Posted on 12/06/2004 12:44:58 PM PST by Lindykim
"Is it morally and theologically acceptable to hope anyone goes to hell? ... One...need not be a conservative Christian to believe in some form of hell for the evil. All one need be is a rational believer in a just God. For if there is a just God, it is inconceivable that those who do evil and those who do good have identical fates. A just God must care about justice, and since there is little justice in this world, there has to be in the next. And belief in the next world is also not confined to Christianity. As the Encyclopedia Judaica ... (edited largely by non-religious Jews) notes in the first sentence under the heading 'Afterlife,' 'Judaism has always believed in an afterlife.' ... Much of humanity has been adversely affected by modern-day terror. The lives of millions -- virtually all Palestinians and Israelis, for example -- have been terribly affected by Arafat. And there are hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been destroyed or shattered by him. At the same time, other than a few sycophants enriched by some of the billions of dollars he embezzled from the Palestinians, no one has had a better life because Yasser Arafat lived. ... Yasser Arafat single-handedly made nihilistic acts of cruelty routine, even respectable. ... Thanks to him, the Palestinian name is identified among people of goodwill with barbarity just as the German name came to be associated with barbarity as a result of Hitler. ... Just as any decent human being would want good people to be rewarded in whatever existence there is after this life, they would want the cruelest of people to be punished. So, of course, I hope Yasser Arafat is in hell. ... If you think that is hard-hearted, consider the alternative, that one of the most corrupt and cruel human beings of the past half-century is resting in peace. Whoever isn't bothered by that is the one with the hard heart." --Dennis Prager
No, it is not morally acceptable to hope someone goes to hell. I believe it was Christ who said to pray for our enemies, to love our enemies.
We should pray instead that the enemy has a change of heart, feels genuine remorse.
LOL!
Congrats on your tag line - You will love it!
For the sake of one lost sheep, the Good Shepherd leaves the rest of His flock, goes out, and finds that one lost sheep.
And when the Shepherd returns with the lost sheep on His shoulders, there is great rejoicing.
If I am to become a more godly person, then it seems to me that it it is hardly godly to pray for (or to rejoice in) the lost of even one soul to hell.
As others have said on this thread, better to pray for the person's slavation by a merciful, gracious God -- who, by the way, showed his mercy and grace to me when He saved me.
I really don't hope anyone will go to hell. I'm very sorry for the people who choose hell over heaven.
Of course..he is because he doesn't see "it".... yet. I'm praying he does some day. My arguement to him would be.....if it is a contest to see who is worst by judging someone elses actions that would mean.... Stalin sinks, hitler stays since he didnt kill as many as stalin.... or Im sunk but my wife isn't cause she is nicer than me.... but Her aunt lucy is nicer than her..... and so on ... where is the line of demarcation? It is not our line to draw. It is God's and he drew it at the cross.
You're welcome. One of the great things about Catholic moral theology, as an intellectual system, is that it gives you a WORD for stuff :-).
Tax-chick wrote:
And if they're Southern Christians, they'll also bless his heart!
Sorry. The paragraphs were there when I posted it. They wandered off in transition.
Hell is the termination of your soul. The second death. The end of your spiritual existance. No eternal life for you. Fin. End. Done. Cast into the lake of burning sulfer. Snuffed. The end.
You can tell someone that they are going to hell, that's apropriate. Ultimately, God is the judge. So, follow the path Christ has laid. The path is narrow.
-The Newsboys
God doesn't want anyone to go to hell.
So why would his followers wish people burn in hell for eternity?
(I realize many want others to burn in hell- homosexuals, abortionists, etc.)
But something bothers me about "Christians" who want people to go to hell more than God wants them there.
I hate that when my paragraphs go wandering.....
Yep.
Christ died even for them.
Pure love always conquers pure evil.
Heaven is one exclusive country club. The blessed are truly few it seems. I'm sure, however, that you are one of them. :-) I on the other hand...
They'll bless his PEA PICKIN' heart!
Hoping isn't judging.
Glad I'm not a christian then.
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