Hell is the place described in Scripture as the place of the damned. It is the place where all sinners will spend eternity. Satan, fallen angels, fallen people, and all who offend will find their places there.

Hell is pictured as a place of torment, sorrow, and loneliness for those who choose to rebel against God. It is a place where the wicked go and endure pain, agony, and endless suffering from burning fire. The punishment of hell is eternal in duration.

Hell was created by God for the express purpose of dealing with the Devil and his angels (Matt. 24:41). God created hell to destroy the rebellion of Satan and sin.

It was never created for people, but when they first sinned in the Garden of Eden, God had to accommodate the human fall. The Scripture clearly teaches that hell has been enlarged because of human sins. (Isa. 5:14)

The concept of Hell as everlasting punishment is a human construct devisd to put some teeth into christianity. Fear keeps the gullible in line more effeciently than the promise of mercy or love. The references to such a place in modern bibles are purposefull miss-translations of the early hewbrew and Greek texts. The early christians had no concept of hell as described in the modern bible.

South Zone - Your epistle to the CollegeStatians appears to be 1000% correct. At the end of the world, we will be in one of two places - either heaven or hell. The time to choose where is now....



Fire in Hell!… I can smell the pain.
Fire in Hell!… praying for a drop of rain.
A million screams fill the air,
but God Himself doesn't care…

Hopelessness… unquenchable, everlasting fire…
A lake of burning sulfur, smells like Hell,
corrodes the soul and heart and head,
eternal destruction, perdition, corruption, death..

Physical pain, torments of the spirit and of the soul,
all the horrors on Earth, compared with Hell,
are like a light of a candle compared with the fire of the Sun.

Both Satan and the damned tormented with the same rod,
continually, day and night, the burning hair becomes old…
Listen closely, you can hear the most horrible torture,
the eternal tormenting song:

It was my fault!…
I had a million and one chances in life,
and I blew them all...
… it was my very own fault!.

You and I are bound to Heaven since birth,
but we may end up in Hell!,
if we live in selfishness on earth,
instead of being love, trusting in the Lord.

Earth is hell

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Earth is hell

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Sometimes it may seem as such, but Hell is the place described in Scripture as the place of the damned.

Perfect Peace
Isa. 26:3-4

South Zone,

Where (aside from Revelation) is hell pictured as suffering from burning fire? When I read the gospels and Jesus talks about hell, it comes across as a place where there will be "weeping and knashing of teeth"... that sounds more like feelings of sorrow and regret than physical pain.


schizmann,

I do agree that fear keeps people in line, but the authors of the NT spend far more time stressing the importance of doing good works out of love and gratitude. Do you have a link/source that speaks on the issue of purposeful mis-translations? I'm sure the translations aren't as bad as you're making it out to be.

There is indeed hell on earth, I have been there. But it is NOTHING like what awaits those who love the world and hate God...

Lubbock?

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Lubbock?

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I was thinking more like Miami, but with less humidity.

I've got it! Hell is just like Hobbs, New Mexico. If you are worrying about your kids following the straight and narrow path, take 'em out to Hobbs and show them what awaits.

They'll be banging on the Sunday School door waiting for it to open.



[This message has been edited by TxAgKuwait (edited 5/6/2006 1:08p).]

Being eternally seperated from God is hell, whether it be accompanied by physical punishement, mental anguish, or the sips winning the national championship each and every year.

[This message has been edited by HaveGoodGetGive (edited 5/7/2006 3:50p).]

I find it amazing how egotistically arrogant many of you Christians are as to insist that we unbelievers deserve to be eternally burned, boiled and tortured. Its incredibly petty and vindictive behavior especially for people who expect to receive as alms an eternity of bliss based on the goodness of another.

You actually think that based on what you believe you will be rewarded with an eternity of bliss and based on what we don’t believe we will be eternally tortured.

When I was a child I remember laying awake at night and literally shaking and crying in existential dread at the thought of Jesus coming back while I was sleeping. I was raised church of Christ and hence I was taught that everyone that wasn’t baptized would be going to hell because they weren’t saved. In January 1995 when I was 13 I finally worked up enough courage to get baptized. I told my parents that I wanted to be baptized and they called the preacher and the next evening I was baptized. I confessed I was a sinner and that I believed that Jesus Christ was the son of the one true living God. I can still remember the deep sense of relief and joy I felt when I was coming up out of the water because I knew that I was washed clean. I remember the friendship circle that the congregation held for me to welcome me into the “family of god” I remember feeling loved and like I had a million friends. I felt a great sense of obligation to Jesus for paying my debt and I can remember being on a “spiritual high” for several months.

Little did I know that there were countless psychological pressures being shamelessly applied to me by people I loved and trusted just to manipulate my mind and indoctrinate me into their religion.

Since then I have done a lot of reading and put forth an effort to understand the process of conversion and how it effects peoples mind. Below are a few of the books I read in order to understand how Conditioning, Indocrination, Brainwashing, and Influence works in humans and it opened my eyes to how the entire process of Christian conversion is really a nice name for brainwashing.

Battle for the Mind………………William Sargant.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1883536065/sr=8-1/qid=1147046065/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-9867626-0136145?%5Fencoding=UTF8

The Manipulated Mind………….Denise Winn.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1883536227/sr=8-3/qid=1147046198/ref=pd_bbs_3/102-9867626-0136145?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Influence - Science and Practice….Robert Cialdini.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321011473/qid=1147046245/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-9867626-0136145?s=books&v=glance&n=283155





Ultimately, Hell is no more than a concept developed by the writers of the bible that plays off the same basic psychological motivations as Stockholm’s syndrome. Its purpose is to assault peoples emotions to threaten their eternal life. Once they are sufficiently scared they are given a life line. They are told all is not lost there is still hope…all you have to do is believe on the name of jesus and he at last will save you. Its an imaginery threat concatenated with an imaginary savior. All for the purpose of getting people to believe in jesus. Standard Brainwashing 101.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome


In my estimation the idea of hell is likely the most devious myth to ever enter the human mind. It has caused untold grief to countless millions. It’s an evil meme that needs to be eradicated from the minds of men. Fortunately the trend in Christianity has been to move away from the fire and brimstone in favor of emphasizing love and mercy inorder to induce feelings of guilt to gain converts. Still dishonest and evil but not as evil as the fear mongering of hellfire and brimstone.

INCOMING!!!!

in 5...4...3...2...

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HAHAHHAHHAHAA!!

Heretic - No Christian wants this for you. But, you have to choose. No one can do it for you. Today's the day, so choose wisely...You'll thank me for it 100000000 years from now....

C.S. Lewis believed there would not be communication in Hell, because it was a place of solitude.

Jonathan Edwards believed that if unbelievers are next to one another they will only add to each other's agony through expressions of hatred, accusations, and curses.

Of one thing we can be absolutely certain: No comfort will be derived from the presence of others. Consumed with the torment of raging, unforgiven sin, those in Hell will never find comfort again.

Now is the time for salvation -- before it is eternally too late!

[This message has been edited by Olsen Iceberg (edited 5/7/2006 8:51p).]

If a Christian is in heaven knowing somebody they really loved is in hell, wouldn't that put a big damper on being in heaven?

I suspect that those in heaven will feel the same towards those in hell as God feels towards those in hell....I'm not sure what that is, yet!

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The concept of Hell as everlasting punishment is a human construct devisd to put some teeth into christianity. Fear keeps the gullible in line more effeciently than the promise of mercy or love. The references to such a place in modern bibles are purposefull miss-translations of the early hewbrew and Greek texts. The early christians had no concept of hell as described in the modern bible.

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Hmmm, Jesus Himself gave the most accurate description of Hell....so, I respectfully disagree with your theory!


Luke 16:19-17:1

19 "Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day. 20 "And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores,21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.22 "Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.23 "And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.24 "And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.'25 "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.26'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.'27 "And he said, 'Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father's house - 28 for I have five brothers - that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'29 "But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them,'30 "But he said, 'No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!"31 "But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.'"