Hell poll

[Athene]

I don't believe in a place of eternal punishment, it's contrary to the idea of an all loving, all forgiving God. Is it not written somewhere in Timothy that Jesus is the saviour of all men, especially those who beleive.

 

[*Miau*]

*backs out of the thread...*

 

[FishandChips]

Other. Hell is not separation from God, you will be only too aware of him. Except you will not know his favour, only his wrath for rejecting the salvation that is offered to all.

I agree.

Also to those who say there is no hell. does that mean you don't think there is a heaven?

 

[Steve_SandbachBaptist_UK]

i was addressing steve

i would like to ask though. how do you feeling about this? would you say that god is entirely loving then, knowing that is is watching and aware of this suffering he imposed?

Assuming for argument's sake that Hell does exist, I would say that anyone who ends up there would in God's eyes have chosen that existence, as they would have turned down an opportunity to believe in God. The fact is, if you hear the Christian message and choose to ignore it or reject it then you are gambling on God not existing or allowing everyone into Heaven. It is a risk that many people choose to take just because, for example, they don't want to change their lives or countless other reasons.

 

[Steve_SandbachBaptist_UK]

I don't believe in a place of eternal punishment, it's contrary to the idea of an all loving, all forgiving God. Is it not written somewhere in Timothy that Jesus is the saviour of all men, especially those who beleive.

That's true, there are verses which suggest there is no hell. Problem is, there are also verses that say more explicitly that not everyone will everyone will go to Heaven and that some will go to Hell either immediately after death or at the end of the world.

This is one of those situations where you can't blame non-christians for saying the Bible contradicts itself. Personally I think we sometimes forget that although the Bible is considered the perfect word of God, it was written (and translated)by man (generic term, no offence to the fairer sex ) and man is fallible so therefore there could be some ambiguity in the Bible. The original Bible was not written in our language or any Western language so it is possible that European and North American, not to mention Australian, Christians sometimes assume things to be fully accurate when they're not.

 

[StormeTorque]

I agree.

Also to those who say there is no hell. does that mean you don't think there is a heaven?

There is another belief, in that all will be saved eventually. Check out www.tentmaker.org It does provide a strong argument in favour of universalism.

Its interesting to note that the only two people who voted that they believe that the torture in hell is physical are not from the UK. I have never met another Christian personally who believed in the traditional "fire and brimstone" approach, they usually believe it would just be a case of eternal loneliness/seperation, which is what the majority of people here have voted.

 

[cygnusx1]

Other. Hell is not separation from God, you will be only too aware of him. Except you will not know his favour, only his wrath for rejecting the salvation that is offered to all.

Who's going to start the poll asking whether we believe heaven exists. Something tells me there'll be more who believe in it's existence than the 'other place'.

 

[JayMac]

Eternal seperation, though as a Christian I would never want to think about it or at the worst, expernce it.

 

[simwells]

erm, no not like limbo...if my idea about limbo is correct. Isn't limbo just nothing..no joy, no torment just blah?

Lois Griffin - This isn't bad. It's not that good. But it's not that bad.
Brian Griffin - It's so-so.
Peter Griffin - More or less.

At the moment I'm not sure on the whole Hell issue, if it exists it's eternal seperation but I'm not sure if it exists

 

[LouTheWicked]

I don't believe in Hell, or anything spiritual for that matter.

 

[AussieLover]

I believe in it. I think it is Eternal seperation/loneliness/mental distress.

No comment.