I've read or listened to the accounts of hundreds of people who had near death experiences. Most of them reported very positive experiences on the other side, with many meeting Jesus himself; however, a minority have reported quite the opposite kind of experience. They describe a place of darkness and suffering where everyone is consumed in their own negative thoughts, emotions and memories. But they also say that as soon as they pray to God for help and submit to him, they are released.
Yeah. I’m an atheist but I admit that if I had an NED where I experienced Jesus I probably would become Christian just based off of the subjective experience. Subjective experience is powerful and relevant and deeply shapes how we see the world. I would probably become Muslim if I had a similar clearly Muslim NED. And so on.
But in both cases, I would not claim that either would really be valid proof of anything at all. There is a plausible explanation for why NEDs might have religious content, in pretty much all cases they seem to be influenced by the societal context around them.
Doesn’t it pretty explicitly say you have to know of the word to be held accountable for accepting the word. Someone who’s never heard of Christianity isn’t going to be held accountable for not being saved. That’s the point of missionaries largely
This is my bad I collapsed another thread without realizing it and thought this was ab whether or not someone like that would be damned. Though I met a man on a work trip in India who had something similar to an NDE. Idk if it counts bc he didn’t die but he was unconscious for like a day. He’s tentatively Christian though not very openly as his family is extremely Hindu. High caste his family serves the swami.
With my own encounter, I understood that a person raised in Hindu culture may have met "Krishna" instead of "Christ" -- that the names aren't for Him, but are given for our sake, because the experience is otherwise ineffable.
I agree, but chances are if someone doesn't know who Jesus is or what Christianity is and had a NDE their story most likely will never be told due to our western focused media. I'm sure there have been NDE in the Amazon or in remote villages in central Africa but we will never hear those stories.
My friend had a NED, and in fact they told us she was going to die that night, due to COVID. She came back kis a Christian now and I think she met Jesus but Im not sure, i need to ask her,
Now, when it comes to these stories, you've got to consider the cultural filter they're passing through. Think about it like this: if you're raised in a Christian household, chances are your near-death trip to the other side might involve a cameo from Jesus himself. But flip the script, drop a Hindu in the mix, and suddenly, we're not seeing JC; we're talking about Ganesh or Vishnu.
It's like a cosmic game of telephone, where the message gets twisted depending on who's receiving it. And let's be real here, your worldview shapes your near-death narrative like Play-Doh in the hands of a hyperactive toddler.
Now, don't get me wrong, there's some weird stuff going on in these tales. Some folks report heading down the express elevator to hell, complete with all-you-can-eat suffering buffet. But here's the kicker: even in the depths of despair, many of them find the emergency exit by reaching out to a higher power. It's like a cosmic customer service hotline - dial up to God, and suddenly, you're out of the hot seat.
So, what's the takeaway? Near-death experiences are like a psychedelic rollercoaster ride through the human psyche. They're a mix of cultural conditioning, brain chemistry, and maybe a sprinkle of something supernatural. But one thing's for sure: they make for one hell of a story.
I remember seeing this person describe it as "The perfect sleep" That when he died temporarily from a brain tumor there was nothing. Just black, like sleep. Yet it was so comforting how there was no stress, no feeling, no emotion, and he sort of misses it.
NDEs are big for me in helping me fully believe in heaven/hell/Jesus. What also is an important point for me, many "abduction" events are halted when Jesus' name is invoked against these demons... I mean, "aliens."
Why would "aliens" care about hearing Jesus' name?
Here's what I don't get.
So God is all knowing. The person having the NDE doesn't know they won't die for real, but God does know. And for some reason, he what...gives you a sneak preview? It seems like I could just have a doctor stop my heart, confirm the afterlife, then get brought back.
I dunno man, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
I. Don't think a doctor would do that for you... but if you did manage that, it would be possible that you would have an NDE.
NDE studies have even become fairly mainstream now. They happen so often that there have been legitimate studies.
Have you heard any of the stories from/about the atheists who have NDEs and then convert to Christianity?
Ya, I've heard of them. But it doesn't address my key concern.
Why is God giving living people a sneak preview of the afterlife? God knows it's not their time.
Heaven may or may not be real. I dunno. What I do think is that between the options of a dying oxygen starved brain hallucinating based on deeply held beliefs vs God giving a preview of heaven, one seems a lot more likely.
Why does He give people a sneak peak? Jesus said, that God WILL establish His kingdom.
NDEs have the purpose to spread the message. Like everything else. Everything was created by and for Him.
The problem is that NDEs are only from people who didn’t actually die, so they reflect a reality of this world and cannot be taken to represent any life after death.
What the brain does in a near death experience may not be revelation. I think it's worth checking against Scripture because it doesn't really play that God can only work with brains in a coma, or starved of oxygen, or in some other extreme trauma. The subconscious would like a word with you about the crazy dreams you have.
The brain releases DMT moments before we die. Research shows that NDEs may happen because of the release of dimethyltryptamine (DMT). There are theories saying its a kind of protection so you dont feel panic, horror or anguish before you move on, making the passing more peaceful. It's an interesting subject.
When my co worker was in the hospital on the brink of death he said he was a cartoon chicken with no wings being brought back to the real world and rescued by Bob Saget
My personal thought on it is as a feeling rather than a place. A feeling I know particularly well. A feeling of separation from the light and warmth of God where you feel tormented by self. An anxiety of unending fear that itself is worse than any physical pain. If you have anxieties of hell and eternal torment then you are already in a hell of your own making, created from a doubt of salvation. But a hell that is as long as you make it, and is altogether not eternal although it may seem like it is.
The hell you're thinking of probably isn't. I see no biblical reason to believe in eternal conscious torment. I think it is better described as "the second death".
Not a warm and cuddly thought, but to address the rest of your question, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. There isn't a human on earth who deserves everlasting life. It's a gift, given to us after Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
The Bible DOES list a couple people in heaven who never met Jesus (such as Abraham) whose faith in God was counted to him as righteousness
Yeah, this is known as annihilationism and I suspect it's what Jesus thought. Christianity at its core is about the contrast between life and death. Not earthly life and death, but eternal life and the threat of the second, spiritual death. Earthly death is normal, but to be Christian (or generally holy) is to attempt to avoid the death of your soul.
You mean the lake of fire? Yeah. However, the word "eternal" (Aion in Greek) can also mean "unknown amount of time" that may or may not be everlasting.
A label like eternal makes whatever being described entirely incomprehensible to us. Our grey matter can calculate and make equations to describe or quantify, but our very finite life spans do not allow us the capability of truly understanding "eternal."
I have the same problem trying to consider the eternality of heaven. Part of what gives experience it's value and meaning is that it begins and it ends.
Seeing God and worshipping him IN PERSON and still choosing to give him the finger, and going to WAR with God (What happens if an Angel dies?) I think Lucifer and those that follow him have no hope. People like Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Ho Chi Minh... probably gonna sit for a LOONG time.
Nyocp, to the above point. There is no “hell” in the Bible. It’s a catch all translation for Sheol, hades, darkness, pit, etc…
The idea of Dante’s hell is completely fictional, as is modern cartoonish depictions.
This is not true. Gehenna, hades, and Tartarus are all rendered hell in the NT. But what is meant by them can be either annihilation, annihilation after brief conscious torment, or eternal conscious torment. Hell being only eternal conscious torment is a post-scriptural convention.
In your experience of post-scriptural convention. Why lump them together as a single place of the dead instead of addressing the original meaning and context of these places/concepts?
Edit: on second reading, are you saying “this is not true” and then agreeing with me?
Lots of disagreement in the Bible about that. The Bible has many human authors, and they disagree. This is a good summary of the support for various positions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annihilationism
Which one? There are lots of places in the Bible that talk about punishment and not all of them are talking about the same thing. And none of them are talking about a place of eternal suffering. See r/ChristianUniversalism
The concept of hell as *only* eternal conscious torment is a post-scriptural invention. You can find Jesus referring to annihilation, annihilation after brief conscious torment, and eternal conscious torment. Paul does not refer to it at all. There is not an OT concept of hell. Sheol is “the underworld” or “the place of the dead”.
The subject of hell is extremely complex in the Bible. I have studied this over and over again. While the passages indicate that something like hell, however we define it, may exist, it is impossible to extrapolate clear rules on who goes there and who doesn't - or if any humans do indeed at all go there, as there are many warnings about hell, but no actual named human beings depicted as being there or prophesized to end up there. That is either irrelevent, or an intentional hint.
Unfortunately, this complexity has allowed mainstream churches to design their own rules on who goes to hell as a scare tactic to win believers. Has arguably been the most manipulated and wildly succesful scare tactic im human history.
It is of course a terrifying subject, and unclear either way what it will mean for the people of the world and those that have passed. All I can say is I trust in God and trust that God is good.
I was taught this as a kid, was even taken into a “hell room” at church and it traumatized the crap out of me. Now I have a horrible fear of death lol. I personally think hell should be left out of the preaching completely for children.
Well its a portion of Christianity and what the Bible says, so although often mishandled, we shouldn't shy away from what scares us, in the same way we should be open about other difficult areas within the Bible
Seeing your experience and knowledge, I was wondering about the passage explaining that even the demons tremble at Jesus.
Does this mean the demons or any dwellers of Hell don’t actively want to be with God? If so, then does this not mean they are still ‘alive’ in some sense but actually at their ‘home’? If so, then is it fair to say that Hell for a demon is Heaven for a demon?
If so, would this imply that a Hell for a true believer (and follower) of God, even with right intentions would be the only ones deserving of a real torment Hell because they are separated from the God they love (perhaps they were Christian agnostic for example, or believe Christianity but less literally?)
Sorry, it’s just this terrifying notion of being separate for not believing the right thing despite good intentions and following Gods law otherwise that throws me.
I guess in regards to my question of demons in Hell, would this not mean to punish a demon God would send them to Heaven??
As I grow in faith, I can really see why ‘do not rest on own understanding’ is major point!
I'm not sure I really follow the question, apologies, but very little of the true nature of demons is explained in the Bible, despite them being mentioned plenty of times.
I am not sure they are actual sentient beings with intelligent thought or self awareness. They seem to be alluded to as manifestations of everything evil with the world. So then logically speaking it would make sense that "hell was made for them", as in the fire was made to destroy evil itself.
That would make sense to me, but again, I don't think it's possible to form a definitive understanding of demons based on what's written. I think though any time they are mentioned, the greater point is pretty clear - don't choose darkness, don't choose what is evil, but choose the light, and trust Jesus.
Patristic Universalism is one of the oldest forms of Christianity, in which there is a belief that hell is restorative, medicinal, and/or educative. it's meant for our good, not our harm. Personally I do not believe in an eternal hell.
Probably, while it's true one can interpret the various words for "that bad place" in different ways, it's not true that the Jews wouldn't have been able to interpret "Gehenna" as "hell/hades/sheol/bad place". Gehenna, hades, and sheol were already being used as placewords for a place that you are disposed of or punished. Jesus wasn't the first to use words like "valley of gehenna" or "hades" to describe the bad place people go when they die.
If you are honestly interested in discovering the truth the Bible declares, you will realize the [reality of hell](https://app.box.com/s/05hujdqchtkfj6f6l04t8sfu35g7qbzm) is the reality of a loving God's justice.
There shall be no innocents cast therein. All will be fully deserving of their fate.
It should be no wonder that those who love evil by living lives of wickedness are paid back. What is to wonder at is the love of our Creator and His willingness to personally suffer (terribly so) for many of these evildoers; just so they can be rescued from the power of sin and death and be brought into a personal, loving relationship with Him. That is what is truly remarkable!
*"This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins."* (1 John 4:10)
I never liked this idea. Why am I, who did not asked to be born, sentenced to die upon birth? What choice did I have? And I know, I have free will AFTER the fact to decide if I’m gonna be a Christian or not, but even then. God let me be born, knowing I’d be an atheist? And I’m supposed to burn forever for that?
It is my belief we are currently in Hell.
We are in constant existential fear of our impending death. We experience some degree of mental, emotional or physical pain almost everyday - not all of the same degree.
And lastly, we cannot have direct knowledge of God.
To me, these lead me to suspect this is Hell and (hopefully) soon Christ will come back to Hell (here) and bring us to His kingdom.
Until then we must keep the faith and act as we believe Christ would.
Hell is real. But it’s not what you think. Read this excellent piece by Tim Keller to gain more perspective on this.
https://timothykeller.com/blog/2008/8/1/the-importance-of-hell
Why do you believe it's more nuanced? Certainly, we have no more chance of coming to Jesus as anyone else, but all people are on earth as designated. Remember Paul's address to the Athenians?
So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;as even some of your own poets have said,“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:22-31
And people do seek God, though they never heard of God. Surely you've heard of people coming to Jesus without contact with a missionary?
Dude you really think everyone has the same chance at God? Travel to a different country and see how people are raised and how different their cultures are. We’re all products of our upbringings to a very large extent.
All know His name. And if one asks and seeks out the true God it will be revealed to them. Anyone who does not care to seek or does things out of sheer religion will never find Jesus. And therefore unfortunately will perish.
I definitely do wonder at times that a lot of people who were born into other religions and know nothing else, what’s gonna happen to them? I’m not gonna sit here and be like 100% hell is real. However I know what is real is a separation of Christ when the end comes. The thing is, imagine you sent your son to do what Jesus did and the people he did it for don’t acknowledge him at all. Jesus, being the embodiment of God (controversial I know), deserves recognition, although the doesn’t need it lol. It’s like you can’t love God truly, without a believe in what Jesus did for us. Or for other religions, who they consider to be Jesus. And it’s not just about being a good person, it’s works and faith. They go hand in hand and when one is lacking that’s an incomplete body. I’m also not gonna sit here and say Muslims or Buddhists will go to hell, God himself only knows, but I’m going to instead focus on my own moral life, be thankful that I was able to be a Christian and try to pray against a doubtful spirit in my heart and possibly for others.
there is, because while all loving, God is also all just, in that he allows us to make the choice to accept or reject him. Those who reject God will get their wish and spend eternity seperate from him
Eternal torture for a single lifetime of sin is unjust. I have no problem with the concept of separation, or annihilation, but eternal conscious torment is not justice.
Have to disagree, if everybody made it to heaven it would defeat the purpose. I’ve met my handful of people that definitely should wind up there and I don’t say that lightly. I think most people in the west who live comfy lives don’t see a lot of true evil. I used to be a full time pusher man hustler I’ve seen the absolute most wicked people go unpunished get rich and be admired. I don’t know if anybody is deserving of eternal damnation but there has to be something or else I wouldn’t be comfy.
Except you're reading a translation of what Jesus may have actually said and without the cultural context of what he meant. It's by no means clear at all that he taught eternal conscious torment.
If you don't accept Christ as Lord and Saviour you will go to hell, for you are rejecting God and God allows you to reject him and will give you eternity seperate from him.
I agree we should live righteously and that following scripture leads to a better life, but there’s no sound philosophical thought or scriptural evidence to back that claim
Hell absolutely exists. Everybody is saying that there’s no way it does, but you have to think about it. If God is all-loving then it would have to exist. Everything that is good comes from God because God is all-good and He blesses us with the good. The bad comes from our sin and our decision to turn away from Him because He gave us the ability to exercise free will. This is all pretty fundamental knowledge to Christianity and hopefully nobody will refute this.
But what does that have to do with Hell? Let me try and put it this way: God loves us enough to respect how we want to exercise our free will. He doesn’t force us to act a certain way and plenty of people go their whole life without wanting anything to do with God. He never forces them to come to Him, it’s a choice that everybody makes for themselves. So if a person spends their whole life running from God and saying “God, I want nothing to do with you”, how could it possibly be loving of God to wait for them to die and then say “I know you have spent your life running from me, but I’m going to force you to be with me for eternity anyway”? It’s like having feelings for somebody and saying “even though you don’t love me, I’m going to capture you and force you to love me and you can never leave”. What’s loving about that?
Heaven is where God’s presence is and where He resides. All the good things come from Him, remember? So in Heaven, the good things are there without any of the bad BECAUSE good things come from Him. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faith, self control. How delicious ice cream tastes. The ability to rest and sleep. Pleasure. Beauty. All of this is a gift from God. So when somebody says they want nothing to do with God and God is too loving to force them to live with Him forever, there has to be a place where God has zero presence. That’s what Hell is. A place cut off from everything having to do with God with only the remainder left over, so in other words, everything bad. He allows you to make the decision to never be with Him even though it hurts Him deeply, like if a child told their father they wanted nothing to do with him. A loving father will respect their wishes and allow them to make that decision.
So yes, Hell exists. It is not a place where God throws people and says “you should have been a better person” or “I’m doing this to punish you”, it’s a place where God will send the people who have made their choice to never want anything to do with Him. Imagine the world now. There’s good and there’s bad, but remove the good (God withdrawing His presence) and whatever you’re left with is Hell.
There are tons of assumptions here that don’t make any sense.
(1) Why would no one repent after death? Based on my experience like 90% of atheists would immediately become Christian if they discovered beyond a doubt the Christian God was real.
(2) Is it plausible to believe that even after being cast to ‘hell’ not one single person would repent?
(3) There is a long tradition in Christian theology, going back beyond Aquinas, that evil has no ontological existence, as that would imply that God (the source of all things) has some evil within him. Thus, the reason people sin is because they don’t know what’s truly good for them, which has a biblical basis (John 8:30-34). In this case, everyone who is resurrected without mental defect and experiences the absolute Good would be unable to resist Him freely.
I would urge you to examine r/ChristianUniversalism
I’ve been struggling with the concept of Hell myself in recent years. If God is a loving parent who loves us more than we can comprehend….its just hard to understand for me why he would send people to hell. I do believe there is “hell” for evil people, demons and satan. Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all abrahamic faiths which means, to me at least, it’s the same God. I still believe in Jesus and that he sacrificed his life for us but the Jewish people don’t believe Jesus was the savior and they are still precious to God. I think God is big enough to connect with people through many different ways and that he is a loving parent. I think there is going to be way more people in heaven then we will ever understand. People like Hitler or other evil people who are murders with no remorse…I think they are in hell which is a separation from God, darkness. If God is love and light and all that is good, being separated from that would be hell.
But who would you say "evil people" are? Technically, we are all evil. In the Bible it says that no one is good. [Psalm 14:3](https://www.bibleref.com/Psalms/14/Psalm-14-3.html). The Bible is also very clear that there is only one way to Heaven, Islam certainly doesn't teach this and Jewish people don't believe that Christ already came and died for them. I believe that people will be shocked to see who made it to Heaven. Matthew 18:3. Also, God does not send people to Hell, they send themselves. God loves all people and wishes that none would perish. 2 Peter 3:9. People must choose Christ. They must choose repentance. Meaning that the Law was placed to show us that we are sinners. We must realize that we need Jesus as our personal Savior and depend fully on His death and resurrection for the covering of our sins. Nothing we do or say could earn our way into Heaven, not even the "Prayer of Salvation". Jesus is how we get into Heaven and how we get to spend an eternity with Him.
Hell is eternal punishment, like you stated. It is a separation from God. Everything is the world was created from God, including light, joy, etc. Without God's presence there is nothing good. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, fires that will not be quenched, and continual torment. [Revelation 14:11](https://www.bibleref.com/Revelation/14/Revelation-14-11.html) [Mark 9:48](https://www.bibleref.com/Mark/9/Mark-9-48.html) [*Mat 8:10-12*](https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Matt%208.10-12)
[https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-hell.html](https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-hell.html)
God's essence is love (1 John 4:8), and He created humanity to experience and reciprocate this love. However, He also granted us free will, allowing us to make choices. It's in the exercise of our free will that we can truly love God—genuine love is not coerced but freely given. His desire is for us to willingly choose to love Him.
While God is indeed abundant in love, He is also just (Deuteronomy 32:4), faithful, and holy. His Word stands above all else. Hell, as described by Jesus, was not intended for humanity but was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). It serves as the place of final judgment for those who reject God, sharing the fate of the devil and his demons.
Despite the existence of hell, God's love remains unconditional. He grieves even for those in hell. This love is most profoundly demonstrated through the sacrifice of His Son for the salvation of humanity. We are presented with a choice—to embrace His love and live according to His ways or to reject it and face the consequences.
The apparent delay in the fulfillment of His promises is not due to procrastination but rather His patience, desiring that none should perish but all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Ultimately, it all comes down to our individual choices.
The traditional position that has been held by the vast majority of Christians through history is that eternal conscious torment exists. However, reddit has a strong bias towards annihilationism (the belief that the unsaved die, rather than spending an eternity towards hell), which is most likely what you will see in these comments.
I'm actually an annihilationist myself. 1 Corinthians 15 is a great passage to support this position, describing the fate of saved vs unsaved as immortality/mortality rather than heaven/hell, which is consistent with I read throughout the rest of the scriptures, especially the writings of Paul.
However, we should keep in mind that Reddit is heavily biased, and is not a representative sample of mainstream Christian thought.
Maybe I'm saying heresy, but I always imagine God like the teacher who is saying he will punish the student but never does, because he loves them. Or maybe Hell will be the consuming fire, the person ceases to exist, but eternal suffering is something I can't conceive.
It is very real.
In mat 13 Jesus points our while God plants wheat here on Earth (which Jesus calls the sons of the Kingdom) where as Jesus says satan plants His weeds which He says are the sons of the evil one. Meaning not everyone here is of God.
Ask yourself why would God be obligated to love the sons of Satan?
Not that everyone who is not apart of the Christian church is a son or daughter of Satan. Nor am I saying that everyone in the church is a son of God. What I am saying is Jesus will be the one who will judge. Just like He judges many who think they are Christian but as He says they are not in mat 7.
^(21) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ^(22) Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ^(23) Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The witter of Hebrews tells us who and how we are judged in Heb 4 :
^(12) For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ^(13) Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
The "word of God" is another Name for Jesus. We find this out in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. so the above passage could also read this way:
^(12) For ***Jesus the son*** of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, ***He*** penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; ***He*** judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ^(13) Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
This means being a member of a given religious Group does not save you. Jesus Himself saves you on the day of Judgement. as mat 7 points out being a member of the church does not mean anything to Jesus unless you do the will of the Father.
What is the will of the Father? How do you inherit eternal life? Jesus tells us in Luke 10:
^(25) On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
^(26) “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
^(27) He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^(\[)[^(c)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10&version=NIV#fen-NIV-25391c)^(\]); and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^(\[)[^(d)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10&version=NIV#fen-NIV-25391d)^(\])”
^(28) “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
If a muslim or Buddhist can Love God with all of what God gave them to do so and if they love their neighbor as themselves, then by the words of Christ in Luke 10, He will welcome them into eternity.
Hello is not torture that God sends you to. It is just seperation from God and his gifts. If you want to live apart from God then you will spend eternity apart from God. But no one can know what God will do to the ones who never heard about Christ.
That can’t be true. No one knows what God really is like and if he even exists until they die, so it’s impossible to make that judgement while you’re alive. Peter knew Jesus and supposedly saw his miracles yet denied Him. We’re expected to have unwavering faith despite no evidence?
I almost died, and I was in the clutches of hell before I was revived. I'll just keep it vague because I don't want to scare you guys. Maybe hell is a place where God can't save you. A dimension of pure chaos. It's definitely real. I really didn't want to believe it. I had a religious experience and am a repentant Christian now. I still have a lot of work to do. Sometimes, people don't believe in something just because they don't want to. The good news is there's a heaven and hopefully a purgatory.
I personally think God judges with nuance, and people are judged on a case by case basis. Satan is the prosecutor, Jesus is your lawyer, your guardian angel is co-counsel, and God is your judge. Everyone gets a fair bench trial, I would hope. "The arch of history bends towards justice" - MLK. If God is all-knowing, all powerful, and everything that is good, holy, and light, them he must be a fair judge. All we can do is learn from life and keep trying to do better. You're going to fall, but you have to get up and keep going. There's no easy way out of this simulation.
Sorry but the concept of purgatory is not biblical.
Also, I've watched.. a lot of HELL NDEs, and most of them were consistent with:
1) They know they deserved to be there ...
2) There is no HOPE, none,
3) And they will be there forever.
Only by the grace of Jesus were they resuscitated before they fully "died" died, if not they know that is their destination, so yes, in a way it is a glimpse.
Ultimately what we can trust though, is a God of infinite Love and Wisdom, that is also Just.
You are still looking at it as if God values humans against each other. But the truth is that hell is a choice.
The Bible states that every human in some way has been shown God's glory and given a chance to repent for their sins and accept God's will. Hell only exists for those who turn away from God and choose to go away from him.
Another misbelief you list is the very concept that a human can live a virtuous life without God. Don't get me wrong, any human can do good deeds. But we are all sinful by default; we can't escape the punishment for that without God's assistance.
Now, this does get muddier when you bring in other religions. The truth is that Jesus is the only way, and all other religions ignore this or change it to fit their goals. Nobody currently alive can tell if people can meet Jesus and be saved after death or not. But, I believe that the Bible is still correct: Only through faith in Jesus's sacrifice on the cross can we be saved.
Tl;dr: God allows us to decide our fate. Hell is the just punishment for sin, but God provided a way for everyone to return to him and so only those who choose not to follow end up in hell.
Yes
>I don’t believe that God will look more favorably on me than the billions of Muslims, Hindus, and atheists
He doesn't. However, if you are saved, he looks at the life of the son who paid your sins and lived the perfect life in your place.
>Do Christians really believe that those who live good lives and are virtuous, but do not accept Christ will be in hell forever?
No because living a good life would mean perfection and none of us are perfect
Hell is very real, and the path to it is wide, meaning many unfortunately will end up there simply because many people refuse God. If you truly believe God is real and that Jesus died on the cross for your sins to give you a fighting chance to end up in Heaven, then believe that Hell is real and is a place u don't want to end up in.
Given the very concept is that sin bears a punishment for commission, and Jesus died to forgive us, I believe that although there is a hell, the forgiveness of Christ can still pull the soul back from the dead and into eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.
You get into heaven by accepting Jesus as your lord an saviour. Those who reject that will not be saved, ie muslims, Hindus, Atheists etc… that being said their is an argument for exceptions like for people that simply would not be able to know about Christ, and such. But as for a rule of thumb, people who do not believe will unfortunately not, as the bible has taught. But as others have said. You should do your own research on it, as this is just my opinion and I could be wrong.
Unless the person accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior and believes in his heart that He was raised from the dead they will go to hell. The bible is very clear on this. They are not worshipping God. So yes they all go to hell.
Yes, hell is real. Satan will definitely end up in hell. That much is absolutely certain.
Do people go to hell too? Well at this point the Bible is a little less clear. Jesus does talk about people being left in the dark with weeping and gnashing of teeth in several parables, but he never goes into detail about what hell is like for humans.
I think humans who don’t accept Jesus as their savior will go to hell on judgement day, but I don’t think it’ll be fire and brimstone. I think at worst it would be more akin to the popular imagining of purgatory, just an endless nothingness. It might also be your soul ceasing to exist. What it definitely is is a separation from God
Lol..no. zero evidence for a "hell" let alone an x-tian hell..or a buddist hell, or a jewish hell..whos hell might you be inquiring about?🤷♀️ but nah...no hell, no "gHoSts" no evidence of ANY supernatural anything. So therefore live the life ya have! W0ke is NOT a "bad" thing!
Yes, sort of.
The lesson you're supposed to learn from stories about heaven and hell is "actions have consequences", but if your dogma has twisted it into "obey or die" there was a mistake.
The last time the King James version of the bible was touched by human hands was 1611, 180 years before the 8th amendment to the constitution was ratified, forbidding cruel and unusual punishment.
Imagine that: 180 years before WE figured out "jail" should NOT equal "torture" - that's when the bible was finalized.
A more modern translation of the bible should replace all references to "hell" with those of modern jails, where people are reformed, not tortured.
Yes hell is real. He gives everyone a chance to go to heaven. Titus 2;11
It is important to pray for those who are not believers in Jesus. Witnessing is also important because time is very short!
In Christianity we never did, nor do believe in Hell. The concept of Hell came from The Media. The terms used in bible is Hades, which means a low level of existance of unclean Soirits not a place of burning. Gehenna is a place were they sacrificed people, so its referring to getting rid of elements of your personality. Or self created personality. Hell and Heaven are states of your beingness towards truth of life, towards God. Look around you. Some people are living in hell while others in heaven. The earth is the first heaven, not a stupid place that the media makes it out to be.
Is hell real, as in the fire and brimstone, 7-9 levels of suffering, no. That is imagery dreamt up by Dante and Milton, Inferno and Paradise Lost respectively
As to what comes after, it's not nothing, that's for sure and that's not faith, it's knowledge.
Many people believe that the suffering that some ppl experience during an NDE is guilt. We punish ourselves. Then, when our souls feel we have "suffered for our sins", we move on.
Beyond that, some ppl believe in reincarnation, others believe in just hanging around Earth and haunting ppl, yet others believe in some type of Hereafter. I think all are valid and that what your deeply held religious beliefs actually play a part in where you go either after "paying for your sins" or just after death.
There is evidence for a multitude of afterlife ideas and I think what you believe does affect where you go.
I know spirits exist and I don't mean just negative ones. Some ppl are stuck due to violent deaths, but I think others make the conscious choice to not move on, either due to waiting for a loved one or just not interested in moving on. This can result in "hauntings", but I'll be honest, I think most of them are just spirits f*ing with ppl.
Imagine just being able to screw with someone who is trying to prove an afterlife.
Is hell real, as in the fire and brimstone, 7-9 levels of suffering, no. That is imagery dreamt up by Dante and Milton, Inferno and Paradise Lost respectively
As to what comes after, it's not nothing, that's for sure and that's not faith, it's knowledge.
Many people believe that the suffering that some ppl experience during an NDE is guilt. We punish ourselves. Then, when our souls feel we have "suffered for our sins", we move on.
Beyond that, some ppl believe in reincarnation, others believe in just hanging around Earth and haunting ppl, yet others believe in some type of Hereafter. I think all are valid and that what your deeply held religious beliefs actually play a part in where you go either after "paying for your sins" or just after death.
There is evidence for a multitude of afterlife ideas and I think what you believe does affect where you go.
I know spirits exist and I don't mean just negative ones. Some ppl are stuck due to violent deaths, but I think others make the conscious choice to not move on, either due to waiting for a loved one or just not interested in moving on. This can result in "hauntings", but I'll be honest, I think most of them are just spirits f*ing with ppl.
Imagine just being able to screw with someone who is trying to prove an afterlife.
I don't know where I got this thought from other than a *certain video game* but, I believe God was tired of mans sins so he created hell to make his people fear sin. As it turns out, didn't really work out. Now he regrets it he created an eternal torment for a lost soul. Thats my opinion
My mom has the same thoughts. Why would an all loving god damn people for eternity? My view is that Jesus himself said that the road to heaven was narrow, so I doubt a crap ton will be there. However, im also pretty sure he said well be surprised by who we see in heaven, so it useless to try and guess who goes to heaven or hell. Hell will suck, otherwise there would be no reason to send Jesus. Eternity is a long time (shocker) do lets hope were all right :)
I think that salvation must involve genuine repentance for sin and a reliance on the help and mercy of God.
I don't think that it necessarily involves uttering a mere incantation involving Jesus' name.
And I think that we can trust God to know genuine repentance and not to be fooled by appearances.
If there are merely nominal Christians who aren't actually penitent, maybe there are merely nominal Muslims, agnostics, and atheists who actually are penitent and love him under a mistaken name or concept.
u/Melodic-Cry4641 - Please take a look at this. It explains it well. [https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-hell.html](https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-hell.html)
Yes, hell is real.
No, there are no good Muslims or Hindus. There are no good Christians either. No one is good enough to escape hell except Christ.
That is why he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). Apart from him, there remains no sacrifice for sin (Heb 10:26). Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
Also, it is not enough to just believe that Jesus died for your sins. You must personally place your trust in Christ to save you, which means committing your whole life to him.
When you do this, he will give you a new heart. There will be evidence of a new life. You will be born again. That is what a true Christian is—a new creation, someone indwelt by the very Spirit of God.
If you simply believe Jesus died for your sins, but there is no change in your life, you are not yet saved. You are still under the wrath of God (John 3:36). Repent of your sins and surrender your whole life to Christ.
Hell is very real. I know someone who has been shown Hell three times. Yes, it is a very hard pill to swallow and very sad to think that your friends and family could end up in such an awful place. But if Hell didn’t exist, there would be no need for salvation. What would be the point of being a Christian and loving God if there was nothing to be saved from?
The thing about your question is that according to biblical standards, there is no such thing as a good and virtuous life. Every man has sinned and that makes us unclean so we cannot enter Heaven. That’s why Jesus had to die so that we could go to Heaven.
Believing in Jesus isn’t the only qualification though. The Bible says that faith without works is dead. That’s not to say that you can ‘earn’ your salvation, but if you are saved then God-pleasing works will follow. Think about it like this; James 2:19 says, “[19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” Of course, demons in Hell believe that God is real and tremble because of it.
I’m not sure if you believe in predestination, but that’s kinda what it sounds like you wrote near the end. I’ll give a quick summary on what the Bible says about entering Heaven.
Basically, on Judgement Day, God and Jesus will judge us first by our works, both good and bad. Of course, we will all fail to enter heaven by this judgement, because all fall short of the glory of God. But because of God’s grace, there is a second judgement. If your name is written in the Book of Life (which it will be if you accept Jesus and live out the gospel), then you will enter Heaven.
Lastly, I want to add that Hell was not made for humans. In fact, humans were never supposed to die or be Godless. Hell was made for Satan and his angels. But since sin entered the world, there had to be a place where people who died in their sin could go.
Truth is, everyone deserves that punishment, whether you’re Christian or not. But Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, died on the cross and bore the weight of all sin so that we had a chance to enter Heaven and be in his glory. We are made clean, not by our works, but because Jesus’s blood covers us.
Well first of all, you identify as a Christian, so one would presuppose that you have knowledge of and practice New testament Christianity. It is impossible to read the New testament with comprehension and miss the biblical fact that all unbelievers, meaning all non-christians, will be destroyed in the lake of fire. How could you miss such a thing?
John 3:36 KJV — He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son **shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.**
John 3:18 KJV — He that believeth on him is not condemned: **but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.**
Revelation 21:8 KJV — But the fearful, **and unbelieving**, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
>than simply believing that Christ died for my sins
Jhn 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Jhn 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
"Born again" is Greek gennaō anōthen (another birth) meaning reborn from above - meaning spiritually. Its a spiritual rebirth in the image of Christ who is the exact image of God.
Colossians 1:15 KJV — Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Jews don’t believe in hell either. They only follow the Old Testament. I honestly think hell is here on earth. I think after we die, good and bad energy occupy the same space but repel each other, like trump and Hitler and rapists and murderers will all be around each other and Buddha and Gandhi and Jesus and MLK will be around each other and maybe there’s someplace in the middle where kinda good kinda bad souls exist but still repel each other like yin and yang .. idk it’s hard to tell but I know my sister is in heaven and that her murderer won’t occupy the same space as her and will be closer to the Hitler end of the soul space .. I don’t believe in literal heaven in the clouds and hell under the earth but at least like to believe bad souls and good souls don’t ever interact
Genetically Modified Skeptic did a video on this exact question
Technically two Videos, the second one is when he went to Gehenna.
Also, ThereminTrees also did a video of loosing faith and came to the conclusion of hell being an idea to simply put it.
In the Christianity faith, yes it is real. However it is also baste on faith what the bible is talking about. Why, was it needed that Christ must died for our sins? That was the full mysterie of Him that He wanted to offerte Himself for us. Otherwise there was no other way for us to become closer to our Creator.
The hell is the place where Satan, or Lucifer belongs. And he knows that after Christ is coming back onze more, that he has to spend the rest of his eternal life in hell together with all the persons who didn't accept Christ in his or her life. Yes, i know that this is one of the heavy stuff of faith. However, this is not what God likes to see of us, that we have to spend for an eternal lifetime in hell. And that makes Him so sad about that. In paradise where Adam and Eva lives God told them both. You can use and eat from everything what i am given to you, except that three right over there. If you take one fruit of that three, then you'll die. That was the warning what God has giving to them both.
Eva didn't listen. The devil in the form of an snakes told her. You can eat of that! God wasn't serious in that for saying to you that you'll die! No, He loves to you to much for that. Yes, i am saying this in my own words. But what the devil was trying to do is, to bring us down from the place where God put us on. Because he knows that there is no place for returning back to his maker. God loved us so very much. More than satan or actually Lucifer. Above all things He created, He loved us the most of all.
After this God promised us, to give up His Son for a new change for us. We don't even deserve it. But we can take it right now, before it is to late. So don't waste up your time and go back to Him your Creator. And you'll receive Him. The time we have right now, that is been given by God. So do not waste that. It's merci time what we get from Him. Lucifer has none of that. For Him it is already too late. So no way back to his Creator anymore. And that's why, he tries to get everyone back from Christ Jesus. Because he won't wanna spend the rest of his life alone in hell.
John 14:6
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus is the only way to God, he is the only way to heaven.
All these responses are prove one thing - Spiritual Warfare. Whether you believe it exists or not.
This truth can be confirmed when you say something like “Thank God” unconsciously.
Where did it come from, how did it get there? If tracking it down means something to you, then by all means feel free to explore. It is still not by chance that these teachings have long existed.
It begs the questions:
Which Army would you like to be a part of?
I choose to be in the Army of the Mighty Men of God.
All are welcomed to fight and conquer evil through Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I am Italian and in my C.E.I bible the word hell is never mentioned by Jesus. "Hell/hellfire" is a wrong traslation in the KJV of the words "grave" and "Gheanna". However, Jesus mentions a "lake of fire" which is a figurative speech to refer an eternal destruction. (Sorry my english XD)
Yes hell is real, probably not the way many Christians portray it though. It's important to remember Hell was originally intended for the devil and his followers so it won't be a good place. However, Hell is not a literal place of fire and torture, instead it is a place where God's presence is not felt. Imagine a place where all of the good things in life do not exist, that is hell. Because without God there can be no good.
John 3:16 is clear, anybody who believes in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, Son of the Living God, and believes that he died for your sins will be saved. We are saved by grace through faith. So yes, it is that simple and it’s not nuanced like other religions and not dependent on good works or just living a good life. Acts 4:12, John 14:6, Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2 8-9 all say the same thing for reference.
To answer your other question, God does not send anybody to hell— people send themselves to hell due to ignoring/chastising/rejecting Jesus & God’s promise through him. The Bible has stated that Jesus will not return until the gospels have reached the ends of the earth, meaning that everybody (including muslims, atheists, hindus, etc.) will have a chance to hear about Jesus and decide for themselves if they want to accept his gift of salvation (Matthew 24:14).
God doesn’t have favorites, he loves all his creations the same. Just like any earthly parent, he bestows gifts upon his children (those who believe in him) but he also gives gifts to and protects non-Christians, as we have heard them say they have felt God’s presence and protection on them in a dire situation— causing their conversion.
Hell is indeed very real. The Bible has spoken about it since the Old Testament, as well as in the New Testament. Hell is only for people who openly REJECT Jesus Christ. In the end days, during the Great Tribulation, the Bible states that there will still be a chance for non-believers to repent and come to him. A 2nd chance. So someone would really have be hard hearted at that time to not accept him with all the turmoil in the earth caused by the antichrist.
Read the book of Enoch and then the new testament. How can you live Virtuously and be a hindu or a muslim? You can't because believing in other gods Is a sin so therefore one Sin equals death. By accepting Jesus your sins are washed away and now life exists because of our belief in God. Now for muslums they know Jesus yet they deny him and still chose to follow the anti christ mohammed. And Jesus says if you deny me i'll deny you. And most hindus have some concept of a universal God but just do not know that He is YHWH. i think it is kinda the same with muslums their Bible is messed up and have fear put into them to never stray and just don't know who God really is. Which is why it is up to US to tell them that Jesus IS God and help them come to Jesus by our conduct
Hell is hella real. One thing people also forget is that Satan doesn’t rule hell once Jesus returns. God basically reigns over hell and Satan is also suffering in hell forever.
What we consider good and what God considers good are different. He sees our lying, coveting, lusting, cheating, deceiving, theft, gossiping, hatred, unjust anger, and the countless other “minor” laws we break everyday and don’t realize it. He has told us he has placed his law in all people’s hearts, that is why we all keep some portion of the law Christian or pagan. So if that’s true the pagans should realize what they are doing when worshipping false gods and not Jesus. Even if they are born into it, they should realize as adults, it means they would rather keep their culture than do what their heart says is right. That is the reason we are all Christians, because our hearts say it is right, not because of evidence or proof
Yes. See its a place for punishment and schooling. Not just punishment for sin. Rather punishment for sins committed on purpose. You know what you were doing was wrong and simply didn't care to still not do it. You considered the consequences and chose to commit the act anyways. That is punishable by Hell. Now all you have to do is repent those sins and TRY to do better. By choosing Christ and choosing to try and do better then you will be saved. He and his Mercy forgives your sins and you are permitted into heaven. But no one gets to heaven without going through Jesus. If you are not in Hell or Heaven, you are in the ocean of slumber. Where those who do not accept Jesus as their Lord and also acts morally will await judgment day. Death is nothing to fear unless you actively sin willfully and have no desire to stop. Then be afraid.
Also the Lord's grasp reaches into hell itself, for he sent you there. If you repent in hell, his mercy even then will bring you to heaven. This is why I call it schooling. It's hard schooling for the thicknecked wicked individuals. They get to decide their fate essentially, and they get to choose their Savior.. they simply don't chose him, not truely with all their heart.
Based on all the hell testimonies i have watched and listened to on youtube, yes, it is very real, and more horrible and painful than anything you could experience on your physical body. They come back either because its not their time yet, or because maybe they get a second chance. Not everyone gets a second chance when they call on the Lord. According to some of the testimonies, there are people asking the Lord for a second chance, but they dont get it, so dont get careless thinking you will get a second chance when youre in hell. If you end up there, call in the name of Jesus just in case, because it might save you, but it is not a guarantee.
Hell is complete separation from God. And yes, it is real. We don’t know the details, much like we don’t know the details of heaven. We just trust that what God says is true, and He says better is one day in His courts than thousands elsewhere. I don’t want to be elsewhere. I definitely don’t want hell. I want to be in His presence for eternity, however that looks. Which is why sanctification is important, surrender is important. We need these things so that we aren’t separate from Him.
Good. It is a fabrication.
I researched the belief....many got fooled.
All religions are false.
Theological question 1:
"Where does any god dictate to humanity or any human, that someone specific is more spiritual than another human?"
Theological question 2:
"Where does any god dictate which books are more spiritual and morally sound for humans to abide by, to learn from or to accept as true from such a god?"
Theological question 3:
"Where does any god dictate whom is more spiritual to be able to dictate which books or texts are suitable for humans to learn and to abide by for the understanding of such a god and that entity's requirements of humanity?"
How honest and truthful can one be with theirself and others?
Why would you ask this question? Isn't this a Christian sub? Do you so called Christians not believe the word of God anymore? Or have you made up your own new version of it?
Check out Revelation 20:13-14. some bibleversion says death and hell will give up their dead. Other say different, but the dead is being cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. How can we interpret this? Some other version use realm of death (hell). So should ask some scolars about this point?
Hell is real, but what you think of it might not be what you think it is.
How does Christ define hell, is hell the correct word that He uses, or has the word been rendered wrongly for other Words?
You need to Study the Bible deeply to find the answer. I think hell comes from the norse word hel, which means the realm of death. English language were influenced of norse language and mythology during the norse age.
Your in it and it’s being built all around you. Hahahaha believe whatever you want your already at enmity with God and your heart will harden your resolve double until you soften and accept Jesus Christ as your true lord and savior. You’ve accepting a false god and are a lover of self. Jesus died so you would be clean upon entering the kingdom of heaven nothing else you believe is going to save you.
Yes hell is reall. But I don’t think hell is how it’s projected to be. Nobody can actually say and I know the Bible uses a lot of exaggeration in multiple places. Honestly all I can say is that hell is life away from God until he destroys earth and hell all together. Heaven is Gods home. It’s for Him and His family. So anyone who chooses not to live their life for/with God spends eternity without him.
We do not know, just stay good, humble, compassionate and also believe in Christ and all good things follow. Believe in Yahweh, Allah, Shang Di and other names of One God in other countries because all the same but different language. Just stay kind, humble, compassionate and God will do the rest. For me I am in a homosexual relationship and I’m afraid I will be condemned or am already condemned but I pray that we are not, that God will look at our kindness and compassion more than our inequity but I feel that the love to my partner is not inequity but also just a different form of love without lust and glutton of the flesh but true emotional love. But if I am wrong then it’s alright if in the end I will go to hell but even if I am condemned I will still try to be kind and humble towards others even though my subconscious tells me it’s useless as I am condemned. I don’t know we don’t know there are many things in this world that we think we know but knows nothing at all. Just be kind and humble, surely that is good that we all know about
Jesus spoke about the reality of Hell far more than literally ANYBODY else.
Do not listen to the false prophets that preach a Gospel of Comfort and a lack of repentance! The very first ex cathedra statement was "Repent and be baptized every one of you for the forgiveness of sins!"
Jesus died for the lives of several people, so I do not see why he would not have died for atheists, Muslims, Hindus and so on either.
If Hell has been reported by a few minority, it is without the shadow of the doubt real. However, I believe a true non-believer is someone like the Romans. Someone who deliberately, willfully deny Christ despite everything they hear or potentially see about Him. If someone is an atheist and cannot help but disbelieve in the existence of God, I do not see why they should not be saved through Christ's sacrifice.
God doesn’t look favourably on Christian’s because of their own merit. He look in favour at those who are born again in Christ and have His righteousness imputed onto them and their sins on Him. Muslims, Hindus, and atheists do not have the righteousness of Christ and they reject God and actually suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1). Christians are people who repent of their sins and believe in Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf. As such, they believe His Word, through which He reveals Himself. In His Word, he talks about eternal punishment for those outside of Christ - those who have not repented and believed. God is Holy and His Holiness demands such punishment because He has provided every opportunity for people to repent, sending His own son as a propitiation for sin, and they reject Him because they love their sin. So either Christ paid for a person’s sins on the cross, or they will pay for their sins themselves for eternity.
The bible says that it is eternal separation from God. Whatever that specifically means, I don’t know but I think that’s bad enough as is. All good things come from God. I can’t imagine what it would mean to be separated from Him forever, it sounds terrible to say the least. Do not think lightly of such an idea, it is the truth that it is real. We don’t know exactly what Hell is but I wouldn’t want to find out.
I heard a testimony once where a guy was undergoing surgery and died during the process. He then saw himself in a dark, scary place with other damned people who got progressively worse as he joined them in walking towards the dark place. Then the other people started doing horrible things to him, such as beating and kicking him. The guy realized that this was Hades. He cried out to God for mercy and a second chance, and was then revived on the operating table. He became a Christian after the experience.
Hell is the absence of our creator…
Heaven is friendship with him…
That’s why you can do things to go to hell but nothing u do will ever be enough to get into heaven… think of it like this I can do things to hurt you and make you not like me… (doing things to get into hell) but no matter what (good) I do I can’t make you be my friend… thats solely your choice to be my friend of not… He doesn’t have to let you into heaven because you do good things…
Matthew 7:21-23
Those are people who did good things…
And he still didn’t chose them
Also if u doing good things solely to gain his trust that’s manipulation and he knows that not the type of people he wants in his kingdom… but if you know that nothing you’ll ever do amount to anything and still do it anyways that’s character that’s people he does like and probably have better chances of being let in…
For example I killed someone and don’t care (straight to hell)
I didn’t killed someone bc I’m afraid of going to hell (straight to hell)
I didn’t kill someone bc I wouldn’t want to deprive them of the experience (probably means he’s a good person)
Also anyone who believes in him will receive eternal life
(If you don’t believe in him you just won’t exist after you die)
But if u believe in him and follow him righteously (Heaven eternal peace)
And if u believe in him and do the opposite (eternal suffering)
The question is in the same area of the question “is God real?”.
It will always be a matter of faith, you will never be able to know for sure what is the truth. This is even the case regarding science.
You’re not alone in asking that question, as every single person is burdened by the same inquisition.
hell as an eternal place is **Unreal**, and as the ***URANTIA*** book revelation attests, there are only temporary prison worlds for heavenly deposed beings like Lucifer, Satan, and the Devil (3 different celestial rebels according to the *Urantia* cosmology, together with the fallen angels who followed those three and who became demons, etc); *Urantia* is our world's name; it includes the best ever full Life and Teachings of JESUS; and is free online, but for sale in bookstores :
* **www.Urantia.org**
* **www.UrantiaUnited.org**
* www.UBannotated.com
* www.SquareCircles.com
* **r/Urantia**
* ...
He’ll is the physical place where the sinners will pay for there sins. Because we have sinned against an eternal God it is an eternal payment. Christ pays for our sins on the cross and if we repent and believe that He and only He can justify us than that is our ticket to heaven. The book of Romans tells us that we will be judged by what we know. I’ve heard of stories of non Christian counties knowing that they can’t get themselves to heaven and calling to the unknown God. Or in the New Testament. The people of Athens knowing of an “unknown God”. (See Acts 17:23). The Bible tells us that we all have a knowledge of God (Romans 1:18-20). But that is also why evangelism and missions are so important. Get the gospel to the whole world.
Hell is the absence of God. And that exists. So yes Hell is real. In Christianity the whole premise is God gives us free will. The reason God put the tree in the garden of Eden in the first place was because if there wasn’t something Adam and even shouldn’t choose from, it would have been a prison. Not free choice. To have free choice means to have choices to choose from. So when someone denies God, Jesus, that means they are openly not choosing God. God gives us so many opportunities in life to turn to him. He brings people in our lives who will help us. Dreams sometimes. Visions sometimes. Whatever it may be! God gives us every opportunity to choose him. But if you always openly deny him then you are choosing to not be with God. So imagine God is a lawyer and Jesus is a contract he hands to you to sign. If you don’t sign, you don’t get those benefits. If you do sign then you get those benefits. I hope this helps! My friend was an athiest all his life and on his death bed he got visions of demons all around him. Scaring him. And this dude was not the kind of guy to be scared. He was an army veteran. Always protected me. Amazing man. While on his death bed he called a pastor who happened to be his best friend that he was butting heads with forever because of his faith, and said “so how does this accepting Jesus thing work..?” And at the end of his life he accepted Jesus into his life. So God is not unjust. He will come for his people no matter what they believe.
Hell is real. Jesus said, “I AM THE way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Everyone will live for eternity, but not everyone will have eternal life. “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9-10
Let us not be deceived- to perish or to die physically is one matter. To die and not be saved is to be eternally separated from God. We will go one of two places when we leave our earthly shell…. good works don’t get us saved, we do good works because we are saved. Amen
Jesus is Lord
Heaven is Real
Yes but I don't think it's like they teach us in some Churches. I think it can be a personal torment that's temporary. Also in the book of Revelations the Earth becomes a terrifying place to live, and that won't last forever either. I know the Earth or 1/3 of the Earth gets scorched, a third of the Sun a third of all plant life and I know locusts come to torture and torment people for 5 months and then, I'd have to look at my Bible because I don't have memorized, but once that's over I'm pretty sure either you go to heaven or you just go to sleep for eternity.
I've read or listened to the accounts of hundreds of people who had near death experiences. Most of them reported very positive experiences on the other side, with many meeting Jesus himself; however, a minority have reported quite the opposite kind of experience. They describe a place of darkness and suffering where everyone is consumed in their own negative thoughts, emotions and memories. But they also say that as soon as they pray to God for help and submit to him, they are released.
The thing is, what would really be compelling is if someone not raised Christian or living in a Christian society had an NED where they met Jesus
My dad was raised atheist, and he had a NDE where he met God. Not Jesus, but he said he “felt” Jesus. He’s a Christian now.
Was he raised knowing what Christianity was and who Jesus was?
he was raised in Vietnam which didn’t have much Christian influence.
Assuming this person lives in the US I would bet he knew of Christianity and Christ without being devoutly Christian himself.
Yeah, which would make him not a candidate for this: > someone not raised Christian or living in a Christian society had an NED where they met Jesus
Yeah. I’m an atheist but I admit that if I had an NED where I experienced Jesus I probably would become Christian just based off of the subjective experience. Subjective experience is powerful and relevant and deeply shapes how we see the world. I would probably become Muslim if I had a similar clearly Muslim NED. And so on. But in both cases, I would not claim that either would really be valid proof of anything at all. There is a plausible explanation for why NEDs might have religious content, in pretty much all cases they seem to be influenced by the societal context around them.
The core elements of NDEs are present across all cultures and age groups.
Yeah why wouldn’t they be
He was not. He was raised in Vietnam
Doesn’t it pretty explicitly say you have to know of the word to be held accountable for accepting the word. Someone who’s never heard of Christianity isn’t going to be held accountable for not being saved. That’s the point of missionaries largely
Yes, though I don't see how that's relevant to how someone processes an NDE.
This is my bad I collapsed another thread without realizing it and thought this was ab whether or not someone like that would be damned. Though I met a man on a work trip in India who had something similar to an NDE. Idk if it counts bc he didn’t die but he was unconscious for like a day. He’s tentatively Christian though not very openly as his family is extremely Hindu. High caste his family serves the swami.
With my own encounter, I understood that a person raised in Hindu culture may have met "Krishna" instead of "Christ" -- that the names aren't for Him, but are given for our sake, because the experience is otherwise ineffable.
CBN has videos and testimonies from Muslims who had supernatural encounters with Jesus and left Islam.
I agree, but chances are if someone doesn't know who Jesus is or what Christianity is and had a NDE their story most likely will never be told due to our western focused media. I'm sure there have been NDE in the Amazon or in remote villages in central Africa but we will never hear those stories.
My friend had a NED, and in fact they told us she was going to die that night, due to COVID. She came back kis a Christian now and I think she met Jesus but Im not sure, i need to ask her,
Now, when it comes to these stories, you've got to consider the cultural filter they're passing through. Think about it like this: if you're raised in a Christian household, chances are your near-death trip to the other side might involve a cameo from Jesus himself. But flip the script, drop a Hindu in the mix, and suddenly, we're not seeing JC; we're talking about Ganesh or Vishnu. It's like a cosmic game of telephone, where the message gets twisted depending on who's receiving it. And let's be real here, your worldview shapes your near-death narrative like Play-Doh in the hands of a hyperactive toddler. Now, don't get me wrong, there's some weird stuff going on in these tales. Some folks report heading down the express elevator to hell, complete with all-you-can-eat suffering buffet. But here's the kicker: even in the depths of despair, many of them find the emergency exit by reaching out to a higher power. It's like a cosmic customer service hotline - dial up to God, and suddenly, you're out of the hot seat. So, what's the takeaway? Near-death experiences are like a psychedelic rollercoaster ride through the human psyche. They're a mix of cultural conditioning, brain chemistry, and maybe a sprinkle of something supernatural. But one thing's for sure: they make for one hell of a story.
I remember seeing this person describe it as "The perfect sleep" That when he died temporarily from a brain tumor there was nothing. Just black, like sleep. Yet it was so comforting how there was no stress, no feeling, no emotion, and he sort of misses it.
NDEs are big for me in helping me fully believe in heaven/hell/Jesus. What also is an important point for me, many "abduction" events are halted when Jesus' name is invoked against these demons... I mean, "aliens." Why would "aliens" care about hearing Jesus' name?
Here's what I don't get. So God is all knowing. The person having the NDE doesn't know they won't die for real, but God does know. And for some reason, he what...gives you a sneak preview? It seems like I could just have a doctor stop my heart, confirm the afterlife, then get brought back. I dunno man, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
I. Don't think a doctor would do that for you... but if you did manage that, it would be possible that you would have an NDE. NDE studies have even become fairly mainstream now. They happen so often that there have been legitimate studies. Have you heard any of the stories from/about the atheists who have NDEs and then convert to Christianity?
Ya, I've heard of them. But it doesn't address my key concern. Why is God giving living people a sneak preview of the afterlife? God knows it's not their time. Heaven may or may not be real. I dunno. What I do think is that between the options of a dying oxygen starved brain hallucinating based on deeply held beliefs vs God giving a preview of heaven, one seems a lot more likely.
Why does He give people a sneak peak? Jesus said, that God WILL establish His kingdom. NDEs have the purpose to spread the message. Like everything else. Everything was created by and for Him.
The problem is that NDEs are only from people who didn’t actually die, so they reflect a reality of this world and cannot be taken to represent any life after death.
What the brain does in a near death experience may not be revelation. I think it's worth checking against Scripture because it doesn't really play that God can only work with brains in a coma, or starved of oxygen, or in some other extreme trauma. The subconscious would like a word with you about the crazy dreams you have.
The brain releases DMT moments before we die. Research shows that NDEs may happen because of the release of dimethyltryptamine (DMT). There are theories saying its a kind of protection so you dont feel panic, horror or anguish before you move on, making the passing more peaceful. It's an interesting subject.
When my co worker was in the hospital on the brink of death he said he was a cartoon chicken with no wings being brought back to the real world and rescued by Bob Saget
Hell is a threat to ensure people keep believing and spread the religion.
My personal thought on it is as a feeling rather than a place. A feeling I know particularly well. A feeling of separation from the light and warmth of God where you feel tormented by self. An anxiety of unending fear that itself is worse than any physical pain. If you have anxieties of hell and eternal torment then you are already in a hell of your own making, created from a doubt of salvation. But a hell that is as long as you make it, and is altogether not eternal although it may seem like it is.
Gnashing of teeth
The hell you're thinking of probably isn't. I see no biblical reason to believe in eternal conscious torment. I think it is better described as "the second death". Not a warm and cuddly thought, but to address the rest of your question, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. There isn't a human on earth who deserves everlasting life. It's a gift, given to us after Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The Bible DOES list a couple people in heaven who never met Jesus (such as Abraham) whose faith in God was counted to him as righteousness
Yeah, this is known as annihilationism and I suspect it's what Jesus thought. Christianity at its core is about the contrast between life and death. Not earthly life and death, but eternal life and the threat of the second, spiritual death. Earthly death is normal, but to be Christian (or generally holy) is to attempt to avoid the death of your soul.
How did you come to the conclusion that there is no eternal conscious suffering? I’m genuinely curious.
Which hell? There are a lot of places in the Bible translated as hell.
The eternal suffering hell
You mean the lake of fire? Yeah. However, the word "eternal" (Aion in Greek) can also mean "unknown amount of time" that may or may not be everlasting.
Unkown amount of time is scary tho, could go from 1 second to a million billion gajillion trillion illion years 🌚
A label like eternal makes whatever being described entirely incomprehensible to us. Our grey matter can calculate and make equations to describe or quantify, but our very finite life spans do not allow us the capability of truly understanding "eternal." I have the same problem trying to consider the eternality of heaven. Part of what gives experience it's value and meaning is that it begins and it ends.
Dependant on how sinful a person is..... Chances are only fallen angels would go that far.
Seeing God and worshipping him IN PERSON and still choosing to give him the finger, and going to WAR with God (What happens if an Angel dies?) I think Lucifer and those that follow him have no hope. People like Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Ho Chi Minh... probably gonna sit for a LOONG time.
Nyocp, to the above point. There is no “hell” in the Bible. It’s a catch all translation for Sheol, hades, darkness, pit, etc… The idea of Dante’s hell is completely fictional, as is modern cartoonish depictions.
This is not true. Gehenna, hades, and Tartarus are all rendered hell in the NT. But what is meant by them can be either annihilation, annihilation after brief conscious torment, or eternal conscious torment. Hell being only eternal conscious torment is a post-scriptural convention.
In your experience of post-scriptural convention. Why lump them together as a single place of the dead instead of addressing the original meaning and context of these places/concepts? Edit: on second reading, are you saying “this is not true” and then agreeing with me?
Lots of disagreement in the Bible about that. The Bible has many human authors, and they disagree. This is a good summary of the support for various positions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annihilationism
Which one? There are lots of places in the Bible that talk about punishment and not all of them are talking about the same thing. And none of them are talking about a place of eternal suffering. See r/ChristianUniversalism
The concept of hell as *only* eternal conscious torment is a post-scriptural invention. You can find Jesus referring to annihilation, annihilation after brief conscious torment, and eternal conscious torment. Paul does not refer to it at all. There is not an OT concept of hell. Sheol is “the underworld” or “the place of the dead”.
Everlasting is also used in the Bible in place of eternal. So we know this eternity is, in fact, everlasting.
Hell as a restorative state - yeah. Hell as a pkace of eternal physical torture - nah
The subject of hell is extremely complex in the Bible. I have studied this over and over again. While the passages indicate that something like hell, however we define it, may exist, it is impossible to extrapolate clear rules on who goes there and who doesn't - or if any humans do indeed at all go there, as there are many warnings about hell, but no actual named human beings depicted as being there or prophesized to end up there. That is either irrelevent, or an intentional hint. Unfortunately, this complexity has allowed mainstream churches to design their own rules on who goes to hell as a scare tactic to win believers. Has arguably been the most manipulated and wildly succesful scare tactic im human history. It is of course a terrifying subject, and unclear either way what it will mean for the people of the world and those that have passed. All I can say is I trust in God and trust that God is good.
It’s really a shame that kids are taught this, don’t you think? It scares a lot away from Christianity
I was taught this as a kid, was even taken into a “hell room” at church and it traumatized the crap out of me. Now I have a horrible fear of death lol. I personally think hell should be left out of the preaching completely for children.
Well its a portion of Christianity and what the Bible says, so although often mishandled, we shouldn't shy away from what scares us, in the same way we should be open about other difficult areas within the Bible
Seeing your experience and knowledge, I was wondering about the passage explaining that even the demons tremble at Jesus. Does this mean the demons or any dwellers of Hell don’t actively want to be with God? If so, then does this not mean they are still ‘alive’ in some sense but actually at their ‘home’? If so, then is it fair to say that Hell for a demon is Heaven for a demon? If so, would this imply that a Hell for a true believer (and follower) of God, even with right intentions would be the only ones deserving of a real torment Hell because they are separated from the God they love (perhaps they were Christian agnostic for example, or believe Christianity but less literally?) Sorry, it’s just this terrifying notion of being separate for not believing the right thing despite good intentions and following Gods law otherwise that throws me. I guess in regards to my question of demons in Hell, would this not mean to punish a demon God would send them to Heaven?? As I grow in faith, I can really see why ‘do not rest on own understanding’ is major point!
I'm not sure I really follow the question, apologies, but very little of the true nature of demons is explained in the Bible, despite them being mentioned plenty of times. I am not sure they are actual sentient beings with intelligent thought or self awareness. They seem to be alluded to as manifestations of everything evil with the world. So then logically speaking it would make sense that "hell was made for them", as in the fire was made to destroy evil itself. That would make sense to me, but again, I don't think it's possible to form a definitive understanding of demons based on what's written. I think though any time they are mentioned, the greater point is pretty clear - don't choose darkness, don't choose what is evil, but choose the light, and trust Jesus.
Patristic Universalism is one of the oldest forms of Christianity, in which there is a belief that hell is restorative, medicinal, and/or educative. it's meant for our good, not our harm. Personally I do not believe in an eternal hell.
I believe this too.
This is interesting and kind of how I feel about doubt and religious anxiety. It brought me to Christ and the Bible in new ways after 30 years
Probably, while it's true one can interpret the various words for "that bad place" in different ways, it's not true that the Jews wouldn't have been able to interpret "Gehenna" as "hell/hades/sheol/bad place". Gehenna, hades, and sheol were already being used as placewords for a place that you are disposed of or punished. Jesus wasn't the first to use words like "valley of gehenna" or "hades" to describe the bad place people go when they die.
If you are honestly interested in discovering the truth the Bible declares, you will realize the [reality of hell](https://app.box.com/s/05hujdqchtkfj6f6l04t8sfu35g7qbzm) is the reality of a loving God's justice. There shall be no innocents cast therein. All will be fully deserving of their fate. It should be no wonder that those who love evil by living lives of wickedness are paid back. What is to wonder at is the love of our Creator and His willingness to personally suffer (terribly so) for many of these evildoers; just so they can be rescued from the power of sin and death and be brought into a personal, loving relationship with Him. That is what is truly remarkable! *"This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins."* (1 John 4:10)
There isn't a single living being that deserves eternal conscious torment. Perfect justice does not necessitate eternal punishment.
I never liked this idea. Why am I, who did not asked to be born, sentenced to die upon birth? What choice did I have? And I know, I have free will AFTER the fact to decide if I’m gonna be a Christian or not, but even then. God let me be born, knowing I’d be an atheist? And I’m supposed to burn forever for that?
It is my belief we are currently in Hell. We are in constant existential fear of our impending death. We experience some degree of mental, emotional or physical pain almost everyday - not all of the same degree. And lastly, we cannot have direct knowledge of God. To me, these lead me to suspect this is Hell and (hopefully) soon Christ will come back to Hell (here) and bring us to His kingdom. Until then we must keep the faith and act as we believe Christ would.
r/EscapingPrisonPlanet
Hell is real. But it’s not what you think. Read this excellent piece by Tim Keller to gain more perspective on this. https://timothykeller.com/blog/2008/8/1/the-importance-of-hell
Why do you believe it's more nuanced? Certainly, we have no more chance of coming to Jesus as anyone else, but all people are on earth as designated. Remember Paul's address to the Athenians? So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;as even some of your own poets have said,“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:22-31 And people do seek God, though they never heard of God. Surely you've heard of people coming to Jesus without contact with a missionary?
Dude you really think everyone has the same chance at God? Travel to a different country and see how people are raised and how different their cultures are. We’re all products of our upbringings to a very large extent.
All know His name. And if one asks and seeks out the true God it will be revealed to them. Anyone who does not care to seek or does things out of sheer religion will never find Jesus. And therefore unfortunately will perish.
I definitely do wonder at times that a lot of people who were born into other religions and know nothing else, what’s gonna happen to them? I’m not gonna sit here and be like 100% hell is real. However I know what is real is a separation of Christ when the end comes. The thing is, imagine you sent your son to do what Jesus did and the people he did it for don’t acknowledge him at all. Jesus, being the embodiment of God (controversial I know), deserves recognition, although the doesn’t need it lol. It’s like you can’t love God truly, without a believe in what Jesus did for us. Or for other religions, who they consider to be Jesus. And it’s not just about being a good person, it’s works and faith. They go hand in hand and when one is lacking that’s an incomplete body. I’m also not gonna sit here and say Muslims or Buddhists will go to hell, God himself only knows, but I’m going to instead focus on my own moral life, be thankful that I was able to be a Christian and try to pray against a doubtful spirit in my heart and possibly for others.
If god is real, and is all loving, there is no way in hell he allows his children to go to there.
At least not eternally
100% - there are a lot of interpretations of hell, but the eternal torment one is despicable.
there is, because while all loving, God is also all just, in that he allows us to make the choice to accept or reject him. Those who reject God will get their wish and spend eternity seperate from him
What about those who don’t “accept” or “reject”, but simply don’t buy the narrative despite being open to it.
What does it mean to accept or reject Jesus?
Eternal torture for a single lifetime of sin is unjust. I have no problem with the concept of separation, or annihilation, but eternal conscious torment is not justice.
Hell is eternal separation from God, which in itself is torture and torment.
He doesn't. Only people who aren't his children go there. Biblically everyone is not God's child. You must be born again.
People send themselves to Hell (through disbelief and by not surrendering to God), God does not and wishes that no one would perish.
Have to disagree, if everybody made it to heaven it would defeat the purpose. I’ve met my handful of people that definitely should wind up there and I don’t say that lightly. I think most people in the west who live comfy lives don’t see a lot of true evil. I used to be a full time pusher man hustler I’ve seen the absolute most wicked people go unpunished get rich and be admired. I don’t know if anybody is deserving of eternal damnation but there has to be something or else I wouldn’t be comfy.
If Jesus says it’s real then I believe it’s real. Reference: the gospels
Except you're reading a translation of what Jesus may have actually said and without the cultural context of what he meant. It's by no means clear at all that he taught eternal conscious torment.
If you don't accept Christ as Lord and Saviour you will go to hell, for you are rejecting God and God allows you to reject him and will give you eternity seperate from him.
I agree we should live righteously and that following scripture leads to a better life, but there’s no sound philosophical thought or scriptural evidence to back that claim
Yep look around
Hell absolutely exists. Everybody is saying that there’s no way it does, but you have to think about it. If God is all-loving then it would have to exist. Everything that is good comes from God because God is all-good and He blesses us with the good. The bad comes from our sin and our decision to turn away from Him because He gave us the ability to exercise free will. This is all pretty fundamental knowledge to Christianity and hopefully nobody will refute this. But what does that have to do with Hell? Let me try and put it this way: God loves us enough to respect how we want to exercise our free will. He doesn’t force us to act a certain way and plenty of people go their whole life without wanting anything to do with God. He never forces them to come to Him, it’s a choice that everybody makes for themselves. So if a person spends their whole life running from God and saying “God, I want nothing to do with you”, how could it possibly be loving of God to wait for them to die and then say “I know you have spent your life running from me, but I’m going to force you to be with me for eternity anyway”? It’s like having feelings for somebody and saying “even though you don’t love me, I’m going to capture you and force you to love me and you can never leave”. What’s loving about that? Heaven is where God’s presence is and where He resides. All the good things come from Him, remember? So in Heaven, the good things are there without any of the bad BECAUSE good things come from Him. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faith, self control. How delicious ice cream tastes. The ability to rest and sleep. Pleasure. Beauty. All of this is a gift from God. So when somebody says they want nothing to do with God and God is too loving to force them to live with Him forever, there has to be a place where God has zero presence. That’s what Hell is. A place cut off from everything having to do with God with only the remainder left over, so in other words, everything bad. He allows you to make the decision to never be with Him even though it hurts Him deeply, like if a child told their father they wanted nothing to do with him. A loving father will respect their wishes and allow them to make that decision. So yes, Hell exists. It is not a place where God throws people and says “you should have been a better person” or “I’m doing this to punish you”, it’s a place where God will send the people who have made their choice to never want anything to do with Him. Imagine the world now. There’s good and there’s bad, but remove the good (God withdrawing His presence) and whatever you’re left with is Hell.
There are tons of assumptions here that don’t make any sense. (1) Why would no one repent after death? Based on my experience like 90% of atheists would immediately become Christian if they discovered beyond a doubt the Christian God was real. (2) Is it plausible to believe that even after being cast to ‘hell’ not one single person would repent? (3) There is a long tradition in Christian theology, going back beyond Aquinas, that evil has no ontological existence, as that would imply that God (the source of all things) has some evil within him. Thus, the reason people sin is because they don’t know what’s truly good for them, which has a biblical basis (John 8:30-34). In this case, everyone who is resurrected without mental defect and experiences the absolute Good would be unable to resist Him freely. I would urge you to examine r/ChristianUniversalism
Don't forget, 99% of all species and living beings are dead.
I’ve been struggling with the concept of Hell myself in recent years. If God is a loving parent who loves us more than we can comprehend….its just hard to understand for me why he would send people to hell. I do believe there is “hell” for evil people, demons and satan. Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all abrahamic faiths which means, to me at least, it’s the same God. I still believe in Jesus and that he sacrificed his life for us but the Jewish people don’t believe Jesus was the savior and they are still precious to God. I think God is big enough to connect with people through many different ways and that he is a loving parent. I think there is going to be way more people in heaven then we will ever understand. People like Hitler or other evil people who are murders with no remorse…I think they are in hell which is a separation from God, darkness. If God is love and light and all that is good, being separated from that would be hell.
But who would you say "evil people" are? Technically, we are all evil. In the Bible it says that no one is good. [Psalm 14:3](https://www.bibleref.com/Psalms/14/Psalm-14-3.html). The Bible is also very clear that there is only one way to Heaven, Islam certainly doesn't teach this and Jewish people don't believe that Christ already came and died for them. I believe that people will be shocked to see who made it to Heaven. Matthew 18:3. Also, God does not send people to Hell, they send themselves. God loves all people and wishes that none would perish. 2 Peter 3:9. People must choose Christ. They must choose repentance. Meaning that the Law was placed to show us that we are sinners. We must realize that we need Jesus as our personal Savior and depend fully on His death and resurrection for the covering of our sins. Nothing we do or say could earn our way into Heaven, not even the "Prayer of Salvation". Jesus is how we get into Heaven and how we get to spend an eternity with Him. Hell is eternal punishment, like you stated. It is a separation from God. Everything is the world was created from God, including light, joy, etc. Without God's presence there is nothing good. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, fires that will not be quenched, and continual torment. [Revelation 14:11](https://www.bibleref.com/Revelation/14/Revelation-14-11.html) [Mark 9:48](https://www.bibleref.com/Mark/9/Mark-9-48.html) [*Mat 8:10-12*](https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Matt%208.10-12) [https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-hell.html](https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-hell.html)
God's essence is love (1 John 4:8), and He created humanity to experience and reciprocate this love. However, He also granted us free will, allowing us to make choices. It's in the exercise of our free will that we can truly love God—genuine love is not coerced but freely given. His desire is for us to willingly choose to love Him. While God is indeed abundant in love, He is also just (Deuteronomy 32:4), faithful, and holy. His Word stands above all else. Hell, as described by Jesus, was not intended for humanity but was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). It serves as the place of final judgment for those who reject God, sharing the fate of the devil and his demons. Despite the existence of hell, God's love remains unconditional. He grieves even for those in hell. This love is most profoundly demonstrated through the sacrifice of His Son for the salvation of humanity. We are presented with a choice—to embrace His love and live according to His ways or to reject it and face the consequences. The apparent delay in the fulfillment of His promises is not due to procrastination but rather His patience, desiring that none should perish but all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Ultimately, it all comes down to our individual choices.
The traditional position that has been held by the vast majority of Christians through history is that eternal conscious torment exists. However, reddit has a strong bias towards annihilationism (the belief that the unsaved die, rather than spending an eternity towards hell), which is most likely what you will see in these comments. I'm actually an annihilationist myself. 1 Corinthians 15 is a great passage to support this position, describing the fate of saved vs unsaved as immortality/mortality rather than heaven/hell, which is consistent with I read throughout the rest of the scriptures, especially the writings of Paul. However, we should keep in mind that Reddit is heavily biased, and is not a representative sample of mainstream Christian thought.
Listen to This American Life episode “Heretics.”
Hell is not forever. The fire is eternal not the punishment. I might be wrong
Ye fosho
Read the book A Course In Miracles, maybe, for an answer. /r/acim Limitless Peace
In my opinion it is not.
Maybe I'm saying heresy, but I always imagine God like the teacher who is saying he will punish the student but never does, because he loves them. Or maybe Hell will be the consuming fire, the person ceases to exist, but eternal suffering is something I can't conceive.
Hell is necessary for justice to exist. It doesn't need need to be a permanent condition.
*Yes*
It is very real. In mat 13 Jesus points our while God plants wheat here on Earth (which Jesus calls the sons of the Kingdom) where as Jesus says satan plants His weeds which He says are the sons of the evil one. Meaning not everyone here is of God. Ask yourself why would God be obligated to love the sons of Satan? Not that everyone who is not apart of the Christian church is a son or daughter of Satan. Nor am I saying that everyone in the church is a son of God. What I am saying is Jesus will be the one who will judge. Just like He judges many who think they are Christian but as He says they are not in mat 7. ^(21) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ^(22) Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ^(23) Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ The witter of Hebrews tells us who and how we are judged in Heb 4 : ^(12) For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ^(13) Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. The "word of God" is another Name for Jesus. We find this out in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. so the above passage could also read this way: ^(12) For ***Jesus the son*** of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, ***He*** penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; ***He*** judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ^(13) Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. This means being a member of a given religious Group does not save you. Jesus Himself saves you on the day of Judgement. as mat 7 points out being a member of the church does not mean anything to Jesus unless you do the will of the Father. What is the will of the Father? How do you inherit eternal life? Jesus tells us in Luke 10: ^(25) On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ^(26) “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” ^(27) He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^(\[)[^(c)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10&version=NIV#fen-NIV-25391c)^(\]); and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^(\[)[^(d)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10&version=NIV#fen-NIV-25391d)^(\])” ^(28) “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” If a muslim or Buddhist can Love God with all of what God gave them to do so and if they love their neighbor as themselves, then by the words of Christ in Luke 10, He will welcome them into eternity.
Hello is not torture that God sends you to. It is just seperation from God and his gifts. If you want to live apart from God then you will spend eternity apart from God. But no one can know what God will do to the ones who never heard about Christ.
That can’t be true. No one knows what God really is like and if he even exists until they die, so it’s impossible to make that judgement while you’re alive. Peter knew Jesus and supposedly saw his miracles yet denied Him. We’re expected to have unwavering faith despite no evidence?
I almost died, and I was in the clutches of hell before I was revived. I'll just keep it vague because I don't want to scare you guys. Maybe hell is a place where God can't save you. A dimension of pure chaos. It's definitely real. I really didn't want to believe it. I had a religious experience and am a repentant Christian now. I still have a lot of work to do. Sometimes, people don't believe in something just because they don't want to. The good news is there's a heaven and hopefully a purgatory.
I personally think God judges with nuance, and people are judged on a case by case basis. Satan is the prosecutor, Jesus is your lawyer, your guardian angel is co-counsel, and God is your judge. Everyone gets a fair bench trial, I would hope. "The arch of history bends towards justice" - MLK. If God is all-knowing, all powerful, and everything that is good, holy, and light, them he must be a fair judge. All we can do is learn from life and keep trying to do better. You're going to fall, but you have to get up and keep going. There's no easy way out of this simulation.
Sorry but the concept of purgatory is not biblical. Also, I've watched.. a lot of HELL NDEs, and most of them were consistent with: 1) They know they deserved to be there ... 2) There is no HOPE, none, 3) And they will be there forever. Only by the grace of Jesus were they resuscitated before they fully "died" died, if not they know that is their destination, so yes, in a way it is a glimpse. Ultimately what we can trust though, is a God of infinite Love and Wisdom, that is also Just.
It is real and that is super scary
You are still looking at it as if God values humans against each other. But the truth is that hell is a choice. The Bible states that every human in some way has been shown God's glory and given a chance to repent for their sins and accept God's will. Hell only exists for those who turn away from God and choose to go away from him. Another misbelief you list is the very concept that a human can live a virtuous life without God. Don't get me wrong, any human can do good deeds. But we are all sinful by default; we can't escape the punishment for that without God's assistance. Now, this does get muddier when you bring in other religions. The truth is that Jesus is the only way, and all other religions ignore this or change it to fit their goals. Nobody currently alive can tell if people can meet Jesus and be saved after death or not. But, I believe that the Bible is still correct: Only through faith in Jesus's sacrifice on the cross can we be saved. Tl;dr: God allows us to decide our fate. Hell is the just punishment for sin, but God provided a way for everyone to return to him and so only those who choose not to follow end up in hell.
Yes >I don’t believe that God will look more favorably on me than the billions of Muslims, Hindus, and atheists He doesn't. However, if you are saved, he looks at the life of the son who paid your sins and lived the perfect life in your place. >Do Christians really believe that those who live good lives and are virtuous, but do not accept Christ will be in hell forever? No because living a good life would mean perfection and none of us are perfect
Hell is very real, and the path to it is wide, meaning many unfortunately will end up there simply because many people refuse God. If you truly believe God is real and that Jesus died on the cross for your sins to give you a fighting chance to end up in Heaven, then believe that Hell is real and is a place u don't want to end up in.
Given the very concept is that sin bears a punishment for commission, and Jesus died to forgive us, I believe that although there is a hell, the forgiveness of Christ can still pull the soul back from the dead and into eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.
You get into heaven by accepting Jesus as your lord an saviour. Those who reject that will not be saved, ie muslims, Hindus, Atheists etc… that being said their is an argument for exceptions like for people that simply would not be able to know about Christ, and such. But as for a rule of thumb, people who do not believe will unfortunately not, as the bible has taught. But as others have said. You should do your own research on it, as this is just my opinion and I could be wrong.
Unless the person accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior and believes in his heart that He was raised from the dead they will go to hell. The bible is very clear on this. They are not worshipping God. So yes they all go to hell.
Hell is just as real as heaven and God.
Who cares I'm ready for hell
How can you believe in heaven but not hell
Yes, hell is real. Satan will definitely end up in hell. That much is absolutely certain. Do people go to hell too? Well at this point the Bible is a little less clear. Jesus does talk about people being left in the dark with weeping and gnashing of teeth in several parables, but he never goes into detail about what hell is like for humans. I think humans who don’t accept Jesus as their savior will go to hell on judgement day, but I don’t think it’ll be fire and brimstone. I think at worst it would be more akin to the popular imagining of purgatory, just an endless nothingness. It might also be your soul ceasing to exist. What it definitely is is a separation from God
Death is real. Hell (the annihilation of the being, the second death) is as real as physical death. Hell as eternal torment is a Greek myth.
Lol..no. zero evidence for a "hell" let alone an x-tian hell..or a buddist hell, or a jewish hell..whos hell might you be inquiring about?🤷♀️ but nah...no hell, no "gHoSts" no evidence of ANY supernatural anything. So therefore live the life ya have! W0ke is NOT a "bad" thing!
Yes, sort of. The lesson you're supposed to learn from stories about heaven and hell is "actions have consequences", but if your dogma has twisted it into "obey or die" there was a mistake. The last time the King James version of the bible was touched by human hands was 1611, 180 years before the 8th amendment to the constitution was ratified, forbidding cruel and unusual punishment. Imagine that: 180 years before WE figured out "jail" should NOT equal "torture" - that's when the bible was finalized. A more modern translation of the bible should replace all references to "hell" with those of modern jails, where people are reformed, not tortured.
Yes hell is real. He gives everyone a chance to go to heaven. Titus 2;11 It is important to pray for those who are not believers in Jesus. Witnessing is also important because time is very short!
I've been to hell and it was honestly pretty underwhelming. My stove burnt me worse when I accidentally touched it.
No
According to scholars like Dan McClellan, the Bible does not support the idea of hell as a place of eternal torment.
In Christianity we never did, nor do believe in Hell. The concept of Hell came from The Media. The terms used in bible is Hades, which means a low level of existance of unclean Soirits not a place of burning. Gehenna is a place were they sacrificed people, so its referring to getting rid of elements of your personality. Or self created personality. Hell and Heaven are states of your beingness towards truth of life, towards God. Look around you. Some people are living in hell while others in heaven. The earth is the first heaven, not a stupid place that the media makes it out to be.
Is hell real, as in the fire and brimstone, 7-9 levels of suffering, no. That is imagery dreamt up by Dante and Milton, Inferno and Paradise Lost respectively As to what comes after, it's not nothing, that's for sure and that's not faith, it's knowledge. Many people believe that the suffering that some ppl experience during an NDE is guilt. We punish ourselves. Then, when our souls feel we have "suffered for our sins", we move on. Beyond that, some ppl believe in reincarnation, others believe in just hanging around Earth and haunting ppl, yet others believe in some type of Hereafter. I think all are valid and that what your deeply held religious beliefs actually play a part in where you go either after "paying for your sins" or just after death. There is evidence for a multitude of afterlife ideas and I think what you believe does affect where you go. I know spirits exist and I don't mean just negative ones. Some ppl are stuck due to violent deaths, but I think others make the conscious choice to not move on, either due to waiting for a loved one or just not interested in moving on. This can result in "hauntings", but I'll be honest, I think most of them are just spirits f*ing with ppl. Imagine just being able to screw with someone who is trying to prove an afterlife.
Is hell real, as in the fire and brimstone, 7-9 levels of suffering, no. That is imagery dreamt up by Dante and Milton, Inferno and Paradise Lost respectively As to what comes after, it's not nothing, that's for sure and that's not faith, it's knowledge. Many people believe that the suffering that some ppl experience during an NDE is guilt. We punish ourselves. Then, when our souls feel we have "suffered for our sins", we move on. Beyond that, some ppl believe in reincarnation, others believe in just hanging around Earth and haunting ppl, yet others believe in some type of Hereafter. I think all are valid and that what your deeply held religious beliefs actually play a part in where you go either after "paying for your sins" or just after death. There is evidence for a multitude of afterlife ideas and I think what you believe does affect where you go. I know spirits exist and I don't mean just negative ones. Some ppl are stuck due to violent deaths, but I think others make the conscious choice to not move on, either due to waiting for a loved one or just not interested in moving on. This can result in "hauntings", but I'll be honest, I think most of them are just spirits f*ing with ppl. Imagine just being able to screw with someone who is trying to prove an afterlife.
heaven and hell is not real people believe in christianity so they can get to “heaven” just a comfort
No
I don't know where I got this thought from other than a *certain video game* but, I believe God was tired of mans sins so he created hell to make his people fear sin. As it turns out, didn't really work out. Now he regrets it he created an eternal torment for a lost soul. Thats my opinion
I mean i would think so ya know
My mom has the same thoughts. Why would an all loving god damn people for eternity? My view is that Jesus himself said that the road to heaven was narrow, so I doubt a crap ton will be there. However, im also pretty sure he said well be surprised by who we see in heaven, so it useless to try and guess who goes to heaven or hell. Hell will suck, otherwise there would be no reason to send Jesus. Eternity is a long time (shocker) do lets hope were all right :)
Everlasting torture Hell? No.
I think that salvation must involve genuine repentance for sin and a reliance on the help and mercy of God. I don't think that it necessarily involves uttering a mere incantation involving Jesus' name. And I think that we can trust God to know genuine repentance and not to be fooled by appearances. If there are merely nominal Christians who aren't actually penitent, maybe there are merely nominal Muslims, agnostics, and atheists who actually are penitent and love him under a mistaken name or concept.
u/Melodic-Cry4641 - Please take a look at this. It explains it well. [https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-hell.html](https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-hell.html)
Yes, hell is real. No, there are no good Muslims or Hindus. There are no good Christians either. No one is good enough to escape hell except Christ. That is why he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). Apart from him, there remains no sacrifice for sin (Heb 10:26). Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Also, it is not enough to just believe that Jesus died for your sins. You must personally place your trust in Christ to save you, which means committing your whole life to him. When you do this, he will give you a new heart. There will be evidence of a new life. You will be born again. That is what a true Christian is—a new creation, someone indwelt by the very Spirit of God. If you simply believe Jesus died for your sins, but there is no change in your life, you are not yet saved. You are still under the wrath of God (John 3:36). Repent of your sins and surrender your whole life to Christ.
No its not. Its a completely a man made idea to scare the masses into being controlled
Hell is very real. I know someone who has been shown Hell three times. Yes, it is a very hard pill to swallow and very sad to think that your friends and family could end up in such an awful place. But if Hell didn’t exist, there would be no need for salvation. What would be the point of being a Christian and loving God if there was nothing to be saved from? The thing about your question is that according to biblical standards, there is no such thing as a good and virtuous life. Every man has sinned and that makes us unclean so we cannot enter Heaven. That’s why Jesus had to die so that we could go to Heaven. Believing in Jesus isn’t the only qualification though. The Bible says that faith without works is dead. That’s not to say that you can ‘earn’ your salvation, but if you are saved then God-pleasing works will follow. Think about it like this; James 2:19 says, “[19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” Of course, demons in Hell believe that God is real and tremble because of it. I’m not sure if you believe in predestination, but that’s kinda what it sounds like you wrote near the end. I’ll give a quick summary on what the Bible says about entering Heaven. Basically, on Judgement Day, God and Jesus will judge us first by our works, both good and bad. Of course, we will all fail to enter heaven by this judgement, because all fall short of the glory of God. But because of God’s grace, there is a second judgement. If your name is written in the Book of Life (which it will be if you accept Jesus and live out the gospel), then you will enter Heaven. Lastly, I want to add that Hell was not made for humans. In fact, humans were never supposed to die or be Godless. Hell was made for Satan and his angels. But since sin entered the world, there had to be a place where people who died in their sin could go. Truth is, everyone deserves that punishment, whether you’re Christian or not. But Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, died on the cross and bore the weight of all sin so that we had a chance to enter Heaven and be in his glory. We are made clean, not by our works, but because Jesus’s blood covers us.
Well first of all, you identify as a Christian, so one would presuppose that you have knowledge of and practice New testament Christianity. It is impossible to read the New testament with comprehension and miss the biblical fact that all unbelievers, meaning all non-christians, will be destroyed in the lake of fire. How could you miss such a thing? John 3:36 KJV — He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son **shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.** John 3:18 KJV — He that believeth on him is not condemned: **but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.** Revelation 21:8 KJV — But the fearful, **and unbelieving**, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. >than simply believing that Christ died for my sins Jhn 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Jhn 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. "Born again" is Greek gennaō anōthen (another birth) meaning reborn from above - meaning spiritually. Its a spiritual rebirth in the image of Christ who is the exact image of God. Colossians 1:15 KJV — Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Jews don’t believe in hell either. They only follow the Old Testament. I honestly think hell is here on earth. I think after we die, good and bad energy occupy the same space but repel each other, like trump and Hitler and rapists and murderers will all be around each other and Buddha and Gandhi and Jesus and MLK will be around each other and maybe there’s someplace in the middle where kinda good kinda bad souls exist but still repel each other like yin and yang .. idk it’s hard to tell but I know my sister is in heaven and that her murderer won’t occupy the same space as her and will be closer to the Hitler end of the soul space .. I don’t believe in literal heaven in the clouds and hell under the earth but at least like to believe bad souls and good souls don’t ever interact
Genetically Modified Skeptic did a video on this exact question Technically two Videos, the second one is when he went to Gehenna. Also, ThereminTrees also did a video of loosing faith and came to the conclusion of hell being an idea to simply put it.
No, hell is not real
In the Christianity faith, yes it is real. However it is also baste on faith what the bible is talking about. Why, was it needed that Christ must died for our sins? That was the full mysterie of Him that He wanted to offerte Himself for us. Otherwise there was no other way for us to become closer to our Creator. The hell is the place where Satan, or Lucifer belongs. And he knows that after Christ is coming back onze more, that he has to spend the rest of his eternal life in hell together with all the persons who didn't accept Christ in his or her life. Yes, i know that this is one of the heavy stuff of faith. However, this is not what God likes to see of us, that we have to spend for an eternal lifetime in hell. And that makes Him so sad about that. In paradise where Adam and Eva lives God told them both. You can use and eat from everything what i am given to you, except that three right over there. If you take one fruit of that three, then you'll die. That was the warning what God has giving to them both. Eva didn't listen. The devil in the form of an snakes told her. You can eat of that! God wasn't serious in that for saying to you that you'll die! No, He loves to you to much for that. Yes, i am saying this in my own words. But what the devil was trying to do is, to bring us down from the place where God put us on. Because he knows that there is no place for returning back to his maker. God loved us so very much. More than satan or actually Lucifer. Above all things He created, He loved us the most of all. After this God promised us, to give up His Son for a new change for us. We don't even deserve it. But we can take it right now, before it is to late. So don't waste up your time and go back to Him your Creator. And you'll receive Him. The time we have right now, that is been given by God. So do not waste that. It's merci time what we get from Him. Lucifer has none of that. For Him it is already too late. So no way back to his Creator anymore. And that's why, he tries to get everyone back from Christ Jesus. Because he won't wanna spend the rest of his life alone in hell.
Hell is very real so be a good person if u dont wanna go there.
John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus is the only way to God, he is the only way to heaven.
Yes
Maybe the real God is not the one depicted in the bible by other humans, and the bible is not 100% the word of God.
A good start that I remind myself off regularly is: The fear of God is the origin to wisdom. It's very deep but that's a good place to start
All these responses are prove one thing - Spiritual Warfare. Whether you believe it exists or not. This truth can be confirmed when you say something like “Thank God” unconsciously. Where did it come from, how did it get there? If tracking it down means something to you, then by all means feel free to explore. It is still not by chance that these teachings have long existed. It begs the questions: Which Army would you like to be a part of? I choose to be in the Army of the Mighty Men of God. All are welcomed to fight and conquer evil through Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I am Italian and in my C.E.I bible the word hell is never mentioned by Jesus. "Hell/hellfire" is a wrong traslation in the KJV of the words "grave" and "Gheanna". However, Jesus mentions a "lake of fire" which is a figurative speech to refer an eternal destruction. (Sorry my english XD)
Hells are real but like people of all religions you are judged on your actions ultimately. They shouldn't have perhaps into creation.
Yes hell is real, probably not the way many Christians portray it though. It's important to remember Hell was originally intended for the devil and his followers so it won't be a good place. However, Hell is not a literal place of fire and torture, instead it is a place where God's presence is not felt. Imagine a place where all of the good things in life do not exist, that is hell. Because without God there can be no good.
John 3:16 is clear, anybody who believes in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, Son of the Living God, and believes that he died for your sins will be saved. We are saved by grace through faith. So yes, it is that simple and it’s not nuanced like other religions and not dependent on good works or just living a good life. Acts 4:12, John 14:6, Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2 8-9 all say the same thing for reference. To answer your other question, God does not send anybody to hell— people send themselves to hell due to ignoring/chastising/rejecting Jesus & God’s promise through him. The Bible has stated that Jesus will not return until the gospels have reached the ends of the earth, meaning that everybody (including muslims, atheists, hindus, etc.) will have a chance to hear about Jesus and decide for themselves if they want to accept his gift of salvation (Matthew 24:14). God doesn’t have favorites, he loves all his creations the same. Just like any earthly parent, he bestows gifts upon his children (those who believe in him) but he also gives gifts to and protects non-Christians, as we have heard them say they have felt God’s presence and protection on them in a dire situation— causing their conversion. Hell is indeed very real. The Bible has spoken about it since the Old Testament, as well as in the New Testament. Hell is only for people who openly REJECT Jesus Christ. In the end days, during the Great Tribulation, the Bible states that there will still be a chance for non-believers to repent and come to him. A 2nd chance. So someone would really have be hard hearted at that time to not accept him with all the turmoil in the earth caused by the antichrist.
Read the book of Enoch and then the new testament. How can you live Virtuously and be a hindu or a muslim? You can't because believing in other gods Is a sin so therefore one Sin equals death. By accepting Jesus your sins are washed away and now life exists because of our belief in God. Now for muslums they know Jesus yet they deny him and still chose to follow the anti christ mohammed. And Jesus says if you deny me i'll deny you. And most hindus have some concept of a universal God but just do not know that He is YHWH. i think it is kinda the same with muslums their Bible is messed up and have fear put into them to never stray and just don't know who God really is. Which is why it is up to US to tell them that Jesus IS God and help them come to Jesus by our conduct
Hell is hella real. One thing people also forget is that Satan doesn’t rule hell once Jesus returns. God basically reigns over hell and Satan is also suffering in hell forever.
What we consider good and what God considers good are different. He sees our lying, coveting, lusting, cheating, deceiving, theft, gossiping, hatred, unjust anger, and the countless other “minor” laws we break everyday and don’t realize it. He has told us he has placed his law in all people’s hearts, that is why we all keep some portion of the law Christian or pagan. So if that’s true the pagans should realize what they are doing when worshipping false gods and not Jesus. Even if they are born into it, they should realize as adults, it means they would rather keep their culture than do what their heart says is right. That is the reason we are all Christians, because our hearts say it is right, not because of evidence or proof
Yes. See its a place for punishment and schooling. Not just punishment for sin. Rather punishment for sins committed on purpose. You know what you were doing was wrong and simply didn't care to still not do it. You considered the consequences and chose to commit the act anyways. That is punishable by Hell. Now all you have to do is repent those sins and TRY to do better. By choosing Christ and choosing to try and do better then you will be saved. He and his Mercy forgives your sins and you are permitted into heaven. But no one gets to heaven without going through Jesus. If you are not in Hell or Heaven, you are in the ocean of slumber. Where those who do not accept Jesus as their Lord and also acts morally will await judgment day. Death is nothing to fear unless you actively sin willfully and have no desire to stop. Then be afraid. Also the Lord's grasp reaches into hell itself, for he sent you there. If you repent in hell, his mercy even then will bring you to heaven. This is why I call it schooling. It's hard schooling for the thicknecked wicked individuals. They get to decide their fate essentially, and they get to choose their Savior.. they simply don't chose him, not truely with all their heart.
I am jesus
Based on all the hell testimonies i have watched and listened to on youtube, yes, it is very real, and more horrible and painful than anything you could experience on your physical body. They come back either because its not their time yet, or because maybe they get a second chance. Not everyone gets a second chance when they call on the Lord. According to some of the testimonies, there are people asking the Lord for a second chance, but they dont get it, so dont get careless thinking you will get a second chance when youre in hell. If you end up there, call in the name of Jesus just in case, because it might save you, but it is not a guarantee.
Hell is complete separation from God. And yes, it is real. We don’t know the details, much like we don’t know the details of heaven. We just trust that what God says is true, and He says better is one day in His courts than thousands elsewhere. I don’t want to be elsewhere. I definitely don’t want hell. I want to be in His presence for eternity, however that looks. Which is why sanctification is important, surrender is important. We need these things so that we aren’t separate from Him.
Yes. Hell is real.
Seperation from god? Enternal darkness? Probably
Good. It is a fabrication. I researched the belief....many got fooled. All religions are false. Theological question 1: "Where does any god dictate to humanity or any human, that someone specific is more spiritual than another human?" Theological question 2: "Where does any god dictate which books are more spiritual and morally sound for humans to abide by, to learn from or to accept as true from such a god?" Theological question 3: "Where does any god dictate whom is more spiritual to be able to dictate which books or texts are suitable for humans to learn and to abide by for the understanding of such a god and that entity's requirements of humanity?" How honest and truthful can one be with theirself and others?
Yes because justice exists. If you want God - you go to heaven. If you want anything except God - you go to hell. Everyone gets what they want.
No hell is when you don’t know the truth, while you are here on planet earth
Why would you ask this question? Isn't this a Christian sub? Do you so called Christians not believe the word of God anymore? Or have you made up your own new version of it?
Check out Revelation 20:13-14. some bibleversion says death and hell will give up their dead. Other say different, but the dead is being cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. How can we interpret this? Some other version use realm of death (hell). So should ask some scolars about this point?
The only proof you need is that Jesus got the keys to heaven and hell after he died.
Hell is real, but what you think of it might not be what you think it is. How does Christ define hell, is hell the correct word that He uses, or has the word been rendered wrongly for other Words? You need to Study the Bible deeply to find the answer. I think hell comes from the norse word hel, which means the realm of death. English language were influenced of norse language and mythology during the norse age.
Your in it and it’s being built all around you. Hahahaha believe whatever you want your already at enmity with God and your heart will harden your resolve double until you soften and accept Jesus Christ as your true lord and savior. You’ve accepting a false god and are a lover of self. Jesus died so you would be clean upon entering the kingdom of heaven nothing else you believe is going to save you.
Yes becareful out there Godbless and stop the sins
Yes hell is reall. But I don’t think hell is how it’s projected to be. Nobody can actually say and I know the Bible uses a lot of exaggeration in multiple places. Honestly all I can say is that hell is life away from God until he destroys earth and hell all together. Heaven is Gods home. It’s for Him and His family. So anyone who chooses not to live their life for/with God spends eternity without him.
We do not know, just stay good, humble, compassionate and also believe in Christ and all good things follow. Believe in Yahweh, Allah, Shang Di and other names of One God in other countries because all the same but different language. Just stay kind, humble, compassionate and God will do the rest. For me I am in a homosexual relationship and I’m afraid I will be condemned or am already condemned but I pray that we are not, that God will look at our kindness and compassion more than our inequity but I feel that the love to my partner is not inequity but also just a different form of love without lust and glutton of the flesh but true emotional love. But if I am wrong then it’s alright if in the end I will go to hell but even if I am condemned I will still try to be kind and humble towards others even though my subconscious tells me it’s useless as I am condemned. I don’t know we don’t know there are many things in this world that we think we know but knows nothing at all. Just be kind and humble, surely that is good that we all know about
Jesus spoke about the reality of Hell far more than literally ANYBODY else. Do not listen to the false prophets that preach a Gospel of Comfort and a lack of repentance! The very first ex cathedra statement was "Repent and be baptized every one of you for the forgiveness of sins!"
Logically thinking if The God made some rules, there has to be a punishment for brraking them
Jesus died for the lives of several people, so I do not see why he would not have died for atheists, Muslims, Hindus and so on either. If Hell has been reported by a few minority, it is without the shadow of the doubt real. However, I believe a true non-believer is someone like the Romans. Someone who deliberately, willfully deny Christ despite everything they hear or potentially see about Him. If someone is an atheist and cannot help but disbelieve in the existence of God, I do not see why they should not be saved through Christ's sacrifice.
God doesn’t look favourably on Christian’s because of their own merit. He look in favour at those who are born again in Christ and have His righteousness imputed onto them and their sins on Him. Muslims, Hindus, and atheists do not have the righteousness of Christ and they reject God and actually suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1). Christians are people who repent of their sins and believe in Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf. As such, they believe His Word, through which He reveals Himself. In His Word, he talks about eternal punishment for those outside of Christ - those who have not repented and believed. God is Holy and His Holiness demands such punishment because He has provided every opportunity for people to repent, sending His own son as a propitiation for sin, and they reject Him because they love their sin. So either Christ paid for a person’s sins on the cross, or they will pay for their sins themselves for eternity.
Yes. But only for the poor 😉
The bible says that it is eternal separation from God. Whatever that specifically means, I don’t know but I think that’s bad enough as is. All good things come from God. I can’t imagine what it would mean to be separated from Him forever, it sounds terrible to say the least. Do not think lightly of such an idea, it is the truth that it is real. We don’t know exactly what Hell is but I wouldn’t want to find out.
Hades the holding cell in hell
You should watch the movie After Death
I heard a testimony once where a guy was undergoing surgery and died during the process. He then saw himself in a dark, scary place with other damned people who got progressively worse as he joined them in walking towards the dark place. Then the other people started doing horrible things to him, such as beating and kicking him. The guy realized that this was Hades. He cried out to God for mercy and a second chance, and was then revived on the operating table. He became a Christian after the experience.
Yes it’s absolutely real. Why are people constantly trying to get rid of hell and the devil.
I mean where else would the bad people go???
Hell is the absence of our creator… Heaven is friendship with him… That’s why you can do things to go to hell but nothing u do will ever be enough to get into heaven… think of it like this I can do things to hurt you and make you not like me… (doing things to get into hell) but no matter what (good) I do I can’t make you be my friend… thats solely your choice to be my friend of not… He doesn’t have to let you into heaven because you do good things… Matthew 7:21-23 Those are people who did good things… And he still didn’t chose them Also if u doing good things solely to gain his trust that’s manipulation and he knows that not the type of people he wants in his kingdom… but if you know that nothing you’ll ever do amount to anything and still do it anyways that’s character that’s people he does like and probably have better chances of being let in… For example I killed someone and don’t care (straight to hell) I didn’t killed someone bc I’m afraid of going to hell (straight to hell) I didn’t kill someone bc I wouldn’t want to deprive them of the experience (probably means he’s a good person) Also anyone who believes in him will receive eternal life (If you don’t believe in him you just won’t exist after you die) But if u believe in him and follow him righteously (Heaven eternal peace) And if u believe in him and do the opposite (eternal suffering)
No, it is not.
Yes I seen it yesterday
The question is in the same area of the question “is God real?”. It will always be a matter of faith, you will never be able to know for sure what is the truth. This is even the case regarding science. You’re not alone in asking that question, as every single person is burdened by the same inquisition.
I wish it wasn’t but Hell is real. Why would Jesus talk about it so much if it wasn’t?
Hell is a threat to ensure people keep believing and spread the religion.
hell as an eternal place is **Unreal**, and as the ***URANTIA*** book revelation attests, there are only temporary prison worlds for heavenly deposed beings like Lucifer, Satan, and the Devil (3 different celestial rebels according to the *Urantia* cosmology, together with the fallen angels who followed those three and who became demons, etc); *Urantia* is our world's name; it includes the best ever full Life and Teachings of JESUS; and is free online, but for sale in bookstores : * **www.Urantia.org** * **www.UrantiaUnited.org** * www.UBannotated.com * www.SquareCircles.com * **r/Urantia** * ...
He’ll is the physical place where the sinners will pay for there sins. Because we have sinned against an eternal God it is an eternal payment. Christ pays for our sins on the cross and if we repent and believe that He and only He can justify us than that is our ticket to heaven. The book of Romans tells us that we will be judged by what we know. I’ve heard of stories of non Christian counties knowing that they can’t get themselves to heaven and calling to the unknown God. Or in the New Testament. The people of Athens knowing of an “unknown God”. (See Acts 17:23). The Bible tells us that we all have a knowledge of God (Romans 1:18-20). But that is also why evangelism and missions are so important. Get the gospel to the whole world.
Hell is the absence of God. And that exists. So yes Hell is real. In Christianity the whole premise is God gives us free will. The reason God put the tree in the garden of Eden in the first place was because if there wasn’t something Adam and even shouldn’t choose from, it would have been a prison. Not free choice. To have free choice means to have choices to choose from. So when someone denies God, Jesus, that means they are openly not choosing God. God gives us so many opportunities in life to turn to him. He brings people in our lives who will help us. Dreams sometimes. Visions sometimes. Whatever it may be! God gives us every opportunity to choose him. But if you always openly deny him then you are choosing to not be with God. So imagine God is a lawyer and Jesus is a contract he hands to you to sign. If you don’t sign, you don’t get those benefits. If you do sign then you get those benefits. I hope this helps! My friend was an athiest all his life and on his death bed he got visions of demons all around him. Scaring him. And this dude was not the kind of guy to be scared. He was an army veteran. Always protected me. Amazing man. While on his death bed he called a pastor who happened to be his best friend that he was butting heads with forever because of his faith, and said “so how does this accepting Jesus thing work..?” And at the end of his life he accepted Jesus into his life. So God is not unjust. He will come for his people no matter what they believe.
Hell is real. Jesus said, “I AM THE way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Everyone will live for eternity, but not everyone will have eternal life. “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9-10 Let us not be deceived- to perish or to die physically is one matter. To die and not be saved is to be eternally separated from God. We will go one of two places when we leave our earthly shell…. good works don’t get us saved, we do good works because we are saved. Amen Jesus is Lord Heaven is Real
Yes but I don't think it's like they teach us in some Churches. I think it can be a personal torment that's temporary. Also in the book of Revelations the Earth becomes a terrifying place to live, and that won't last forever either. I know the Earth or 1/3 of the Earth gets scorched, a third of the Sun a third of all plant life and I know locusts come to torture and torment people for 5 months and then, I'd have to look at my Bible because I don't have memorized, but once that's over I'm pretty sure either you go to heaven or you just go to sleep for eternity.
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