Today, my Japanese teacher and I had an enticing conversation about religion. I quickly chose to support atheism, while he cleverly refuted all my points (all you fellow atheists and agnostics should try debating with him. That man is good). Aside from the long discussion about God in all His mercy and power, we discussed Hell. I asked how a merciful God could condemn a man to that fiery torture. He replied that Hell might very well be somewhat different than our good friend Dante described. He put it simply; Imagine being in an infinite plain for eternity. Alone. That is Hell.
Let us assume that Hell exists. How would you pecieve it? And what would be worse, Dante's Inferno or the lonliness my teacher described?
Matthew 25 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
As you can read hell was made for satan and the fallen angels. The fall of man resulted in spiritual death and this is the end result.
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In many relegions hell is described as a place where souls suffer and etc.Christianity and Islam claims that hell is depicted as fiery and painful, inflicting guilt and suffering instead of some other that is depicted as cold.Jewish believe that hell is not entirely physical,it's something like a feeling of shame.Chinese believe that some souls are reincarnated as animals or sick persons for their sins that had commited in their past lifes.So,every religion has different views about hell.The common thing about all religons is that Hell is something bad.I don't know what would be worse,if you get to hell,the sure thing is that you are going to suffer..
Well, when you think about it, the whole torture thing would probably only be worse for phsycopaths and sociopaths. Would you rather be burned for eternity, or alone for eternity?
Balerion, sure, Hell was made for Satan, but who is to say that he's not being tortured too? Anyway, I asked what do you believe Hell is like, not the scripture, which doesn't actually describe what it's like there.
Well in Islam hell is a deep pit in which a great fire burns. This fire is a much hotter fire than the one in our world, which is cool compared to it. There, you wear clothes of fire and thorns, your only food is cactus and to drink there is pus. I also saw a picture in my madressah (Islamic learning school) depicting it to have lots of biting insects.
Well of course satan is to be tortured in hell. His punishment is the worst there can be as he had no deceiver. The picture many have of satan ruling hell is not at all accurate. He will be in torment just like all the rest. And the bible does describe hell fairly well.
And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 25:30).
"Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 22:13).
"And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom" (Luke 16:23).
"The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;" (2 Samuel 22:6).
"Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;" (II Thessalonians 1:9).
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).
A place where fire is not quenched - "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:44).
"And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit" (Revelation 9:2).
"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name" (Revelation 14:11).
"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death" (Revelation 20:14).
"And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame" (Luke 16:24).
"And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 24:51).
"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6).
"And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses" (Matthew 18:34-35).
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Well, it makes sense. Because it seems fair and straight. So big man himself is goodness and kindness made entity; gave his children free will and if one of them behaves differently, in his 70 or so years on Earth, from certains rules, gets an whole ETERNITY of PUNISHMENT?!?!?!? What? It seems to me plain arbitrariety. Good - eternal bliss. Evil - eternal torment. And who made the dinstinction between what is good and what is evil? Men did.
So you believe in a fiery pit of despair, or do you just like quoting the Bible? And do you think the aforesaid pit is worse than the alternative Hell?
True, eternity for 70 years of sinning seems very harsh.
Actually, Hell is not a bad word. That's like saying 'God', or 'Damn' is a bad word. They've evolved into swear words. Their actually meanings aren't inappropriate at all, unless you're a very young child.
Well in Islam hell is a deep pit in which a great fire burns. This fire is a much hotter fire than the one in our world, which is cool compared to it. There, you wear clothes of fire and thorns, your only food is cactus and to drink there is pus. I also saw a picture in my madressah (Islamic learning school) depicting it to have lots of biting insects.
Is it me? Or does Hell sound a lot like the Greek Tartarus! It's a place underground where the evil Titans are tortured for an eternity for enslaving the Olympian gods. And heaven is a place in the sky where you can live in Paradise. Sounds a lot like Mount Olympus, the palace of the gods. Greek mythology has been around longer than Judaism and Islam.....
Also the word "hell"is derived from the Norse mythical place "Hel", a place where souls go to if not accepted in Valhalla. It is apparently a very cold place.....
I think Hell is an idea created by man to scare people into faith of a god(s).
Greek mythology has been around longer than Judaism
Where did you get that information?! greek mithology-1200 BC-written. judaism- at that time there were already jewish kings ruling a jewish country in israel.
We all have our sins, and we keep them forever. No matter how many times you try and repent, they're like your criminal record. They stay with you forever.
You can't say I'm sorry for robbing a bank and expect to get off easy. You still have the punishment.
