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To: circlecity

The problem of of hell is that it assigns infinite torture as punishment for a finite number of evil deeds committed during a finite life.


19 posted on 01/09/2014 9:31:28 AM PST by Gloss
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To: Gloss

Not if you read the original text. Remember, there are four different words in the Bible translated “hell” with different meanings, and the word “hell” itself is borrowed from Norse religion.


22 posted on 01/09/2014 9:32:53 AM PST by Olog-hai
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To: Gloss
"The problem of of hell is that it assigns infinite torture as punishment for a finite number of evil deeds committed during a finite life."

All sins are sins against an infinite God. Thus, I'm not sure there are any "finite" sins.

25 posted on 01/09/2014 9:38:34 AM PST by circlecity
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To: Gloss

The problem of of hell is that it assigns infinite torture as punishment for a finite number of evil deeds committed during a finite life.


You are wrong. It has nothing to do with deeds. It’s solely based on faith, or lack of, in Christ as your savior.


38 posted on 01/09/2014 10:09:10 AM PST by bramps (Mark Levin: Would Christie, McConnell, and Boehner repeal obamacare? Not a chance!)
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To: Gloss
The problem of hell is that it assigns infinite torture as punishment for a finite number of evil deeds committed during a finite life.

A couple of quick points. First, nowhere in the Bible is hell ever said to be punishment; rather, it is torment (Gk. basanos). If hell were punishment, it would not fit the crime. Sin's punishment is death (Romans 6:23), which is why Jesus' death paid the price for our sin. Moreover, when Jesus speaks of "the thief," evidently meaning the devil, in John 10:10, He says that Satan steals, kills, and destroys--except that the word for "destroy" is apolese from apollymi, the word in John 3:16 translated "perish," and also referenced as the name of the "angel of the bottomless pit" in Revelation 9:10, apollyon. Death is not the same as hell, and hell is not a punishment for sin.

So if hell is torment rather than punishment, what is the torment? It can only be the lack of the experience of the presence of God, whereas the "heaven" of heaven is the perpetual complete experience of the presence of God--and this life is the perpetual but only partial experience of the presence of God, with unbelievers only experiencing God's presence indirectly via nature, and believers experiencing God's presence directly, and to the extent that they ask, seek, and knock. We experience some torment in this life because we experience our "aloneness," our separation from God, and we either attempt to overcome that aloneness by seeking God's presence in our lives, or by substituting psycho-physical pleasures, which are always eventually unsuccessful. In hell, however, those who rejected God's offer of reconciliation obtain the separation from God that they wanted, just as in heaven, those who accepted God's offer of reconciliation obtain the re-connection to God that they wanted.

42 posted on 01/09/2014 10:12:20 AM PST by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: Gloss

-— The problem of of hell is that it assigns infinite torture as punishment for a finite number of evil deeds committed during a finite life.-—

A single mortal (grave) sin against an infinitely good God is deserving of infinite punishment, simply on a logical level. Fortunately, we know from divine revelation that God is merciful, as long as we “repent and believe.’


43 posted on 01/09/2014 10:13:43 AM PST by St_Thomas_Aquinas ( Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7)
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