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I've heard that among the first Christians, there were six 'schools' of thought on the afterlife - 4 believed Jesus saved EVERYONE, 1 believed in eternal punishment, and 1 believed in conditional immortality.
However among Christians today I would say at least 80% of them believe in the Catholic concept of eternal hell.
On the other hand, is it possible to be a Christian (regenerated, born of the Spirit of Jesus) and believe in a place called hell where people will be tormented for eternity?
Of course it is possible to be born again in Christ and not understand anything other than that you are a sinner, and Christ died for sinners, and that you can be saved in His name, by calling on that name for Salvation, and that you did do that and are born again. New birth is exactly that: "new", when Christ comes into your heart and old things are passed away and all things become new. But that is where the babies all begin their life. After that, discipling begins, for the one who is truly made His "pupil/disciple", is "hidden with Christ in God", morphosing into the image of Christ, while hid in the "pupa" -learning to walk in obedience to Him.
On the other hand, is it possible to be a Christian (regenerated, born of the Spirit of Jesus) and believe in a place called hell where people will be tormented for eternity?
Excellent point A Storm .Though i do believe you can, because many of us did. I have believed a bunch of different stuff in my walk which i no longer believe, pre UR and post UR,ET just happened to be one of them.
Is it possible to be Christian and NOT believe in Hell?
I think that really depends on what you mean by "hell".
While I don't believe in Dante's Inferno for certain of those who have departed from this world, I do believe that there is plenty of hellish stuff going on in this present evil world. When I look at people from a distance being cluster bombed with white phosphorus and see orphans roaming the streets of war torn and weather torn countries that have been taken advantage of by the stronger rich nations - I think it looks like hell. And I'm sure it feels like hell. I think if I were to have to spend just a few days living among the rubble in Haiti - it would be hellish to me. Or if I were dropped into Somalia and left to fend for myself (and many other parts of the globe) - it would be hell. Even our U.S. missiles are called "hellfire missiles". The war machine that is mowing down the nations is very evil and without pity. I will be glad to see an end to it. All those suffering because of it need a Savior to rescue them.
Of course it is possible to be born again in Christ and not understand anything other than that you are a sinner, and Christ died for sinners, and that you can be saved in His name, by calling on that name for Salvation, and that you did do that and are born again. New birth is exactly that: "new", when Christ comes into your heart and old things are passed away and all things become new. But that is where the babies all begin their life. After that, discipling begins, for the one who is truly made His "pupil/disciple", is "hidden with Christ in God", morphosing into the image of Christ, while hid in the "pupa" -learning to walk in obedience to Him.
Yes, I agree. All that is necessary for salvation is a relationship with Christ. Of course once a person is saved, he/she will want to study the word of God, and then they will learn about things in the Bible, including heaven and hell.
Is it possible to walk in the Spirit, and in the brightness of Jesus' light shining into your mind, and believe in the eternal torment and suffering of some (or most) of His creation?
Please forgive June's earlier mistake in her "mod cut."
She would refer all of you to the new "Sticky" at the top of the forum, and again, humble and sincere apologies for the error on June's part!
Thanks....
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