk and enjoy the sunrise or sunset. Go to the mountains and take in the view. God is truly everywhere present and fills all things.

This is why I like the following prayer:

"O heavenly King, O comforter,
The Spirit of truth, who art in all places
And fillest all things;
Treasury of good things and Giver of Life:
Come and dwell in us
And cleanse us from every stain,
And save our souls, O gracious Lord."

A Prayerbook for Orthodox Christians, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, Englewood, New Jersey, 2000, p. 5.

Don't worry, im doing good now. All things work for good for those who love God. I love Psalms, i love God, and i love being in the Spirit and abiding in Christ, i love praying and talking to the Lord. There is no greater thing than this. And when trials come my way i'll be stronger now, but even if i should become weak, the Lord will again strengthen me and use it for my edification.

omanid · Feb 7, 2012

Whisper of Hope:

I can't PM you or post on your profile. You can either PM me or we can chat in here.

Whisper of Hope · Feb 7, 2012

omanid said:
Whisper of Hope:

I can't PM you or post on your profile. You can either PM me or we can chat in here.

Oh yeah!

I'll add you as a friend, then we can talk.

omanid · Feb 7, 2012

Whisper of Hope said:
Oh yeah!

I'll add you as a friend, then we can talk.

SummaScriptura · Feb 7, 2012

Jase said:
Nope. Doesn't exist in the Old Testament

That is debateable.

Jase said:
or Judaism,

That is NOT debateable. There are many existing books from 2nd-Temple Judaism which refer to hell in garrishly horrifying detail. One question is, if 2nd-Temple Judaism was opposed to the concept of eternal suffering in the flames of hell, why would so many Jewish writers endorse the idea? A second question is since the idea of eternal suffering in hell was so prevalent among 1st century Jews, why didn't Messiah Jesus come out and explain how wrong the idea was? Instead, he taught in a way that would have made his hearers think He endorsed the idea.

Jase said:
and doesn't make sense in the New Testament.<snip>

This too is debateable.

SummaScriptura · Feb 7, 2012

MrPolo said:
In what year was it invented?

The Catholic church must have invented the idea 100's of years before Christ... amazing!

Here's just one sample out of many possible, "In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever." (Enoch 10:13, Charles)

1 Enoch is demonstrably pre-Christian.

SummaScriptura · Feb 7, 2012

Timothew said:
Surely you can check a book out of the library all by yourself.

Here's another hint. There were a lot of fanciful ideas about the underworld in the middle ages, they built on one another and became more and more outlandish. Dante put some of these into Inferno. The current idea of hell is from Dante, not the Bible.

According to the Bible, the wages of sin is death not eternal torment.

I will call your bluff. The reason why you can't and won't even try to place a date on it is because among the Jews, the idea of eternal suffering in hell was pre-Christian.

Whisper of Hope · Feb 7, 2012

SummaScriptura said:
The Catholic church must have invented the idea 100's of years before Christ... amazing!

SummaScriptura said:
Here's just one sample out of many possible, "In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever." (Enoch 10:13, Charles)

1 Enoch is demonstrably pre-Christian.

The book of Enoch?

Google time....

SummaScriptura · Feb 7, 2012

ALoveDivine said:
I would say i'm agnostic on the issue of Hell. However, I lean more toward the annihiliationist position, for scriptural reasons.<snip>

Well, that certainly seems to be the vogue.

omanid · Feb 7, 2012

Proverbs 16:4 The LORD works out everything for his own ends--even the wicked for a day of disaster.

SummaScriptura · Feb 7, 2012

omanid said:
It really makes no sense to me.<snip>

That certainly does not seem to be a good basis for choosing one's belief's.

omanid · Feb 7, 2012

SummaScriptura said:
That certainly does not seem to be a good basis for choosing one's belief's.

I know it'll be okay.

SummaScriptura · Feb 7, 2012

Whisper of Hope said:
The book of Enoch?

Google time....

What is your difficulty? That 1 Enoch is not Scripture? I'm not trying to say it is.

My point is, 1 Enoch (and many other 2nd-Temple Jewish documents) proves the idea of eternal suffering in hell was NOT created by the Church.

Kapish?

Whisper of Hope · Feb 7, 2012

SummaScriptura said:
What is your difficulty? That 1 Enoch is not Scripture? I'm not trying to say it is.

My point is, 1 Enoch (and many other 2nd-Temple Jewish documents) proves the idea of eternal suffering in hell was NOT created by the Church.

Kapish?

Hey, bring it down a few notches, will you? No need to be rude. I was just trying to convey that I have never heard of the book of Enoch before and that I was going to have to research it on Google, that's all. I meant no offense. Can I have my head back now?!

Do you believe in Hell and why?/why not?

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