People are constantly talking about hell being forever but I have also been told at the second coming the messiah will take the newly repentant from hell. I could really use a clear answer because I seem to have lost my bible.

IMHO, "hell" is a state of being not a location.

the bible scarcley mentions hell and when it does it talks about people being cast into the fire, in my knowledge not once does it speak of hell as a place of eternity or suffering.being cast into the fire/abyss may simply mean to cease to exist, most christian ideas about hell and the devil were merely fabricated or speculated

quote:Originally posted by nametag:

the bible scarcley mentions hell and when it does it talks about people being cast into the fire, in my knowledge not once does it speak of hell as a place of eternity or suffering.being cast into the fire/abyss may simply mean to cease to exist, most christian ideas about hell and the devil were merely fabricated or speculated

I used to think exactly what you said and and actually read pretty deep into the translation/mistranslation that may have lead Christians to believe hell is eternal. But after a while of hearing Christians only talk in the two ways I mentioned in my original post I kind of assumed I was wrong.

quote:Originally posted by nametag:

the bible scarcley mentions hell and when it does it talks about people being cast into the fire, in my knowledge not once does it speak of hell as a place of eternity or suffering.being cast into the fire/abyss may simply mean to cease to exist, most christian ideas about hell and the devil were merely fabricated or speculated

http://www.carm.org/uni/eternal_hell.htm

i have been humbly pwnd by that link, however the verse mentioning eternal destruction furthers my point that hell may simply equate to ceasing to exist as opposed to suffering, anyways thanks for the link, its always good to learn, its just in the versions of the cut off your hand verse id heard they dont use the term eternal and as for the other verses i hadnt seen them and remembered them

quote:Originally posted by Twisted_Ferret:

Originally posted by nametag:

the bible scarcley mentions hell and when it does it talks about people being cast into the fire, in my knowledge not once does it speak of hell as a place of eternity or suffering.being cast into the fire/abyss may simply mean to cease to exist, most christian ideas about hell and the devil were merely fabricated or speculated

http ://www.car m.org/uni/ eternal_he ll.htm (http: //www.carm .org/uni/e ternal_hel l.htm)

Thanks

quote:Originally posted by nametag:

i have been humbly pwnd by that link, however the verse mentioning eternal destruction furthers my point that hell may simply equate to ceasing to exist as opposed to suffering, anyways thanks for the link, its always good to learn, its just in the versions of the cut off your hand verse id heard they dont use the term eternal and as for the other verses i hadnt seen them and remembered them

I'm not saying you're wrong, actually. Almost everyone I've spoken with has claimed that hell isn't eternal damnation, but a few Fundies keep believing that... and one of them sent me that link, which seems to support their position. http://www.totse.com/bbs/frown.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/frown.gif) I'd like to see it contested, actually... I think Christianity would be a better religion without eternal damnation. http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif)

Here (http://www.tentmaker.org/books/GatesOfHell.html) is something interesting.

quote:Originally posted by 1E-:

IMHO, "hell" is a state of being not a location.

You may be interested to know that Pope John Paul II agreed. In a private audience at the Vatican in 1999, he said that hell is not a location, but a state of being in which we put ourselves by choosing to cut ourselves off from God.