Thanks transhuman,
The moment I saw Leolaia in the links you provided I knew I would get great answers to my questions.
Hell or no hell
by never a jw 41 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Cold Steel
The notion of "hell" has been interpreted in many ways. My own concept of a merciful and just God is that He would never inflict torture on anyone; rather, men bring it on themselves. And though hell is real in my opinion, I believe it's remedial and that it ends. People who have had "near death" experiences often report hell as being a repeated reliving of their lives. A similar idea was shown in the movie Clockwork Orange, where young, violent miscreants have their eyelids pinned open and their heads bound while they were forced to watch scenes of unspeakable violence for hours one end until they were sickened by it.
In the case of hell, people will be forced to relive their lives in such a way that they will experience, in ways we don't understand, the hurt and evil we've inflicted on others. In cases like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Lincoln and other war mongers, I suspect they'll have much to suffer as they experience, in context, the lives of each person they tortured and killed. Eventually, they'll come out of hell and gain whatever mercy and grace the Lord chooses to extend to threm. There are numerous near death experiences where people have had to go through this, but were allowed to return. So take it for what it's worth. It doesn't make sense to me that the wicked should suffer extreme pain and anguish for trillions of years (and that's only a fraction of an eternity).
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Vanderhoven7
Eternal torment is scriptural.
In fact, the words "eternal" and "torment" do appear together in scripture....once.... in a symbolic book, as a symbolic description of the fate of the devil and the symbolic characters of beast and false prophet (Rev.20:10). So the United Nations(?) or Roman Empire (?) and "Christendom"(?) will be cast into a symbolic firey lake and tormented forever. Death and hell itself will also be picked up and cast into this same batholith and no doubt tormented eternally as well.
As for "Lazarus and the Rich Man" try
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1XTUEMUNWgM4E4qb6lNiS4Qghz-wxhc0cO4C8QYkocaY&embedded=true"
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Vanderhoven7
Cold Steel, What is the position of the LDS church on hell and torment?
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punkofnice
First things first. Is the bible from god or just a collection of old writings by some blokes?
Answer that and then ask if hell exists or not.
Personally, I believe hell is a fairy tale like the bible but if you want hell........walk in my shoes......life is hell!
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Fernando
I have come to conclude that the Watchtower may possibly be largely right in the way they interpret Hades versus Gehenna.
However in staking out a definitive and supremacist sectarian position on peripheral doctrine they are simply promoting apostate Nicaean ethnocentrism.
It is no accident that those who call themselves "publishers of the Good News" are ignorant of the "Good News" according to Paul, Moses, Isaiah and Psalms.
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jookbeard
hell no, the idea of a heavenly realm is equally as ridiculous
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Vanderhoven7
Hi Punk
<<First things first. Is the bible from god or just a collection of old writings by some blokes?>>
Well apparently some of these 40 odd blokes knew some history.
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kaik
When I took lectures of theology for my undergrad, we had several different religions in the class where we debated various doctrines. Some Muslim branches believe that hell is no eternal, but eventually people achieve a mercy from Allah. Only people who deriberatly insulted God will be punished forever as they will not be able to obtain his forgivness.
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myelaine
dear Vanderhoven...
you state that the beast and the false prophet of rev. 20:10 are symbolic. But the co-text in 2 thess. 2:8-10 states that before the day of the Lord the apostasy takes place and the lawless one and the false prophet (both lead people astray with unrighteous deception according to the working of satan) are revealed...the text in 2 thess. seems to imply that (satan)the beast and false prophet are actual entities and not symbolic of an organization. Perhaps there is organizational structure in the people who are led astray(2 thess. 2:10,12; rev 20:15).but to me the notion of specific identifiable persons is in view regarding those two who lead astray...
Would you say that 2 thess. 8-10 is speaking of some other entities besides the beast and the false prophet? And further to that question, would the symbolic nature of the beast and the false prophet in rev 20 indicate to you that satan is symbolic?(where does the symbolisim begin and end in rev. 20:10)
love michelle