"Do We Have to Jump From the Watchtower’s Frying Pan into Hellfire?"

by leavingwt 53 Replies latest jw friends

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  leavingwt

  Some may enjoy this new post at Free Minds by Sherry Jansma. . .

  Do We Have to Jump From the Watchtower’s Frying Pan into Hellfire?

  One of the most appealing doctrines in the theology of Jehovah’s Witnesses is their teaching on hellfire. Succinctly, hellfire doesn’t exist. Sheol or Hades is the common grave of mankind, and those who go there will be resurrected to have a second chance to obey Jehovah on a paradise earth for a thousand years. Those incorrigibly wicked (whom God has already judged, such as those who die at Armageddon) and those who fail a final test at the end of the millennium will experience the second death. The second death will be utter destruction and is symbolized by the lake of fire or Gehenna. Those humans who finally prove themselves worthy of Jehovah’s blessing and get to live forever will be comparatively few when compared to the billions and billions of humans who have lived on earth. If this belief seems a little harsh, at least it is better than believing that these same billions of people will be writhing in agony for eternity.

  So what happens, then, when we decide that most Watchtower teachings are in error? Do we have to jump from the Watchtower’s frying pan into Christendom’s eternal hellfire? In essence, this is a question I’m often asked by those who are having doubts and those who have already left the Organization. The only answer I can give is my own opinion, based upon an ongoing study of scripture, which, on the subject of hellfire, has recently taken an interesting turn for me.

  . . .

  http://www.freeminds.org/blogs/sherry-jansma/do-we-have-to-jump-from-the-watchtowers-frying-pan-into-hellfire.html
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  Ding

  Of course, ex-JWs are free to believe what they individually choose to believe.

  However, if the choice includes believing the Bible, Revelation 20 must be considered:

  "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever... 15 If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

  Don't get mad at me; I didn't write it; just reporting what it says...
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  sabastious

  To me, this is like debating the inner workings of the North Pole where Santa and his elves are tirelessly fashioning toys for the world.

  You know what hell REALLY is? Words in a book.

  -Sab
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  Deputy Dog

  Ding

  They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever...

  For the bible believer that's a tough one to get around.
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  onemore

  Black & white thinking always cloud our judgment and understanding of the Bible.

  I still can’t get myself to accept the doctrine of eternal hell fire; in the same way that I don’t believe that all non-Christians will be destroyed at Armageddon.

  What I liked about the article is that it presented a well balanced and biblically sound position regarding God’s punishment and mercy. Yet there could be a literal hell fire or something similar, but is it really eternal? If it is…how does that jive with a God of justice, love and mercy? The answer might be somewhere in between… and I can accept that.
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  Ding

  Deputy Dog,

  I agree.

  Jesus himself said a lot of offensive things -- "no one comes to the Father exceot through me," the rich man and Lazarus story, for examples).

  It got so bad that many disciples stopped following him. John 6:60ff.

  It seems to me that that decision is more honorable than creating a Jesus we are a lot more comfortable with and following him.
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  Mad Sweeney

  To me, this is like debating the inner workings of the North Pole where Santa and his elves are tirelessly fashioning toys for the world.

  Hey Sab! You know they just sit around eating the brownies and drinking the tea and grooving up there at the Santa Claus and his Old Lady commune right?

  Pass me that bottle of maple syrup, would you? Thanks!
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  Deputy Dog

  It seems to me that that decision is more honorable than creating a Jesus we are a lot more comfortable with and following him.

  I'm with ya!

  I think the biggest objection for most is a God who has any "wrath" at all.

  I think a God without wrath is less than human.
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  Mad Sweeney

  I think a God without wrath is less more than human.

  fixed
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  believingxjw

  Thank you, Leaving, for the link.

  I do not believe in hellfire or eternal torment such as a conscious knowledge of separation from God for an eternity. Death is death, pure and simple, and bad enough. To believe that God tortures people for an eternity is imo a demonic teaching that serves only to make God into the image of man, cruel man.

  Can we believe that Jesus is sending people to eternal hellfire or the torture of conscious eternal separation from God? I cannot. And I agree that to leave the Witnesses does not need to equate with leaving everything that was learned there because in reality it was not theirs to begin with. Many Christians, before the Bible Students came on the scene, did not believe in hellfire, Henry Grew being just one of them. He learned it from the Bible itself and from using common sense, reasoning and not allowing the teachings of others to come between him and the pursuit of truth.