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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm a Christian.  I do not believe in hell, at least not in the way people have been coerced into believing.   If you take the time to research the original Biblical text you'll find that nothing like "hell" is ever mentioned in the scripture.    Here's a really easy to read link with some examples.  [url]http://www.thehypertexts.com/no%20hell%20in%20the%20bible.htm[/url]  Do some research on the original meaning of the words that were later translated to mean "hell".  They aren't even close.

The Hell we are warned about today didn't exist in Biblical times.  "Hell" was created by powerful people as a means of control.  Nothing more.    Think about it logically.  If you are a Christian, you know that God is all good.  All loving.  All compassion.  He created you out from an abundance of love.  As your Creator, He/She is incapable of causing you pain.  Is there anything one of your children could do - anything at all -  that would cause you to send him to an eternity of suffering an pain?  God's love for us is even greater than the love we have for our children and for each other.  He is author of love!

Fundamental Christianity is nothing short of religious abuse.  I believe it has damaged many, many people (like the pp who is terrified of hell).  Christianity is wonderful!  Christ was a living example of God's perfect love.  To be a Christian means to be "Christ-like".  What could possibly be better than modeling your life after someone who was kind, compassionate, loving, forgiving, generous, enlightened ....  All things we should strive to be.  Being Christ-like has nothing to do with terrifying people into religious submission.

God is All-good.  All-loving.  All-powerful.  Love.  Light.  Perfection.  Grace.   He created you and wants only your highest and best.  [/quote]

Fundamentalists, who depend solely on the Bible for their beliefs, definitely think Hell is a real place.  How do you account for that, if it's not in the Bible?[/quote]

It's in the Bible that they read.  But if you go back and read scripture before it was translated and retranslated and before powerful people decided what should and should not be included, it's pretty clear that "hell" didn't exist in the way we are taught that it did.  [/quote]
Sorry, no. The Gospels are intact from when they written, in Greek, in the first century. And in them, Jesus discusses Hell numerous times. Yes, he uses some metaphor, but his descriptions of out darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth, eternal fire, torment, and everlasting conscious destruction should give anyone pause who claims to be a Christian but denies the reality of Hell. Hell is the backdrop of God's love for us. Hell was prepared for Satan and his angels, who rebelled even while in Heaven and fully aware of exactly who God is. Those who reject Christ are afforded this same eternal dwelling place with those who die in their sin without being forgiven by Christ, whose who ultimately cast their lot against God and with this angelic rebellion. It is God's great love for us that caused him to offer His son, Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, as a sacrifice for us to save us from this fate.[/quote]

Jesus spoke in parables and metaphors all the time.  If you've read the Bible, you understand that not everything He said was meant to be taken literally.  I think it is a huge mistake to read any ancient text through modern eyes.  You absolutely must read the Bible with a keen awareness of the time and place in which it was written. More importantly, we have to remember that we don't have any evidence at all that Jesus ever wrote anything.  We can assume He had the ability to read and write because He spent a lot of time at the temple studying and talking with priests.  But we don't have a single piece of scripture written by Jesus Himself.  So, in addition to considering time and place, we have to consider that fallible people did the best they could to capture the messages Jesus shared.  Add to that the countless number of discrepancies caused by multiple translations.  I love the Bible!  I've studied and taught classes for years on the different authors, subjects, and books.  I always teach with mindfulness and respect for history and context.

And the subject of "hell" does not hold up to scrutiny.  Look at the words used in the original scripture.  They are nothing like the "hell" we scare people with today.  And why didn't God say anything at all about hell to Cain?  For heaven's sake (*snert) he killed his brother in cold blood!    Noah?  The wicked perished, but there is nothing about eternal suffering.  The cities of  Sodom and Gomorrah (they were burned in the here and now, but for eternity, nope.)?  There are countless examples of horribly wicked people who suffered on earth, but nothing to suggest eternal suffering.

New testament?  Go look at the definition of  "Hades".  That word can actually mean either punishment or reward depending on how it is used.  Most Biblical scholars believe the authors were describing a place of forgetfulness.  Unawareness of God.   The word "Tartarus" simply refers to a pit.  A great metaphor for life without spiritual enlightenment.  Jesus Christ used the word "Gehenna".  "Gehenna" is actually a physical place here on earth.  To me it's pretty clear that Jesus was speaking metaphorically while trying to describe a life (or death) lived in separation from God.  Many people interpret Gehenna to be a place where the wicked go until they are able to reconcile themselves with Sprit.  Nothing at all indicates a place of eternal torment.

A loving God.  The Creator of this Universe.  All Good.  All Love.  All Knowing.  All Powerful.  That God simply does not send His creation to an eternity of suffering and pain.  And that God did not need to send His Son to suffer in order to "save" people.  Sorry, but that makes no sense at all.  Jesus came to earth as a perfect example of God's love.  He was an expression of God on earth.  We should all try to be the same.  His death was meant as an example of sacrificial love.  God didn't send His Son to earth to die for my sins.  God is perfectly capable of forgiveness without torturing and killing his Son to achieve that. Jesus chose that path because His death was an example we as humans could relate to.  There is no greater sacrifice than death.

I suggest anyone who believes in eternal torment spend some time away from church and in quiet meditation and prayer.  I think the answer becomes very clear.[/quote]

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