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Why is hell eternal?
- Thread starter Jollybear
- Start date
Hello Jollybear,
This area is for introducing yourself, so I'm going to move this thread to Religious Debates.
This area is for introducing yourself, so I'm going to move this thread to Religious Debates.
Jollybear
Hey
Ohhh ok, lol, my mistake
Earthling
David Henson
That depends upon who you ask. The Bible doesn't teach hell, so from the Bible's perspective there is no such thing as hell. The Bible teaches total destruction which is everlasting. It's death. No torment. You're just dead.
Etritonakin
Well-Known Member
Scripture is to be taken -as written -"line upon line, perception upon precept, here a little, there a little".
One of the most important verses concerning "hell" -Gehenna/the lake of fire/the judgment -which should be taken with all others -says that whose whose works were not good will be saved -yet so as by fire.
It is essentially an ultimatum. Though the experience is potentially indefinite, it is not necessarily so. Though God is able to completely destroy both body and spirit therein, that will not necessarily be what he does.
1 Cor 3:13Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire
Desert Snake
Veteran Member
Because the text says so. Eternal. It's even worse than usually taught, apparently.
•varies by religion, Judaism, and Christianity, There seems to have been more than one Hell, idea, in the time of Jesus. Which means there is more than one Jewish conception, of Hell.
One could argue, the main difference, being, Christianity has the concept, that Gehenna, is eternal. In other words, once you have gone from Hades, which is like waiting, to Gehenna, that is eternal.
•varies by religion, Judaism, and Christianity, There seems to have been more than one Hell, idea, in the time of Jesus. Which means there is more than one Jewish conception, of Hell.
One could argue, the main difference, being, Christianity has the concept, that Gehenna, is eternal. In other words, once you have gone from Hades, which is like waiting, to Gehenna, that is eternal.
exchemist
Veteran Member
Because if it is temporary it is called Purgatory. It is thus a matter of definition of the term "hell".
Perhaps because it might seem more like a holiday if not so. And one must have a credible deterrent surely - even if it is a made-up one.
It's not. Revelation 20:13-14.
PureX
Veteran Member
I see these concepts (heaven and hell) as metaphors for states of being. And fortunately, (or unfortunately, depending on who you are,) they only become "eternal" when we become intractable.
Jollybear
Hey
Well the word eternal dont mean forever as in time with no end.
Look at jonah 2:6
6To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in FOREVER.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
So was jonah bared in forever as in time with no end? No.
Eternal dont mean no end.
We say it in relation to our work days
"The day draged on FOREVER"
But we dont mean time with no end.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
I assume no.
Ecclesiastes 9:5
This makes more sense to me than a lake of fire.
My question is how does lack of faith equal to death whatever the definition. It gotta be more well rounded answer than "because god says so"
Skwim
Veteran Member
I believe hell has been characterized as eternal so as to better scare Christians into clinging to their religion.
Matthew 25:41
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.
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.
Matthew 25:46
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
2 Thessalonians 1:9
9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
Mark 9:43
“If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.
Jude 1:7
7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
2 Thessalonians 1:9
9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
Mark 9:43
“If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.
Jude 1:7
7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
Prometheus85
Active Member
Lol
And yet, the Scripture I quoted says hell is "hurled into" the eternal fire. (So hell can't be the eternal fire).
That same Scripture says "death is hurled into" the eternal fire. Can you burn death? No. Fire here simply means, whatever is thrown into it, is "no more", which is what the next chapter, Revelation 21:4, says about death.
Don't get Hoodwinked by what christendom teaches, thinking it's what the Bible teaches!
You posted 2 Thessalonians 1:9, which says "....eternal destruction".
Skwim
Veteran Member
In response to Jollybear, who said "Why do you believe hell is eternal and not temporary?" You said "It's not. Revelation 20:13-14." So the question at hand was whether hell is eternal or not. I then provided scriptures that said hell is eternal.
Yet you're resolving your contention that hell is not eternal with the scripture that simply says "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire." No mention of hell not being eternal at all. And considering that the "lake of fire" is nothing more than a second death, a separation from god, it still doesn't say hell can't be eternal. In effect then, your Revelation 20:14 simply says that the eternal existence of death and hell consistis of a separation from god.
.
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MonkeyFire
Well-Known Member
Hell itself is moral and even offers oppurtunity, plus it's where non-violence is kept so pacifism may be omnipotent.... why destroy it.
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