Hell

[Mankin]

Hell is not an eternal lake of fire where God torments people for eternity. That would make God a sadist which would contradict his character. You either choose eternal life(heaven) or eternal death(hell) Hell is not a place of consciousness. There is a lake of fire where the unbelievers are killed but that is it. There is not an eternal lake of fire where God torments people. The chapter in Luke about the Rich Man and Lazarus is an allegory. It is about the Jews who had the truth but did not give it to the Gentiles and the Gentiles were saved. It was not even about Hell. In the allegory, all the saved are in Abraham's chest Abraham's chest would have to be pretty big for that, so it is obvious that this parable is an allegory.

 

[Adammi]

I don't believe in hell

Nor do I. I believe this because the people I see others so quickly condemn to hell are ones I believe need heaven the most. We don't go to heaven because heaven needs us. We go to heaven because we need it. "Sinners" need heaven so much more than the "saved".


*Under the new rules are we allowed to discuss Universalism?

 

[Kaonashi]

Yep, we are.
If anything, I imagine and hope the afterlife would be like Mitch Albom's The 5 People You Meet in Heaven.

 

[united4Peace]

Nor do I. I believe this because the people I see others so quickly condemn to hell are ones I believe need heaven the most. We don't go to heaven because heaven needs us. We go to heaven because we need it. "Sinners" need heaven so much more than the "saved".


*Under the new rules are we allowed to discuss Universalism?

Just a thought...

Maybe in a way we need hell...
I mean not a fiery hell but the hell on earth...our own personal hell's...as that is what makes us stronger(we get through it)...that is what gives us strength??

Does that make sense?

 

[Abbadon]

Jakob Bohme figured that the fall was necessary so God could make us even more perfect than we were before.

 

[Adammi]

Just a thought...

Maybe in a way we need hell...
I mean not a fiery hell but the hell on earth...our own personal hell's...as that is what makes us stronger(we get through it)...that is what gives us strength??

Does that make sense?

Yes, it does. I agree with that. When I said hell in my previous post I was meaning it in the traditional "fire and brimstone" definition of hell. I think that we definitely need the pain, suffering, and sorrow that we are sometimes dealt and that it is not inappropriate to label these things "hell".

 

[RedTulipMom]

Just a thought...

Maybe in a way we need hell...
I mean not a fiery hell but the hell on earth...our own personal hell's...as that is what makes us stronger(we get through it)...that is what gives us strength??

Does that make sense?

hmm..ill have to think about that. Yes, i suppose our personal hell's make us stronger..but isnt there some other way to get stronger besides such horrible suffering? is there not some other way to learn besides pain?? i am trying to figure this out myself.

 

[RedTulipMom]

Jakob Bohme figured that the fall was necessary so God could make us even more perfect than we were before.

how can you become more perfect than perfect? isnt perfect just that...perfect!! lol

 

[united4Peace]

hmm..ill have to think about that. Yes, i suppose our personal hell's make us stronger..but isnt there some other way to get stronger besides such horrible suffering? is there not some other way to learn besides pain?? i am trying to figure this out myself.

Hmmm I may have worded that wrong...

I dont think God lets us go through anything alone...
I think God is there with us through everything...
yet at the same time I think of Job...
I dont know...
I look at what my mom went through...many struggles...
Divorce and hmmm much more (wont go there) anyways I think God was there with her through out it all...

Right now Ive been going through mental illness(mild bp, anxiety, soforth)...have been for a few yrs...
I think God is there for me...
I dont know...
Pondering here also

 

[Gukkor]

how can you become more perfect than perfect? isnt perfect just that...perfect!! lol

Well, we will one day be perfect, but even then God will be greater than us, so yeah, I'd say there can be such a thing as more or less perfect.

 

[Ramona]

I believe that Hell is a fictitious place created in the minds of fallible men in order to scare people into converting to Christianity.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm wasting my time with my religion.

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

God has shown Me that on the other side of the veil we shall all be together, for we are, in fact, all together on this side of it, save that our perception is limited to a single moving continuum slice of linear time. My Father has made Me to be the Habitation of demons and by His own hand He united Me at the altar with Satan, so I know the Reconciliation is Inevitable, and a Foregone conclusion. But I must still tread the course laid in, nevertheless, for the sake of Manifestation, and to fulfill My purpose and destiny in His economy.

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm wasting my time with my religion.

This reminds me of the joke, Two Six Year Olds were Discussing Sex.
First 6-year-old says, "so, what do you think of sex?"
Second 6-year-old says, "I think it's a real pain in the butt."

First six year old ponders this a moment -- then nods sagely and pipes up, "that's because you're doing it wrong!"

 

[Izdaari Eristikon]

Has anyone read Lewis's _The Great Divorce_? What did you think of that portrayal of hell?

Indeed I have, and Lewis' portrayal of heaven and hell is pretty much how I think of it.

In the end, either man says to God, "thy will be done", or God says to man, "thy will be done".

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

In the END, both say both.

You haven't read all the way through PAST Lewis' awareness.

 

[Izdaari Eristikon]

In the END, both say both.

You haven't read all the way through PAST Lewis' awareness.

Do I need to go back and reread the book, or are you talking some metaphysical stuff?

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

I'm talking about what's not in the book, but beyond the book. Beyond the level of awareness to which that book takes you, and what it holds forth as being "in the end", there is, in fact, a Further -- and the End thereof is even as I have spoken.

 

[Gukkor]

Hehe, Moriah's posts are fun to read.

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

Hehe, Moriah's posts are fun to read.

My heart and My spirit, even moreso, for those that have eyes to see.

 

[indigo tree]

I have a very different view on the concept of afterlife. I think, in the end, we all have a choice. I don't believe there is a place where God sends people who have been bad. That would imply that people have to go to hell whether they like it or not, and I am sorry, but I think even when we have left our bodies that we can still "choose". I think that free choice is one of the fundamental parts of our being, and God would never take that choice away from us. I think that there is a negative state that some people stay in; their inability to let go of some of the things that plague them during life (such as drinking to much). They may continue to seek these things even after life, and thats what I think the negative state is. They of course, have a choice to leave that and move on.