You said:
Even when I was a Christian I was unable to believe such a thing, and yes, I think it would be awful if true.
You were never a Christian.
Btw, NO ONE talked more about hell than Jesus. If there WEREN’T a hell, He really didn’t need to bother to come here and suffer and die for the sins of mankind.
When you say:
After all, the emphasis today is on a ‘personal’ god, so we’re really dealing with millions of different deities here, since every person has their own belief of what god is
You don’t really believe some of the garbage you are saying, do you? When some people believed in a round earth, and others in a flat earth, did that mean the earth had no shape? God is who He is in His essence, and He is who He is regardless of what people think about him. Furthermore, orthodox Christians are in very substantial agreement as to who God is. As the song goes, “Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible told me so.”
Put crassly, just because a whole bunch of people might come to the conclusion that you are a complete idiot doesn’t necessarily mean you are one, does it? Obviously, you are what you are regardless of what people might think about you - particularly if you are the Creator of the Universe, and therefore by definition the Ultimate Reality.
And if you died before then, or even after then but in some part of the world that just hadn't gotten the word yet, well, I guess it sucks to be you....
You're right. I wish it had not taken 28 years for me to figure that out.
I don't understand these Obama-type Christians who say that there's "many paths to the same place".
If that's the case, where is the incentive to believe in Christ? If simply being a good person can get you into heaven, why go through the motions and difficulties of being a Christian?
Btw, NO ONE talked more about hell than Jesus. If there WEREN’T a hell, He really didn’t need to bother to come here and suffer and die for the sins of mankind.
Once again, you're exactly right.
In the Old Testament, once you died, god was done with you. Whether you happened to be an unfortunate kid on the wrong side of the Israelites killed because you belonged to the wrong tribe, or if you happened to be killed in one of god's many natural genocides, he was done with you once you expired. There was no eternal suffering for the dead, and the only thing close to it that was inferred was Sheol, which was more like Hades; an underworld for the righteous and unrighteous alike.
It took the prince of peace in the New Testament to bring about the wonderful concept of eternal suffering and torture for the dead who did not accept the messiah.
You don’t really believe some of the garbage you are saying, do you?
If you want garbage, I suggest you scroll up to post #81, where one of your fellow Christians says that he doesn't understand why eternal damnation for people who don't happen to follow your particular religion is such a bad thing and is "frankly a bit puzzled as to what's so awful about this."
I take heart in the fact that only religion can make people who are normally of good repute believe such things.
Obviously, you are what you are regardless of what people might think about you - particularly if you are the Creator of the Universe, and therefore by definition the Ultimate Reality.
Exactly right. The creator of the universe exists or does not exist. Input from the minds of man makes no difference.
What's incredible is that you believe that your personal god, out of the millions of personal gods out there, out of the thousands of religions that mankind follows, is the exact right one. AND, you're willing to bet your eternal soul on it.
That seems like an awfully hubristic roll of the dice.
Unless you realize that dice is just a game.