What's hell's Purpose?

[Kimberlee]

Or God could change the rules.

God does ultimately win.... so i guess he doesn't have to change the rules. humans messed up in the beginning so they choose to go against Gods word and God gives humans the free will to live how they want so he lets people follow him who want to follow him which leads to a battle between God and his followers and the others.

 

[Sunstone]

The purpose of hell is to justify the self-righteous.

 

[Kerr]

God does ultimately win.... so i guess he doesn't have to change the rules. humans messed up in the beginning so they choose to go against Gods word and God gives humans the free will to live how they want so he lets people follow him who want to follow him which leads to a battle between God and his followers and the others.

I am not talking about needing to do anything, I am saying that if you build a system as black and white as the one you portray and then say it is their fault for going to hell, then you take away your own accountability in creating that system. Or to put it in another way... if I create a drink that tastes good in small doses but kills you if you drink a little bit too much and claim it is the drinkers fault that they drank to much, I am removing my own responsibility for killing all those people. God may not choose for us, but he is responsible for creating a screwed up system... assuming what you say is true, of course.

 

[RamaRaksha]

God does ultimately win.... so i guess he doesn't have to change the rules. humans messed up in the beginning so they choose to go against Gods word and God gives humans the free will to live how they want so he lets people follow him who want to follow him which leads to a battle between God and his followers and the others.

This is how cults operate. You better obey/follow me or else! Followers reduced to cowering subjects/slaves/servants down on their knees in fear.

 

[MissAlice]

What is the purpose of hell?
　
The concept of hell purports a universal notion that a person/people who do not fit within a social group/hiearchy (religious belief) are evil thus do not deserve the same manner of respect as the rest. This is where fear is instilled thus setting rules and examples to those who do not abide by the peking order....errr I mean religion.
Hower the actions and morales of course differ from one belief to the next. One may even define hell as something we create ourselves....

 

[JustWondering]

people choose how they live. people put themselves there by their own actions. you have a choice rather to follow God or not. plus satan REBELLED against God and a third of the angels followed him and he is trying to turn people away from God. so it is your choice as a human rather you rather you follow God or not. satan plays a big role in bringing you to hell.

So you do not deny that God as described in the bible is a saddistic dictator? So to sum up God is basically saying "obey and worship me or you'll be sorry!". If a human being said something like that I would think they were an insane attention craving thug not worthy of my time (except to make sure they got locked up in an asylum).

If you want to fear and humor your imaginary all-powerful insane saddistic dictator I cannot stop you. Either way the idea of a Hell were people are tortured is sick. A being that "claims" to be loving, merciful, forgiving, and just would not create such a twisted thing.

 

[RamaRaksha]

God does ultimately win.... so i guess he doesn't have to change the rules. humans messed up in the beginning so they choose to go against Gods word and God gives humans the free will to live how they want so he lets people follow him who want to follow him which leads to a battle between God and his followers and the others.

I don't understand what's up with all the bloodthirst & killing? Why are some religions so violent? Why does living under this God is akin to living under a communist or a dictator's rule? Under Saddam, if you didn't toe the line, you were either killed or tortured. I read parts of a book on saddam and his sons - apparantly those who crossed his sons were taken to this building and those "lucky" one who were set free after undergoing torture were described as broken human beings. Imagine such cruelty against innocent people.

Is this the god that these people pray to? A saddam hussain is your God? A Uday Hussain is your god? And this is the dominant religion of planet earth? I am disappointed about the so-called progress of the human race.

 

[blackout]

What's hell's purpose?

To scare you into "behaving".

Also to give those who spend their life "behaving"
a reason to feel that they will have done better in the end.
(they will get their 'better' reward, and you will get fried)
Some might call this justice.
I call it sibbling ... "you're gunna get it!"
(when mommy or daddy finds out)
... erm... wishful thinking?

 

[ragordon168]

So you do not deny that God as described in the bible is a saddistic dictator? So to sum up God is basically saying "obey and worship me or you'll be sorry!". If a human being said something like that I would think they were an insane attention craving thug not worthy of my time (except to make sure they got locked up in an asylum).

If you want to fear and humor your imaginary all-powerful insane saddistic dictator I cannot stop you. Either way the idea of a Hell were people are tortured is sick. A being that "claims" to be loving, merciful, forgiving, and just would not create such a twisted thing.

i could never understand that paradox in christianity. god is a omnipotent being who embodies all things good and none of the bad.

but he cannot control evil and if you dont listen to him you are sent to a place of ultimate evil.

so either god is not omnipotent, or he is not 100% good. when confronted with this argument christians seem to use a bit of doublethink.

 

[Evee]

The trouble I have with that argument is that people use very different definitions or measurments of "good" (or "benevolent"). What we think of as being good, as imperfect, short-sighted humans, may not be what G-d has determined to be objectively good. On the other hand, I also have trouble with the "fire and brimstone" model of Hell. It just doesn't seem right that anything we could possibly do would warrant our ETERNAL separation from G-d. If it really screws up, G-d just destroys the soul, end of story. But I have to think that's pretty rare.

We have the concept of Gehenna, which is where Christians got the idea of Hell if they didn't take it from Eastern religions, but it more closely resembles Catholic Purgatory than Christian torment. It's just a place where your soul goes for no more than a year of Earth time (I don't know if there are exceptions to this year-long limit thing, but that's what the askmoses.com rabbi told me when like half of relatives died this year) to atone for any sins you didn't regret while alive. Pretty much everyone goes there for a little, I think, since nobody's perfect. With this model, G-d gets to have justice and be close to us, too! Everybody wins!

 

[Metalic Wings]

What's hell's purpose?
To scare you into "behaving".

Just what I was going to say.
Almost word-for-word. =D

 

[RamaRaksha]

The trouble I have with that argument is that people use very different definitions or measurments of "good" (or "benevolent"). What we think of as being good, as imperfect, short-sighted humans, may not be what G-d has determined to be objectively good. On the other hand, I also have trouble with the "fire and brimstone" model of Hell. It just doesn't seem right that anything we could possibly do would warrant our ETERNAL separation from G-d. If it really screws up, G-d just destroys the soul, end of story. But I have to think that's pretty rare.

We have the concept of Gehenna, which is where Christians got the idea of Hell if they didn't take it from Eastern religions, but it more closely resembles Catholic Purgatory than Christian torment. It's just a place where your soul goes for no more than a year of Earth time (I don't know if there are exceptions to this year-long limit thing, but that's what the askmoses.com rabbi told me when like half of relatives died this year) to atone for any sins you didn't regret while alive. Pretty much everyone goes there for a little, I think, since nobody's perfect. With this model, G-d gets to have justice and be close to us, too! Everybody wins!

But how are you defining this so-called sin? Let's take the example of this gay issue. Some people believe they are doing wrong, I am in the opposite camp. So, if you are with me and god says Gays are doing wrong or vice versa, you simply agree? How about the issue of abortion? Are you in favor or opposed? And if you stick to your beliefs you are sent to this place for a year or are otherwise punished? Does that seem right? Justice using a blunt instrument handing out a judgement disregarding values that you have held throughout your life?

This is the diff between a King religion and a Teacher religion. Basically in the King religion the following popular rules apply:
1. The Boss is always right
2. When the Boss is wrong, see Rule No. 1

In a Teacher religion, it's not enough for the Teacher to say she is right, she has to educate and prove to her students why she is right. It's not enough for someone to tell you you are doing something wrong, you must learn, on your own, why you might be wrong.

Plus I don't see anything accomplished by simply being punished for bad behaviour. A Terrorist blows up a bus killing several people. God punishes him, is that what the victims want? How does it help them to know that this guy is undergoing physical torment? Even worse is when he is simply forgiven.

Karma & Rebirth is the only correct & logical choice - Here the Terrorist is forced to accept responsibility for his actions. No forgiveness but no physical abuse either.

 

[AK4]

As you guys can tell by the words by my avatar i follow Christ (call me a christian and those be fightin' words lol).

I just wanted to say that it just amuses me and is great how you atheists and agnostics etc COMPLETELY shame these ignorant christians who defend such a demonic sadistic god. Keep up the good work and maybe oneday they will see just how sick and perverted their minds are.

Oh wait a minute, they will. But they dont believe that either.

 

[Nothing]

Hell no longer exists, but it did back in Jesus's time. Outside of Jerusalem there was a place where dead bodies were taken to be burned. At this time, fatal diseases were rampant. A common belief was that the people who contacted these diseases were evil.There were so many bodies to be burned in this open pit that they were burned on masse, 24/7. This was literally called "Hell". Obviously a place that people would have been terrified of. Over time, fact became myth, (a place of eternal burning) and the myth (only evil people end up here) was perpetuated.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

Hell means the grave, end of story.
There are less than 5 references in the bible that denote a place of suffering, and they are absurdly and quite often taken and used as a whipping tool to fill the pulpit.

On the contrary, there are hundreds of references to the grave, destruction, finality, and similar words when talking about God's judgment.

 

[Mr Cheese]

Hell means the grave, end of story.
There are less than 5 references in the bible that denote a place of suffering, and they are absurdly and quite often taken and used as a whipping tool to fill the pulpit.

On the contrary, there are hundreds of references to the grave, destruction, finality, and similar words when talking about God's judgment.

you confuse hell with sheol or hades....

 

[Just_me_Mike]

you confuse hell with sheol or hades....

No I don't but thanks anyways...

 

[enchanted_one1975]

It is my theory that hell was invented to scare people into acting right. Then shortcut religions came along and allowed people to act how they wanted and still be saved. Now hell is just a slang word.

 

[Evee]

But how are you defining this so-called sin? ...if you stick to your beliefs you are sent to this place for a year or are otherwise punished? Does that seem right? Justice using a blunt instrument handing out a judgement disregarding values that you have held throughout your life?

Well, we can't know for sure what sin is, since none of us knows G-d completely. But I'm OK with that because I trust that G-d loves me even though I'm not perfect. (He's said as much, and I believe Him). It's not up to me to decide if other people's lives are being led according to G-d. I have a personal opinion of homosexual sex as it applies TO ME, but not how it's applied in general. I can't know G-d and I can't know any other person perfectly, so how can I possibly judge?

Ultimately, all standards of justice, right, wrong, sin, etc. are arbitrary. No-one can have more claim to know them than any other. We all pick the ones we'd like to follow. I chose to pick the ones outlined in the Torah. Everyone else is free to pick whichever they see fit.

This is the diff between a King religion and a Teacher religion. Basically in the King religion the following popular rules apply:
1. The Boss is always right
2. When the Boss is wrong, see Rule No. 1

3. (For my belief system, anyway) The Boss loves you and wants you to be with Him. He's given you pretty good guidelines and a route to travel for when you F-up.

In a Teacher religion, it's not enough for the Teacher to say she is right, she has to educate and prove to her students why she is right. It's not enough for someone to tell you you are doing something wrong, you must learn, on your own, why you might be wrong.

This is a big part of my beliefs, but not their entirety. It's GREAT to know why you're not supposed to do things, but sometimes the reason is just "Cause that's how G-d designed it. Just trust that it's for your own good. Or believe that you're playing a game by a set of arbitrary rules, and if you wanna keep playing, just follow them. They're easy." Of course, you must come to understand for yourself how G-d designed it and what He wants from you. (Funnily enough, in Judaism, the men who help us understand what G-d wants are simply titled "Teacher".)

Plus I don't see anything accomplished by simply being punished for bad behaviour. A Terrorist blows up a bus killing several people. God punishes him, is that what the victims want? How does it help them to know that this guy is undergoing physical torment? Even worse is when he is simply forgiven.

Karma & Rebirth is the only correct & logical choice - Here the Terrorist is forced to accept responsibility for his actions. No forgiveness but no physical abuse either.

But isn't rebirth just another form of punishment? Only it comes to the Terrorist as a sucky next life. Who's even to say if he'll understand the lesson? I have to say, I see huge potential for a rebirth faith-system to lead to thoughts like "My life sucks. I must have been a real jerk in my past life. Well, nothing I can do about it now."

My beliefs hold that the very act of a sin takes farther away from G-d. The state of being away from G-d is a punishment in itself. If you do teshuva, you return to being closer to Him. After you die, if you've got sins left un-returned from, you have to do it after-the-fact before you can be close to G-d. Plus, when everybody dies, they do an accounting of their life before G-d. They face Him and go through every moment and take responsibility for the wrongs they have done and the things they have set to rights. That's the ultimate accountability, I think.

I think it does help victims, some anyway, to think that even if their abuser/tormentor/murderer isn't held accountable to them, they will eventually have to face what's coming to them. The best part is that nobody guilty gets acquitted in the Heavenly Court, and we can trust that the justice will be fair. Hell, as I understand the Christian concept of it, is a place of revenge, where the guilty just HURT forever. Not so useful. Separation and accountability that I believe come after death with unresolved sin are "the only way to go". You get a life, you get a chance afterwards to make up for all the mistakes you made and then you get eternal bliss.
(As an aside, I haven't made up my mind about reincarnation yet. There is definitely room for it, though it isn't specified. If a life is cut short, maybe, or if a soul doesn't learn enough, maybe it gets sent back to learn more.

 

[AK4]

i could never understand that paradox in christianity. god is a omnipotent being who embodies all things good and none of the bad.

but he cannot control evil and if you dont listen to him you are sent to a place of ultimate evil.

so either god is not omnipotent, or he is not 100% good. when confronted with this argument christians seem to use a bit of doublethink.

Amen. i have never seen a better word than that that so accurately describes christianity. Beautiful!!!

:bow::bow::yes::yes::clap:clap