[chesley]

For myself, I believe in a literal lake of fire. Does that make me a bad person? Still, there might be other interpretations, and I’m not God’s personal secretary.

The important thing is to avoid going there, and to share the Good News with those that are.

The old creation will pass away, but there will be a new one. Other than eternal life and a lack of death, what are the important differences between the old one and the new? I don’t know, and neither does the most accomplished theologian.

Still, I think we will still experience time as linear.

[cuban leaf]

For myself, I believe in a literal lake of fire. Does that make me a bad person?

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No. Heck. You could be right. I just know what a lake is and I know what a fire is. And I know what book of the bible talks about the lake of fire and a lot of other interesting things that most people believe are symbolic allegories

[DManA]

Does that make me a bad person?

I agree, there is no reason for Christians to divide over this peripheral question. The truth of the matter is irrelevant to us. We're going to live eternally with Jesus.

[cuban leaf]

The important thing is to avoid going there, and to share the Good News with those that are.br />

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I agree with that to a degree. However, I've discovered that the "eternal torture" message is also a brick wall for many non-believers. It just sounds too goofy and does not match the personality of the God of the bible. When God metes out punishment in the OT, he DESTROYS AND KILLS, often utterly annihilating all evidence of their existence. There is not one case of Him keeping them somehow alive to torture as a "final condition". He may torture them in their hard headedness as he did with Egypt. But the fate of every person or society that receieved God's wrath was utter destruction. That is God's justice.

[cuban leaf]

The important thing is to avoid going there, and to share the Good News with those that are.br />

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I'll even take it a step further: As a Christian I wish no eternal suffering on any of my enemies. Not even Obama or Hitler. I would only wish that they be permanently removed from the mix. It's not even about their fate. It's about the fate of the rest of us having to put up with them. Their fate is not relevant insomuch as how it affects them.

[cuban leaf]

Still, I think we will still experience time as linear.

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I don't know, one way or another. I only believe that it may not be that way and doesn't have to be. In fact, my perception is as follows: Time is a current that flows in an ocean called eternity. Think of that current the turtles are travelling in finding Nemo to get a very good example of what I'm talking about.

[cuban leaf]

Still, I think we will still experience time as linear.

---

I don't know, one way or another. I only believe that it may not be that way and doesn't have to be. In fact, my perception is as follows: Time is a current that flows in an ocean called eternity. Think of that current the turtles are travelling in finding Nemo to get a very good example of what I'm talking about. This is why I believe it was Jesus who dislocated Jacob's hip and spent some time in a furnace with three jewish boys.