Why is there Hell?

Originally posted by Snarf
though - you probably will dismiss my answers as coming from an "idiot God believer"

i am not that shallow. Love thy enemy.

my idea of life after death includes an astral realm, to which animals go to too. only those who deny life after death will not be able to go.

Fear tactics and religion aside, I believe in there having to be balance for the universe to exist. There cannot be good without evil. Because, well, how would we know what "being good" is without knowing its counterpart?

Just like "light" and "dark" for instance. They both serve their purpose.

Using the terms "Hell" and "Heaven" in the same context, they both exist for each other. How would you know you'd want to go to Heaven if Hell didn't exist? Taking away all that is evil in life (and the afterlife) is the same as taking away free will. If everything was good and wonderful, we'd have no choices to make because all of our choices would be good and wonderful. Actually, you wouldn't even have a choice whether you'd want to go to Heaven or not because there would be no other alternative.

In the end, it's your choices that will send you to wherever. So, if you believe there is a Hell and you don't want to go there, you know what to do.

Originally posted by saint4God

Originally posted by Copperflower
Hi. I've heard this question from many and asked it myself. Christ said hell was prepared for demons and for Satan, not for man.

No he didn't. Where are you getting this information?

"If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." - Matthew 5:29

You believe Satan and demons have bodies? I have a book that says otherwise.

"Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." - Revelation 20:11-15

Demons and Satan did not die, they are not the one being brought before judgement here, each person was judged, and anyone is thrown into the lake of fire who was not found written in the book of life.

Sorry it took a while to respond. I hadn't been back to this thread for a bit.

Please note Matthew 25:41

"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels...'"

And no, I was not trying to imply that demons and angels (fallen or otherwise) possess physical bodies, although it's clear from the encounters in the Bible that physical forms were present enough to talk, eat (at Abraham's tent), travel, be seen by entire towns (Sodom), and even do battle under Yahweh's authority. He did create them in great number to serve His Kingdom, and apparently the ones who were never disloyal do His will at all times.

However, by definition, Hell is a place of torment. Suffering can come in many forms, especially to sentient, intelligent beings, but whatever happens will be awful, involve torture and confinement, and will be considered punishment.

Confinement alone is bad enough, but fire, torture, and pain? Whatever pain is in Hell, it won't be any more pleasant than it is now.

i agree...the only reason i could guess would be that because lucifer when he was cast out of heaven he wanted to pervert god's "heaven"

reply to post by LocoHombre


Because there has to be some form of accountability for our choices and actions.

Because satan is alive and kicking.

Because of people such as Hitler, Ted Bundy, and the assorted other serial killers that have chosen evil over God.

Don't feel like the lone ranger though - there are actually millions of Christians, so called, out there that claim they don't believe in hell either.

I guess not believing in hell, in their minds, lessens the chances that they will go there. (shruggin')

reply to post by LocoHombre


The bible is not contradicating itself. If someone asks Jesus Christ to come into their heart and forgive them for all their sins and they truly repent he forgives them for all their sins and cleanses them from all unrighteousness. If someone who has repented turns his back on God, doing bad things.... if that person dies they will end up in hell, along with other persons who reject God. God is no respecter of persons, God sees into the heart of man, he knows people quite well.

reply to post by paranoiaFTW


R.I.P. George...

On a more serious note, hell could be another possible dimension or alternate reality, which is negative in nature, which would also display the "fire and brimstone and torture" that occurs, maybe demons are actually the inhabitants of this realm as well, just a theory though.

Originally posted by troubleshooter
reply to post by LocoHombre

 

The Greek word 'Ghenna' translated 'hell' in the New Testament was Jerusalem's garbage dump.

Worms ate the refuse and fires burned off the methane...
...it is a metaphor guys!!!...
...it was meant to convey the idea that unless the 'spirit' of a human is united to the 'Spirit' they will be 'put out with the garbage'...
...as so much road-kill.

The idea of an eternally burning hell did not originate in Hebrew thought...
...but was based on ideas of mans post-mortem state that originated with Homer and later developed by Plato...
...later introduced into Christian thinking as the church became progressively more Gentile...
...then popularized by Dante and exploited by prelates as a tool to increase church membership.
...dwarfed by other issues the Protestant Reformers simply inherited the idea.

See: Hell on (Google) Earth
www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 17/12/09 by troubleshooter]

Mark 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

I suppose Jesus was referring to a garbage dump when he said this.