tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11610171.post113078418884556779..comments2023-09-27T09:56:45.943-04:00Comments on The Burr in the Burgh: You Need HellPastor Scott Stiegemeyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16673629123931502344noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11610171.post-47157713539744196352007-06-08T16:37:00.000-04:002007-06-08T16:37:00.000-04:00So where does hell exist, since you think it is li...So where does hell exist, since you think it is literal.Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17279263835977049604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11610171.post-1143950364445725842006-04-01T22:59:00.000-05:002006-04-01T22:59:00.000-05:00Vargas, have you ever read the New Testament?It ne...Vargas, have you ever <I>read</I> the New Testament?<BR/><BR/>It never ceases to amaze me to hear folks such as you, on no ground other than those of sentimentality, declare so much of Scripture to be unscriptural!<BR/><BR/>Worms don't go out, Vargas. Fire isn't quenched. You don't get to decide which parts of scripture are "symbolic" on the basis of what you want to be the case. Just doesn't work.Robert Elart Watershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18182251436190781481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11610171.post-1136682599375972482006-01-07T20:09:00.000-05:002006-01-07T20:09:00.000-05:00The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is "a consumin...The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is "a consuming fire"--Deut. 4:24, Hebrews 12:29, etc. He is a God who will destroy his enemies ("Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."--Matthew 10:28). Sure, the place of ultimate punishment will be an awful place, where the process of death will presumably be painful (many Jews at the time of Christ believed it would last for an entire year!). But once dead, what need does God or his followers have for the continued torture of unbelievers ("because anyone who has died has been freed from sin"--Romans 6:7)? And how does anyone truly separated from God continue to exist in any way whatever? Isn't God omnipresent (therefore those separated from him--from reality itself--cannot exist)? The problems with the traditional view of hell are too numerous; the Bible speaks too clearly--death is death, end of story. So as far as I can find in the Bible, Vargas is at least partially right. Besides, God kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden so they wouldn't live forever (Genesis 3:22), in which case their punishment would possibly have looked quite different.<BR/><BR/>But the point that true infinite love cannot be complete without absolute punishment is well taken. That's a point CS Lewis made quite eloquently, and it's why the Bible is so full of the notion that God will destroy evildoers ("'Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,' says the LORD Almighty."--Malachi 4:3). The God who is love could not be full or pure if he did not have the power and the will to demolish everything in his way. So, yes, absolute love means absolute punishment and destruction of evil.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11610171.post-1136084077365984462005-12-31T21:54:00.000-05:002005-12-31T21:54:00.000-05:00There is no such thing as hell. Hell, as talked ab...There is no such thing as hell. Hell, as talked about in the Bible is symbolic of the grave and nothing else. The concept of hell and hellfire as a doctrine is a pagan belief that was grafted onto Christianity after Christ's death. The Bible says that "the wages sin pays is death." After one has died the sins he committed in his former life are paid for and there is no need for eternal damnation in hell.<BR/><BR/>I don't believe in any hippy-drippy- love-all-and-no-war Jesus either but the idea that God is so cruel and hateful as to follow after evil pagan gods, torturing and tormenting people in some hellish place is unscriptural.V.A. Jeffreyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16313347342389218714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11610171.post-1130891868105664282005-11-01T19:37:00.000-05:002005-11-01T19:37:00.000-05:00Steve Hein used to put hell into perspective for u...Steve Hein used to put hell into perspective for us when he suggested that, ultimately, what Jesus will say to those on His left hand on Judgment Day will be essentially what Burger King says to us now: "Have it your way."<BR/><BR/>Our way, as opposed to God's, <I>is</I><BR/>hell. I think of it as the place where a gracious God gives those who want no part of Him their wish.<BR/><BR/>C.S. Lewis has some interesting thoughts on this. Perhaps there are no flames. Perhaps the gnashing of teeth simply comes from an eternal freedom from God, and being left alone for all eternity with our own agendas, to indulge ourselves as we please.Robert Elart Watershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18182251436190781481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11610171.post-1130854450892178022005-11-01T09:14:00.000-05:002005-11-01T09:14:00.000-05:00Every time I hear John Lennon's song "Imagine" I b...Every time I hear John Lennon's song "Imagine" I become a bit sad. That first line "Imagine there's no Heaven..." what a horrible thought. If there is a Hell, and I believer there is, there must be a Heaven. <BR/><BR/>Nice post. Thanks.loofrinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09536726261625483977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11610171.post-1130821549411080182005-11-01T00:05:00.000-05:002005-11-01T00:05:00.000-05:00How can you believe in one without the other? Jus...How can you believe in one without the other? Just doesn't make rational sense. Wishful thinking I guess.Jackie Bolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07642429027710881958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11610171.post-1130815661973585632005-10-31T22:27:00.000-05:002005-10-31T22:27:00.000-05:00I enjoyed your post, I was in the process of surfi...I enjoyed your post, I was in the process of surfing blog explosion when I came across it! <BR/> Thomas<><texasbunchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10263198790304814773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11610171.post-1130794835487722272005-10-31T16:40:00.000-05:002005-10-31T16:40:00.000-05:00Excellent post, Scott! May I copyit and give it o...Excellent post, Scott! May I copy<BR/>it and give it out to the "Trick or<BR/>treaters"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com