How is it that many Christians on this site talk of hell...?
829525
Our minds usually accept the dogmas and myths of our culture. Most peoples' minds become programmed with the beliefs of their era and society. They don't think for themselves but let their parents, their friends, their favorite TV show, or what cultural beliefs  implant  in them. To be able to form sound opinions and make effective decisions, you must know how to think critically.  Enlightened thinking involves the careful consideration of multiple points of view and keeping our minds open to alternative sources of information. Unless we work at becoming critical thinkers, there is a natural tendency is to limit our ideas to only those that are easily available, never really discovering or considering alternative sources of information.  Christians and most people following dogma and never think to question what they are learning.  Sheep - humanity is in reality a herd of sheep.
954739
No, no, NO!\n\nWe hear about some poor person who died horribly after being tortured, or after suffering painfully from disease such as cancer or AIDS, or a baby who dies painfully, and any decent human being says "They didn't deserve that..."  But God, according to the Scriptures of various religions, thinks they did.  According to the scriptures and Christian/Jewish/Muslim belief, He knew about it, He could have prevented it, but He chose not to.  Disagreeing with God might be evil, but speaking for myself, I would have if I could have.  If that's evil, so be it.\n\nSo it seems that God is not as caring about humans as we were led to believe - assuming you accept a literal interpretation of the Bible.  So perhaps that is why He (and some of his followers) are so insensitive to the suffering of humanity, and would condemn even good people to eternity in hell.  In His viewpoint, apparently, they do deserve hell.\n\nI do not believe that anyone, let alone loving, charitable people who have not followed a particular religion's doctrine (such as saying the "sinner's prayer") deserves an eternity of torment.  That is one of the reasons that while I remain a spiritual person, I no longer identify myself with organized religion, including Christianity.
908088
All people both good and bad go to the Bible hell. It is mankind's common grave. What Scriptures prove this? Here are a few:\nPsalm 139:8--"If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there." \nAmos 9:2--"Though they dig into hell, From there My hand shall take them; Though they climb up to heaven, From there I will bring them down." \nJonah 2:2--"And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice." \nRevelation 1:18--"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." \nPsalms 146:3,4--"Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." [ The dead cannot feel anything, neither pain nor pleasure for they have no thoughts ] \nEcclesiastes 3:19-20--"For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." [ So what happens to both people and animals when they die? They all go to the same place.]\nRevelation 20:13-14--"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." (Hell delivers up the dead, meaning a resurrection from the grave, and what happens to death & hell? They are thrown into the lake of fire, meaning total destruction.
1034785
A well formulated question!  What a nice change of pace around here.  \n\nAssuming Heaven/Hell, God/Satan, you'd think Satan would be a bit more picky than just accepting all of God's rejects.  If he does accept all of God's rejects that would make him sound less judgmental and more open to all kinds of people.  \n\nBut I'm with you...if God is as compassionate as he is made out to be I find it hard to believe that he couldn't see that 99.9% of us are just trying to get thru the day the best way we know how and not trying to perpetuate evil.  Knowing the tortures that hell supposedly contains I find it hard to believe that God could send anyone there.\n\nBut I'm not a big believer in Hell anyway.\n\nThese are the philosophical questions that have kept discussions going since day one.
560222
Unfortunately, the majority of people in this forum who question the Christian faith design their "questions" to be extremely inflammatory - they're looking for the reaction, to offend; not for a reasonable dialogue. Not everyone excells at letting such things roll off their back.\n\naddition: see some of the above responses to your question to see what I mean
248528
All go to hell at death including Christians.\n\nI couldn't answer this question any better, so i borrowed it from pontiuspilatewsm . . i don't think he'll mind. but this is what the bible truly teaches about 'hell'\n\nAll go to hell at death including Christians.The original Hebrew word was Sheol and the Greek word was Hades, properly translated they mean: the grave or a pit.Another word also translated as hell was Gehenna(Greek),this is an actual place now known as the Hinnom Valley in Jerusalem. This is a place that always had a fire and they burnt trash, animal carcasses, and live babies were sacrificed to molech the great owl god.Look at a map.In Psalm 16:10, & 49:15 David knew he was going to hell (grave) and would be resurected from it.Many of the older Bibles such as Geneva properly translated these words as grave or pit. It is impossible to have three totally different words and translate them all as hell. In the 1600's when the KJV Bible was made ,the meaning of the word hell was to put in the ground so when they changed the wording to hell they understood what it meant.If you look up Gehenna in Websters dictionary today you will see it tells you the same thing I said. Apparently its to difficult for most Christians to actually look up the meaning of a word, they prefer to listen to the lies that their preacher spews from the pulpit. My God will put you in hell(I worship the true God of the Bible) when you die,the grave, and regardless of your beliefs or how you lived you will be resurected for judgement. To receive eternal life you must know Christ as saviour, if not you will be thrown into the lake of fire Rev. 20:14,this is the second death, and consumed instantly. No eternal suffering and torment.I am a Christian and I think its a shame that churches use these kind of scare tactics to keep people in church.
553134
I think that a good portion of the Christians who ask and answer questions on this site seem to have bias. Which is fine, if they're asking a question that pertains to their religion. It stops making sense once they ask the 'non-believers' if we'll 'enjoy going to hell' and other such non-questions. But, I'll have to agree with you. Most of the Christan asked questions about the non-believers usually claim a close minded answer the 'best'. Which leads me to believe that they're just looking to justify their own opinions among their heard and are not actually looking to learn about how other people view the world. Thus leading me to the conclusion that people like that shouldn't bother wasting their question points on things like that. :)
392628
Yes. I have asked my pastor and friends to share their ideas after answering questions. There have been concepts covered here that I had not thought of before. It has served as a tool that has deepened my understanding and fortified my faith. My church is open to all questions, and we discuss whatever is on our minds on Wednesday nights, so the reaction has been as it always is, very welcoming and non-judgemental. A topic that I am currently mulling over is the concept of hell - whether it is the eternal burning and torture most think it is, or if it is obliteration by being thrown into the lake of fire. I'm leaning towards the latter lately as I have found nothing that indicates that hell is eternal torture.
269865
don't worry. its actually satanist for people to say all these hurtful words.. god (regardless of your religion) don't teach ppl to talk bad about others. whatever you believe.. rest assured this, you don't do bad.. you don't go to hell. guess i won't be seeing you after i die.. tata.
489221
I wasn't going to answer this, but then I thought, at least non christians tend to post their comments in the right place, which is in response to  a question, whether it's what you want to hear or not, at least it's where it can be read by anyone who chooses to see it.  Unlike the many so called christians who seem to take great delight in declaring their saved status and yet at the same time spam countless mail boxes with vitriolic e-mails full of spite and hatred and arrogance.\nObviously I accept not all christians are like this, but you have a minority on here who unfortunately are ensuring there will never be tolerance, acceptance and harmony between all parties,
162732
People say that hell is for people who haven't eccepted Jesus as their personal savior.\n\nAll non-christians are burning in hell simply because they didn't believe something?That always bothered me as a child.Most christians were raised with their religion,so were other religions.People have been told that their religion was true all their life.Don't you think it is unfair for christians to  have been raised with the "right"religion,while others were raised with the "wrong" one."they have a choice",some christians say.If a hindu went to a christian and said,"You will reincarnate when you die",the christian would have a hard time believing it because all his or her life he/she has been taught that heaven is where you go when you die.If a christian has a hard time accepting reincarnation,then a hindu would have a hard time accepting Jesus.People were raised with their religion throughout  their entire childhood.It's their truth.\n\n\nI really don't believe there is a hell.Man made concepts of good and bad,not God. I don't care what the bible says.I don't believe it is the word of God.The messages are too inconsistant.If it was the works of God,then he couldn't seem to make up his mind.
541193
I guess it depends on what you mean by telling it openly.  When I first got here, I was a little baffled by the backlash of people wanting to know who Christians were to condemn them to hell and why did we say we would pray for them.  I gave what I thought were good explanations of these ideas.  How Christians don't want anyone to go to hell and since we believe it is a real place, we are obligated to help as many people avoid it as we can.  We pray because we are commanded to.  It's an act of love to pray for others.  \n\nI just didn't understand what the problem was.\n\nUntil I was answering a question and noticed that someone -purportedly a Christian, offended by the question -answered "Go to hell."  And further down the line another said, "You're going to hell.  I'll pray for you."\n\nSuddenly, I got what all the fuss was about.  \n\nLater, I answered a question by a teen who said he was ready to tell all atheists to go to hell.  This was my reply to him:\n\nI think we get really frustrated at the point where we are trying to make something happen that is not in our ability to accomplish.\n\nFor the record, I don't think we have any business condemning or wishing anyone to hell. I believe that hell is a real place and that people are going there, but I'm not happy about that.\n\nUnfortunately, you and I cannot make anyone do what we believe they should do. Our job is not to make them. Our job is to be the best example we can be. Even when others are hateful to us and to God.\n\nIf you look at how Jesus handled people, the ones He was hardest on were the Pharisees. Why? Because they were the ones who should have known God's word and should have known who He was. Instead they were concerned with trying to make other people follow laws that they themselves were not willing to follow. We should be really careful not to ever repeat their example!\n\nJesus didn't push people to make a decision. He never told anyone they were going to hell. It wasn't like high pressure sales. There is nothing more precious than a human soul. We should absolutely care about the salvation of others. But we have to respect that their salvation is ultimately between them and God. It isn't about us. And if we make it about us, we're going to run the risk of alienating them and run the risk of endangering our souls. \n\nIf trying to persuade others gets us so angry that we say and do things that are unlike Christ, or we allow their derision to discourage us, we could be at risk ourselves.\n\nPray for them (but you don't have to tell them that you are, since most of them seem to take that as criticism), honestly care for them, be the best example to them that you can be. Answer questions when they ask. \n\nJust lose the pressure and you'll feel so much less pressured yourself. God wants salvation for everyone. He'll help you accomplish His will. You don't have to impose your will on others. It's frustrating for you and for them. And that's not what salvation is all about.\n\nIt is a precious gift, to be given to and received by those who are capable of seeing it's value. \n\n\n\n\n\nIn the end, it is our living out Christ's example that will turn people from hell, not trying to scare them into repentance.   While we cannot be afraid to speak the truth in love, we need to prepare ourselves to live and to give a good defense for Christ, but not be offensive on His behalf.  We must trust the power of His Will and His Word more than we trust ourselves.  \n\nIf we try to force people into a decision, we may turn away an honest soul who has been controlled and manipulated all his/her life.  Jesus never did that.  In some cases we have to be willing to let the wheat and the tares grow up together.   In the end, we are all in His Hands.
687826
I agree that Christians do get a bad rap when individuals who call themselves Christians behave in extreme ways.\n\nHaving said that, I would defend the rights of anyone who may wish to tell me that I am going to hell (at least they care enough about me and my soul to tell me what they think -- and this can provide the opportunity for me to ask them why they come to this conclusion -- and may be I can learn from them).\n\nMy Background: I used to be an atheist. Over a period of time however, I grew convinced of the existence of the Christian God, and ultimately committed my life to Christ. For a draft-version of my journey from atheism to Christ, see http://www.godsci.org/gs/chri/testimony/seek.html\n\nCordially,\nJohn
639873
The hell would be a full place?  \n\nI don't really get the question.  If most people went to hell then most people are in hell.\n\nWhat's the debate?
688161
It's amazing.   No wonder people turn their backs on religion.  When you get remarks like this, it's no wonder why gay people will not listen to Christians.  Simply put, they are tired of being put down all the time.   If you could actually talk to one, and explain to them why YOU think it's wrong, than they might listen to you, if you were to be non-judgemental, and listen to them.  \n\nInstead of just saying you are going to hell, you better be able to back up any statements you make.  For example, don't tell me the bible says so.  PROVE to me that the bible says so, and we might have common ground to stand on.   I personally will not listen to some hypocrite who tells me that I am going to hell because the bible says so.  All I hear is blah, blah, blah.     Amazing, how Christians are the first people to usually judge someone else, although Christ commanded "Do not Judge."   See Ezekiel 7:27, , Matt 12:36, John 8:15, Romans 2:1-5.
943106
Or torture us!  People make out God to seem so evil but these people dont see it that way , they actually think they are so bad that they do not deserve anything its just crazy!  I do not believe in the adam and eve story.  I do not believe in hell but i do believe in a loving God not a evil one.  I will get a lot of thumbs down from overly religious people but i dont care.  God did not write the bible nor did it fall from the sky.. How can anyone say its Gods true word when it has changed hands through man for thousands of years.  God is loving and kind, not mean and angry .
579172
I AGREE W/ WHAT YOU SAID 100%. BASICALLY HELL IS FOR THE DEVIL, GOD DOESN'T WANT US TO GO THERE BUT SOME PEOPLE WILL. ONE DAY GOD WILL THROW THE DEVIL IN HELL! PRAISE GOD! THAT WILL BE A GREAT DAY. AND HE WILL SPEND ETERNITY THERE. SO THAT'S WHY HE MADE HELL TO BEGIN W/.