Osama bin Laden dead: Christians should pray for his soul, cardinal claims

[-Peacemaker-]

Unfortunetely for Osama, there's nothing scripturally that supports the belief that prayers can help the dead.

 

[Father Heathen]

I don't think our praying for bin Laden's soul is going to do much good. I'm not saying I believe he's doomed to spend eternity in Hell, because my religion doesn't teach of an eternal Hell. I do believe he's in Hell right now, though, and will stay there as long as it takes for him to come to the realization that what he did was reprehensible and that it is only through Jesus Christ's Atonement that He can be forgiven. That would be the first step towards his redemption. If he never does get to that point, the punishment will eventually come to an end, but it's really up to him how long he wants to draw it out.

I must say that I admire the fact that Mormonism's concept of hell is a bit more reasonable compared to that of other denominations of Christianity.

 

[Father Heathen]

Unfortunetely for Osama, there's nothing scripturally that supports the belief that prayers can help the dead.

There's nothing scripturally that supports the belief of an eternal hell, either.

 

[-Peacemaker-]

Padre, you might find this interesting:

Matt 25

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

 

[Father Heathen]

Padre, you might find this interesting:

Matt 25

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

By scripture I meant the originals, not the KJV bastardization.

 

[nocturnalavalonian]

My understanding is that we should love our enemies and pray for them to come to repentance. I also understand that it is not for us to presume God's judgement on his behalf.

 

[sojourner]

If OBL is a member of the human race, then his sin reflects upon us all. What we should be praying for is not his soul, but for the soul of humanity as a whole. His acts were divisive and continue to be divisive. We need to be praying for greater unity -- for the blurring of hard distinction -- rather than for the assuaging of "our" pain, or "his" sin, or justice for the "victims." We're all victims of our own humanity, after all.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

I haven't been able to bring myself to pray for OBL.

I've been too busy praying for the victims.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

If OBL is a member of the human race, then his sin reflects upon us all.

Operative word here is "IF." And that's a big IF.

 

[Big_TJ]

Operative word here is "IF." And that's a big IF.

I couldnt agree more!!!!!!:bow:

 

[Azekual]

Oh god this made my night!

I cant believe that cardinal had the balls to mention 9/11 while asking us to pray for bin laden.

Seriously: I understand the logic behind it. He's a person who died and should be treated as such. But I don't plan on praying for his soul. I'm not letting that ******* get his 72 virgins

 

[IsmailaGodHasHeard]

It is too late for Osama. He is in hell. Once someone dies, it is too late to receive Jesus as their Friend, God, Lord, and Savior and be saved.

 

[Villager]

Unfortunetely for Osama, there's nothing scripturally that supports the belief that prayers can help the dead.

'Man is destined to die once, and then to face judgment.' Heb 9:27

 

[Gemini]

I'm one of the people who sensed something slightly absurd about everyone cheering in front of the White House while drinking beer off of prime college breasts. First of all, we're supposed to be a moral guidepost to everyone else (apparently, since we won't stop telling every other country what to do, taking their nukes, borrowing their lunch money with no intention of returning it, and beating their ***** if they happen to have better natural resources for show and tell). I don't think rejoicing death is ever a classy thing to do. Yeah, the man committed evil acts and arguably was evil, if you want to simplify. But I think we got our point across with the bullet to his head. His life was a tragedy, he committed tragic acts, that he died without living a respectable life is a tragedy, and that people are celebrating the culmination of these events while claiming to possess the only non-defective moral compass, is a tragedy.