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L4T3R4LUS

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Do you believe men spend an eternity in hell? Or do they just spend an allotted time in hell? I know if I were evil and went to hell and then were revived, I would know the real fear of God. Would the fear of God, put in such a way, sway a soul from evil to good; even if it is out of fear? Is an evil soul always going to be evil? Or would a little scare in hell shed some light upon their deprived beings?

I know that after a run in hell, I would fear God with an intent to do his bidding or in other words the wicked had better listen up.

Really, can a soul be evil throughout eternity? I guess it is our actions that express our souls, however, I believe that that expression is an accumulated effect of ones' own life experience. With a little touch of fire and hell, perhaps the effect can acculate an evil soul to turning to good. It's hard to believe in everlasting hell and damnation. Perhaps a man realizes the evil that he has committed during their lifetime is everlasting hell and damnation--knowing that wickedness was in vain.
 

Norseman

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m9lc

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No, because then that would take the fear aspect out of Christianity. Christians rely on fear to keep people believing without evidence or question. If you remove that aspect of fear by saying redemption is possible after death (i.e. by saying God actually is fair and just), then there's no reason to follow Christianity anymore.

But here is your official Christian explanation:

"NO! A sinning soul is a sinning soul!! No one can possibly ever change in any way whatsoever. If you show any ounce of skepticism towards Christianity then that means that you really believe it deep down but you hate God. Sinning souls never change, so if you're in Hell you'll never get to Heaven."
 
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Norseman

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I would like to think so, however, I would also like to think that there is justice for murder.

If somebody kills me and I end up in heaven, I would personally thank them. Bleeding to death for a few minutes isn't half bad if it's followed by an eternity of bliss. If death is followed by heaven for good people, and justice for bad people, why would it be considered a bad thing?
 
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ManOfTheAmish

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I believe hell is the absence of God and I also believe many suffer in civilization with not only the absence of God but because of the absence of nature as well for civilization is only dominated by man's own constructs which viciously enslaves himself.

( I am a firm believer that man creates his own hell.)

I don't assume to know who goes to hell or what hell is.

( Hell was vaguely mentioned in the bible and never was given full detail.)

I leave everyone's fate in the hands of God and ultimately I will have no say in it nor will any other human being.
 
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Nithavela

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The bible is pretty clear that once you end up in hell, you stay there until judgement day and then you are cast into the lake of fire and the show starts again.

Pure fear-mongering, plain and simple. If you look at the changes hell has undergone in christian dogma, you can see it getting worse and worse.

Ever heard of pascal's wager? The more gruesome the hell, the more followers a religion gets. Simple.

Oh, and sins like murder, rape and cooking a child alive are punished, it's called laws that govern that. In the contrary, we are all guilty of sin in Gods eye. There is no difference if you kill someone or you do not, you are still a sinner and the only way you can escape punishment is by trusting in Jesus.

Oh and if you insist that this is justice, imagine this: A murderer kills an atheist, who goes to hell, then he gets born again on death row, gets the needle and takes the escalator up to the sky, where he can wave down to the murder victim in hell. The common response by theists is that you can apply this worlds judgement to God, and thats right because he doesn't exist, but if you can't apply this worlds judgement against God and the justification of Hell, you can also not apply it FOR God and the justification of Hell. Simple.
 
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ManOfTheAmish

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The lake is purely metaphor and it doesn't go into full detail about it.

I don't fully believe all non-Christians are damned as I am not God to make that choice and I also don't think the bible says enough about it for others to believe as such.

It was Dante's inferno that really came up with the concept of hell that we are all aware with today but beyond Dante in the bible there is only interpretation.
 
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DailyBlessings

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I don't believe in an eternal hell, but if you are trying to understand the concept of it, consider how it is perceieved in many Eastern religions, some orthodox Christians included, in which Heaven and Hell are the exact same place. How one's heart has been shaped in life guides one's reaction to the fully imminent presence of God, or the universal spirit, what have you. In such a view, physical torture is not the threat, but only self-isolation from gifts freely offered. Repenting under fire, then, is not a likely possibility.
 
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elman

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Rev says the lake of fire is the second death. It does not say it is life in pain.
 
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m9lc

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It was Dante's inferno that really came up with the concept of hell that we are all aware with today but beyond Dante in the bible there is only interpretation.

As I recall from Dante's Inferno: The First Circle of Hell is for virtuous nonbelievers, and it is a pleasant place apart from the separation from God. Which doesn't really sound that bad. I suppose that Christian mainstream has removed that part of the play from canon.
 
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elman

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Where do you derive your interpretation of the bible that the lake is only a metaphor, other then your only feeling what you would like more? Please quote.

The entire book of Revelation is signs and symbols. The book itself says the lake of fire is the second death.
 
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