The God, Religion, Questions & Answers thread!

[Charging Soldier]

1. What is Hell? Is it a fiery place where sinners go to burn for all eternity?

2. Jesus is the son of god, are we all god's children also? and if so doesn't that make us Jesus's equal? So why should we worship Jesus? shouldn't we got straight to the source?

3. If God is merciful and forgiving, then why would he send his children to burn in hell for all eternity? Assuming we are all god's children and assuming hell is a place to send sinners to suffer for their evil actions in their life.

4. If God sends his children to hell to suffer for all eternity, then is it okay throw my kids in the fire place and watch them suffer?



Some questions I have, I was raised catholic, and I do respect christianity. I attended a Jesuit school for a few years, a boarding school where they use to send indians, cut of their hair, and beat them for speaking their own language. The priests there would abuse and moleste the native children. Today it is ran by good jesuits and nuns, but it has an ugly past. I believe jesus is man we should respect and try and live by his teachings, not to worship.

[Nique.]

If you are a Christian and whole-heartedly love God and the Bible, why do you out right hate homosexuals? God says not to judge, yet that's judging Mr. Nate.

[Nique.]

Good follow-up question. The answer is that Jesus is not God. He is the son of God. He himself always gave credit to his father as being greater than him. The other half of that answer is that 'Jesus' was not always human, and is not now. That is why he spoke of himself as having "descended from heaven". Originally, he was an angel. In the Bible he is called 'Michael the archangel'. God transferred the life-force of his angelic son, to a human body to offer a human life as a sacrafice for our sins. That is how the perfect human 'Jesus' came into being.

The reason a perfect human was needed was to balance the scales of justice. When Adam sinned, he was a perfect human. Since a perfect human had made the original sin, a perfect human life was needed to pay the debt. None of us is perfect of course however. So that is why God took one of his perfect angelic sons, and transferred him to a human life, so that the debt could be paid. The fact that he chose his 'only-begotten' son, instead of simply a random angel, shows how much he cares about us.

Where does it say that? But word@Everything else.

[SMZ]

'Hell' is in actuality just another word for 'grave'. The idea that it is a fiery place of torment is an absurd doctrine that has crept into many churches due to faulty understanding of a few scriptures and corruption from philosophies of pagan religious thinking. Just a quick consideration of Bible doctrine reveals this.

To the first question, the Bible teaches that the payment for sin is death. Adam sinned, and so he died. We sin, and so we die. Not die and then get burned. Secondly it makes little sense that for at most 120 years or so of sinning would get repayed by an eternity of punishment. Thirdly, God is said to be a God of love. Burning people forever is hardly loving. Fourthly, the dead are said to be aware of nothing. You can't punish someone who is unaware. Fifthly, God said the practice of the Caananites of burning their children alive was detestable, it would make no sense for him to do the same thing.

To the second question, we are all children of God. However, Jesus was God's first creation and was allowed to assist him in creating all other things; as such he occupies a special position. However, we are NOT supposed to worship Jesus. Jesus made this clear to his followers. He always direct worship to his father. The importance of listening to Jesus is that, Jesus knows his father better than any other living creature, so if we want to learn about God, it makes since to listen to what Jesus had to say.

I believe your third and fourth questions were answered in my summary of the first, you had come to some of the problems in the hellfire doctrine on your own.

[Nique.]

'Hell' is in actuality just another word for 'grave'. The idea that it is a fiery place of torment is an absurd doctrine that has crept into many churches due to faulty understanding of a few scriptures and corruption from philosophies of pagan religious thinking. Just a quick consideration of Bible doctrine reveals this.

To the first question, the Bible teaches that the payment for sin is death. Adam sinned, and so he died. We sin, and so we die. Not die and then get burned. Secondly it makes little sense that for at most 120 years or so of sinning would get repayed by an eternity of punishment. Thirdly, God is said to be a God of love. Burning people forever is hardly loving. Fifthly, God said the practice of the Caananites of burning their children alive was detestable, it would make no sense for him to do the same thing.

To the second question, we are all children of God. However, Jesus was God's first creation and was allowed to assist him in creating all other things; as such he occupies a special position. However, we are NOT supposed to worship Jesus. Jesus made this clear to his followers. He always direct worship to his father. The importance of listening to Jesus is that, Jesus knows his father better than any other living creature, so if we want to learn about God, it makes since to listen to what Jesus had to say.

I believe your third and fourth questions were answered in my summary of the first, you had come to some of the problems in the hellfire doctrine on your own.

Whoa whoa, there is a Hell my man. You know, because Lucifer used to be one of God's Angels.

[SMZ]

I do not hate homosexuals. I view them the same as I would a thief, or any other kind of sinner. They are doing something wrong, that doesn't mean I hate them.

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because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel's voice and with God's trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first.

But when Michael the archangel had a difference with the Devil...

And during that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of the sons of your people. And there will certainly occur a time of distress such as has not been made to occur since there came to be a nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape, every one who is found written down in the book. And there will be many of those asleep in the ground of dust who will wake up, these to indefinitely lasting life and those to reproaches [and] to indefinitely lasting abhorrence.

It is thus evident that Michael is another name for Jesus, the same as Lucifer is for Satan, etc...

[Nique.]

What version of the bible is that? Because I've honestly never heard that before..

Matthew 13:42: "And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

Matt 25:41: "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

Mark 9:43-48: And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched."

Luke 16:24: "And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame."

Revelation 20:13-15: "...hell delivered up the dead which were in them...And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

Revelation 21:8: "But the fearful, and unbelieving ... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone."

Nate, you do have knowledge on the bible, but don't tell these people that there's no such thing as Hell.

And as far as the homosexual comment, you sin everyday just like them, so that doesn't make you anymore of a sinner than they are. ; ]

[SMZ]

Whoa whoa, there is a Hell my man. You know, because Lucifer used to be one of God's Angels.

Explain your understanding of hell to me, so that I will know what you disagree on. I listed five scriptural points behind my statement. Do you disagree with those?

And yes, Satan was an angel at one time, I am unsure of how you meant that to tie in though?

[Nique.]

You said that Hell is just a grave and that it's absurd if people think more of it. I gave you examples on where the Bible describes Hell as more than just a grave.

And Michael the archangel is an argumentative concept. Some think it's Jesus, but some say he isn't. I just think everyone has their own interpretation of the bible and you're giving your one-sided view isn't going to help people understand the bible at all. Because Michael was considered the chief angel.


Michael the Archangel is perhaps the highest of all the angels. Michael is the only angel in the Bible who is designated “the Archangel” (Jude 9). Michael the Archangel, though, is only an angel. He is not God. The clear distinction in the power and authority of Michael and Jesus can be seen in comparing Matthew 4:10 and Jude 9. In Matthew 4:10, Jesus rebukes Satan. In Jude 9, Michael the Archangel calls on the Lord to rebuke Satan. Jesus is God incarnate (John 1:1,14). Michael the Archangel is a powerful angel, but still only an angel.

This contradicts what you say, which means that it's an argumentative concept. The reason I've never heard that before because I don't think the people I know believe that he is Jesus Christ either. Because the bible would of simply referred to him as Jesus Christ, or Jesus, or the Lord's Son, like it does repeatedly throughout the The King James Version and the NIV.

[SMZ]

@Nique

"...hell delivered up the dead which were in them...And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

^ Consider this for just a second. Hell, delivered up the dead which was in it. What could that be but the grave? Hell is then itself cast into the 'lake of fire', which as it says is the "second death". In other words, permanent destruction. Hell, is permanently destroyed along with death. That is saying that there will come a time when nobody will be in the grave and nobody will die.

With that understanding you can see that when Jesus speaks of ones being tossed into the pit of fire, he is speaking of permanent and final destruction. You may have heard him use the term "Gehenna". Gehenna was a place outside of Jerusalem where they tossed their garbage and the bodies of dead criminals. Fires smoldered there always. Live people were not tossed there. It was a place to dispose of things. They burned up, and ceased to exist. Also, Jesus used parables to make points. Anytime he made an illustration, he was making a point. When he said it's easier for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god, he of course wasn't literally talking about a camel squeezing thru a needle. He was making a point. The same with the illustration of the rich man and Lazarus and others.

Not to mention, the Bible can't contradict itself. I outlined five lines of thought for you that show the concept of hell is blatantly in opposition to the concept of a loving and just God.

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As for what version of the Bible I'm using, I'm looking at the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures right now. I provided the chapters and verses however, so feel free to look it up in your own copy. Myself, I have about half a dozen different translations.

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And it is true that I sin everyday. However we are not supposed to take God's mercy for granted. We are not supposed to say, well we're all sinners, so I'll just do what I want. I try not to sin. A homosexual person should be trying to not be homosexual.

[SMZ]

And Michael the archangel is an argumentative concept. Some think it's Jesus, but some say he isn't. I just think everyone has their own interpretation of the bible and you're giving your one-sided view isn't going to help people understand the bible at all. Because Michael was considered the chief angel.

Michael the Archangel is perhaps the highest of all the angels. Michael is the only angel in the Bible who is designated “the Archangel” (Jude 9). Michael the Archangel, though, is only an angel. He is not God. The clear distinction in the power and authority of Michael and Jesus can be seen in comparing Matthew 4:10 and Jude 9. In Matthew 4:10, Jesus rebukes Satan. In Jude 9, Michael the Archangel calls on the Lord to rebuke Satan. Jesus is God incarnate (John 1:1,14). Michael the Archangel is a powerful angel, but still only an angel.

This contradicts what you say, which means that it's an argumentative concept. The reason I've never heard that before because I don't think the people I know believe that he is Jesus Christ either. Because the bible would of simply referred to him as Jesus Christ, or Jesus, or the Lord's Son, like it does repeatedly throughout the The King James Version and the NIV.

What does Jesus do in Matthew 4:10? He tells Satan, "For it is written..." And then uses the scripture to reply to Satan. He does not reply on his own merit.

Daniel 12:1,2 clearly shows 'Michael' doing the same things it is said 'Jesus' will do.

I don't see the problem with him being named both Jesus and Michael. Satan is called Lucifer, Beelzebub, Devil, etc... a host of names. We know they all refer to the same creature. You yourself probably have more than one way in which people refer to you.

As far as Jesus being God. I will argue you on that point as well. That is going to be a host of sources, and I have somewhere to be, so look for it tonight.

As far as these ideas being my personal interpretation, of course they are. But I am ready and able to back up what I say from the scriptures. I leave people to make their own conclusions, but I am confident that they will be able to see that the interpretation I am presenting is both logical and based in scripture.

[Nique.]

@Nique



^ Consider this for just a second. Hell, delivered up the dead which was in it. What could that be but the grave? Hell is then itself cast into the 'lake of fire', which as it says is the "second death". In other words, permanent destruction. Hell, is permanently destroyed along with death. That is saying that there will come a time when nobody will be in the grave and nobody will die.

With that understanding you can see that when Jesus speaks of ones being tossed into the pit of fire, he is speaking of permanent and final destruction. You may have heard him use the term "Gehenna". Gehenna was a place outside of Jerusalem where they tossed their garbage and the bodies of dead criminals. Fires smoldered there always. Live people were not tossed there. It was a place to dispose of things. They burned up, and ceased to exist. Also, Jesus used parables to make points. Anytime he made an illustration, he was making a point. When he said it's easier for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god, he of course wasn't literally talking about a camel squeezing thru a needle. He was making a point. The same with the illustration of the rich man and Lazarus and others.

Not to mention the Bible can't contradict itself. I outlined five lines of thought for you that show the concept of hell is blatantly in opposition to the concept of a loving and just God.

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As for what version of the Bible I'm using, I'm looking at the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures right now. I provided the chapters and verses however, so feel free to look it up in your own copy. Myself, I have about half a dozen different translations.

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And it is true that I sin everyday. However we are not supposed to take God's mercy for granted. We are not supposed to say, well we're all sinners, so I'll just do what I want. I try not to sin. A homosexual person should be trying to not be homosexual.

I just gave you a bunch of examples of the description of hell being blatantly portrayed throughout the Bible. If you think that there's just a grave and no hell, why do you believe there's a Heaven? That doesn't make sense how you can believe Heaven and then not believe Hell when I provided you with more than one passage of description. And to respond to your homosexual statement:

God knows that we're going to take everything for granted, which is why he puts most of us through trials and tribulations. He tests everyone, everyday. You sin everyday regardless of you saying you try. Listening to Hip Hop Music is in fact sinning, cussing is sinning, threatening to fight someone is sinning, etc. Things that seem unimportant to you are in fact sins, so to say that you try not to sin is eh. No matter what, no one will ever be Jesus. No one is perfect. God knows that no one is perfect. It is God's job to judge people, and we don't have the omnipotence nor the audacity to ever judge a homosexual, nor a fat person, nor an anorexic, nor a mentally retarded person. Yet we still tend to do it. The biggest flaws and sins that are portrayed through the human being is perception and ignorance. Your perception of people creates a judgement that God didn't want us to have in the first place, so to say that someone should try not being a homosexual is sad. In God's eyes, you cussing is amoung the same magnitude as a man fucking another man. He doesn't put a 1-10 scale on a sin. A sin is a sin. And it's his job to judge and to say what he will do with those people, not ours.

Edit: Same with the Death Penalty and Cloning. I think they're playing the act of God and I don't necessarily agree with that.

[Nique.]

On a more light, positive note, I think it's cool that you are telling people about your beliefs because I know a lot of people who are ashamed to speak up about what they believe in, so -nods- to you.

[SMZ]

Nique - how could 'hell' deliver up the dead in it, if it's supposed to be filled with live, burning people?

The concept of heaven does not require hell to exist. Good does not need evil countering it. When God first created, there was no evil.

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God already has judged them. He says repeatedly in the scriptures that it is wrong. I don't have to do anything. I'm not arguing for us to stone homosexuals. I'm not taking any action at all. It's not judging to say something's wrong, if that's what the Bible says. It's judging to take some action against that person to punish them for their wrongdoing. And there are serious sins. I'll have to get into that later also however.

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I'd like to ask that everyone suspend their questions until after I answer Niques, otherwise this will get quite confusing quickly for me: until tonight people.

[Nique.]

Nique - how could 'hell' deliver up the dead in it, if it's supposed to be filled with live, burning people?

The concept of heaven does not require hell to exist. Good does not need evil countering it. When God first created, there was no evil.

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God already has judged them. He says repeatedly in the scriptures that it is wrong. I don't have to do anything. I'm not arguing for us to stone homosexuals. I'm not taking any action at all. It's not judging to say something's wrong, if that's what the Bible says. It's judging to take some action against that person to punish them for their wrongdoing. And there are serious sins. I'll have to get into that later also however.

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I'd like to ask that everyone suspend their questions until after I answer Niques, otherwise this will get quite confusing quickly for me: until tonight people.

Where? Does God say he's going to hate them, commit hate crimes on them, be ignorant towards them? No. The most serious sins are not loving your neighbor, disrespecting your parents, and not having God as your only God. Now, THOSE are serious sins, which is refers to in the bible. And I bet everyone on this has disrespected their parents at least once..therefore, you have committed a serious sin. But to say that God has judged them, that still doesn't give you the right to judge them.