[=A comment on a video educating on Christian Universalism and its intepretations in scripture; ancient languages, understandings and metaphors, etc=]
Research and discuss all your man made assumptions.. FACT is that hell is eternal fire and brimstone just as the bible says and many who had seen and been there will back up the scriptures. Only ONE version of hell and you do not want to go there. Jesus bless you all.?
16 comments
many who had seen and been there will back up the scriptures
I think you're getting people talking about a former relationship, their last job, or a ride on the New York subway mixed up with Satan's home court. Just because somebody says "I went to hell and back" or "I went through hell" doesn't mean you should take it so literally.
You are using the product of a Universalist:
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Unless you can invent your own universal communications network, you should stop using those computers. [/Quantum Mechanic]
Funny, then, that Hell was originally written as a TEMPORARY punishment. Then there was Purgatory, Limbo, etc. Not to mention all those descriptions of hell that say there were multiple, different layers; that it was freezing instead of burning; that it is simply being out of the presence of God (that last one is from the Bible, btw).
"Fact" implies there is evidence to support it. Conflicting & inconsistent verbal claims from people (at least some of whom are guaranteed to be frauds) is not evidence.
Since eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable, I require hard evidence before I give credit to the reality of the Christian Hell. And no, your collection of fairy tales does not qualify as evidence.
@NonProphet
* In fact; Most of the world's faiths that have some sort of "Hell"-type realm believe it's a temporary state.
* Christian Orthodoxy is one of the very few that states it's forever. However; The earliest Christianity didn't believe it was forever (The words 'everlasting' concerning Hell in the Bible should really be translated as 'for a season').
* The Roman Catholics came up with Purgatory to explain away the subtle references to "Temporary Hell" in the Bible so they could keep their "Eternal Hell" concept and scare people into the pews.
* I've heard about Near Death Experiences (not all can be explained away as merely hallucinations or dying dreams. Some have reported seeing stuff like medical personnel working on their bodies from the outside and were able to accurately describe things and surroundings they would've otherwise never been able to) and there's a concept called "The Life Review" where the soul sees a very quick replay of their entire life, feeling all the emotions of themselves and others (good & bad). To me; That would be the REAL "Purgatory".
* If the world's faiths are to survive without causing distress or wars, they need to....
** Adopt the "Demiurge" allegory and apply all the destructive, bigoted, repressive verses of their scriptures under that designation. "Demiurgic" would mean "Human-made pious delusion made to control the masses and cause strife". Thus; The fact that "Liberal/Moderate" believers tending to cherry-pick the good stuff while ignoring the bad stuff won't be seen as "self-deception/cognitive dissonance/hypocrisy" but good sense.
** All scriptures of all faiths should be judged with Logic, Reason, Common Sense and the Anti-Demiurge concept. No need to rewrite scripture or censor and butcher the stuff. Just ignore the crap....to "separate the wheat from the chaff", if I may borrow a phrase from the Nazarene Testament.
@SpukiKitty : I'm actually aware of all that, and we agree 100% on everything you stated.
Having studied various world religions fairly extensively, the idea that a permanent sulfur pit is the "one version of Hell" is laughable.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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