JW876

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Hi,

The topic of hell came up at a meal time with my family a while back. My Dad being on the fence when it comes to Christianity, challenged me to see whether I could find anything online about there being evidence for hell and to send him what I found.

I have only recently got round to getting back to him... considering all that is written in the Bible that Jesus said about hell, I explained in an email that if we believe Jesus was real and was who he said he was, then we can believe the words he spoke. So, considering this, I instead bullet pointed a few points justifying why we can believe in the Bible, that Jesus was who he said he was and as a result of these, why I subsequently believe in hell.

He replied saying: Is there any objective evidence available to you or me, rather than only writings from people who lived 100's of years ago and who we have no way of verifying their ability to draw accurate conclusions from the events they claim to have seen?

I only want to say something fairly brief in response (as I don't think he would appreciate a lengthy email after my first was slightly so) and I have a couple of ideas as to what. But I thought it may be worth me reaching out to ask others opinions as to what may be a good thing to say. I won't be disheartened if I don't get any responses to this, as I can have more of a think. But as I imagine most of you who read this are more spiritually mature than myself, if any thoughts come to mind for anyone, without you needing to think hard, I would be grateful to hear!

Thank you
 

d taylor

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Why would a testimony from a week or few years ago, be more believable than from The Bible. Your dad is still having to believe someone else's account, since he has no personal experience himself of hell.
 
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disciple Clint

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Hi,

The topic of hell came up at a meal time with my family a while back. My Dad being on the fence when it comes to Christianity, challenged me to see whether I could find anything online about there being evidence for hell and to send him what I found.

I have only recently got round to getting back to him... considering all that is written in the Bible that Jesus said about hell, I explained in an email that if we believe Jesus was real and was who he said he was, then we can believe the words he spoke. So, considering this, I instead bullet pointed a few points justifying why we can believe in the Bible, that Jesus was who he said he was and as a result of these, why I subsequently believe in hell.

He replied saying: Is there any objective evidence available to you or me, rather than only writings from people who lived 100's of years ago and who we have no way of verifying their ability to draw accurate conclusions from the events they claim to have seen?

I only want to say something fairly brief in response (as I don't think he would appreciate a lengthy email after my first was slightly so) and I have a couple of ideas as to what. But I thought it may be worth me reaching out to ask others opinions as to what may be a good thing to say. I won't be disheartened if I don't get any responses to this, as I can have more of a think. But as I imagine most of you who read this are more spiritually mature than myself, if any thoughts come to mind for anyone, without you needing to think hard, I would be grateful to hear!

Thank you
Try researching near death experiences there is some medical evidence that validate some of these. Negative Near Death Experiences and Hell
 
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Maria Billingsley

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Hi,

The topic of hell came up at a meal time with my family a while back. My Dad being on the fence when it comes to Christianity, challenged me to see whether I could find anything online about there being evidence for hell and to send him what I found.

I have only recently got round to getting back to him... considering all that is written in the Bible that Jesus said about hell, I explained in an email that if we believe Jesus was real and was who he said he was, then we can believe the words he spoke. So, considering this, I instead bullet pointed a few points justifying why we can believe in the Bible, that Jesus was who he said he was and as a result of these, why I subsequently believe in hell.

He replied saying: Is there any objective evidence available to you or me, rather than only writings from people who lived 100's of years ago and who we have no way of verifying their ability to draw accurate conclusions from the events they claim to have seen?

I only want to say something fairly brief in response (as I don't think he would appreciate a lengthy email after my first was slightly so) and I have a couple of ideas as to what. But I thought it may be worth me reaching out to ask others opinions as to what may be a good thing to say. I won't be disheartened if I don't get any responses to this, as I can have more of a think. But as I imagine most of you who read this are more spiritually mature than myself, if any thoughts come to mind for anyone, without you needing to think hard, I would be grateful to hear!

Thank you
There is no evidence. All who are dead can not speak from their graves. Also, do not point him to NDE's, those are not of God. That being said, you have done your job. You went to the source and now faith must enter into the heart. Christianity is ALL about faith. You can't make him believe, he will need to do this on his own.
Blessings
 
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Bob Crowley

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I believe the canonised saints are honest people. Generally speaking they were canonised because of their godliness.

So if they say they've had a vision of Hell, they most probably have.


And purgatory and heaven.


 
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Hawkins

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He replied saying: Is there any objective evidence available to you or me, rather than only writings from people who lived 100's of years ago and who we have no way of verifying their ability to draw accurate conclusions from the events they claim to have seen?

So he's denying all sort of histories written? Atheists are brainwashed and deceived, by Satan ultimately as humans never ever rely on evidence to get to truth of any kind. They rely on testimonies in a form to get to any truth.

Do you have evidence (before you believe) that Joe Biden had the majority votes?
Do you have evidence that the death toll of covid-19 posted everyday is accurate?
Do you have evidence that US president Franklin Pierce actually won the majority votes (a piece of history)?

Basically we have zero evidence on nothing. Facts are fed to our brain in a form of testimony all the times. Things could only be evident to the eyewitnesses then for the rest of human kind to believe with faith. Even science, do you believe that black holes exist? We believe as it's a testimony of our scientists (as the eyewitnesses).
 
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public hermit

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Another question might appear: is hell physically and metaphysically possible? God may have mentioned hell in The Bible, but He may actually think hell is an impossible aberration.

That's a helpful question. If hell is an eternal place, then there are, at least, two eternal entities: God and hell. But hell, or the words that are mistranslated "hell," is created so that it cannot be eternal.

Perhaps hell (Gehenna) is created everlasting. But since both "hell" and God are scripturally understood as a "consuming fire," it makes better sense to think of "hell" not as a place but as an experience of entering into a more direct experience of the divine presence. And the same makes sense for "heaven." In short, one's experience in the afterlife is either "heaven" or "hell" depending on to what extent one is prepared to enter into a more direct experience of the divine presence.

To the OP's question, the idea that one is going to gather evidence for "hell" is not an effort worth taking, unless one's understanding of "evidence" is a matter of asserting faith claims strongly. It makes about as much sense as gathering evidence for the existence of God. What is taken as evidence by one will be seen as a mere faith claim by another. Certainly, people have been making arguments for God's existence for centuries and some are convinced while others are not.

More importantly, Christians are not called to proclaim a doctrine of hell, but the good news of Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the reconciliation of humanity to God. Read the sermons in Acts. That's our proclamation and the greatest evidence we can give for our faith is our love John 13:35.
 
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SabbathBlessings

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Hi,

The topic of hell came up at a meal time with my family a while back. My Dad being on the fence when it comes to Christianity, challenged me to see whether I could find anything online about there being evidence for hell and to send him what I found.

I have only recently got round to getting back to him... considering all that is written in the Bible that Jesus said about hell, I explained in an email that if we believe Jesus was real and was who he said he was, then we can believe the words he spoke. So, considering this, I instead bullet pointed a few points justifying why we can believe in the Bible, that Jesus was who he said he was and as a result of these, why I subsequently believe in hell.

He replied saying: Is there any objective evidence available to you or me, rather than only writings from people who lived 100's of years ago and who we have no way of verifying their ability to draw accurate conclusions from the events they claim to have seen?

I only want to say something fairly brief in response (as I don't think he would appreciate a lengthy email after my first was slightly so) and I have a couple of ideas as to what. But I thought it may be worth me reaching out to ask others opinions as to what may be a good thing to say. I won't be disheartened if I don't get any responses to this, as I can have more of a think. But as I imagine most of you who read this are more spiritually mature than myself, if any thoughts come to mind for anyone, without you needing to think hard, I would be grateful to hear!

Thank you
There is a lot of misinformation about hell. There is no one in hell right now and no one burns eternally, which makes someone immortal and we are told the wages of sin is death, not immortality . The word for hell really means grave.

We all will be judged on the last day, Judgement Day which happens when Jesus comes.

“The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust
under punishment for the day of judgment” 2 Peter 2:9

The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” John 12:48

When Jesus comes those alive and in Christ will rise and meet Him in the air. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Those not in Christ to the resurrection of condemnation.

The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” John 5:28, 29

Those not in Christ will go to their second death (hell) but the fire goes out and sin and sinners will be no more. Jesus will restore and make everything new like it was before sin poisoned our world.

“Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame; it shall not be a coal to be warmed by, nor a fire to sit before!” (Isaiah 47:14).

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth. ... And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1, 4).
 
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ViaCrucis

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In one sense I am not even sure why hell would even feature on the topic of faith. Christianity teaches that there is something that we can call "hell", though Christians have never held to any consensus about what that is exactly--Scripture itself presents us with what can be called "hell" but in usually quite graphic and figurative language. Most Christians have never believed there's literally some underground pit filled with literal fire where bad people are being punished forever. Hell is said to be real, not because there's a cartoonish underworld with fork-tailed devils with pointy weapons torturing the souls of the damned; but rather because God's will for His creation is redemption and healing--but Scripture speaks of a reality in which there are those who won't be part of God's redemption and healing but will fight against Him tooth and claw the whole distance.

If God is going to make all things new, and invites us all to share in the goodness of that redeemed future, what about those who insist on being dead rather than enjoying life? St. John, in the Revelation, describes it in apocalyptic language as "a lake of fire and sulfur" calling it "the second death". Why a lake of "fire and sulfur"? Well sulfuric compounds are noticably found near geologically active areas, such as geysers or volcanic areas, and additionally sulfur in the ancient world was regarded as having special properties. Sulfur was used as a purifying agent in religious rituals of the ancient world, its very name in Greek being theio, literally "divine [stuff]".

The "lake of fire and sulfur" speaks of an experience of God's judgment, not that there is literally fire and sulfur. It is called "second death" because it is something that can only be described as a kind of death-beyond-death. After all, if God is the God of the living, and His purpose is to bring life--in all its wonderful fullness--to all, indeed to the entirety of creation forever; what is it to be called to deny life-beyond-life (eternal life) other than the antithesis of that? So second death, death beyond death, to exist in the antithesis of life, the antithesis of grace, the antithesis of freedom and love and fullness. It is therefore also called a prison, compared to Tartarus of Greek mythology, the prison for the ancient wicked Titans. It is called Gehenna, the valley of the sons of Hinnom where in ancient times the wicked sacrificed their children to the burning idol of Molech. In English it is called hell, from the old Germanic Hel, the frozen underworld in Germanic/Norse mythology.

So what is hell? There can be many answers to that question, some better than others, and not all mutually exclusive. But at the end of the day hell is perhaps best defined by what it is not: the unconditional, unyielding, never-ending and abundant life in the freedom of new creation in and with God forever in the renewing and healing of all things. Even a lifetime living in fabulous wealth and comfort, compared to what God shall grant to all creation, would still be hell by comparison.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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Jesse Dornfeld

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I am actually agnostic on my position of "hell," meaning, I could go either way between conditional immortality and ECT (because of what the Bible says), but I will share this article I wrote some time ago, and maybe it will help your father if he reads it. I don't put full stock in my own experiences because the Word of God is by far the standard of our faith.

P.S. I almost never share my personal blog website here so I hope the mods can overlook this one time as I am not here specifically to share my website with people.

 
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biblelesson

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There is a lot of misinformation about hell. There is no one in hell right now and no one burns eternally, which makes someone immortal and we are told the wages of sin is death, not immortality . The word for hell really means grave.

We all will be judged on the last day, Judgement Day which happens when Jesus comes.

“The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust
under punishment for the day of judgment” 2 Peter 2:9

The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” John 12:48

When Jesus comes those alive and in Christ will rise and meet Him in the air. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Those not in Christ to the resurrection of condemnation.

The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” John 5:28, 29

Those not in Christ will go to their second death (hell) but the fire goes out and sin and sinners will be no more. Jesus will restore and make everything new like it was before sin poisoned our world.

“Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame; it shall not be a coal to be warmed by, nor a fire to sit before!” (Isaiah 47:14).

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth. ... And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1, 4).
1 Corinthians 15:53-55

The above scripture is saying all mortals will be immortal to where we cannot die. This is after we are resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:35-38. 1 Corinthians 15:42-46.

As explained in 1 Corinthians 15, based on how a seed must be planted to receive another body, our fleshly body has to die to receive a spiritual body that never dies. This was the process in the Garden of Eden except the body would have just changed from eating from the tree of life. That’s why God put Adam and Eve out of the garden just in case they ate from the tree of life and live forever, Genesis 3:22-24.

So those who are raised immortal and are not in Christ will go the the lake of fire and be there forever.
 
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SabbathBlessings

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1 Corinthians 15:53-55

The above scripture is saying all mortals will be immortal to where we cannot die. This is after we are resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:35-38. 1 Corinthians 15:42-46.
Hi there!

The only One who is immortal is God 1 Tim 6:15-16. God will grant those who are in Him eternal life after the resurrection.
As explained in 1 Corinthians 15, based on how a seed must be planted to receive another body, our fleshly body has to die to receive a spiritual body that never dies.
For those who are saved at the resurrection will receive new bodies Philippians 3:20, 21
This was the process in the Garden of Eden except the body would have just changed from eating from the tree of life. That’s why God put Adam and Eve out of the garden just in case they ate from the tree of life and live forever, Genesis 3:22-24.
Adam and Eve lost the privilege of eating from the Tree of Life when they disobeyed God. Once God is reunited with His people- those will once again eat from the Tree of Life and live eternally. Rev 2:7, Revelation 22:14
So those who are raised immortal and are not in Christ will go the the lake of fire and be there forever.
Agreed- thanks for your comments not sure exactly what your argument is from the post you responded to.
 
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Chaleb

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3 Things about Hell you can believe.


1.) Everyone who went to Hell, yesterday, today, and tomorrow, now believes it exists.

2.) Everyone who went to Hell, yesterday, today, and tomorrow, now believes that Jesus is Real.

3.) There is no 2nd Chance in Hell to not go there.



2 Corinthians 6:2

Romans 10:13
 
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IoanC

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Hell is something that is entirely for God to consider. The more a human finds the courage to get into it, the more that human begins to taste hell. For it is impossible to talk about the hell of others and remain blameless and normal yourself. God gets angrier if we judge others as opposed to any other sin.
 
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IoanC

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Hell is the first Eternal part of the "2nd Death" that is LITERALLY awaiting all of these.

John 3:36
The Scriptures belong to God, so we don't know if He will act upon them. Hell is ah orrible torment, such that we humans can't simply manipulate this idea as if it is a harmless activity. What good is someone else's hell? If we, ourselves, feel we are going to hell because we fall short of God's Glory, it's somewhat a more tolerable a judgement.
 
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