by Yizuman 226 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
DD:
Hell is a difficult turd to polish.
Most on this thread seem to deny the nature of the offence of sin, you characterize it as a little or one time ordeal, not taking into account the eternal aspect, as if the condemned ever cease from their sinning.
As best as I can tell, ALL humans sin, but God "chooses" to spare only certain ones from an eternity of flames. There is no need to deny sin.
Annihilationism was around long before Russell.
Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17 - John the Baptist said the Lord will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. This unquenchable fire is the state of eternal separation from God, which the Church has called "hell" for 2,000 years. Some Protestant communities no longer acknowledge the reality of hell.
Matt. 25:41 - Jesus says, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
Matt. 25:46 - Jesus says, "they will go away into eternal punishment" which is in reference to this eternal fire.
Mark 9:47-48 - Jesus refers to hell as where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. It lasts forever.
2 Thess. 1:6-9 - the angels will come with flaming fire and the disobedient will suffer punishment of eternal destruction. It is important to note that "destruction" does not mean "annihilation," as some Protestant denominations teach. It means eternal exclusion from the presence of God.
Jude 6-7 - the rebelling angels, and Sodom and Gomorrah, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Rev. 14:11 - the worshipers of the beast suffer and the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever.
Rev. 20:10 - they're tormented in the lake of fire and brimstone day and night forever and ever.
Isaiah 33:14 - "Who of us can dwell in the everlasting fire?" This is a reference to hell which is forever.
Isaiah 66:24 - their worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched. We cannot fathom the pain of this eternal separation from God.
Jer. 15:14 - in my anger a fire is kindled which shall burn forever. Hell is the proper compliment to the eternal bliss of heaven.
Judith 16:17 - in the day of judgment the Lord will take vengeance on the wicked and they shall weep in pain forever. Hell is a place that sinners have prepared for themselves by rejecting God, who desires all people to be saved in His Son Jesus Christ. God sends no one to hell.
DD, Stephen- do either one of you want to address the issue of who created Hell and when.
designs
Just because theologians wrestle with the topic, doesn't mean they make it go away.
designs
DD, Stephen- do either one of you want to address the issue of who created Hell and when.
Do you mean beyond what the bible says about it? What would be the point?
Hell definitely exists. Ever had a bladder infection? Alexander Fleming is on my hero list for his discovery of penicillin. Yes, there is a cure for Hell. Take the meds.
Oh just the real moral and ethical issues we have all been discussing- what it says about the God you believe in and why, little things like that.
Do you mean beyond what the bible says about it?
For the uninitiated....
Which Bible verses describe, exactly, who created hell? and when?
DD, Chalam, PSac, and I may quibble about the details, but we all believe the Christian doctrine of Hell.
There is a Hell, and it is horrible beyond words.
There is no sugar coating that. The metaphors of a burning fire in Scripture are just metaphors, but just as written descriptions of heaven cannot even begin to approach the blissfulness of Heaven, so too for the written descriptions of Hell.
Our spirits do not end when our body dies. They can find their final destination in the source of light, which is their own source as well, or they can spend eternity stumbling in the darkness, where they can feed on their own miserable love of evil forever, and bring evil upon each other, no different than Satan and the fallen angels who have also chosen this for themselves.
BTS
Oh just the real moral and ethical issues we have all been discussing- what it says about the God you believe in and why, little things like that.
I think that's what we've been doing. Go ahead and repost your mischaracterizations
