Refuting the Christian Rationalizations of God Sending People to Hell

[Skwim]

NO NO NO !!! People have it all wrong. No one is tortured forever. Those who are not willing to follow God's rules will not have a place in his kingdom. Everyone will have a chance to accept God's rules - even non-believers. No one will be excluded without a full and fair chance to believe and agree. So called Christians try to scare people into believing but God does not use fear. Some day everyone, including yourself will be shown the truth. But you will not face rorture, only exclusion.

Might want to read your Bible a bit more closely.

Matthew 25:44-46
44 Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me. 46 And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.

.​

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

Might want to read your Bible a bit more closely.

Matthew 25:44-46
44 Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me. 46 And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.

.​

I read it very closely. The punishment is being apart from God, not torture. And it is eternal because it lasts forever. Why do you throw garbage in a fire? Not to punish it but to get rid of it. And once it is gone, it is gone forever.

 

[Wandering Monk]

I read it very closely. The punishment is being apart from God, not torture.

So, no different than life here on earth.

And it is eternal because it lasts forever. Why do you throw garbage in a fire? Not to punish it but to get rid of it. And once it is gone, it is gone forever.

So people are garbage? This dehumanizes people.

God: 'Why did you make me do it?'
Sinner (in Hellfire): Huh?

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

So, no different than life here on earth.



So people are garbage? This dehumanizes people.

God: 'Why did you make me do it?'
Sinner (in Hellfire): Huh?

Well I am not personally saying people are garbage. But God will send those who do evil to be burned up like garbage. The fire of hell is much hotter than most people think. They think it only makes people suffer for eternity. It actually is hot enough to burn them up. They will be gone and will not suffer endless pain.

 

[Nakosis]

Whenever someone brings up the fact that a being who sends people to hell must be a moral monster, the typical response by Christians is something along the lines of "God gives people a choice to accept his offer of salvation or not, and God is just giving those who don't accept his offer what they want by not saving them since they never asked to be saved." However, this rationalization fails miserably and still makes the Christian god out to be a monster. For an analogy, consider a parent who is watching their child swim in a lake and can see that the child is drowning. Now suppose that the child does not ask to be saved or even outright rejects the parent's offers for help, and says "I don't need you, I can save myself!" Would a loving and benevolent parent who KNEW the child could not save themself sit back, watch the child drown and say "Fine. I won't save you because you rejected my offer" or would the parent save the child anyway? The parent who lets the child drown simply because the child rejected the offer for help is of course evil, and if this scenario happened in real life, we would immediately demand that the parent face prison time. Yet when Christians imagine their god doing the same thing, they call him "loving", "fair", and "just." Pretty ironic, isn't it?

I suppose it'd depend on what "Hell" actually is. What if hell is just the absence of God. Heaven is being in the presence of God. God is just there waiting for you to come home, but God isn't going to force you to return. Maybe God sees the freedom to choose for yourself more important than their love for you. Even if it costs you everything, the ability to choose your own fate is paramount.

 

[MonkeyFire]

In my religion only you can save yourself by ending your bigotry. God can just be passive and be happy, and hell will burn itself. He ain't sending you there, nature is

 

[Skwim]

I read it very closely. The punishment is being apart from God, not torture.

Then where do you think the wicked are where there's weeping and the gnashing of teeth as referred to in Matthew 13?

Matthew 13:49-50
49 So shall it be in the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and shall cast them into the furnace (lake) of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. ​

They're certainly not sitting on throw pillows in hell mulling over the fact that they're simply apart from god? After having been cast into a furnace of fire it sounds to me like there's a whole lot of physical suffering going on.

And don't forget what's said in Jude about the nature of the punishment.

Jude 1:7
Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.​

Why do you throw garbage in a fire? Not to punish it but to get rid of it. And once it is gone, it is gone forever.

Hey, this is your book not mine. Cherry pick those words of god that suit your theology and ignore all those that don't, as you will. Personally, this far from being honest, but then such lack of integrity is common among Christians. You have a lot of company.


.

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

Then where do you think the wicked are where there's weeping and the gnashing of teeth as referred to in Matthew 13?

Matthew 13:49-50
49 So shall it be in the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and shall cast them into the furnace (lake) of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. ​

They're certainly not sitting on throw pillows in hell mulling over the fact that they're simply apart from god? After having been cast into a furnace of fire it sounds to me like there's a whole lot of physical suffering going on.

And don't forget what's said in Jude about the nature of the punishment.

Jude 1:7
Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.​

Hey, this is your book not mine. Cherry pick those words of god that suit your theology and ignore all those that don't, as you will. Personally, this far from being honest, but then such lack of integrity is common among Christians. You have a lot of company.
Don't you think if you were on the edge of a lake of fire, about to be pushed in, that you would be weeping and gnashing your teeth. This is BEFORE they are cast into the fire and burned up. Not eternal torture.

.

 

[shunyadragon]

I believe you are brainwashed. God knows everything from beginning to end and reveals what He wishes when He wishes. To be frank I think you are in a regressive religion.

I believe that God exists and knows everything, but nonetheless considering the many diverse and conflicting claims concerning what fallible humans claim to know, and yours is only one. It is unreasonable from the human perspective to accept your exclusive claim to know, and condemn others who believe differently..

 

[shunyadragon]

Catholic priests also come to mind, what with the
scandals they've been involved in. So, thinking
that there's a God to be accountable to isn't the
panacea some would wish it to be.

Empathy is a far better motivator for treating others
right, imo.

-
-

I agree sort of, but I propose a more universal ideal of 'compathy' as the ideal of compassion with out reward or compensation, which of course humans cannot fully achieve, but first must acknowledge the universal nature of the relationship of the attributes of this 'Source' of what some call God(s) throughout and beyond human existence, and any one culture or religion.

 

[Spartan]

Exactly. God is already supposedly forcing a
person to pick between only two choices,
heaven/hell. If "forcing" is such a terrible
thing, and free will is such a sacred thing that
even God himself must step aside and let it
reign, then the choices should be limitless,
not either/or.

-

Choices are limitless. Let the God deniers create their own heaven.

 

[shunyadragon]

Choices are limitless. Let the God deniers create their own heaven.

We still have to deal with the many different conflicting human creations of heaven and the alternatives of Hell and Purgatory of different churches and religions based on different versions and interpretations of ancient mythology and cultural world views..

 

[Astravalon]

We still have to deal with the many different conflicting human creations of heaven and the alternatives of Hell and Purgatory of different churches and religions based on different versions and interpretations of ancient mythology and cultural world views..

Actually, we don't have to deal with them. I
choose to dip my foot in that pool on occasion,
but with the understanding that it's no longer
my circus, nor my elephants. Makes it easier not
to take the subject too seriously.

Life is far too important to be taken seriously.

-

 

[Rational Agnostic]

As for a parent letting their child drown. Jesus jumped into the pool and died to help the child get new life to live.

Why should a person be damned because they don't believe in the divinity, death, and resurrection of Jesus? What good is "salvation" if it only works for people who believe in it? If Jesus came to me right now and offered me salvation, I'd accept him. But that is extremely unlikely to happen, because as far as we can reasonably determine, there is no invisible man ruling the universe willing to save people only if they believe in him, and quick to smite them down if they don't. Maybe there is some god out there, but I highly doubt a god would purposely hide himself from his creations and then get mad at them for doubting his existence that he purposely blinded them from seeing.

 

[night912]

View attachment 33917

Exactly, why don't you man up for being wrong.