How Could Anyone Deserve an 'ETERNITY' of Suffering?

This is one that has vexed me for the longest time. How could anyone, indeed even the most evil and diabolical person, deserve an eternity of hell?

Follow my reasoning. Take Hitler. Maybe he caused 6 million people pure misery for 4 years (the length of the war). Six times 4 is 24. That would mean he deserves 24 million years of hell. A long time, to be sure. But still no where near an "eternity".

This is actually why (or at least one of the reasons why) I stopped believing in retribution and retributive justice long ago. It's unhealthy. And it only leads to more evil, in my opinion at least. (I still believe in God--but not much more [certainly not in retribution in any event].)

Well, where am I wrong?

 

There is a list of reasons that I wrote, titled, Why I Am Not a Christian. One of the questions I ask is as follows:

"Would a truly loving father ever condemn any one of his children to eternal pain and suffering if that child did not follow what he wanted?"

To add to the inconsistency of this problem is the fact that Christians teach that the love of God is unconditional----a love that is so powerful, that we cannot even understand it. It seems to me that they fail to understand what the word, 'unconditional' actually means.

Here's something that they do not understand----all ethics and morals are not universals---they are simply man-made concepts. For example, a hungry tiger will kill a human just as readily as it will a deer. Is it evil in either case? No. How come we are told in the Bible that we are not to kill, and yet there is plenty of killing in the Bible---people even pray to God that they can be successful at killing. By the same token, we can get the death penalty for killing a loving father and good husband, yet we can get a medal for killing many loving fathers who are also good husbands.

And speaking of man believing in universals---most Christians do not know that the 10 Commandments in the Bible are not the actual 10 Commandments that we are taught as the 10 Commandments. If you don't believe me----go read in your Bible what the actual 10 Commandments that Moses brought down actually are. I'll bet there are at least a few of the actual 10 commandments that Christians have no qualm about breaking.

 

The hell aspect of Christianity seems very cruel. If it exists then it renders us without a real choice also. Think about it, who wouldn't choose anything over eternal torment. You could pretty change out anything in the place of believe on jesus or go to hell and you would. Eat a dead rat or go to hell forever...wear a bunny rabbit costume the rest of your days or go to hell forever...get hit by a truck and suffer for a week in the hospital or burn in hell forever...you see it's not a real choice is it?

It flies in the face of the concept of "free will" that Christians speak of. They say god didn't want robots so he gave man free will. What is the point of having it if we are not safe unless we choose him? Maybe we don't want heaven, hell or anything else that has to do with Christianity. If we can't choose that then I don't see anything but the illusion of free will. We would have been better off as robots that just did what he programmed us to do.

Free will is what got us into trouble in the first place isn't it? God told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil right? Then because he did so, man was cursed and damned to hell unless he accept jesus as savior? How is that free will? If we make the wrong choice the consequences are disasterous for the entire human race forever. There is no real choice there.

I mean honestly, what if a person simply can not work through this mind job before he dies due to his rational mind having these sort of questions? One way ticket to hell according to most Christians. Simply not accepting that Christ died for our sins is punishable by eternal flame.

Another thing that gets on my nerves is the concept that we were separated from god, I don't believe that we can ever be separated from god.

Don't get me started on this http://www.evilbible.com/Murder.htm

 

Everything in this statement is wrong.

Hitler caused much more misery than you describe.

WWII lasted from 1939 to 1945.

Oh and 2+2=5

 

I was well aware of (or strongly suspected) those things even when I wrote it. I am using those things as hypothetical examples.

 

The Bible says that the dead "are conscious of nothing at all", so I would have to ask in what way do you think the dead experience "an 'ETERNITY' of Suffering". (Ecclesiastes 9:5)(Psalm 146:4)

 

Hell would be an immoral construct and no self-respecting God would ever create it.

This Bishop agrees and tells us where hell came from.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF6I5VSZVqc"]'Hell' as an invention of the church - YouTube

This next clip shows how evil Christians will not live without a hell for those they think are evil. They love to hate way too much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv_rmQuagpY&feature=player_embedded"]Carlton Pearson: To Hell and Back (Part 1) - YouTube

Regards
DL

 

Good reasoning here.

No moral person would condone infinite retribution for a finite act.

No moral God would ever create a place like hell.

Regards
DL

 

So quite obviously God did not create "hell" and a perusal of the things the Bible says God created shows God did not create "hell"

People tend to be lazy and let others tell them what the Bible "says" and do not bother to truly examine for themselves what the Bible actually says.

 

Trying to talk sense into a Christian is like an eternity in hell.

 

View attachment 52250

Buddhist Hell

 

I agree. There is wisdom in it if read right but the churches do not teach it. Once wise, people will no longer pay for more education.

Churches want to insure that the money continues to flow. They do not want to ever let someone graduate. So to speak.

Regards
DL

 

Indeed.





“Faith must trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding.”


“Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has.”
Martin Luther “

It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into.
Jonathan Swift

"Whoever imagines himself a favorite with God,
holds other people in contempt.
Whenever a man believes that he has the exact truth from God,
there is in that man no spirit of compromise.
He has not the modesty born of the imperfections of human nature;
he has the arrogance of theological certainty and the tyranny born of ignorant assurance.
Believing himself to be the slave of God,
he imitates his master,
and of all tyrants,
the worst is a slave in power."
--Robert Ingersoll

Regards
DL

 

Interestingly there is a Christian "church" that recommends the reading and study of what the Bible says and does not ask for money to help you in understanding the Bible.
(Matthew 10:8) . . .YOU received free, give free. . .

As for graduating, there is no graduating from taking in and understanding the wisdom of God.

 

You're not wrong, no one deserves that threat hanging over them. But, it's a good way to keep people in line, aint it?

 

"Blind" faith is not a Bible teaching, faith does not "trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding".
(Philippians 4:5) Let YOUR reasonableness become known to all men.
(Titus 3:2) to speak injuriously of no one, not to be belligerent, to be reasonable, exhibiting all mildness toward all men.
(James 3:17) But the wisdom from above is first of all chaste, then peaceable, reasonable, ready to obey, full of mercy and good fruits, not making partial distinctions, not hypocritical.

 

You are correct in your last because absentee teachers cannot teach or mark papers. IOW absentee Gods are useless.

Regards
DL

 

Is hell reasonable?

How about talking donkeys and snake or seven headed monsters?

Is it reasonable to adore a genocidal son murdering prick of a God?

Regards
DL

 

True, absentee Gods are useless but God is not absentee, you only view God as absentee because he doesn't do things the way you think he should.

 

I think that if there is a deity---what is he/she/it waiting for? The earth is a total and horrific mess for a great number of people. Is this supposed to be some kind of test?? That people are tortured, starved, mutilated,killed, succumb to completely unnecessary accidents and all sorts of mayhem--how does a christian rationalize the misery and degradation that takes place?? "Mysterious ways"doesn't get for me. Faith, under the circumstances I mentioned, is what is mysterious to me.