Posted on 11/29/2004 10:32:50 PM PST by kattracks
Very well said.
On the contrary, I have put much thought into it and I believe. It is those who reject it because the cultural mores simply won't allow for it that have not put much thought into it. I believe that God exists and that the universe is as He revealed it, not as I wish it would be. His wisdom is infinite ours compared to His is foolishness.
But Hell? No. It has no place in the universe of a loving God.
Sure it does. Just as the pet wrote:
"Sacred Justice moved my architect. I was raised here by Divine Omnipotence, Primordial Love and Ultimate Intellect."
-from Canto three, the Inferno.(The gate of Hell)
The point is that life is short and eternity is long. God gave us the awesome responsibility of deciding where to spend it. He does not send us there WE choose to go there. He has told us and given us all that we need to get to Heaven. Reject God's love and wisdom and you spend eternity with all those who have rejected it as well.
Only God can judge. It is correct to believe in God's justice, but wrong to believe that we know God's judgement of a person's soul, including our own.
I hope Tony Orlando goes to hell, god knows he puts us all there.
Probably the best that we can do is pray that Yasser (That's my baby! ) Arafat has met with God's full judgement, whatever that may have been. Frankly, it is my sincere hope that St. Peter put him on the express elevator to HELL!!
The Bible teaches us to not gloat when the wicked fall.
I see. So unless God conforms to our expectations and puny moral wisdom, he's unjust.
You know, in making ouselves the test of all that's right, and demanding that God himself submit to our judgment, we put ourselves forward as gods in our own right. That's idolatry. It's a choice for ourselves in preference to the true God.
You can go to hell for that.
you're using your God-given abilities to seek Him, and that's a good thing too.
Consider: Since the wages of sin is DEATH, not hell, the question then becomes; what is "death"?
One of the things about the Bible, is that it is consistent. That's a good thing too, when it comes to your search for knowledge about God, His great love for you. It's we who are inconsistent! But know that He rewards those who diligently search for Him.
My prayer is that you are encouraged to seek Him. Don't give up! His Holy Spirit will guide you....He promised you that.
Death? It's real clearly described. See Ecclesiastes 9:10...."there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, wither thou goest"
9:5 "....the dead know not any thing,....for the memory of them is forgotten." (They - the dead - have no memory. King James way of saying)
Using "logic" is fine. You're supposed to! Then, the descriptions of the resurrection make sense.
Daniel 12:2 "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake...."
1 Thessalonians 4:13-16 But I would not have you to be ignorant (brother!) concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent ("precede") them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first...."
See? I think your logic serves you well. The dead sleep, in what may best be called a dreamless sleep.
As for the "eternalness" of that sleep, see Jude 7, where it is described that Sodom & Gomorrha are "suffering the vengence of eternal fire" Does this mean we could go there, wherever they are(!), to see this burning?
No.
The smoke that goes up for ever from the fire that shall not be quenched night nor day (Isaiah 34: 9 & 10), symbolizes, like it does in Jude, the eternalness of the judgement, the fact of it, not the burning, or suffering itself.
The wages of sin being death, and death being eternal dreamless sleep, and all that....
Take heart! God loves you. Jesus suffered miserably, and died, so that through faith in Him, we could for....ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Hmmm does this mean that Paul hopes that the lost go to hell? I think it means he is washing his hands of them and is focussing his efforts on the Church. That focus is clearly seen in so many of his writings.
"Judge not lest ye be judged".
Here is a verse that one of the most misused verses of all. Judgement is a good thing all over the bible. Thise one verse, taken out of context by people that have never even read the whole bible, makes people think we are not supposed to have any negative opinions of anyone. Nothing could be further from the truth. Using the rest of the bible to interpret this rules out that idea and leaves us with....hmmm...Don't decide someone is just totally evil and wish them to be in hell.
'Simply put, it is not morally correct to wish or hope that anyone and I mean anyone goes to hell.'
I understand your deep reasoning, and it's obvious that you followed Prager's logic and you have refutted it flawlessly.
Short of the whole bible, simply reading the next verse is enough to clarify the meaning of, "Judge not, lest ye be judged" (Matthew 7:1).
Did you know money is the root of all evil? (Pink Floyd 19:73)
interesting
Well said...
(so why no photos on your profile page, hmmm? ;)
bttt
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