Jedi Ninja Scribbled:

Here's some interesting quotes about the absurdity of hell: “A civilized society looks with horror upon the abuse and torture of children or adults. Even where capital punishment is practiced, the aim is to implement it as mercifully as possible. Are we to believe then that a holy God - our heavenly Father - is less just than the courts of men?” - Sidney Hatch “Imagine such a doctrine, you may; but seriously believe in it you never can. The thought is too shocking even to human nature; how much more abhorrent, then, must it be from divine perfection. The Creator must have made all his creatures finally to be happy; and could never form any one whose end he foreknew would be misery everlasting. We can be sure of nothing if we are not sure of this”. – Bishop Newton (1704-1782) “An idea, which has terrified millions, claims that some of us will go to a place called Hell, where we will suffer eternal torture. This does not scare me because, when I try to imagine a Mind behind this universe, I cannot conceive that Mind, usually called “God,” as totally mad. I mean, guys, compare that “God” with the worst monsters you can think of - Adolph Hitler, Joe Stalin, that sort of guy. None of them ever inflicted more than finite pain on their victims. Even de Sade, in his sado-masochistic fantasy novels, never devised an unlimited torture. The idea that the Mind of Creation (if such exists) wants to torture some of its critters for endless infinities of infinities seems too absurd to take seriously. Such a deranged Mind could not create a mud hut, much less the exquisitely mathematical universe around us.” – Robert Anton Wilson “When all has been considered, it seems to me to be the irresistible intuition that infinite punishment for finite sin would be unjust, and therefore wrong. We feel that even weak and erring Man would shrink from such an act. And we cannot conceive of God as acting on a lower standard of right and wrong.” - Lewis Carroll (author of Alice in Wonderland), “Eternal Punishment,” Diversions and Digressions of Lewis Carrol “And yet this same Deity says to me, “resist not evil; pray for those that despitefully use you; love your enemies, but I will eternally ###### mine.” It seems to me that even gods should practice what they preach.” – Robert Ingersoll “For me it is in-explainable how a person who holds the orthodox view [of eternal torment] can at any time have a glad moment in this life. He is constantly mingling with people whose final destiny will be to be tormented eternally without end…To me it is even more in-explainable that such an ‘orthodox’ person can expect even a happy moment in eternity, when he knows that contemporaneously with his blessed estate continues the endless torment and agony of innumerable millions of the accursed. Can he, if he loves his neighbors as himself, yes, even if he has just a little bit of human love and is not solely a selfish wretch, have even a single happy moment?” - John Persone, Swedish Lutheran Bishop “I see the doctrine of hell as being probably the major stumbling block to the return of a de-Christianized world to Christ. The doctrine of eternal damnation, more than any other teaching of the church, produces atheism. If you examine closely all the big name atheists—like Feuerback and Nietzsche—it is this teaching more than any other that offended them and turned them away. Out of these famous atheists came all the movements that have caused so much hell here and now. If God is to practice what He preaches, then it makes it hard to believe in eternal damnation.”- Unknown The bottom line is that the Bible says that the wages of sin is death, not eternal life in hell. He who has an ear, let him hear.

Jedi Ninja Scribbled:

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST: If David had thought he was going to heaven, he would not have said this, since he would certainly be able to praise from heaven. The dead cannot think, act, or communicate. They remain in a dreamless sleep, awaiting the return of Christ, when they will be resurrected, and judged (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17) Since there is no consciousness in death, there is no sense of time. When you die, the next thing you will know will be the resurrection (commonly referred to as "Judgment Day") in which the righteous will enter the Kingdom of God (also known as the Kingdom of Heaven) on a new and perfect earth and dwell there forever, and the unrighteous will be thrown into a lake of fire. When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, he was not talking about heaven, but the coming Kingdom that will be established upon his return, when the devil is finally destroyed and the righteous will dwell on a new and perfect earth, a paradise similar from the original creation, one where the lion will lie down with the lamb and there will be no more evil. Jesus made it incredibly clear that you don't go to heaven when you die: No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. --John 3:13 Jesus entered heaven because he came from heaven. We didn't come from heaven, we came from earth. Therefore our hope is not in entering heaven, but rather, our hope is in entering the Kingdom of God. There is no consciousness when the spirit is apart from the body. When a man dies the spirit ascends to the Father simply to await the future resurrection of the dead, when the spirit will be reunited with the resurrected body and everyone who has ever lived will be judged by Jesus at the Great White Throne. Those who are righteous will enter the Kingdom of Heaven on a restored, perfect Earth, free from evil, with the tree of life in the center of the New Jerusalem. Those who are unrighteous will be thrown into a lake of fire where they will die (that's what normally happens when you're thrown into a lake of fire... who has ever survived being thrown into a lake of fire?) and remain dead forever. For the Bible teaches that "the wages of sin is death", not eternal life in hell. If the dead are judged immediately after death and sent either to heaven or to hell, then what would would be the purpose of the Great White Throne judgement that will occur at Christ's return (see the seperating of the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25:31-46)? Would God send someone to hell immediately after death just to resurrect them at Christ's return, judge them a second time, and send them to hell again? That wouldn't make any sense. The concept of "hell" as a place of eternal suffering arose in Greek Mythology, and later diffused into Christianity. It does not have Christian origins. The Jews never believed in it, nor did Jesus. In fact, Jesus confirmed the Hebrew belief in a future resurrection of the dead.

Jedi Ninja Scribbled:

his comic book explains everything quite well: http://www.scribd.com/doc/3478788 Part of this I posted in another thread, but it's really more on-topic here. Heaven exists. It's a spiritual realm where God and the angels dwell. "The Heavens" refer to the space above the earth, both the sky, and outer space. The heavens are not the same as heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is also not the same as heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven (also known as the Kingdom of God) is a future paradise that God will establish after Jesus Christ returns. Long before Jesus, the concept of an immediate afterlife in heaven or hell began with the Greeks, and was later continued by the Romans. It was not taught in the Hebrew scriptures, and it was not believed by the Jews, except for certain sects of Jews which had adopted elements of Greek Mythology into their doctrine. The Jews did not believe in an immediate afterlife in heaven or hell, but rather in a future resurrection of the dead. The Hebrew scriptures (also known as the “Old Testament”) support this belief. Hell is a spiritual realm where the devil and demons dwell. But most of the times the word "hell" is used, it's either from the Hebrew word Sheol, or the Greek word Hades. Neither of these words means hell. These words mean "grave," the place where you are buried in the ground. It's not referring to the spiritual realm of the devil. According to the Bible, death is like sleeping. It is simply awaiting the resurrection. In fact, Jesus used the words sleep and death interchangeably: After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead” --John 11:11-14 Those that are dead are not in heaven or hell. They are "asleep" in the "dust of the earth" awaiting the coming resurrection that will occur when Christ returns to judge the world: Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. --Daniel 12:2 When you are dead, you are not conscious. You don't know anything. You are dead: For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. --Ecclesiastes 9:5 When you die, nothing happens. There is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom when you are dead: Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom. --Ecclesiastes 9:10 When David was fleeing Saul, he was afraid he was going to die. He pleaded with God, saying: No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave? --Pslam 6:5 If David had thought he was going to heaven, he would not have said this, since he would certainly be able to praise from heaven. The dead cannot think, act, or communicate. They remain in a dreamless sleep, awaiting the return of Christ, when they will be resurrected, and judged (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17) Since there is no consciousness in death, there is no sense of time. When you die, the next thing you will know will be the resurrection (commonly referred to as "Judgment Day") in which the righteous will enter the Kingdom of God (also known as the Kingdom of Heaven) on a new and perfect earth and dwell there forever, and the unrighteous will be thrown into a lake of fire. When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, he was not talking about heaven, but the coming Kingdom that will be established upon his return, when the devil is finally destroyed and the righteous will dwell on a new and perfect earth, a paradise similar from the original creation, one where the lion will lie down with the lamb and there will be no more evil. Jesus made it incredibly clear that you don't go to heaven when you die: No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. --John 3:13 Jesus entered heaven because he came from heaven. We didn't come from heaven, we came from earth. Therefore our hope is not in entering heaven, but rather, our hope is in entering the Kingdom of God. There is no consciousness when the spirit is apart from the body. When a man dies the spirit ascends to the Father simply to await the future resurrection of the dead, when the spirit will be reunited with the resurrected body and everyone who has ever lived will be judged by Jesus at the Great White Throne. Those who are righteous will enter the Kingdom of Heaven on a restored, perfect Earth, free from evil, with the tree of life in the center of the New Jerusalem. Those who are unrighteous will be thrown into a lake of fire where they will die (that's what normally happens when you're thrown into a lake of fire... who has ever survived be

Cyprisluv Scribbled:

Wow. I can't believe you are going around spewing the word "fact". Do you have physical evidence? Have you been dead? Have you really researched Hell? Or are you just scared of it? Unless you have physical proof that there is no Hell, don't go around saying there isn't one. The Bible mentions it many times. Sad how some people like to send people there by pretending it's non existent and leaving it on the internet as "fact".

xanadu Scribbled:

( = ^ , ^ = ) gotta luv 'fact'

ladydi Scribbled:

Very Interesting.