It is a good thing that we have complex, profound thinkers like Damon Linker around today. Whatever would we do without such?
Sadly, Damon is a little too much a child of "modern life," and does very little reading of things and people older than himself.
Sometimes the concept of hell gets people worked up. The argument on “How can a good God cast people into hell when they have lived a pretty good life” is false logic.
Hell is a place where God is absent. This is exactly what the people who rejected God all their lives wanted. The “pit” of hell maybe a very comfortable place where everyone who rejected God their entire lives must now reside knowing they had lived their lives in a lie. That they had wasted it all. That actually may be worse than a guy with pitchfork.
See our article the Christian Cram Course:
http://www.faithfacts.org/bible-101/christian-cram-course
i find little valuereading what unbelievers think we believers, believe. their premises are always flawed and it makes the entire article off-base.
“the popular vision of hell as a torture chamber run by sadistic demons”
is that the popular vision? since when was the bible based on peoples misconceptions and fantasies Davie??
The devil does not wear a read suit...and hell was made for him and his fallen angels...not RUN by them...
these guys are such theological wimps!!!!
The serpent told Eve that God lied, sin and you will not surely die. So many Christians believe the serpent.
You will not surely die. You will live eternally in agony.
The serpent lied. The only people who live eternally are those saved by the Blood of Jesus.
As a contrite sinner, I am able and qualified to offer my humble opinion.
God is at the center of all that is. He is our happiness, our soul, our raison d'etre, and our being.
Anything we do (sin) to distance ourselves from him is agonizing. When we are contrite about our sins, we begin to heal.
When we rebel (refuse contrition)...we slide deeper and deeper into removal from the Light and the Way.
Apparently there is a point of no return (our decision to cross that point). Beyond that point lies Hell.
Isn’t there mention of a lake of fire?
This idiots rant is right up there with some of the stupidest things ever written. She/He has no inkling of what the Bible teaches on this subject, and probably has not investigated it in the least.
To her/he it is a balancing act, there is the justified by their actions apart from grace, however the Bible teaches that there is no one righteous, nobody, we all depend on Christ’s sacrifice as we don’t even possess the ability to do good.
Again, stupidest thing ever.
Believe it or not - Christianity is not about “appealing to the young people,” but is instead about trusting on Him for salvation and then living for Him according to His Word.
You can tell that the author is conflicted. He even has to futz around with gender neutrality, “How come you don’t say she? Don’t women go to Heaven or Hell?”, he whined.
The progressive left truly hates the very idea of Hell, and have tried to suppress it through most of the 20th Century.
Their biggest angle is to try and justify punishment based on humanity. That is, when a criminal murders someone, they are put in prison for breaking *mankind’s* laws against another person.
However, when the law is not created by men, but in heaven, the only judgment and possible mitigation *and* punishment *also* come from heaven.
An argument can still be made that heavenly laws are self enforcing, like how a parent tells their young child to not touch a hot stove. If the child does, and is burned, it is not the parent punishing them. The “sin” punishes itself.
But, if there indeed is a Hell for sinners, souls would not be sent there for violating mankind’s laws, but heaven’s laws. If this is the case, then sinners cannot bluff their way out or hope for “good luck” to free them from Hell. They are powerless.
I think that Hell is the total, complete absence of God. Eternal separation. I think this is so horrifying, that the popular depiction that God-mockers have of what Christians think of Hell, of demons tormenting them non-stop would be a pleasant respite.
Damon Linker is a classic example of the way stupid people over estimate their own competence and project an undeserved aura of confidence.
I always laugh about people who believe we live in more complex times than any other when in reality we live in the most relaxed times in all of human existence.
===========================
Proverbs 7:27
they shall go down to Hell in the chambers of death
===========================
Matthew 25:41
… depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels
===========================
Deuteronomy 32:22-24
For a fire is kindled in My anger, And shall burn to the lowest Hell; It shall consume the earth with her increase, And set on fire the foundations of the mountains. ‘I will heap disasters on them; I will spend My arrows on them. They shall be wasted with hunger, Devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction; I will also send against them the TEETH OF BEASTS, With the poison of serpents of the dust.
==========================
Matt 13:42
…throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth
==========================
Psalms 11:6
Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup.
==========================
Mark 9:48-49
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire.
==========================
I am convinced.
On a serious note, I did have a revelation with that miserable experience. As I waited to finally board my flight back south, I watched a couple of families saying good bye to their respective loved ones who happened to be boarding the same flight. The families that were staying behind were very emotional and wishing the travelers a safe flight and crying as they hugged.
One family sat near me on the plane. A young couple with two cute little boys. They were smiling and very excited to be on an airplane, apparently their first time. The husband and wife were smiling and they looked pretty excited as well.
We taxied out to the runway, paused briefly, and the engines began winding up and we were rolling. I watched that flame from the refinery as we lifted off and in a few seconds, we were deep into that thick smog and the flame was gone. It was like we were flying through soup. A few seconds later, the brown began to lighten up and suddenly we were free of the smog. Looking down, I saw a sea of brown. Looking up, I saw the most beautiful blue sky with billowing white cumulus clouds in the distance.
It was then that I realized what death really is. I no longer fear death because, in my mind, I get it. Funerals are not for the departed. Funerals are for the families and friends of the departed. They are the loved ones left behind at the gate back under that blanket of smog. Our departed loved ones are on that plane, smiling and giddy with excitement of what lay ahead of them as they soar into the blue.
When my father passed a few years later, there were many tears. And though I shed quite a few tears of my own, I felt a sense of happiness and comfort knowing that Dad had "slipped the surely bonds of earth" and was now facing the possibilities and opportunities that awaited across that endless crisp, blue sky.
Just a thought. As you were...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Divorce
he Great Divorce is a work of theological fantasy by C. S. Lewis, in which he reflects on the Christian conception of Heaven and Hell.
A perfect meme to placate the “no consequences” crowd.
In C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters”, the Senior “tempter” (devil) has asked his nephew, who is in training, “What is the most important lie that we can convince humans of?”
Failing in his first few responses, the nephew asks his uncle to reveal the answer, to which the Senior Temptor responds “That we don’t exist!”
I never knew Socrates was a Christian theologian.
Its popular culture that has created the confusion and comical imagery of Heaven and Hell, not the Bible. Any sincere person seeking wisdom on the subject will clearly see God’s will, plan, and purpose for Hell in His Word.
The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 2 Peter 3:9 NLT
When it comes to the free gift of Salvation, God is not the problem. Its pride, and the rebellious nature of man under the influence of the god of this world.
Being cut off from Light, Life, and Love Himself was a living hell for me. Spending eternity that way would be unimaginable. Its good to be a child of God and free from fear.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 NIV
bfl
This is what hell must be if God is truly good.
I know what hell here on earth is like but I have no more idea of the eternal hell than any one else.