[A Balrog of Morgoth]

Stoddart, a former Baptist minister, says he no longer believes in Hell in the sense of a future destination. "But there is still a lot of value in talking about Hell because it allows us to say no to things in a moral sense. It's a way of making a judgment on what is right or wrong."

So he thinks it's just jiffy to shade the truth a wee bit in order to drive home lessons on morality?

Might be he's a candidate for a warm and sulferous holiday destination.

[WKB]

a former Baptist minister,



I can see why

[GSlob]

As a poet [Igor Guberman] said: "Climate is better in Paradise, Society is better in Hell".

[betty boop]

...the existence of Hell, understood as eternal separation from God.

Personally, I cannot think of a worse fate than this. Some choose to separate themselves from God during their mortal lives, and think they get along pretty well notwithstanding. Yet aons of forever in the state of separation -- which separation from divine goodness, truth, and beauty if it persists is made absolute on the second death -- constitutes absolute nonbeing and nothingness to which those who separate themselves from God are condemned to participate, in a state of unremitting, eternal conscious awareness. This to me constitutes Hell. And it's already bad enough, regardless of whether Satan's legions are there to physically torment us or not. The worst torments are those of the mind anyway, not those of the body.

To be abandoned by God because of the choices we make in life is to me the definition of perfect desolation. That it is unending and unremitting and unpardonable is its horrific sting. This is what Christians mean by Hell.

Capice?