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

[Chinchilla]

I'm a universalist and do not believe in hell after life. I think it's about hell in this life, which it can often become without Jesus and love and mercy. It was a popular belief in Jesus' time and for two centuries before his advent, but not in David's time. No mention of it at all in the psalms or in proverbs, which should provide the necessary bible check. It's a superstition and yes it's evil. How can you have a working moral compass if you think that the God of love would let people suffer FOREVER! The true biblical view is limited punishment, because also there is a limit to human sin.

There is no limit to sin lol . When you sin you sin not only against somebody but God aswell . The second is more imporant because he is limitless so is your punishment that's why it's without end .

 

[SkyWriting]

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

Why does this rub people the wrong way, or bother their conscience, or strike them as "wrong" or bad, or maybe even "evil" sometimes...?

What are the "real reasons" for this...?

Comments/discussion...?

God Bless!

The torments in Hell are in ones mind, and self inflicted.
It's evil to try and include God in ones misery as the source or the problem

 

[salt-n-light]

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

Why does this rub people the wrong way, or bother their conscience, or strike them as "wrong" or bad, or maybe even "evil" sometimes...?

What are the "real reasons" for this...?

Comments/discussion...?

God Bless!

Because no one wants to see themselves as flawed, as evil, as deserving of punishment. People everyday want to be seen in a favorable light, even in wrong, and anyone that challenged that is a threat. It’s instinctly safe and comfortable to not have conflict and question and examine.

That’s why those who truly have love, rejoices in the truth. They wouldn’t hold on such image and would rather be genuine than favorable. They would rather have justice prevail than to delight and be comfy in injustice.

 

[Loren T.]

What is the fruit of some of the extreme hellfire and brimstone messages? In my experience, it is often fake or shallow Christians. You can't literally scare hell out of people, in my opinion it doesn't work. That doesn't mean that you don't mention the reality of hell, but the gospel is not repent or be burned. The gospel is God so loved you that he doesn't want anyone to be eternally separated from him. There is a huge difference between the ones who come to God knowing that God is love and the ones who comes to him thinking that God is just waiting and hoping for them to mess up so that he can cast him into hell.
I remember one message I used to hear in chapel about a rebel boy who drove his motorcycle past the revival meeting and of course, ran off the road, hit a tree and died. Sure, it drove kids to the altar. But to embrace what? A God who was waiting to kill them if the didn't step in line or the God who loved them so much that he died for them?

 

[Chinchilla]

The torments in Hell are in ones mind, and self inflicted.
It's evil to try and include God in ones misery as the source or the problem

No , God will give them resurrected body so they can for sure feel everything .
Hebrews 12:29 King James Version (KJV)
29 For our God is a consuming fire.


He will be staring at them and they will burn in his presence forever .

Hebrews 10:31 King James Version (KJV)
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

 

[Spiritualized]

Hell is a disconnection from God. Heaven is being with God forever more. Jesus is the Way, the truth and the life. No one comes to God except through him. Jesus was never rejectful, he was never abusive, he was never all about condemnation and fire and hell. He was about love, acceptance, second chances, third chances, 77 chances, and all about faith being the key to salvation through him.

I can understand why people can be so wary of the doom and gloom preaching, it is the opposite of what Jesus came to preach. I'll stand with Jesus and try and mimic his radical inclusion, love and acceptance whilst always being repentful in prayer and honest in heart and trust that he has done the rest when he said "it is finished".

 

[MartyF]

"You better walk the isle, say this prayer, and pay your tithe or you will burn for eternity in Hell."

Does not provide genuine converts. It provides very weak converts who will quickly convert to Islam, Buddhism, or any other religion with an afterlife.

Marty

 

[MMDave3]

Should they be "threatened into submission"...?

Is God a tyrant...?

God Bless!

God is not a tyrant, no. However, some people are tyrants, and they use the word of God (incorrectly, in my opinion) to incite fear.

 

[salt-n-light]

What is the fruit of some of the extreme hellfire and brimstone messages? In my experience, it is often fake or shallow Christians. You can't literally scare hell out of people, in my opinion it doesn't work. That doesn't mean that you don't mention the reality of hell, but the gospel is not repent or be burned. The gospel is God so loved you that he doesn't want anyone to be eternally separated from him. There is a huge difference between the ones who come to God knowing that God is love and the ones who comes to him thinking that God is just waiting and hoping for them to mess up so that he can cast him into hell.
I remember one message I used to hear in chapel about a rebel boy who drove his motorcycle past the revival meeting and of course, ran off the road, hit a tree and died. Sure, it drove kids to the altar. But to embrace what? A God who was waiting to kill them if the didn't step in line or the God who loved them so much that he died for them?

Mqybe as fake and shallow as those that only preach that God is love?

Salvation is two fold. God must be saving me from something, and I must be gaining something from being saved. If we only preach Hell then there’s no joy, but if we only preach Heaven then there’s no urgency. Gotta preach as a whole, we have to stop omitting bits and pieces just to suit people.

If people get to Christ by fearing God, good. If people get to Christ by desiring God, then good too.

 

[Chinchilla]

Hell is a disconnection from God. Heaven is being with God forever more. Jesus is the Way, the truth and the life. No one comes to God except through him. Jesus was never rejectful, he was never abusive, he was never all about condemnation and fire and hell. He was about love, acceptance, second chances, third chances, 77 chances, and all about faith being the key to salvation through him.

I can understand why people can be so wary of the doom and gloom preaching, it is the opposite of what Jesus came to preach. I'll stand with Jesus and try and mimic his radical inclusion, love and acceptance whilst always being repentful in prayer and honest in heart and trust that he has done the rest when he said "it is finished".

Not opposite , Jesus mentioned hell many times .

Mark 9:43-48 King James Version (KJV)
43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

 

[Chinchilla]

Mqybe as fake and shallow as those that only preach that God is love?

Salvation is two fold. God must be saving me from something, and I must be gaining something from being saved. If we only preach Hell then there’s no joy, but if we only preach Heaven then there’s no urgency. Gotta preach as a whole, we have to stop omitting bits and pieces just to suit people.

If people get to Christ by fearing God, good. If people get to Christ by desiring God, then good too.

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 .

 

[section9+1]

I think it is a useful tool in evangelism. I don't think it is good to preach it all the time in the church to the saved. Fear can bring you but it won't keep you. The saved need to eventually replace initial fear with love and love will keep you.

 

[FenderTL5]

Speaking only for me; I dislike them because, for the most part, the 'fire and brimstone' sermons are shrouded in heretical doctrine(s) that distort or ignore sound doctrine on who God is, on what man's obligations are, and the Gospel itself. imho, ymmv.

 

[Spiritualized]

Not opposite , Jesus mentioned hell many times .

Mark 9:43-48 King James Version (KJV)
43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Only Jesus was not talking literally. I'll share something I read on this recently to save typing it into my own words. This is known as hyperbole language. The term is derived of two Greek components, hyper (over, above), and bole (from ballein, to throw), hence “to throw above.” It is a specially designed exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis.

My mother, with somewhat of a twinkle in her eye, used to say, “Son, if you do that again, I’m gonna skin you alive.” I knew she was speaking figuratively; nonetheless, I got the point!

In the context of Mark 9:43, Christ was emphasizing the supreme value of pursuing the kingdom of God above all else. To illustrate this principle, he chose, for illustration purposes, items that are very precious to us (e.g., eye, hand, or foot).

The obvious meaning is this. Recognize the value of eternal things; don’t be derailed by temporal and physical distractions.

In the end, you find that his message always refers back to 2 things. The necessity of faith and the command of love. Hell exists, no doubt. But I just can't believe it's literal fire and brimstone. It's a disconnection from God in the knowledge of who he is - that in itself is more Hell than anyone would ever bare. Jesus taught salvation through faith. Much of the doom and gloom preachers require a thousand and one works to earn it. That is the problem I have with it.

 

[salt-n-light]

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 .

There are a lot preachers that say of both, but no one is actually hearing them, you can find YouTube after YouTube videos of literally christians fighting street preachers on what the Word said, and that’s why I’m not understanding why such a negative stigma towards those who go out to preach the gospel, especially among believers.

 

[Hawkins]

Some people will perceive being threatened. Threatening is never a good approach to persuade people.

However and for the sake of argument, if hell fire is a truth (I believe that it is a message of the Bible) then how can this truth be conveyed. Shall we avoid such a truth which I believe that it's the whole point of Christianity to ask mankind to escape?

 

[PloverWing]

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

Why does this rub people the wrong way, or bother their conscience, or strike them as "wrong" or bad, or maybe even "evil" sometimes...?

What are the "real reasons" for this...?

Comments/discussion...?

God Bless!

Because hell -- in the sense of unending conscious torment -- is unspeakably horrific. It undermines anything we have to say about trusting and loving God. It is the biggest theological difficulty in Christianity, the Problem of Pain writ large.

I have had many prayer-arguments with God about hell...

 

[Loren T.]

Mqybe as fake and shallow as those that only preach that God is love?

Salvation is two fold. God must be saving me from something, and I must be gaining something from being saved. If we only preach Hell then there’s no joy, but if we only preach Heaven then there’s no urgency. Gotta preach as a whole, we have to stop omitting bits and pieces just to suit people.

If people get to Christ by fearing God, good. If people get to Christ by desiring God, then good too.

I agree that there has to be a balance. Jesus did teach about hell. I'm saying from what I have seen, fear produces converts who tend to drift away as soon as the fear wears off. I've seen a youtube video street preacher who is implying that he is sinless and the gospel is all about becoming sinless like him. Someone slapped him. Honestly, I wanted to slap the smugness out of him. Not a lot of grace in that message.
God is love, by the way. It's not one of his attributes, it is what he is. God always wants what is best for us. The best is to be with him eternally. God literally died to save us from hell and from ourselves. Preaching that God is all about his wrath is wrong. Preaching that God will save everyone in the end is wrong. But, the impression I got as a kid from all the hellfire preaching is that God was not really all that loving. He was not only willing that some should perish, he seemed to delight in crushing underfoot anyone who messed up. This produces legalistic Christians, who also delight in putting down anyone who sins, not realizing that they are sinning just as much by their attitudes...

 

[salt-n-light]

Because hell -- in the sense of unending conscious torment -- is unspeakably horrific. It undermines anything we have to say about trusting and loving God. It is the biggest theological difficulty in Christianity, the Problem of Pain writ large.

I have had many prayer-arguments with God about hell...

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?

 

[woobadooba]

Well, if the belief that hell is a place of everlasting torment is what is being pushed in light of a God who commands us to love our enemies, of course people are going to have issues with such a teaching as it is contradictory to the nature of love.