Who deserves Hell?

[tumbleweed41]

This question is directed at those who either believe in a literal hell, or the eternal death of the soul, as punishment for those who do not "follow the rules" of your particular religion, or for those who reject the basic tenets of your religion.

As an example, I will use myself.

Raised in a Conservative Baptist church in Oregon.
Accepted Jesus Christ as my savior at the age of 11.
Active in a Southern Baptist Church as youth leader and Deacon.
Extensive study of the Holy Bible.
Firm believer in Protestant theology until the age of 33.
Rejected all forms of revealed revelation and salvation/hell concepts.
Deist since the age of 35.

Now, I consider myself a good person. I am honest in my dealings with others. I base my morality on humanistic principles.

Based on the above, am I deserving of some sort of eternal punishment?
And if so, why? If not, why not?

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

Puppy dogs and bunny rabbits deserve hell.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Judge not lest ye be judged and with the same measure. I am comanded to love you and not judge you brother. I have some big issues with Paul, what if I am wrong for not believeing what Paul said?

 

[Tarheeler]

I don't believe in a literal hell, but I do believe there is something after we die.

And think those who are evil will not be a part of it.

But I think it's going to be the murders, rapists, and child molesters that get left behind rather than good people who just believed in something different.

 

[Kathryn]

This question is directed at those who either believe in a literal hell, or the eternal death of the soul, as punishment for those who do not "follow the rules" of your particular religion, or for those who reject the basic tenets of your religion.

As an example, I will use myself.

Raised in a Conservative Baptist church in Oregon.
Accepted Jesus Christ as my savior at the age of 11.
Active in a Southern Baptist Church as youth leader and Deacon.
Extensive study of the Holy Bible.
Firm believer in Protestant theology until the age of 33.
Rejected all forms of revealed revelation and salvation/hell concepts.
Deist since the age of 35.

Now, I consider myself a good person. I am honest in my dealings with others. I base my morality on humanistic principles.

Based on the above, am I deserving of some sort of eternal punishment?
And if so, why? If not, why not?

As a Christian, I would not ever presume to judge the destination of your immortal soul and what you "deserve" or don't "deserve."

I pray to God that I don't get everything I "deserve" to get in life. God have mercy.

I leave these judgment calls to God. I'm too busy trying to get the log out of my own eye to worry about trying to get the splinter out of anyone else's.

 

[Sunstone]

Who deserves hell? The drinkers of Pabst Blue Ribbon, if you ask me. Except they are already in hell.

 

[tumbleweed41]

As a Christian, I would not ever presume to judge the destination of your immortal soul and what you "deserve" or don't "deserve."

I pray to God that I don't get everything I "deserve" to get in life. God have mercy.

I leave these judgment calls to God. I'm too busy trying to get the log out of my own eye to worry about trying to get the splinter out of anyone else's.

Thank you Kathryn.

I understand what you are saying. But to be clear, I am not asking for personal judgments, but rather, does doctrine as you understand it signify that I, or a person like me, will end up in Paradise, Hell/eternal death, or other?

 

[Caladan]

This reminds me of a story I read somewhere. a man was taken by his guardian angels on a journey through heaven and hell. in heaven he saw a lake with people around it, the people all held long spoons, they filled them with water and reached each other's mouth with the spoons, allowing the person next to them to drink. in hell on the other hand, he saw a lake as well, an abundance of water, again the people held long spoons, however in this place every person tried to drink from the end of his spoon with complete disregard to the person next to him, miserably failing as the end was too far.

 

[Kathryn]

Thank you Kathryn.

I understand what you are saying. But to be clear, I am not asking for personal judgments, but rather, does doctrine as you understand it signify that I, or a person like me, will end up in Paradise, Hell/eternal death, or other?

I don't know enough about your deist theology to answer the question.

 

[tumbleweed41]

I don't know enough about your deist theology to answer the question.

Oh, if only I could give you a second frubal...

 

[tumbleweed41]

This reminds me of a story I read somewhere. a man was taken by his guardian angels on a journey through heaven and hell. in heaven he saw a lake with people around it, the people all held long spoons, they filled them with water and reached each other's mouth with the spoons, allowing the person next to them to drink. in hell on the other hand, he saw a lake as well, an abundance of water, again the people held long spoons, however in this place every person tried to drink from the end of his spoon with complete disregard to the person next to him, miserably failing as the end was too far.

I really like the illustration in that story.:yes:

 

[Kathryn]

Oh, if only I could give you a second frubal...

Well, this is your lucky day - in your case, it's the though that counts!

 

[Me Myself]

I leave these judgment calls to God. I'm too busy trying to get the log out of my own eye to worry about trying to get the splinter out of anyone else's.

The ideal state is to help others with their splinters actually. Least according to Jesus.

I don´t think you have such a big log in there, maybe it just comes and goes?

 

[tumbleweed41]

Who deserves hell? The drinkers of Pabst Blue Ribbon, if you ask me. Except they are already in hell.

If you ever see me drinking a PBR, I have been kidnapped and it's a signal for you to rescue me.

 

[Reverend Rick]

I was thinking about making a post with a big log and a PBR in it.

 

[Kathryn]

The ideal state is to help others with their splinters actually. Least according to Jesus.

I don´t think you have such a big log in there, maybe it just comes and goes?

Well, actually Jesus says in Matthew 7:5 - You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

I have enough planks in my own eye to keep me busy for awhile! But all joking aside, I think we're both right on this one and I appreciate you pointing out the importance of helping others.

My point is that I think it's ridiculous to point out the splinters in others' eyes while ignoring the logs in my own eyes. Sure - if I can help someone I will, and in fact, I often ask people if I can give them a bit of advice from my own personal experiences (read: mistakes!) and if they allow me to, I will share my POV with them with the hope that it helps with their decisions. And of course, if I can see a practical action oriented way to help them, I will. I really like that sort of approach - witnessing about God's grace by showing grace to others.

 

[Me Myself]

Well, actually Jesus says in Matthew 7:5 - You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

I have enough planks in my own eye to keep me busy for awhile! But all joking aside, I think we're both right on this one and I appreciate you pointing out the importance of helping others.

My point is that I think it's ridiculous to point out the splinters in others' eyes while ignoring the logs in my own eyes. Sure - if I can help someone I will, and in fact, I often ask people if I can give them a bit of advice from my own personal experiences (read: mistakes!) and if they allow me to, I will share my POV with them with the hope that it helps with their decisions. And of course, if I can see a practical action oriented way to help them, I will. I really like that sort of approach - witnessing about God's grace by showing grace to others.

Oh yes, that I agree completely.

 

[crocusj]

I don't believe in a literal hell, but I do believe there is something after we die.

And think those who are evil will not be a part of it.

But I think it's going to be the murders, rapists, and child molesters that get left behind rather than good people who just believed in something different.

What about those who stand by while others carry out evil, are we not all guilty of that to some degree or other. Being "good" is one thing but doing "good" is something else. If we, as individuals, have the power to alleviate suffering on whatever scale we can or even to dissent when suffering is obvious but do not even wonder how we can intervene can we really expect a reward for this? We elect leaders who take us into war, we embrace political systems that can only result in suffering for somebody somewhere down the line, ditto our purchasing and economic priorities and are much more prone to wash our hands than to wring them. I'm not judging (or even complaining about it), life is hard and a bit of a mish mash but murderers, rapists and child molesters tend to be punished and have a relatively small impact on the vast majority of us. Genocide, mass rape and infanticide can only be carried out with either the approval or the apathy of the many, most of whom will see themselves as "good". If there is a heaven then I think it will be very sparsely populated and there will be a lot of surprised people being turned away.

 

[tumbleweed41]

What about those who stand by while others carry out evil, are we not all guilty of that to some degree or other. Being "good" is one thing but doing "good" is something else. If we, as individuals, have the power to alleviate suffering on whatever scale we can or even to dissent when suffering is obvious but do not even wonder how we can intervene can we really expect a reward for this? We elect leaders who take us into war, we embrace political systems that can only result in suffering for somebody somewhere down the line, ditto our purchasing and economic priorities and are much more prone to wash our hands than to wring them. I'm not judging (or even complaining about it), life is hard and a bit of a mish mash but murderers, rapists and child molesters tend to be punished and have a relatively small impact on the vast majority of us. Genocide, mass rape and infanticide can only be carried out with either the approval or the apathy of the many, most of whom will see themselves as "good". If there is a heaven then I think it will be very sparsely populated and there will be a lot of surprised people being turned away.

So...in regards to the OP...?

 

[crocusj]

So...in regards to the OP...?

Oh, right. That...Well, obviously most of us are going to hell. Not me though, as luck would have it I make handcarts. I just think that, if there was a heaven, it would take a more proactive approach to humanity than just "following the rules". If there is a heaven then it would seem likely that all religions are correct but misinterpreted (or whatever!) and that being good in the eyes of the religion might get you a good send off but not such a good reception. The guy at the gate might have expected more than just a personal level of commitment to goodness. Very few of us will be able to say we have had no hand in the suffering of others. Your CV in the OP does not address this so I have to assume you are doomed....