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I grew up in the Catholic Church and I cannot remember dwelling on hell all that much so I must not have heard too much about it.... I just remember when I did something bad I would go to confession, confess my sins, and say 10 Hail Mary's and 5 Our Fathers, repent, take communion and all was good. As I got older, confession was more difficult and I would get quite anxious about fessing up to the Priest. So I was more afraid of the Priest than I was of hell as a youngster.
I am very thankful that I have never feared Hell. The Sisters at the Catholic Church were wonderful in explaining God's Love to me. I think the first I heard of Hell was from neighbouring children - it was awful to hear about.
I remember we didn't talk about hell in Sunday School but once I started going to youth group... it was lots of hell and little love for self.
Is hell an ancient way of keeping the teenagers in line?
Is teaching a child before the age of accountability even rational?
Most people that support the idea of hell must assume there is an age that a child becomes responsible for their own salvation... even our human justice system recognizes an age of culpability.
I worried, as a child, about how many sins I committed that day. I remember thinking that it would make God sad... Then as I grew older, I was taught it would not make God as sad as it would me for being burned eternally.
So what age is it normally done in the different denominations.
Opinions and testimony only... no facts.
Why do I want to know this? My kids are 10, 9, 8 (Don't ask....). We do not attend church but they do go to church with relatives occasionally and every summer they go to Vacation Bible School with the neighbors. This year they were taught about hell in VBS.
I don't teach my kids about the traditional Eternal Torment hell. Eternal Torment doesn't teach kids that the wicked shall eventually lose their evil ways. But I teach my kids something far more serious than eternal torment and that is that their evil ways will be removed from them by God that is DETERMINED to do so. I teach them that God's way is far superior than their ways and that His will to remove their evil is greater than their will to retain it. So after I teach them about this then I teach them about the "Christians" in the mainstream that are teaching about Eternal Torment so they can see how much more powerful the God is that I'm teaching them and the error of ET.
I (we) taught both our kids simply to love God.Never ever mentioned hell and needing to avoid it.Both accepted Christ in a manner and time I was certain was the real deal and not "following the crowd" or doing it early because they were taught they were supposed to,but didn't really understand the meaning.
Imagine that.People will come to Christ without having the hell scared out of them.
Yes, that is how vast majority of believers came to Christ. They come because of God, not because of hell.
I don't teach my kids about the traditional Eternal Torment hell. Eternal Torment doesn't teach kids that the wicked shall eventually lose their evil ways. But I teach my kids something far more serious than eternal torment and that is that their evil ways will be removed from them by God that is DETERMINED to do so. I teach them that God's way is far superior than their ways and that His will to remove their evil is greater than their will to retain it.
What do you tell them about sinning, and how God feels about sin?
What do you tell them about sinning, and how God feels about sin?
I say that God hates sin but that God is love and so all His hate is love. And that thru His hatred of sinners that He will cause them to come to know His love. We can't know white unless we have been given black. Once we see the black for what it is then we can understand the white for what it is.
What do you tell them about sinning, and how God feels about sin?
To be honest with you - although I wasn't raised with religion - I did know about heaven and hell. I'm not quite sure where or when I was told about them - but my mom does believe in God (or a supreme being of some sort) so these terms weren't foreign to me. However, when I was a child, I was much more afraid of the wrath of my mother than the wrath of God. I think that parents have much more of an influence over the behaviour of their children when they are younger than God or Hell. I mean - what is scarier - thinking about what could happen to you after you die which could be 80 or 90 years in the future - or getting "the look" from your mother! It only took one look from my mother to reduce me to tears! Actually, "the look" still scares me!
What do you tell them about sinning, and how God feels about sin?
I tell them that sin hurts them and those they sin against and they need to make it right. God doesn't get hurt, they get hurt.. others get hurt... making it right between them again (such as with their siblings) is the most important thing.
I tell them that sin hurts them and those they sin against and they need to make it right. God doesn't get hurt, they get hurt.. others get hurt... making it right between them again (such as with their siblings) is the most important thing.
Here's a thought for you to consider, kat. I know you're a mother. Has anybody ever hurt one of your kids? How did it make you feel? Even if you were not the one who was physically beaten up, or ridiculed or excluded from the group, didn't the actions of the kids who hurt your kids hurt you, too? Unless you believe that God has no feelings, why would you think that sins against His children wouldn't hurt Him, too?
I tell them that sin hurts them and those they sin against and they need to make it right. God doesn't get hurt, they get hurt.. others get hurt... making it right between them again (such as with their siblings) is the most important thing.
So, don't worry about how about offending God with sin, just worry about other people? What about sin where there are no other people involved?
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