If you wouldn't allow your own children to suffer the experience of burning pain, then does that make you more righteous than the Biblical (sic) God?
134123
this story is same as my sister told her daughter .she told my niece if she (daughter) would not drink a glass of milk daily "milk police" will arrest her.\n\nsuch stories are made up to make people a bit obedient to the beliefs. bible writers wanted people to behave so the idea of hell fire came up. do not take things literally. even my niece got smarter after a few months. she knows now that there is no such thing as milk police.
332537
I am not a bible scholar, but having been born with depression I cannot tell you how frustrating it is when people try to tell me that I choose to be this way. It is not free will! Society may aggravate it, but it did not create it. \nWhereas it is well known that bad things happen to good people & innocent children & that it is God that allows such things to happen---& that it the most difficult question. Why does God allow suffering? Is it really supposed to make us better people? But that is a whole new debate in itself...
48875
I don't believe in the biblical hell of fire and burning and torment.
315502
A very good question.\n\nNobody likes to think their loved ones are bad people or that their own heaven will exclude the things or people that they love. It is a no win argument, either the God/Gods will punish the wrong doers and in the process do evil to the person who did no wrong, or the God/Gods have to forgive everyone for their crime and heaven will be open for everyone even if they don't believe.\nMaybe there is a true God that does not punish and the Gods we all hear about are all just the Devil, making threats and forcing people to follow them. Even more radical would a true loving God exclude anyone? or even judge people?
579042
The Bible nor Christianity advocates hurting anyone. It is the people that hurt others. \nPeople make mistakes and people are sometimes hateful without thinking of others and their feelings but noone should b mad at GOD for what people do. \nWe just need to learn to love as Christ did. He loved the person but not the sin and when someone did sin He did not walk up and condemn them to hell he humbly pointed out their wrong ( usually by asking them a question that caused them to stop and think ).
42152
I am a Christian, but I am not angry, and I am not telling you off.  No true "Christian" will do that because Christ tells us not to offend anyone and to live above reproach.  With that being said, I'll talk about your initial question.  Many people want to believe that there is no god because they don't want to deal with accountability.  The fact that everything they say, do, think (unless you have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus) will all be judged one day is frightning.  If there is no God then there is no one but yourself that you are accountable to.  The Bible tells us that EVERYONE is born knowing about God - through years of rebellion they are turned away.  If there is no all knowing God - I can't even imagine what the world would be like.  Creation itself is all the evidence one needs to believe in God.  God has shewn Himself in EVERY living thing on this earth - including you.  Praise God for free will.  If there is no God, then you don't have to burn in the lake of fire (hell will be thrown into the lake of fire) for all eternity.  If there is no God, then your consequences are limited to this earthly life.  But, there is a - ONE and ONLY ONE - sovreign almighty God whom all men and women are accountable to.
283267
sadly your friend is the victom of a good christian upbringing! jesus brought the word of love and pease. man, invented a religion! in this religion a bunch of wackoos got together and dreamed up a lot of sick ideas and made them law. so for 2000 years people fearing eternal damnation have followed these sick laws. now that people have out grown the need for self punishment, a lot of these sick ideas are now criminal offences. for example, your freind was referring to the old addage, "spare the rod, spoil the child" this means you can beat the hell out of your children and feel good about it because," GOD demands it!"  now days, IT'S CALLED CHILD ABUSE!!  a hopfully  the bitch will get turned in and have to sit her ass in jail or at least have her kid taken away from her! don't you just love that old time religion?
156313
My preacher once told me that you are not obligated by God to stay in a relationship that is harmful to you.  He also said God forgives those who divorce due to adultery and that adultery is not limited to a betrayal of a physical nature but can also be a betrayal of the heart, etc.  Abuse is betrayal.  My opinion, it would probably be more harmful for the child to grow up with that type of role model than for the child to be removed from the situation. I will also pray for you.
564609
I haven't told you your soul will burn, so respectfully, if your should go  to heaven the Bible says there is no pain or tears. However, in hell, there will be gnashing, and an eternal flame and those present will wish they could die but can't and whoever goes there will feel it.
531905
It  has always seemed  to me infinitely unjust  that  every single  innocent child born a mind-bogglingly long time  after the alleged  creation of the first humans -   is considered to be "guilty"  of sin automatically.   Also, how outrageously unfair  does it  sound to you,  that this God  (who never makes mistakes and does everything in full knowledge of what he is doing)  created humans with limited knowledge and limited abilities, and very limited wisdom or understanding  -   and then condemns everybody who doesn't have the capacity  to believe in religion,  and in mysterious invisible superbeings (because  they don't show themselves).      Devout "christians" tell you this is  what  you must believe.   Why?    Because they say it is "the truth"  How do they know?    The  Bible says so.    How do they know the Bible is everything they say it is?   Well, I haven't ever got a  straight answer  to that one yet,    and  the  way I see it the overwhelming majority of people  tend to believe  what  they had  conditioned into their brains  from childhood.    Their parents, or  whoever  raised them;   their  family,  the community into which they  are born, all tell them the  same thing,  so  that thing gets hardwired into their minds.   It becomes THEIR truth.   But other people  who grow up under different circumstances and different  religious conditioning do not  share  that  thinking\n                                      If  "God"   (who never makes mistakes)  had wished us to all be just one big Ant  Colony,    thinking and  acting the exact same  way, I  guess that is how it  would have happened.     So we have to exterpolate  from this,  that "God"  made us all to think differently on purpose.
295472
Yes the Bible also says this, but unfortunately, like everything else, it is often twisted around to excuse people's bad behavior.\n\nJesus asked that if a person could not love his brother who he has seen, how can he love God who he has not seen. \n\nOften a person will say, "Oh, well that refers to SPIRITUAL" brothers and sisters". I can treat my physical brother like crap .... and still be a CHRISTIAN.\n\nStrange, these same perverts want their kids to honor their "FLESHLY" parents, don't they? I call them pervert because they pervert Jesus teachings.\n\nTo these folks, it doesn't matter what the bible has ever said ... people make it up as they go along and change the interpretation of the scripture to justify their circumstances.
612637
Well technically YES, because fire and brimstone hell as has been preached in the past is false doctrine. The bible says that when people die, the are concious of nothing and feel nothing (pain, joy, sorrow. etc. ...) So 'hell' as referred to in the bible is simply the grave. So yes those people did go to 'hell', but they are not burning eternally!
604214
Well actually humans were given a chance at have a perfect world with no evil or suffering. However, because humans were given free will they (Adam and Eve) chose to disobey God. For a little analogy for why God allows suffering, take this story for example...\n\nYour daughter is trying to thread a needle and every once in a while she pricks herself with the needle. You could go rush in and thread it for her, but if you wait just a little bit and does it herself, she will run over to you with a big smile and say Daddy/Mommy look what I did all by myself!\n\nYou let her do this by herself because it teaches this child that she has the ability to do things on her own. It builds character, and this is the same reason why God allows suffering and certain unfortunate events. He knows we can handle certain circumstances and that it will make us a better person, a better Christian.\n\nDoes he want to watch us suffer? Absolutely not, when we're hurt and feeling all alone, He's right there with us crying for our pain. Just like when your mother/father let you date someone even though they knew that he/she would break your heart. They didn't want you to suffer heartbreak, they wanted you to learn and become a better person.\n\nThough I can tell you some good news, one day all evil and suffering will be eliminated. Here's God's promise to all believers of Christ, "He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4.
325377
Counter-Example: \n\nSo if I'm so angry with someone that I feel hate towards them and want to kill them, should I simply go ahead and murder them -- since I've already sinned and wanted them dead in my heart? \n\nOf course not.\n\nLooking at the context of the verse (Matthew 5:28), Jesus was dealing with men (Pharisees) who commonly thought it was okay to look lustfully at a woman as long as he didn't physically touch her. They made a distinction; God doesn't. He doesn't think it's okay to "use" someone internally, while just avoiding the pretense of sin on the outside.\n\nIt's a matter of the heart. God wants a good heart -- good motivations toward other people -- not JUST good external behavior.
137625
That reminds me. I have to turn my eggs before they burn.\nSeriously. I am a strong outspoken Christian, but I don't have a moral opinion on this. I can't find anything against it in the bible.
497550
No matter what you are or call yourself the trials will still be there. They will still come. No it's about god. He saved me more than I can tell you. I have had pain unbearable pain I called on Jesus The pain did not leave  all at once. but it left.If a higher power can not help No one can.<My higher power is Jesus > Don't let anyone steal your joy.
28498
I'm sure that there are some who wanted "fire insurance", if you will. They see the big picture of the interplay of good vs evil. Then see the whole of creation, either the immense universe, or the simple design of the flower everyday. They realize that they have committed "sin", at least disobeyed one of the ten commandments. They begin to think there might possibly be something to this "God" thing, and if so, maybe they ought to do something about it. \n\nThing is, that simple step of faith becomes something more than ever thought. It introduces them to a person. Jesus. He then introduces them to the living God. The fear of death or hell is no longer an issue. It is not because they believe it, but because of a real, dynamic relationship with a loving God allows them to know it for certain.