My problem with hell.

Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into the outer darkness, there shal be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but fyew are chozen. ----Who "made up" stories bout hell first, the catholics or Christ?

 

When do you think God made this “Hell” you speak of? The Bible never mentions its creation. And why didn’t God mention it as a possibility to Adam and Eve? It would seem to be critical information. The judgment laid upon Adam and Eve was dust you are and to dust you will return not you will burn forever in hell. Why didn't God tell them about hellfire? Did he just want to surprise them with eternal torment?

 

Everything God did aint in the Bible. God didnt mention platypusses or kangaroos but we know theyr here. Also, God had no obligation to Adam or Eve as an information center. He told them what He wanted to and kept them ignorant of what He wished. Thats shurly plane to see.

 

So, he made humans to love and for us to worship him. But he gave us all tehse urges we're supposed to fight? And he gave us teh ability to question, but we're wrong for using it? If "he" is real, sounds like we're simply here for his entertainment.

 

I agree with a lot of what you say here but Hellfire ain’t no Duck Billed Platypus or a Kangaroo either. Neither a Platypus nor a Kangaroo are going to affect your eternal future but Hellfire, if it exists, surely will.

The God of the Bible who is a God of Love would not create such a place let alone keep his children ignorant of such a fact for thousands of years letting them get the surprise of their death, so to speak. Not only not telling them but even lying to them about the condition of the dead by telling them that when they die their thoughts perish teaching them that death is a sleep like state not one of eternal punishment. Even Jesus likened death to sleep.

If you worship a God who would do what you say he would, you worship a strange God indeed.

 

Why does that have to be about Hell? I mean I realize many Christians will make it seem that way as it feeds off of the paranoia drilled into Christian minds since they are babes. But to me, Jesus was talking about many are called to align their awareness with God and therefor serving God with self discipline and constant remeberance, but few are chosen because it is so easy to fall down into our desires and attachment to the material world, represented by the man without the wedding garment. Dont bite off more than you can chew. Or as the Sufi's say, If you dont have room in your house for an elephant, dont hire an elephant trainer.
Then you have the same sort of stuff in the Bible that is so sorely misunderstood. For example :
"And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."
- Jesus
Well that bears the same resemblence to :
"A man is born gentle and weak.
At his death he is hard and stiff.
Green plants are tender and filled with sap.
At their death they are withered and dry.
Therefore the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death.
The gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.
Thus an army without flexibility never wins a battle.
A tree that is unbending is easily broken.
The hard and strong will fall.
The soft and weak will overcome."
- Tao Te Ching (Lao Tzu)

It's not so simple as Heaven and Hell as external destinations as many choose to believe it is. Or at least, I highly doubt it.
God Bless -

 

He's not so strange. He's kind to who he wants to be kind to and he destroys those who he wishes to destroy. I agree with ALOT of what you say also but the way it seems to me hell is very real. As I said, you might not be able to knock on its door but its real none the less. God is vengefull and full of wrath, why would He punish sinners by putting them to bed and letting them sleep forever? To some folks that would be just great! When a person is seperate from God on earth, theyl be eternaly seperated from Him in the afterlife. Thats hell. Cold and dark. Hot and brimstoney. Its every evil that ever was. It will have you and God will not help you out. Forever youl burn in your torment. The torment of being truly alone. Truly alone with all the evil we find in ourselfs. Hell will be crouded with writhing soul on toppa smothering tormented soul but everyone will be truly alone. Alone with themselves. And theyr falce god. The god that led them to hell. Theyre not gonna just pop outta existance. Theyr gonna be aware of every painfull eternal minit theyr there. For eternity without end.

 

You really need to write a book. And I'm not trying to be facetious.

 

Because the wages of sin is death not eternal punishment? Remember Jesus even likened Death to sleep when he said that Lazarus who was dead was sleeping.

 

So did Muhammad.

 

where do you go when you sleep?

 

Into samadhi, the state where connection to the mind/body is no longer present and you withdrawl into the soul. People who practice yoga and meditations can bring about this state by will while sitting up.

 

so what are dreams?

 

Well nobody really knows, we dont even know where they originate from. But during meditation, the mind shows you many things, but we are advised to just let them occur and move on. When you dream, do you ever know that your dreaming? Or at least do you act in your dreams as an observer mostly, or are you typically wrapped up in the brain activity?
Dreams are waves that move around your brain. Reality is composed of waves of vibration. Some even say that existence is a dream that God is having. Made in God's image, right? Just like creative thought.
God bless -

 

usually I never realize I'm dreaming, think they are completely real, and act accordingly.


so what happens when God wakes up?

 

I dont think any human being is qualified to answer that question Joshua haha

 

I'm sure insanity will ensue. or calamity. or nothing.

maybe he will take us all with him.

 

Well we only exist as long as God does, so yea, I dont see why not

 

But death is dramaticly differant for those who go to heaven and for those who go to hell. Also, -going by your current resoning, if Laz was dead and in hell, and God put him back on earth, -where did God pull him back from if we seace to exist when we die without our new heart? Not that this is relavent to the case at hand. Far as I can figure, Las didnt go to hell. Good thing too, if he did he wouldnt be able to come back! --Why fear hell anyway? If God gives you a new heart you wont be goin there anyhow. Folks with a new heart aint gotta fear hell or death, we only gotta fear the Lord! We all sin and we all die. Its our origional sin that brings us all death. Its dependant on weather we have a new heart or not that determins weather we go to heavin or hell.

 

That reminds me of the George Carlin joke: "God wants you to follow 10 rules and if you break them, you will go to hell, but he loves you!"

I think the concept of heaven and hell is really institutionalized. I think it may have been a way for the Catholic church to bash their enemies during the crusades and make people support the Vatican (I did a whole paper on what role religion played in the crusades)