What are the real reasons people do not like "Hellfire and brimstone" preaching (messages)...?

[Dan the deacon]

I am reading some say that preaching about hell is a bad thing. Odd, as Jesus preached about hell often
It is not (nor is it designed to be) comfortable to hear or to preach such a message. Still it is truth and proper to do so IF one also preached the remedy along with the sermon.
Now telling someone they are going to hell is wrong. Unless the one speaking is God.

 

[Dan the deacon]

That's why you have verses like this which have both of them in one .
Romans 6:23 King James Version (KJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

But prechers like to say only the first half .

Poor preachers perhaps.

 

[JackRT]

As human beings we are bounded in both time and place. That is to say, we are finite. On the other hand we think of God as completely unbounded. God exists outside of both time and space. God is present everywhere and at all times. That is to say, God is infinite. This is the orthodox theistic understanding of God. To compare the finite to the infinite is beyond our human comprehension. Even to compare a grain of sand to Mount Everest falls far, far, far short. All of this brings up a number of questions in my mind.

The first question being “How is it even possible for a finite creature to offend an infinite God?” Could a grain of sand offend Mount Everest?

The second question being “Even if it were possible for the finite to offend the infinite, would the infinite punishment of a finite creature be just?” I will attempt to craft an analogy. You are in a park enjoying a picnic lunch when you glance down and notice an ant crawling across your sandwich. You are offended. How do you react? You have a number of options. You could ignore the ant. You could brush the ant away. You could move to a different location. You could kill the ant. You could kill the entire ant colony. You could capture the ant and confine it and proceed to torture it for several weeks until it finally dies. That last option is quite inadequate as a comparison to hell because hell is infinite in duration whereas the ant can only be tortured for a finite length of time.

To me the concept of hell flies in the face of any concept of a just and compassionate God. Hell would seem to be an entirely human invention based on a vindictive concept of retributory justice. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of hell. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of justice. Perhaps we have the wrong idea of God. I completely reject the concept of hell as it is traditionally understood in most Christian churches.

Over 50 years ago during a spiritual retreat, the leader (a Jesuit priest) tried to envision eternity in this way: "Imagine the Himalayan mountain range, the most massive range in the world, standing in places almost six miles high. Once every 100 years a butterfly wafts over them and strikes a rock with its wing. When those butterflies have worn the Himalayas down till they are as flat as Saskatchewan, then the first fraction of a second of eternity will have passed." Eternity is totally beyond the capacity of the human mind to comprehend! Now imagine a condemned soul suffering the most agonizing possible pain continuously for all eternity. Got the image? I certainly have! And it is an image that I find totally incompatible with the notion of a loving and compassionate God. A God who could inflict such a punishment on even the most vile and evil human being would not really be worthy of our respect, our worship or our love. I do, however, believe very strongly in God's justice but even more strongly in God's love and compassion. I will leave it with confidence in God's care.

When most modern Christians think of hell, they without thinking almost always have Dante's lurid medieval fiction in mind. Hell is never mentioned in the Bible --- no, not even once. Sheole, Ghenna and Hades are but none of them carry the freight of hell. Hell is not a Biblical doctrine but rather is a conflation of all the understandings above.

 

[jamesbond007]

I am reading some say that preaching about hell is a bad thing. Odd, as Jesus preached about hell often
It is not (nor is it designed to be) comfortable to hear or to preach such a message. Still it is truth and proper to do so IF one also preached the remedy along with the sermon.
Now telling someone they are going to hell is wrong. Unless the one speaking is God.

If Jesus did, then we should know more about gehenna (hell) and more pastors would be teaching it. I think it's in Matthew 4x but he doesn't really discuss hell. In my experience, Jack Chick, with his comic strips preached more about hell. It's more a mystery than something clearly defined. That said, to be fair, Chick also preached a lot about heaven and how to get there. Here's an example:

http://www.chick.com/m/reading/tracts/readtract.asp?stk=1161

Let's take Adam and Eve, for example. If they were not saved (I think they were because they knew and believed in the coming of Jesus), then the most perfect humans in paradise could not make it. And it sounded like they didn't last a week, but days. Even if Satan tricked and lied to them, they should have known better. Again, I think they made it even though their fate is not discussed in the Bible. Thus, humans have a chance if they have faith in Jesus. He preached more clearly about heaven IMHO. He stated, "Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." Matthew 4:17

 

[PloverWing]

When people claim that Hilter is in Hell no one finds it difficult to say that. When people wish for Donald Trump to burn in Hell, there’s no offense, no flitch, people would even cheer.But then when we put those same measures of God’s law to people who equally walk in darkness all of a sudden God is unloving and we are painting a bad picture of Him?

God is loving because He is just. He chastise those he loves. How loving and fair would our God be if there was no justice?

I would not wish Hell on anyone, not Hitler -- goodness, certainly not Donald Trump -- not anyone. The most exact justice I can picture for Hitler would be for him to suffer each of the pains he inflicted on each of his victims. That would take a long time. It would not take eternity. He tortured a finite number of people for a finite time. Justice for the perpetrators of the Holocaust would still be of finite duration. Hell is not justice.

 

[salt-n-light]

I would not wish Hell on anyone, not Hitler -- goodness, certainly not Donald Trump -- not anyone. The most exact justice I can picture for Hitler would be for him to suffer each of the pains he inflicted on each of his victims. That would take a long time. It would not take eternity. He tortured a finite number of people for a finite time. Justice for the perpetrators of the Holocaust would still be of finite duration. Hell is not justice.

There’s no purgatory for a person to suffer a long time. There’s this life and then eternity. That’s the reality of the situation. That’s the urgency of the gospel.

How we feel God should punish someone or reward someone doesn’t change how God define His judgements and His rewards. He laid out the choices and it’s consequences. His grace and mercy is there so that we can freely choose life while we can, not to take it to for granted. It’s either we trust God and get behind it, or we don’t.

 

[JackRT]

Hell is not justice

Justice is getting exactly what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don't deserve.

 

[faroukfarouk]

God is just.

God is holy.

"All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3.23)

 

[Blade]

Is this how Christ preached? No. One it uses fear.. there is no fear in God. He has not given us the spirit of fear. Christ can NEVER tip the blaence so to speak. The choice must be made 100% our choice. Yet.. when this msg is preached.. and some fear to be (forgive me Father) burning. ANYONE that comes to Christ ..He in no way will cast out. It was NOT His way.. its mans way. We KNOW fear will turn people one way or the other.

I have said this before.. I watched man yelling to people going in to see a movie. He was a believer. So right there I asked the Father.. is he of you? He answer "anyone that is for me is not against me". In that.. was.. its not how He would ever do it. Even Paul talked about how some preach. The word is getting preached. Its NEVER the right way. Always love.. Christ cried.. COME TO ME.. HE was the way the truth and the life. We have it flipped.. GOOD LOVE fruits of the spirit.. show them that.. THAT will change the heart.. not fear

 

[Neogaia777]

I am reading some say that preaching about hell is a bad thing. Odd, as Jesus preached about hell often
It is not (nor is it designed to be) comfortable to hear or to preach such a message. Still it is truth and proper to do so IF one also preached the remedy along with the sermon.
Now telling someone they are going to hell is wrong. Unless the one speaking is God.

Jesus taught "the good news about the bad news"... He mentioned hell a lot, but not nearly as much as "everything else", he preached, taught, or talked about... Which was "the good news about that bad news", and if we don't know what that is, and are not doing the same, then we fail, and fail badly... and we should not even be talking about it otherwise...

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

1) Because Hell doesn't exist. There is either life eternal or death eternal. The human body wouldn't live long in the fires of Hell. But.....people say God will resurrect the condemned in a new form in order to put them in this eternal place of torment, which makes God eternally evil, even infinitely evil!!!!


2) Hell was fabricated by the medicine men and shamans up through the priest class and todays moronic preachers simply because they have nothing but fear to compel followers. They do not know the goodness of God.

Depends on your theory of what "eternal death" is...? What the fires of hell are...?

You think Jesus was a liar then...?

God Bless!

 

[Colter]

Depends on your theory of what "eternal death" is...? What the fires of hell are...?

You think Jesus was a liar then...?

God Bless!

No, I think those who retold the Jesus story didn’t always remember things correctly.

Isn’t eternal death self explanatory?

Eternal torment is the commonly held belief of Hell believers.

 

[Noxot]

hell is real and I feel it half the time but for people to confuse hell with God is the whole reason why I despise F&B.

seeing hell as a condition of being that does not know God is a much saner understanding of hell.

we are all already lost, that is why the Son of God being born in the world was such good news.

 

[Neogaia777]

No, I think those who retold the Jesus story didn’t always remember things correctly.

Come on now... They wouldn't get Jesus mentioning hell several and multiple times over, wrong, "even if" that were true...?

Isn’t eternal death self explanatory?

No, not really, actually it's kind of a contradiction in terms...? How could you die eternally...? I have my own theory on it, but it would take a little explaining...

What do you think eternal death is...? Where there is "eternal separation from God" and "the weeping and gnashing of teeth", (tears, sorrow, pain and suffering, and hot anger and bitterness)... Could that (the latter) not be the "fire"...?

Eternal torment is the commonly held belief of Hell believers.

What do you think the "eternal torment" is...? Do you think the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is "made up" then...? or "all the other times" the apostles talk about Jesus talking about hell...? All due to bad memory...? Sorry, I don't buy it... They would have to have been totally making it up on purpose, and with the intentional intent to deceive, and I don't buy that...

God Bless!

 

[Colter]

hell is real and I feel it half the time but for people to confuse hell with God is the whole reason why I despise F&B.

seeing hell as a condition of being that does not know God is a much saner understanding of hell.

we are all already lost, that is why the Son of God being born in the world was such good news.

You have a point and a reasonable theory, but that is NOT the impression that the Bible leaves people with.

The Christadelphian sect doesn’t believe that Satan was a real being even though they are required to read the Bible once a year, the NT 2 times! They think that the beast was just a talking animal, like a parrot or lizard!?

To me a common reading indicates that the devil was a real personality, a fallen being.

 

[Colter]

Come on now... They wouldn't get Jesus mentioning hell several and multiple times over, wrong, "even if" that were true...?



No, not really, actually it's kind of a contradiction in terms...? How could you die eternally...? I have my own theory on it, but it would take a little explaining...

What do you think eternal death is...? Where there is "eternal separation from God" and "the weeping and gnashing of teeth", (tears, sorrow, pain and suffering, and hot anger and bitterness)... Could that (the latter) not be the "fire"...?



What do you think the "eternal torment" is...? Do you think the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is "made up" then...? or "all the other times" the apostles talk about Jesus talking about hell...? All due to bad memory...? Sorry, I don't buy it... They would have to have been totally making it up on purpose, and with the intentional intent to deceive, and I don't buy that...

God Bless!

Eternal death means you don’t resurrect in Heaven like the saved do. I guess I was wrong, that needed explanation.

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is controversial and the source of a score of differing interpretations. It only appears in Luke.

 

[Neogaia777]

You have a point and a reasonable theory, but that is NOT the impression that the Bible leaves people with.

The Christadelphian sect doesn’t believe that Satan was a real being even though they are required to read the Bible once a year, the NT 2 times! They think that the beast was just a talking animal, like a parrot or lizard!?

To me a common reading indicates that the devil was a real personality, a fallen being.

Well, sorry that sect is wrong, unless you think Jesus temptation in the wilderness after being baptized is wrong or made up, and the all the other times Jesus mentioned Satan was wrong, or a lie, or all made up, as well, or due to what, "bad memory"...? Sorry, I don't buy that either...

It sounds like your trying real hard to eliminate, the reality of evil, (or any or all things bad or evil), (evil beings and wicked spirits, or a bad afterlife or bad eternal existence) in order to make you feel better and more comfortable about God... But, you just can't, and should not compromise, "truth" and the truth just because of that...

Truth is simple but not easy...

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

Eternal death means you don’t resurrect in Heaven like the saved do. I guess I was wrong, that needed explanation.

Eternal death means you "experience" death eternally, or your forever eternally dying... Or are in a state of continual, eternal death, or dying or decay, (and also pain, and sorrow and suffering and misery and anguish, eternally suffering and bad anger about it)...

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is controversial and the source of a score of differing interpretations. It only appears in Luke.

Oh, OK...? That part is a lie then, right...?

And I suppose "all else in the gospels", especially the parts that don't fit into "you view" of God, or "what God should be like in your opinion and human judgment", the parts that just seem unreasonable to you, or don't fit your views, are all the "made up" parts, right...? But the rest that your OK with, wasn't or isn't right...?

Well, how convenient for you...

God Bless!

 

[Colter]

Well, sorry that sect is wrong, unless you think Jesus temptation in the wilderness after being baptized is wrong or made up, and the all the other times Jesus mentioned Satan was wrong, or a lie, or all made up, as well, or due to what, "bad memory"...? Sorry, I don't buy that either...

It sounds like your trying real hard to eliminate, the reality of evil, (or any or all things bad or evil), (evil beings and wicked spirits, or a bad afterlife or bad eternal existence) in order to make you feel better and more comfortable about God... But, you just can't, and should not compromise, "truth" and the truth just because of that...

Truth is simple but not easy...

God Bless!

I didn’t say I believe the Christadelphians conclusions. They don’t believe Jesus preexisted either or the Trinity BUT they claim to believe everything that the Bible says.

Lucifer, Satan and their followers were very real! Evil is obviously real. Life and death is real, salvation is real.

 

[Colter]

Eternal death means you "experience" death eternally, or your forever eternally dying... Or are in a state of continual, eternal death, or dying or decay, (and also pain, and sorrow and suffering and misery and anguish, eternally suffering and bad anger about it)...



Oh, OK...? That part is a lie then, right...?

And I suppose "all else in the gospels", especially the parts that don't fit into "you view" of God, or "what God should be like in your opinion and human judgment", the parts that just seem unreasonable to you, or don't fit your views, are all the "made up" parts, right...? But the rest that your OK with, wasn't or isn't right...?

Well, how convenient for you...

God Bless!

Maybe when you start these threads where you solicit opinions you should stipulate that you only want answers that you agree with. My opening response is my answer.