The concept of hell and eternal damnation is a form of control.

Originally posted by MrUncreated
Does anyone with a shred of common sense actually believe that God, who is essentially "Love Incarnate", would allow anyone to suffer eternally, and be tortured by demons, forever?

Sometimes I wonder why messages like these are spread around.

Have you not heard....this is also part of the great conspiracy! This lie that hell burns forever and people are tortured for eons for just a few short years of life is the most egregious lie ever told by the devil.

Consider this: Satan's first lie to Eve was that she would NOT surely die. He just promised her an immortal life whether she sins or not.
What did God say? In the day you eat of it you shall surely die. He had just given her the conditions for immortality. Eve did die that day....she died spiritually. Her devotion to God has been changed. They now wanted to hide from God because of their disobedience. She and Adam would have lived forever and their decendents if they had remained faithful to God's commands and would have had access to the Tree Of Life which would have guaranteed eternal life to them. After they sinned, the angels barred them from access to the tree, and as a consequence they eventually died physically.

Hell is translated from the word Hades which is "The Grave" a place of no knowledge or thought or life.

Psalms 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

If you think about it, if you allow that people are in hell burning for thousands of years, you have in fact given them eternal life, albeit a life in hell. The scriptures says that God only has immortality. Humans are mortal and can be only given immortal life by the Author of life.

So no I do not believe that the God I serve will burn people in hell forever. I have further proof of that in His word, the Holy Bible. In fact, I believe in a Hell fire so hot it will completely burn everything up including this earth and then God will make it new again for all the redeemed to live on.

Example: Psalms 21:9 Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. (totally consume them!)

Isaiah 47:14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. (oh wow...the fire will really go out!!)

Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. (Stubble....no root or branch...nothing to spring up again!)

This gets better!!

Malachi 4:3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do [this], saith the LORD of hosts. (ASHES!!! complete and utter destruction!)

No burning for eternity??? That's absolutely right and the Bible says it is true.

Now what about the devil? Surely he has something coming to him for all his evil doings......does God has a plan for him also?

Ezekiel 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

Ezekiel 28:18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

Ezekiel 28:19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

I could never say it any better myself. God tells us plainly what will become of Satan. God will kindle a fire from the midst of Satan and it will burn him up and God promises to bring Satan also to ashes upon the earth, and at last Satan will never be any more. You see, God doesn't promise eternal punishing...He promises the punishment to be eternal. Isn't that the best news that one can ever hear? Satan will be as if he had never been. The earth and the universe will then be forever clean of sin. Sin and sinners will not be raging somewhere in the universe while others stroll the streets of gold.

No I do not serve a God like that. He truly is a God of love. Sinners will be as if they had never been and then God will wipe our minds of the past. We will have a happy future to look forward too!

Originally posted by wildtimes
Do you know who King Henry VIII was? And WHY he insisted that his country was no longer Roman Catholic, and started up the Anglican Church?

Yep. He did it because he wanted a divorce, and the Pope of the time wouldn't give him one.

The Church didn't stop them, but it wasn't for lack of TRYING. The Church absolutely did not just say "fine, good luck with that. Get lost." Nonono. You must understand what was at stake with Rome and the major Kings. Whole countries, entire populations. Allegiances and butt-kissing were the way the world was run. Everyone wanted the Church on their side, because they weilded SO MUCH POWER. Over taxes, over land, over populations. All of it:
CONTROL.

Yep. It's like I try and tell people; Catholicism and the entire giant snafu which Paul introduced, only ever existed at all, due to this desire for political control. Anyone wanting to unshackle their brain from said mess, only really needs to ask, "Qui bono?"

If you believe that there's a very real chance of burning for eternity in Hell, who primarily stands to benefit from said belief? It sure ain't you.

reply to post by MrUncreated


You do know that your OP "The concept of hell and eternal damnation is a form of control" is completely true correct? And you are confirming God's view on it as well.

Think about it so a second. Why do we have prisons and jails in America? In the world too? Could these jails be used to................control people? Every think that some people are uncontrollable and will do whatever they want to regardless of the impact on others? Guess where they go? Jail. To KEEP THEM IN CONTROL!

Now, what do you think Hell is? It is basically Jail for those who reject the words of God.

So yes, The concept of hell and eternal damnation is a form of control. And thank God for it.

REVELATION 20:7 ".....Satan shall be loosed out of his PRISON,"

"The only thing that burns in hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life: your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away, but they're not punishing you, they're freeing your soul. If you're frightened of dying and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. If you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels freeing you from the earth."
-Eckhart von Hochheim-

I personally believe that this guy had something of a right idea ...

Originally posted by MrUncreated
Does anyone with a shred of common sense actually believe that God, who is essentially "Love Incarnate", would allow anyone to suffer eternally, and be tortured by demons, forever?

Sometimes I wonder why messages like these are spread around.

I agree! I think the whole concept of God and the Devil is the oldest "Good Cop, Bad Cop" routine in history.

Originally posted by MrUncreated
Does anyone with a shred of common sense actually believe that God, who is essentially "Love Incarnate", would allow anyone to suffer eternally, and be tortured by demons, forever?

Sometimes I wonder why messages like these are spread around.

Allow me to share a quote from Thomas Paine's 'Age of Reason,' as I feel that in the face of such manipulation, it is more apt to be called "The Good Book!"

The Christian Mythologists, after having confined Satan in a pit, were obliged to let him out again to bring on the sequel of the fable. He is then introduced into the Garden of Eden, in the shape of a snake or a serpent, and in that shape he enters into familiar conversation with Eve, who is no way surprised to hear a snake talk; and the issue of this tete-a-tete is that he persuades her to eat an apple, and the eating of that apple damns all mankind. After giving Satan this triumph over the whole creation, one would have supposed that the Church Mythologists would have been kind enough to send him back again to the pit; or, if they had not done this, that they would have put a mountain upon him (for they say that their faith can remove a mountain), or have put him under a mountain, as the former mythologists had done, to prevent his getting again among the women and doing more mischief. But instead of this they leave him at large, without even obliging him to give his parole- the secret of which is, that they could not do without him…