Is it worth it to take the chance of Hell?

[faroukfarouk]

I don

You have to keep in mind Jesus had to minister to the lowest common denominator as well.

I don't understand your point.

 

[Davian]

...and the Lord Jesus said that even if someone came back from the dead people would still not believe (Luke 16.31).

Bring someone back from the dead, and we'll talk.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Is that not like reviewing how well a product works by reading the glossy brochure? Do you believe everything you read?

If you are comparing God's Word to a boastful advertiser, then I have nothing to say to you.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Bring someone back from the dead, and we'll talk.

The Lord Jesus' point here is that even if someone comes back from the dead (He did, by the way, because He is sinless and death could not hold Him, unlike us, who apart from faith live in fear of death) some people would still not believe. It doesn't stop it from being true, though.

 

[Davian]

If you are comparing God's Word to a boastful advertiser, then I have nothing to say to you.

“Selling eternal life is an unbeatable business, with no customers ever asking for their money back after the goods are not delivered.” ― Victor J. Stenger

 

[Davian]

The Lord Jesus' point here is that even if someone comes back from the dead (He did, by the way,

You may believe that, but it has not been established as fact.

because He is sinless and death could not hold Him, unlike us, who apart from faith live in fear of death) some people would still not believe. It doesn't stop it from being true, though.

Indeed. It could be a hoax, a fraud, a hallucination, exaggeration, or outright fabrication. I would need more than a story in a book to convince me.

 

[Rajni]

Is it worth it to take the chance of going to hell? Someone asked me that the other day so it started me to think. Here's what it boils down to.
Old testament = Fear the Lord = Obey the Lord
New testament = Love the Lord = Spread the love
Can people fear and love the Lord at the same time?

When I started out, I guess I feared the Lord -- or,
more precisely, I feared what He'd do to me if I sinned.

Over time, however, my fear of all that diminished, as
His Divinity became more apparent to me. My love for
Him gradually booted out my fear of Him.

As far as hell-avoidance, we've got the sticky situation
of Christianity not being the only belief-system that
threatens eternal doom for infidels. So I could go my
whole life trying to avoid the Christian version of hell
only to wind up in, say, the Islamic one if it turns out
the latter religion was the right one.

So I no longer worry about it. The hell-concept, imo, is
so beneath God that I cannot take it seriously anymore.
Hell is a demigod's game, at best. Since I, personally,
don't worship a demigod, it's extremely difficult for me
to accommodate notions of a hell (at least, in the
traditional endless BBQ sense... there could be
something out there that's hellish, I mean, seriously,
who knows? Not me.... lol!). And if there is one,
and I end up there, I'll do my best to endure it for
the love of God, a mindset that actually eases
suffering in a weird kind of way.... but I think one
has to be literally in love with God for that to work,
(otherwise one will just want to wring His neck for
sending them there) so YMMV and all that...

-

 

[GoldenBoy89]

Is it worth it to take the chance of going to hell?

Yes. I think so. Given the absolute lack of evidence for any kind of afterlife, I am more than willing to risk this, probably non-existent, state of being known as the afterlife. For the people who do believe in an afterlife... You better be pretty darn sure you're worshiping the right God. Consider how many different and contradicting god concepts there are. They can't all be right but they can definitely all be wrong.

All that said, I don't give much thought to the afterlife. I'm enjoying this one and I'd rather it wouldn't end, but I realize life would absolutely lose its value if it were endless.

Someone asked me that the other day so it started me to think. Here's what it boils down to.

Old testament = Fear the Lord = Obey the Lord

New testament = Love the Lord = Spread the love

Can people fear and love the Lord at the same time?

I don't know how that works really and it's one of many, strange contradictions in Christianity that I cannot for the life of me come to understand how anyone can hold these two opposing ideas at the same time. To me, "You will love me or I will punish you forever and ever!" is kinda like trying to enjoy sex with a rapist... It just don't work that way.

 

[bhsmte]

I guess I'm putting it as a logical consequence: whose reality ought I to follow more?

Did you read it again?

I stated, I did not see scripture as a reliable description of reality.

What you choose to use as a reference for reality, is your business.

 

[bhsmte]

Next time you're in court, try saying: Your Honor, I don't believe you exist.
Yet so many ppl take exactly this attitude toward God.

Whereas Hebrews 11 says: "He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

What in the world does your comments have to do with what he said?

 

[Givemeareason]

I don
I don't understand your point.

I am suggesting that some people need to do a lot more repenting than others. For some repentance may only need be the acknowledgement of a mistake. For others repentance is the enormous need to feel they are not destined for hell.

 

[bhsmte]

True, but some do reject the truth no matter what miracle they see.

What truth, are you referring to?

 

[The Cadet]

Oooh. What a mistake in logic.

Here's a slightly more reasonable logical argument.

If you believe in the Christian God, my deity, Sithrak The Blind Gibberer will sentence you to an eternity of unimaginable torture for failing to apply reason and logic. Do you really want to take that risk?

 

[Givemeareason]

What truth, are you referring to?

You should probably first be asking what miracle he is referring to.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

Next time you're in court, try saying: Your Honor, I don't believe you exist.
Yet so many ppl take exactly this attitude toward God.

Judges, courtrooms and verdicts are real and can be perceived and are even available to the public for reference. All of which lends to the credibility of an actual court of law.

God and His courtroom are invisible, His judgment is not immediate and the consequences are only known after death. All of which makes the threat of hell incredible and unbelievable.

 

[Davian]

Next time you're in court, try saying: Your Honor, I don't believe you exist.
Yet so many ppl take exactly this attitude toward God.

Whereas Hebrews 11 says: "He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

Your comparison fails; while I am not claiming there are no exceptions, courts of law in modern societies generally establish that the defendant is responsible for their actions. Belief is not a conscious action, even if the writers of the Bible stories implied it to be so.

 

[Givemeareason]

Next time you're in court, try saying: Your Honor, I don't believe you exist.
Yet so many ppl take exactly this attitude toward God.

Whereas Hebrews 11 says: "He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

When was the last time anyone here defended another simply because they needed to be defended? Would not Jesus as your judge not really care what you believed? Jesus would see your action of defending another as your justification period. And just as the good thief was immediately granted his wish wouldn't you be as well? Jesus is claimed to have defended the whole world and the world was granted innocence and forgiveness in return. Do you now see the importance of the good thief?

 

[SarahsKnight]

Here's a slightly more reasonable logical argument.

If you believe in the Christian God, my deity, Sithrak The Blind Gibberer will sentence you to an eternity of unimaginable torture for failing to apply reason and logic. Do you really want to take that risk?

Kinda makes it all seem hopeless just by being born, doesn't it? If you cast out such theological poison from your life, though, it certainly makes it a whole lot easier to trust the God that I believe in. At least it worked with me.

Eternal torment always kept me on edge and wondering over and over to a ridiculous degree, what if I have it wrong somehow? What if I am not believing in Christ in the "right way" that makes my salvation "authentic"? What if I am still "sinning too much"? What if I am not even believing in the right god at all? What if the Muslim god is the truth, who most certainly promises eternal torment for the unbelievers in its holy text (unlike the Bible; sorry, but too many verses clearly speak of death, destruction, NO ETERNAL LIFE PERIOD, as the consequence of unbelief - not the hell in Dante's Inferno - to give the traditional hell view solidarity in my mind. Get over it, hellfire lovers. I don't believe in it, and I don't think it is honoring of God for me to just because it's the more fearful doctrine)?

I could have kept worrying and wringing my hands over the What If's that plagued my daily life because of the hellfire doctrine that pervades churches today. Until finally, I calmed down and listened to reason and logic for a change, and the obvious from simply reading the Bible, and thus I abandoned it and not longer live with shaky faith, constant doubt, and emotional pain in my life. And I refuse to accept those things as godly, or the kind of fear that God wants from us and says is good. Hell is not part of the Gospel, and it never should have been considered so.

 

[Albion]

Here's a slightly more reasonable logical argument.

If you believe in the Christian God, my deity, Sithrak The Blind Gibberer will sentence you to an eternity of unimaginable torture for failing to apply reason and logic. Do you really want to take that risk?

So you compare a hypothetical being that no one, not even you, believe to exist, and which we know you just invented...with a God who has been believed by most of the humans on Earth for many years and for whom there is some well-travelled evidence?

Shall we discuss logic and probabilities once again or so you see how pointless that analogy of yours is?

 

[Dave RP]

Is it worth it to take the chance of going to hell? Someone asked me that the other day so it started me to think. Here's what it boils down to.

Old testament = Fear the Lord = Obey the Lord

New testament = Love the Lord = Spread the love

Can people fear and love the Lord at the same time?

To answer your first question, yes it is worth taking that chance because, by the teachings of the Christian church (or at least most of them) you go to hell if you are not born again in Christ, so I shall be there with Einstein, Gandhi, and every Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Shintoist, atheist, agnostic, all native Americans, all native Australians.... it'll be a very crowded place, if indeed it does exist.