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To anyone who believes in an afterlife of eternal torment that non-believers will be subject to, how do you personally feel about that?
In a hypothetical situation where you were running the show, would you feel morally justified to condemn non-believers to an eternity of suffering?
When I was religious, I always found that to be one of the hardest things to square. I know many religious people don't believe in a hell or place of eternal torment like I'm depicting, so I'm not really targeting the question towards you if it doesn't match what you believe.
EDIT: Whoops, typo in the subject... maybe a mod can fix that
To anyone who believes in an afterlife of eternal torment that non-believers will be subject to, how do you personally feel about that?
In a hypothetical situation where you were running the show, would you feel morally justified to condemn non-believers to an eternity of suffering?
I've always said as in answer to this question that that is not something I would be able to do and the thought of it is sickening to me. Then I'll also say that I am not in the place of God. To say that because of my own feelings on that subject that I am more merciful than God would be to subject God to my standards of morality which is not something I understand I have the authority to do.
God is well aware of my feelings I have of eternal torment; there is nothing I can do to make up that I am in agreement with Jesus' depiction of these things in God's word. That is why I trust in him and lean not on my own understanding. There is not a very concrete description of eternal torment given in God's word. The only thing I can do is not think about it in concrete terms very much.
My daily living understanding of it (how I live from day to day and still understand from God's word and affirm it as God's truth that there is such a place and then submit to his eternal wise counsel) is that it is a very bad place where I personally would not want to be and would rather if it were at all possible to not have anyone be at all. But then I am not God so I do not place myself in his position.
God has a plan for everyone to be with Him in the afterlife, so people need to seek out God with an honest heart .............. Otherwise, God has no plan for people who reject Him ..... Just like the people you would never get married to you would just reject them, and they would go off, so when people reject the Lord God of life than God has no plans for them in the afterlife, so the Holy Angels of God will collect their spirit when they pass from the earth and send their spirit to a place prepared for lost people who rejected the God of life .... See Heaven is bliss and that is the only plan for man and women to be one with the living God ....... One belief form which will question eternal torment is the Universal churches .....
To anyone who believes in an afterlife of eternal torment that non-believers will be subject to, how do you personally feel about that?
The Father of all fathers has a Name. His Name is Abba (dearest Daddy). Abba knows how to correct with precision any of His wayward children. Punishment by this glorious Father of ours is NOT an end in itself, but leads to the peaceable fruits of righteousness!
Questions to consider
As we are required to love our enemies, may we not safely infer that God loves His enemies? (Matt. 5:44)
If God loves His enemies, will He punish them more than will be for their good?
Would endless punishment be for the good of any being?
As God loves His friends, if He loves His enemies also, are not all mankind the objects of His love?
If God loves those only who love Him, what better is He than the sinner? (Luke 6:32-33)
As "love thinketh no evil," can God design the ultimate evil of a single soul? (1 Cor. 13:5)
As "love worketh no ill," can God inflict, or cause, or allow to be inflicted, an endless ill? (Rom. 13:10)
As we are forbidden to be overcome by evil, can we safely suppose that God will be overcome by evil? (Rom. 12:21)
Would not the infliction of endless punishment prove that God HAD been overcome by evil?
If man does wrong in returning evil for evil, would not God do wrong if He was to do the same?
Would not endless punishment be the return of evil for evil?
As we are commanded "to overcome evil with good," may we not safely infer that God will do the same? (Rom. 12:21)
Would the infliction of endless punishment be overcoming evil with good?
To anyone who believes in an afterlife of eternal torment that non-believers will be subject to, how do you personally feel about that?
In a hypothetical situation where you were running the show, would you feel morally justified to condemn non-believers to an eternity of suffering?
When I was religious, I always found that to be one of the hardest things to square. I know many religious people don't believe in a hell or place of eternal torment like I'm depicting, so I'm not really targeting the question towards you if it doesn't match what you believe.
EDIT: Whoops, typo in the subject... maybe a mod can fix that
Well...as you all probably figured...I am the spawn of Satan.
So I asked him this evening at dinner about this issue.
He explained that the only people that will be tormented eternally, are the people that denied or was critical of God on the City-Data website.
Matter of fact...that is what the, "special place in Hell", you have all heard about is for.
All others will be paroled after a time.
So...I hope that clears things up.
The Father of all fathers has a Name. His Name is Abba (dearest Daddy). Abba knows how to correct with precision any of His wayward children. Punishment by this glorious Father of ours is NOT an end in itself, but leads to the peaceable fruits of righteousness!
Questions to consider
As we are required to love our enemies, may we not safely infer that God loves His enemies? (Matt. 5:44)
If God loves His enemies, will He punish them more than will be for their good?
Would endless punishment be for the good of any being?
As God loves His friends, if He loves His enemies also, are not all mankind the objects of His love?
If God loves those only who love Him, what better is He than the sinner? (Luke 6:32-33)
As "love thinketh no evil," can God design the ultimate evil of a single soul? (1 Cor. 13:5)
As "love worketh no ill," can God inflict, or cause, or allow to be inflicted, an endless ill? (Rom. 13:10)
As we are forbidden to be overcome by evil, can we safely suppose that God will be overcome by evil? (Rom. 12:21)
Would not the infliction of endless punishment prove that God HAD been overcome by evil?
If man does wrong in returning evil for evil, would not God do wrong if He was to do the same?
Would not endless punishment be the return of evil for evil?
As we are commanded "to overcome evil with good," may we not safely infer that God will do the same? (Rom. 12:21)
Would the infliction of endless punishment be overcoming evil with good?
Those are all good questions, but do you have any answers, even hypothetical ones?
I'd suggest the following. Inasmuch as human morality is given by God, wouldn't God's morality be the same?
Inasmuch as human morality is only a poor reflection of God's perfection, shouldn't God's morality be even better?
Inasmuch as the only ones that can accept that God's morality (taken to incorporate hellthreat) is in fact worse than human morals, isn't it comprehensible that atheists irreligious theists (Or so I'd be willing to bet) and indeed UR Christians, all agree that Hellthreat is unacceptable. And only those opting for a celestial dictator who is to be adulated as perfectly good even though it seems that everyone can see it isn't and only 'God can do what he likes, so watch it' apologists can stick with this (aside from those who have abandoned even that much reasoning for total cognitive dissonance) can avoid the conclusion that, whatever God is, it cannot be the god of the Bible, whether New or Old T.
Last edited by TRANSPONDER; 12-22-2020 at 01:47 AM..
Well...as you all probably figured...I am the spawn of Satan.
So I asked him this evening at dinner about this issue.
He explained that the only people that will be tormented eternally, are the people that denied or was critical of God on the City-Data website.
Matter of fact...that is what the, "special place in Hell", you have all heard about is for.
All others will be paroled after a time.
So...I hope that clears things up.
Special place in Hell? Lol.
Plenty of Christians do believe there are varying degrees of punishment.
But the overall doctrine of Hell does not sit well with me.
I've always said as in answer to this question that that is not something I would be able to do and the thought of it is sickening to me. Then I'll also say that I am not in the place of God. To say that because of my own feelings on that subject that I am more merciful than God would be to subject God to my standards of morality which is not something I understand I have the authority to do.
God is well aware of my feelings I have of eternal torment; there is nothing I can do to make up that I am in agreement with Jesus' depiction of these things in God's word. That is why I trust in him and lean not on my own understanding. There is not a very concrete description of eternal torment given in God's word. The only thing I can do is not think about it in concrete terms very much.
My daily living understanding of it (how I live from day to day and still understand from God's word and affirm it as God's truth that there is such a place and then submit to his eternal wise counsel) is that it is a very bad place where I personally would not want to be and would rather if it were at all possible to not have anyone be at all. But then I am not God so I do not place myself in his position.
I have to admit that is an honest struggle with the immorality of the Christian doctrine of of Hellthreat. I understand fully why you have to throw up your hands and say 'It makes no sense to me; I just have to trust that it makes sense to God'.
I don't know whether you will stay in that mindset or (like so many others) decide that 'No god that deserved worship would do it like this', and move on to a mindset that does not impose such strain on belief. But it's an honest post of where you are.
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I have to admit that is an honest struggle with the immorality of the Christian doctrine of of Hellthreat. I understand fully why you have to throw up your hands and say 'It makes no sense to me; I just have to trust that it makes sense to God'.
