tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-886287941175166947.post1526558344959576784..comments2008-10-04T19:29:07.758-07:00Comments on Obey Your God: No Power of HellBen Makuhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16925861469520838160noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-886287941175166947.post-75577598805683738312008-08-17T19:25:00.000-07:002008-08-17T19:25:00.000-07:00You said"If you don't believe in what has been don...You said<BR/><BR/>"If you don't believe in what has been done for you (through Christ's death, the Bible and faith) then you can't live a truly spiritually led life and therefore you can't fulfill the plan that God has for you."<BR/><BR/>And what of the AntiChrist? Doesn't he do God's will and fullfill his destiny even as he rejects God? Or what of all those prophesied to reject God? Such as Gog and Magog? Do they not fullfuill thier destiny?<BR/><BR/>And what of the conjurer who summoned Nathan's spirit from Sheol so Saul may consult it. Doesn't that witch live outside the Bible and God's will and grace? But yet didn't that witch have a spitual life strong enough to summon a prophet of God from the grave?<BR/><BR/>And What of all the saints that lived before Christ's birth? What of the Samaritan that Christ praised? And what of those non Jews and Non Christians God Praises? Such as Cyrus the Great, the only other individual called a messiah other than Christ in all of Scripture? What of these individuals, are they not with God?<BR/><BR/>And what of the Bible itself? A work not compilated until late antiquity, centuries after Christs death. And What of those most ancient of Christian Churches like the Syriacs, an Aramaic speaking church, whose canon is radically different than your own? Are they damned?<BR/><BR/>In the end all you have proven is Solomon's observation, "Vanity, Vanity, all is Vanity." That is where your comment eminates from, your own vanity and not from scripture.Lechem Ben HaArihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08861280535760360613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-886287941175166947.post-42144967331911608792008-07-29T22:23:00.000-07:002008-07-29T22:23:00.000-07:00Hell is separation from God. I remember in "The Ca...Hell is separation from God. I remember in "The Case for Faith" Lee Stroebel put it very eloquently as something along these lines:<BR/><BR/>If you don't believe in what has been done for you (through Christ's death, the Bible and faith) then you can't live a truly spiritually led life and therefore you can't fulfill the plan that God has for you. Essentially this is the same as hell. God created everyone for a reason, but it is each person's choice to follow that plan.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13425476784773267604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-886287941175166947.post-53627902157781738822008-06-05T07:17:00.000-07:002008-06-05T07:17:00.000-07:00Hell is a pagan concept. There is no underworld in...Hell is a pagan concept. There is no underworld in the Bible that is a permanent place of torment. This was a concept long held be pagans that was later interpreted into an alien eastern scripture that they knew little about and cared even less to learn. The Hebrew faith is an eastern faith with its own twist on reincarnation called The Resurrection. I would even argue that a firm belief that our final destiny is in heaven or Hell is an open act of defiance and denial of the Resurrection. Christ performed this miracle twice to stress this very theology. <BR/><BR/>What hell is as described in the Bible is three very different notion in Jewish cosmology all smashed into a single pagan notion of Hell. <BR/><BR/>Gehenna - Purgatory as described by the Catholics<BR/><BR/>Sheol - a place where ALL the dead wait for the Resurrection. Christ even stayed here for three day. It is the grave. But it is also experience differently by different souls based on their level of piety. It is actually compartmentalized.<BR/><BR/>Then there is final death, when all that refuses to accept God's laws are eliminated from existence. They are turned to ashes and swept away into the wind. <BR/><BR/>But even if hell existed, just as most Christians believe, that does not justify saying everyone else is going to Hell. For one thing, few or no Christians are literate in any of the Biblical languages, so they really don't understand what is being said in scripture. And then by claiming others are going to hell, they are committing heresy by putting themselves in God's judgment seat. And that is just wrong. It is not their place to condemn others to such a judgment. God is not about to condemn billions to hell simply because they are of another faith or see thing slightly differently than YOU. And it suggest that you do not honor God but yourself by making such claims. Notice how ethnocentric these claims tend to be. Often base on race and not faith. There is a reason for that. It is too often used to bolster yourselves above others and not to glorify God. <BR/><BR/>Re-Read the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is about the love that god has even for those of alternative monotheistic faiths who achieve God’s love through their own compassion for others. It is you love for your fellow man that determines your salvation, not your so-called faith. You serve God be serving others, not by saying they are going to hell. <BR/><BR/>Lastly insisting all others are going to hell goes against the good news Christ preached. <BR/><BR/>And sadly, Hell simply does NOT exist in ALL of scripture. You will find not a single reference to it. But it is a pagan import like Christmas and the Easter bunny.Lechem Ben HaArihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08861280535760360613noreply@blogger.com