Samantha Rinne
Resident Genderfluid Writer/Artist
Romans 8:31-39 assures as that no force can separate us from God.
But then Revelation talks about wicked people being tossed in a "lake of fire."
Now there are a number of takes on these seeming contradictions, so let's go through them.
In any case, this is a real mess, so I'm interesting in how everyone reconciles these.
But then Revelation talks about wicked people being tossed in a "lake of fire."
Now there are a number of takes on these seeming contradictions, so let's go through them.
- They're completely contradictory. God cannot be as loving as he says if he burns up some people in a lake of fire, so I don't believe in God (and neither should you).
- They're completely contradictory. But I honestly don't care because I'm a devoted believer.
- The passage of lake of fire is only about people who haven't found Jesus.
- This passage is only about those who have taken the Mark of the Beast. Possibly there is some kind of altered DNA thing, and while God does desire to save all humans (1 Timothy 2:3-4) he said nothing at all about those lizard people over there with their DNA changed by the latest vaccine/ immortality serum.
- This passage applies to the "wicked tenants" only. That is to say, people who govern the world in place of God, who should be doing so rightly and justly but have instead decided to oppress people.
- Nothing CAN separate us from the love of God. But the sinner types will be under a "strong delusion" and basically be convinced they are in a lake of fire, even if there are angels with harps all around them.
- God is loving, mainly because even those who are to be punished are not tormented endlessly but basically destroyed.
- God is loving, because those people WANT to be burned in a lake of fire. If this sounds insane, it's basically like this. Atheists and such genuinely do not want to have an afterlife. However, there is the nasty bit of a leftover soul, so the only sensible solution is to burn it up.
- God is loving, because even the wicked who are burned are recycled. That is to say, in the same way as ashes can be spread on crops, even the evil people are used somehow. I don't think this is biblical, because the Bible seems to reject rebirth and reincarnation, but honestly I prefer this idea, since the other ones don't satisfactorily address this conflict.
In any case, this is a real mess, so I'm interesting in how everyone reconciles these.