The incredible belief in the myth of eternal hell suffering.

[Kiki04]

Thats how I became atheist. :/
Now I just consider myself to be a spiritual being who believes in an unconditional loving God.

Originally Posted by hawkmoth65

The 'Hell issue' tends to form the basis of atheist's arguments against the existance of God.That a kind and benevolent God would not wish to punish sinners with eternal torture,therefore in the mind of an atheist,give cause to question God's existance entirely.

[mickiel]

Originally Posted by nightowl

If I may ask Mickiel, if you are not Christian than how is it you believe the Bible was written by God but then don't believe in hell, may I ask of what faith you are? It would help give a better understanding of where you are coming from with your views?

It is not very respectful to call others 'Holy Scriptures" nonsense, please re consider how you state things, it would be a benefit to all.

I have no faith; I am in no religion, and I am not part of any group; I walk alone in my belief. And I called the belief in eternal hell nonsense, not the Scriptures; I believe in the bible myself, why would I call it nonsense? You need to reconsider how you read what I said.

God didnot write the bible, I believe he inspired it to be written by certain men; over 40 of them. And I believe it to be the word of absolute truth.

And the incredible belief in eternal suffering hell was derived from the bible by most who believe it. It came to be in the bible from mistranslations from the people who translated the bible from one language to another. And I will be going into that in detail.

[mickiel]

In a study of the word hell in the bible, there are 4 terms used to describe it; The Hebrew word " Sheol", which means the grave; The Greek word " Hades" which also means the grave; The Greek " Tartaroo" which means the grave or a pit, and other uses of it seem to indicate a holding place for sinful angels; and " Gehenna", which was a place of torment in the valley of Hinnom southwest of Jerusalem. The valley came to be reguarded as a place of abomination because some of the Isralites sacrificed their children there to the pagan god Moloch. In a later period it was made a refuse dump and perpetual fires were maintained there to prevent pestilence.

It was the term Gehenna that many translators of the bible had in mind when they made this place and its " Concept" synonymous with an eternal burning hell.

Bear that in mind as we pry open this incredible concept and get to its roots.

The Hell is to be away from God.

[BlueSky]

So why are so many religions actually believing this illrational belief? Mickiel

I've studied them all (I think) and I cannot come up with one religion that teaches the popular belief of hell being a place of torment.
I'm sure there is a cult here and there but which ones do you know of that "believe" this?
The concept actually came from a play called "The Divine Comedy" by Dante and took off from there. Those are its roots...as far as I understand.
I've been Catholic, Christian, etc and never has hell, a place of eternal torment, been preached or taught.
Do you mean to ask why do people in the world believe this? Personally I don't know anyone who does.....

[sound]

Hi mickiel
I am not sure many people do believe in hell 'wholeheartedly' ...maybe they use it as a tool to control their behaviour? Maybe if such a belief were held above and beyond all else then more people would experience extreme mental anguish and would need to be 'treated' or 'doped up' to deal with the trauma of entertaining such a probability. Maybe deep down there is an innate understanding that such a belief is 'meaningless' in the 'real' world ... I dont know ... I have not been indoctrinated in such a way ...

Originally Posted by mickiel

This is one of the most incredible beliefs that I have ever been aware of in my life! The belief that God has construted a place called " Hell", and that he will place unbelievers into this place of torture, and torture them for all of eternity- alive and conscious- with no end. A simply stunning belief that is literally shocking in its acceptence of many people into their belief system.

I mean it is simply a gruesome attack on the integrity of God himself; on rational thinking, and on the reality of Gods mercy, and even on the saneness of God himself. Because anyone who would torture anybody for an eternity, would themselves have to be insane! And there is no way around that.

So why are so many religions actually believing this illrational belief? Why has this whole business of " Hell" implanted itself so deeply into the human physce?

And I wanted to examine this most unusual phenom.

[mickiel]

[quote=WhiteShaman]So why are so many religions actually believing this illrational belief? Mickiel

I've studied them all (I think) and I cannot come up with one religion that teaches the popular belief of hell being a place of torment.
QUOTE]


Then you need to study more. Christianity, the worlds largest religion, teaches hell. Islam believes in hell. Mormons believe it, and Baptist believe it.

Thats most of the people in the world right there bro.

Originally Posted by mickiel

This is one of the most incredible beliefs that I have ever been aware of in my life! The belief that God has construted a place called " Hell", and that he will place unbelievers into this place of torture, and torture them for all of eternity- alive and conscious- with no end. A simply stunning belief that is literally shocking in its acceptence of many people into their belief system.

I mean it is simply a gruesome attack on the integrity of God himself; on rational thinking, and on the reality of Gods mercy, and even on the saneness of God himself. Because anyone who would torture anybody for an eternity, would themselves have to be insane! And there is no way around that.

So why are so many religions actually believing this illrational belief? Why has this whole business of " Hell" implanted itself so deeply into the human physce?

And I wanted to examine this most unusual phenom.

For me, hell is just karma. What I think it means, is, that people who think they get away by taking advantage of others for their own benefit and screwing the other person in the process, actually don't. God is always watching. They have the freedom to choose to take advantage of another soul for their own selfishness, and truly get the best of them because they are either more aware, or smarter, or what not, and think they won't have to pay the price - they think they have truly bested the other person and no consequence is in store. They think they have won, got what they wanted, and that is all she wrote.

But it's not. It will always come back to you.

I also think life on earth here is itself hell. For me it is. Why are we here? I have no idea. Did we end up here because of a series of wrong choices we made in the past, and need to learn to correct? Or are we paying the price? Possible. I really don't know. Maybe there is no life taking place here, no world, no hell, and it's all imagination. Frankly I am confused by the whole thing.

Who could say weather or not God would send one to hell. Can we really understand an infinite intelligence? Does our common sense have any place? Does your child understand you? If your child does not even understand you and how an adult mind functions, how can we understand a God that is infinitely more aware than we are?

[mickiel]

Originally Posted by sound

Hi mickiel
I am not sure many people do believe in hell 'wholeheartedly' ...maybe they use it as a tool to control their behaviour? Maybe if such a belief were held above and beyond all else then more people would experience extreme mental anguish and would need to be 'treated' or 'doped up' to deal with the trauma of entertaining such a probability. Maybe deep down there is an innate understanding that such a belief is 'meaningless' in the 'real' world ... I dont know ... I have not been indoctrinated in such a way ...

Well you need to shake your comprehension of what people out there are believing. And they have been believing it for years. And their teachers and preachers pound their congregations with it at will. And they, like sheep, just go along with it.

Even unreligious people are affected by this arcane belief. And its concept has worked its way into the very language of the people. How many times have you heard one person tell another; " To go to hell."
The concept is a deeply ingrained one.

[BlueSky]

[quote=mickiel]

Originally Posted by WhiteShaman

So why are so many religions actually believing this illrational belief? Mickiel

I've studied them all (I think) and I cannot come up with one religion that teaches the popular belief of hell being a place of torment.
QUOTE]


Then you need to study more. Christianity, the worlds largest religion, teaches hell. Islam believes in hell. Mormons believe it, and Baptist believe it.

Thats most of the people in the world right there bro.

Mickiel........careful study will show that they do not believe or teach what you stated in your OP...........
The belief that God has construted a place called " Hell", and that he will place unbelievers into this place of torture, and torture them for all of eternity- alive and conscious- with no end.