Does Hell exist? An Ex-Jehovahs Witness viewpoint and research #1

1st in a series about Hell

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Hell
• Jehovah's Witnesses
• Rob Bell
• Francis Chan

[pretoshohmoofc]

@anzwertree That's strange, because your God is supposed to be omniscient.

When my children were really young, I taught them to stand up and walk knowing fully well that they would fall. I must be a monster of a parent. I also bought them crayons knowing full well that they would draw on my furniture and walls, then,...I got mad when they did. But knowing this, I also know that they would love to draw. That's why I bought them.

[earnestlyseeking]

@rachelbinto Good point. And the good news becomes really good when we see that salvation save us not from everlasting sleep or non-existence, but from everlasting conscious punishment. so in the end there will be two very contrasting realities everlasting life in undescrible beauty and awe, or extreme anguish. Now is the time to decide which we want. The gift is free for the taking.

[anzwertree]

@rpierre777 Um... Yes... He is unquestionably. Do you support slavery? Bible God does. Do you think women should marry their rapist? Bible God does: "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."

[rpierre777]

@anzwertree No, He's not far from reasonable.

[rpierre777]

@anzwertree God doesn’t kill people and torment them for eternity. Death is a result of Adam and Eve’s actions. Hell is destroyed in the final judgment. The “torture” is more of a mental one-hence the weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now, Christ suffered and died so that we, through faith in Him, will live. Also, how warranted or the morality of something is determined by God-not man. The torture isn’t meant for man, but, the one you serve determines who you spend eternity with. (Matt 25:41)

[anzwertree]

@rpierre777 Right, I said reasonable application of law. The God of the Bible is far from reasonable. The God of the old testament has no problem with killing. He spends the first couple of books of the Bible wiping out entire villages -- including women, children, even babies. Oh, but the female virgins got to survive as slaves to the Israelites. What a great God. Numbers 31:18. As I've said before, citing Dawkins; this particular God is arguably one of the worst characters in all fiction.

[rpierre777]

@anzwertree “We often have valid reasons for executing people.”

Regardless of how “valid” we believe those reasons are, it is written, “Thou shalt not kill”. (Ex 20:13)

[TheSnarkyApologist]

Interesting point Dann! I never thought of the etymology of the term "Gehenna". Some guy in Canada was blabbering about it to me one day, but I don't really focus on what he says ; O

Keep up the fine work brother!

[anzwertree]

@rpierre777 I'm not talking about a reasonable application of law. We often have valid reasons for executing people. It protects innocent lives. We lock people away to take them out of society. But killing someone and then proceeding to torture them for an eternity has nothing to do with protecting anyone. If someone is dead, they can't rape or kill anyone else. Hell, on the other hand, has nothing to do with a reasonable application of law. Not only is it unwarranted, it's immoral

[rpierre777]

@anzwertree Just as in many societies, there are crimes that warrant the death penalty, while other crimes suffer more of a mental punishment and some do result in physical discomfort and sometimes pain. What Christ did was took all of that upon Himself so that, for our crimes (sins) against God, we won’t have to suffer any of the punishments that arise from committing the crimes.

[anzwertree]

@earnestlyseeking Trust is earned. I have reasonable expectations based on actual evidence. It's reasonable to assume my money is safe in the bank because it's insured by the government. That's not the same as a faith based position. Primarily because I know my bank actually exists. Let's make this analogy more like religion. You have to burry your money in an ancient cemetery. If you burry it right, you'll be rewarded in heaven, but if you burry it in the wrong place you'll be tortured forever.

[anzwertree]

@earnestlyseeking The anthropic principle just states conscious beings cannot arise unless an environment capable of supporting them exists. Logic. Obviously, we evolved because this particular system favors our particular type of life. But things could have been different. Life might still emerge, only it would be the type capable of thriving there, and then perhaps they’d think only their particular result is the only possible way life can exist -- assuming they’re shortsighted as humans are