[defconw]

I used a simalar exercise with my religious ed kids back in the day. It is a very interesting topic. It was right after 9/11.

[paladinan]

Well... it's also a theory for those who don't take the Bible very seriously:

"And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If any one worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also shall drink the wine of God's wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." (Revelation 14:9-11)

Then he will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' [46] And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:45-46)

Not to sound snarky, but: who should you believe? Modernist theologians, or some mere itinerant preacher in 1st century Palestine Who happened to be God?

[ravenwolf]

I do not know what hell is in the after life but I do have a very good idea of what it is for believers in this life.

Many believers build up their pride in the fact that they are believers, they will say look what I am and look what you are, it gets to the point they can do no wrong..

They get to believing they are something special of their own accord, maybe like Hitler or for that matter many t.v evangelists who we have seen fall.

All kinds of views on eternal punishment and eternal life but we do not know.

Pride comes before the fall and then comes the hell, we can not even point to the place where the pride began or where the fall began but we are in hell.

[fabian]

I think Swedenborg did travel though hell and it is as he describes...different levels where people’s souls are drawn to. They would actually burn in heaven.