Ahh...controversy. Intellectual conversations are rife with it, families are torn asunder by it, school boards thrive on trying to eliminate it. You should probably know that I am not someone who shies away from controversy or controversial topics. Quite the opposite, in fact. I believe that controversy and the topics that define it have much to teach us, and I am confident that the subject of this blog will only serve to reinforce that belief. Remember the golden rule of 204--to disagree is not to disrespect.
In 1999, a Gallup poll indicated that only approximately 60% of Americans believe that there is a hell. Out of that 60% only 4% were convinced that was their destination. So, first question--do YOU believe that hell exists? If so, do you know what it looks like? Smells like? Feels like? Where did your belief come from? Your parents? Your church? Your friends? What do you have to do in order to get there?
The word that is used most frequently in the New Testament for hell is Gehenna. Gehenna is a reference to the Valley of Hinnom located on the south side of Jerusalem, which served as the city's "garbage dump" during Jesus' time. The fires that burned here never went out. The Old Testament makes a reference to sheol as being a place where spirits reside (Deut. 32:22) and some of them will be resurrected to "everlasting life," while others are bound for "everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2) One is a worldly destination, the other spiritual. Which one sounds more realistic to you?
Dante Alighieri was a prolific writer who wrote the epic narrative poem titled Inferno in which the main character, Alighieri himself, travels through nine circles of hell. The main theme of this particular work is that there is a perfection to God's justice. Sinners on earth are relegated to various circles (or levels) of hell depending on the severity of sin. This would seem to indicate, at least in Alighieri's eyes, that there are varying degrees of sin and that each one is punishable in its own way. Do you believe this? If so, what is the worst sin that you can imagine and how should it be dealt with in hell?
Lastly, is it easily reconcilable to think of God as being the embodiment of love and grace yet imagine that it is through his word that people descend into hell, which is, ostensibly, a place of eternal suffering? (50 pts/400 words)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
59 comments:
I cant sleep and since this was up i decided to do it. Growing up, I went to catholic school and was raised with a belief in God so I was taught that there was a Heaven and a Hell. I was taught that if you loved God and followed his divine laws you would go to Heaven and that if you were a bad person you would go to Hell. I still do believe there is a Heaven and a Hell even though it is not being shoved down my throat anymore. God loves you no matter what and will forgive you for any wrong doing you might do no matter how bad. The only catch is, you have to ask for forgiveness. I think that Hell is an awful place. It should be I mean it is for the people on earth that did nothing but wrongdoings with their lives. It’s hotter than the surface of the sun and smells like burning flesh. I don’t really no what hell looks or smells like, well then again no living person does, so this is about what I think it looks like. I remember from back in the day this one Hey Arnold episode where he thinks he is being taken on a subway to the Underworld when in fact he is really just going to some underground substation or something like that. There were flames everywhere and for some strange reason I remember them saying it smelled like rotten eggs.
In order to go to Heaven, you have to be a good person and live a good life. If you do something wrong you need to ask for forgiveness from God. I do believe that there are varying degrees of sin. If you go by the ten commandments, sinning can range anywhere from lying to you parents, which I’m sure almost everyone has done at least once, to killing another human being. I think that the worst sin is being a murdering pedophile. Not only are you sexually assaulting and killing another human being, but you are harming a child that is helpless and has not yet had time to experience almost anything in life, not saying that raping and killing an adult is any better I don’t know if there is a punishment out there severe enough for this crime, even Hell, but I do hope for those sick perverts rot in Hell in the most horrible way ever. As humans we judge others in some way or another almost every day of our lives. We are supposed to be made in God’s image, but its hard to say because God is not here, or there, or wherever he is, to judge. Honestly I don’t know how he determines if a person goes to Heaven or goes to Hell. Now that I think about it, God has unconditional love so how does he determine if someone is “good enough” to go to Heaven or “bad enough” to go to Hell. I guess I won’t know until I die, and hopefully that won’t be anytime soon.
It's actually weird that this is the blog for this week. On Saturday night, I was having a conversation with my parents over stuff related to this topic. My mom and dad and I were sitting in the living room Saturday night, and my dad told me that I had to decide that night whether I wanted to go to Sunday school or to church. Before I start this whole story, I just want to say that I do believe in god. I know I do and I definitely don't doubt that at all. I've grown up to be Methodist and have gone to Sunday school ever since i was little. The only problem is that although I believe in all of the Methodist beliefs and ideas, my parents and I differ on how we look at going to church. My dad is the most strictly religious on going to church every Sunday. After all, he grew up Catholic and only converted for my mom who was Methodist. My mom doesn't go to church EVERY Sunday, but most. It's not that I don't believe in going to church...I just don't believe it's necessary to go EVERY SINGLE Sunday to be a good person or Christian. I think it's so much better for a child to go to church once every 2 weeks because that child WANTS to go, instead of going every week because their parents make them. I think it's better to be "living with God in your life" EVERY day, and not just Sunday. I think Jeannie used a good way to describe what happens to little kids going to church and sunday school when she said "religion is shoved down their throats." I feel bad for anyone who has had to deal with this...if my kid wants to be Buddhist, then I think that they should go for it. I think religion is a really personal thing.
With all of that said, I think I believe in hell. Obviously it's hard to exactly put a finger on what hell is like, because we haven't seen it (or most of us haven't, I'm guessing.) Religion is all about trust, too..trusting that everything people tell you in Church or in your Bible is true. I don't imagine hell like people make it out to look for little kids. I don't think that it's this place full of fire and smoke and demons and evil people. But I do know that it must feel like the "bad thing" you did to get there was not worth it for the "forever" that you will end up there for. Usually people aren't able to think ahead as far as going to hell, though. I guess all of my beliefs come from my parents, my church, and my friends...or a combination of all of them. I've made my own point of view and ideas from all of these factors. I'm not really sure what you have to do in order to get there...maybe it's not realizing that what you did to get there was wrong and not asking for forgiveness.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I trust in god enough to believe that all of this is real. Although I don't know what it's like (and this is why I can't decide whether this Gehenna place is realistic or not), I know of its existence. I kind of like that everything in religion isn't so spelled out. Say that when everyone dies, they are just dead, buried in the ground, and that's the end of it. It's so much better and comforting to live life thinking and knowing that there's something more, something to look forward to after we die and that we're not just an obituary in the paper. In my religion, as with most I think, the universal idea is that as long as you ask forgiveness from god, he will forgive you no matter what. With that said, I think the worst thing to do to end up in hell is to not ask for forgiveness. Obviously, no human being is perfect, so I don't think that little things like calling your little brother stupid will make god send you straight to hell. As long as you try to be a good person and live a good life, I think that that is all god expects of you.
I have no problem voicing my opinion. I’ll be the first to say how I feel, even if I know people are going to disagree with me. However, after reading this hell blog I dreaded writing it. I guess I’ll have to sooner or later, and as of right now, I don’t have anything else to do. As I think everyone already knows, I’m Jewish. Some orthodox Jews believe that if you’re a bad person, there are demons that will torment your soul. Modern Jews, on the other hand, deny the existence of hell. I grew up believing in God and heaven but I was raised to believe that there is no hell.
I really don’t like writing about this because I feel like I will get judged for my opinions. When I was in second grade, I went over my friend’s house and she tried telling me I was crazy for not believing in hell and sat me down on her bed and started writing notes on her little chalkboard to teach me about the devil. On occasion, I’ve gotten lectures from people about what I should believe in. My sister’s friends target her at sleepovers and try to force her to go to church with them because they think since she’s Jewish, she’s going to hell. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what I believe, even though I can’t completely understand or explain it. I think that people that have committed horrific crimes, like Jeannie mentioned, should be punished. I’m not sure how they are punished, but I’m pretty sure they are in some way or another.
When I was younger, I went to the Presbyterian Church a few times for Sunday school. We stopped going because my mom felt uncomfortable with the whole “Jesus is God” thing. We went to church another time my eighth grade year and I just couldn’t agree with what they were trying to force me to believe. (And yes, Jews believe in Jesus so don’t try telling me that we don’t. I think I know my own religion better than the people out there who try to disagree with me.)
I never had beliefs shoved down my throat and I’m sure that if I told my mom I believe in hell, she wouldn’t have a problem with it. I don’t feel like I should be told what to believe in. Sometimes I wish I was raised in a more religious environment, but at the same time I’m glad I was brought up this way. I’ve been able to form my own opinions, even if most of my friends disagree with them. I’m sticking by what I believe, too. Whew, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
To start, yes I do believe that there is a hell, mainly because of my church and religion, as well as my family which has instilled my morals and beliefs, somewhat through choosing the church that I belong to. I never really thought about what hell was like. I always just pictured it to be a bad place and had never really seen it as a place that had fire constantly burning or dead bodies all around, I guess because ever since I was a little kid in my Sunday school classes at church I was always warned not to misbehave so that I would go to heaven. But after reading Hell this past week, I have questioned whether this description of hell is accurate. I think that Hell is completely subjective, and hell is going to be punishment, and that is different for every person. I am fully content with thinking that hell may just be a place you are faced face to face with your innermost fears as punishment. I do not think anyone truly knows what hell is and what it looks like and smells like because none of us have been there.
I completely agree with Joanna when she talks about not needing to attend church every Sunday. This is something I struggle with. My dad is very involved in our church and my sister has to attend it every Sunday to get confirmed, however I have not been in a long time. Right now I don’t have enough time to go to church, I’m either loaded with homework, having a band competition, or just got back home a few hours before from a late band competition. This has caused much ruckus in my church amongst the older people because they are angry that the majority of the kids my age in my church do not attend weekly services, but unlike them, we have seriously demanding lives outside of church, and I truly believe God understands that. He wants the best for us all, and right now at this point in my life it is more important to focus on school and keeping somewhat sane than attending church. I see nothing wrong in not attending church, although I know others do. I still believe in God and he is a part of my everyday life. Just because I don’t get to the church services doesn’t mean that I do not believe in him or live by his rules. I consider myself a very moral person and I look to my faith in God more and more as I get older.
I don’t think that it is possible to leave Hell once you have gone there. I think that God choices whether you have lived the life he considers “good” and chooses your destination, for good. How he chooses, I’m not sure. I do think that everyone commits sin, whether it be lying or something worse. I personally think there are varying degrees of sin which each deserve different punishments. For example, I think that lying shouldn’t make you go to Hell, but then again I’m not the one calling the shots so I can not say what gets you to heaven and what gets you to hell. I really don’t know what I consider to be the worst sin, probably killing innocent people. All I can go on is my religion and live the life I feel best suits what God expects from us and I think God expects us to live our lives differently and have different views on the correct way to live, and he must have some master plan about choosing who goes to hell and who goes to heaven, one all of us are unaware of but will find out when we die.
Yes, I do believe in a Heaven and a Hell. So I guess I'm with that 60% of people that believe that Hell exists. I don't know really what it looks like or smells like and hopefully I never will. All that I can imagine is very tormenting flames and harsh smells. And I can't imagine nothing other than it being very uncomfortable. And when I say uncomfortable I mean very very uncomfortable and in many ways torturing. My belief came from many different people, my family, and church from the times that I went. Everybody has a different view on Hell and I think mine is a mix of everyone's that told me about it. I feel a person has to do something very horrible to go to Hell. Murdering people, doing horrible hate crimes, and other horrific things like this will send you there. To me the spiritual destination sounds to be more realistic and true. I never really thought about different levels of Hell and possibly this could be true. As I myself am not that religious, but still believe in God and Heaven and Hell, I am not real sure about everything about these things. The worst possible sin I see is mass killings and murders. I think they should have to live as death and feel pain everyday forever. Along with this they should be confined in darkness and heat working in pain and torture. I think God has the right to send people to eternal suffering. He is a ruler and if people don't follow his rules and be a good person than they should be sent to Hell. God tells of being good and following rules which will come to a good outcome and if you don't follow them then he has the right to send them to Hell. It does not make him any less lovable and graceful because he is helping and rewarding all the people who did follow his rules and suggestions.
I totally agree with Jeannie's last paragraph. I was gonna say a lot of this stuff but I figured I would just agree with her and tell why I feel this way. At first I feel it is right that one must be a good person and if you do something wrong you may need to ask for forgiveness and all this will take you to Heaven. And not everything to me can be forgiven. I also feel there are different sins that vary in degrees. And I feel pedophiles and all the people alike are just plain horrible they should just have an endless list of indescribable torments. And that is what I feel about how Hell is and who should go there.
Ever since I was a little boy with my bleach blond, bowl shaped hair, I went to CCD class. I really do not know what it stands for, but I would go every Monday night. We would have it for an hour and in that hour I would barely pay attention. I wasn’t a distraction because I respected other people in the class that wanted to learn. My dad’s side of the family is Roman Catholic. Every Sunday my dad will go to church. We used to join him but after a while we were busy or just slept in so now he goes alone. As of today we just go on holidays such as Christmas and Easter.
When it comes to the question whether or not I believe in heaven and hell, I always am in the middle. I never say I believe or I don’t believe. I guess the main reason I don’t strongly believe in heaven and heel is simply because I have never seen anything that has proven to me that they exist. Sure you can read about books and the creations of humans, but I have never witnessed anything that has shown me proof. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that there is no heaven and hell.
In my religion I really don’t get the hell part. They are always saying that everyone should be forgiven. Whether it’s someone stealing something or it’s as big someone killing someone, they are forgiven. Even if they “don’t ask for forgiveness,” shouldn’t they be forgiven? So I don’t see why anyone would go to hell. I’m always hearing that people should be given a second chance and should be forgiven. Now here’s a question. I’m not fully practicing my religion and have a hard time believing there truly is a heaven. So will I go to hell or will I be forgiven and go to heaven?
I would have to agree with Joanna. Thinking that there is some place to go after our life is comforting. I just really haven’t found it to be that appealing to me. It would be nice to go some place and see all of my old relatives and friends. I’m hoping it’s true. My grandfather said to my dad as he was on his death bed, “Don’t worry Larry. We’ll all be together soon.” As I said, I’m not saying there is no heaven. I’m saying that I haven’t experienced anything that has made me fully believe. I hope what my grandfather said comes true. I had so much that I wanted to say to him but I ran out of time.
Is there a hell? I guess no one really knows the answer to this question, but I do believe, along with the other 60% that there is one. I have never seen, smelled, or felt hell, nor do I desire to. I suppose my rationale for hell has always been that since there are punishments for bad things done on earth, whether it be stealing a cookie from the cookie jar or as extreme as robbing a bank, there must be an ultimate punishment for a life of dishonesty, stealing, cheating, and many other sins. As I grew older, my views on hell developed more.
Starting in kindergarten I have walked to the elegant and beautifully aged church, nicknamed the Christmas card church, one minute down the street from my house. Those were the days when I would occasionally go to Sunday school and vacation Bible school in the summer. I was raised with good morals and I guess you could say that I conveniently became a Methodist since my parents would not have to drive me to church or Sunday school if they did not want to go to church themselves. Things have changed since then. I started to become more dedicated to my beliefs a year or two ago, and the month of August this past summer is the first time I actually began to like going to church.
I don’t really remember exactly when I acknowledged hell, but this belief came from a combination of my parents and church. In my religion, you can still go to hell if you were a good person. It doesn’t matter if you never cursed or smoked or drank or lied or stole, and it doesn’t matter if you went to church and bible study every chance you got. None of this effects whether you are going to hell or not. The bottom line is that you have to accept Christ as your savior and repent of your sins (I just realized that I feel like I’ve heard this a million times). But, this is what I believe, regardless of how many times I’ve heard it. I guess this kind of weeds out the people who are there for the free ride to heaven, but have not fully committed themselves spiritually. But essentially, I believe that it is up to God to judge and not us.
The spiritual destination of hell sounds more reasonable to me. I think that hell may merely be a symbol for this eternal spiritual suffering. People on earth can only describe hell as what they believe it to be and try to relate horrible things and places to it. As for Alighieri’s concept of the nine circles of hell, it sounds pretty reasonable. I mean, I don’t think God would weigh sins such as lying to your parents as heavily as killing people, but I really don’t know for sure. From what I’ve learned over the years, all sins are forgiven, as long as you ask for forgiveness. I think I heard that the only sin isn’t forgiven is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
The god I believe in is a loving, caring god. I think that God did not create Hell, rather the devil created it and because if our sins, if we choose to ignore them, we may be sent there.
Whew, this blog was a tough one. It really made me think over what I’ve been taught and decide whether I really believe it or not. It all seems kind of bogus, but I think everyone needs something spiritual to guide them and this is what I choose to believe. As for the whole heaven and hell thing, especially when other religions come into play, I’m still working on fully comprehending that (and I’m not certain that I ever will).
I do think there's a hell. I feel that hell is more of a place that is separated from God and made of all the terrible things outside of the things He created. I believe God is good and loving but also holy and just. He can't let someone who commits a crime go free. He's so holy that a sinner can't enter into His presence. Hell is the place that is separated from all of God's creations and thus from His holiness. Although I'm sure hell is torture physically, I think the worst part is the mental torture. I heard someone describe being in jail as spending 10 years thinking about the worst thing he ever did. Hell must be so much worse. You have to look back on your life and see every little think you did wrong, everything you could've done better. All of those things weren't worth it, yet you let something more important go by: making sure you were going to end up in heaven. Then you’d have to worry about your loved ones and whether or not they’d end up with you.
I can’t really say what hell would be like physically. I generally agree with Jeannie's description, but I don’t think the specifics really matter. I think it's physical torture, and I guess the mode of torture isn't going to make much of a difference in the long run.
My belief is pretty much from my church, and a little bit from my parents. I agree with Jeannie that God forgives you for any sin/wrong-doing if you just accept His forgiveness. Jesus already took your punishment; if you just accept it there's no need for you to have to take the punishment of hell. I don't think there are different degrees of sin. A sin is a sin. In the sense of not getting into heaven, a liar is just as bad as a murderer. Forgiveness is available to them regardless. I think hurting children (in a serious way) and being a pompous sort of religious hypocrite are the worst sins, but I can't say how their punishment would be worse, if it is.
I agree with Joanna that your religion should be something you choose, not something that's forced on you. Going to church every Sunday does not make you a Christian, I think being a Christian is what makes you go to church.
I think Ms. Bunje doesn't want us to sleep at night. These blogs seem to be getting worse each week.
It seems like you're always posting these blogs around everyone's lives. The different topics you ask us to write about are found ironic to at least 5 people each week, mainly because it's what their lives have been about for the past couple of days. And here it is, my turn.
So today I was sitting in a church at my great-grandmothers funeral, something I have never had to experience before in my life. Some of you may know that, too, because for the last couple days I've been asking what kind of outfit would be appropriate, what was the chance percentage that I'd cry, how many people would come up to me and say 'I'm sorry.' I mean, I wasn't neccessarily the closest with my grandmother, she was 97 and for the past couple of years she had such trouble with her eyesite and her hearing that it became progressively harder and harder to hold conversations with her. But as I sat there in church today looking at her lifeless body in the casket in the front of the alter, I knew she was going to heaven. I knew that she was up there and that she deserved to be there.
Then, Ms Bunje, I thought of this blog. I knew that if there was a heaven, there had to be a hell. Well, at least for the past 16 years of my life I've been forced to believe that. I'm like Dave, part of the Roman Catholic church. I understand what he means when he says he only attends church now on Christmas and Easter (but in my family we call them Chreasters) because that's how we are, as well. Roman Catholic isn't the greatest religion as a child; you get a feeling of "this is how it is. this is how it goes. this is what you're going to believe." and I can honestly say that I was never a big fan of that. But one thing that my church does believe is that there's a heaven and a hell, and that's one thing that I've never really doubted.
Like mostly everyone ahead of me has stated, I don't know exactly what hell is like, and hopefully I never have to experience that, but I guess I've got some kind of an idea. I remember one time I had a bunch of people sleepover my house, and Kelsey Dickerson and I were the only people still awake. For some reason we were talking about whether if we had died at that exact moment, if we'd go to heaven or hell. I told her that I'd like to go to heaven, but I knew there were things I have/had done that make me feel like I'd deserve to go to hell. She told me that no one should feel like they deserved to go to hell because it was such a terrible and horrible place. I asked her what she thought hell was like, and she told me that according to the Bible, hell smells like burning flesh and that the people that go there burn and burn and burn for the rest of eternity. She said that even the slightest drop of water would relieve them from their burning just because it hurts so bad. I agree with what Kelsey told me that night. Hell can't be anything that's good enough to look forward to.
I guess that since I agree with what we talked about that night, it would make sense for me to say that I think the New Testament's description of hell and all of the burning sounds more realistic. Call me a hypocrite, but I think the one that sounds more realistic to me is what's found in the Old Testament. I think that once you die, you're a spirit. So it just makes more sense, to me at least, that and some of them will be resurrected to "everlasting life" while others are bound for "everlasting contempt".
I definitely agree with Alighieri's thoughts on different levels of sin. I mean, it's wrong for someone to talk about someone else behind their back, and it's wrong to make fun of your little brother and sister, but you can't compare that sin to committing a murder, which I think is the greatest level of sin. When you get to hell, then you should probably pay for it by just burning and burning, like Kelsey and I decided. I think that a lot of good people do a lot of bad things, but that their final fate shouldn't be judged off of that.
I honestly believe that there are way more people in heaven than in hell. I think that only really really bad people go to hell, and that if you remotely believe in God and want to go to heaven, then you can go there. Since God stands for love and forgiveness and grace, he should be able to decide. If he doesn't think you're worthy to spend the rest of your life with him because you've pushed him away and refused to believe in him your whole life, then you shouldn't. I actually think it's really hard to NOT get into heaven. Unless you believe in another god besides THE God, or if you don't believe in him at all, that's when I think you're in trouble.
Just like Jeannie, growing up I went to a catholic school and all my life I have been raised in God and raised to believe all the aspects of Christianity which include believing that there is a Heaven and a Hell. I was taught to believe that God was the only person who I should idolize and call upon for help if humans weren’t able to solve my problems. Which till this day is something I abide by.
So I sit here at my computer desk and ponder. Is there really a Heaven and a Hell? To tell the truth Bunje I really don’t think there is one, but with my religious beliefs I am brought up to believe that one does exist. I don’t believe a hell because for one why would a man like God who was proclaimed to be so righteous put his children in a place of everlasting suffering. That is pure wickedness and it does not go along with the persona that we are all taught God perceived. I was taught that God was a man who never liked to see his children suffering. So why would God place his children in a place where there was an everlasting flame and torture. That would make God seem like some sort of a hypocrite; I would think!
As far as Christians are taught they’re no sins that are worst then another. A sin is a sin; plan and simple. In God’s eyes no matter what sin is committed it can be forgiven it your repent. A simple sin such as killing a fly to raping a new born baby are all classified as one thing which is a sin. So as far as severities of sin go, I think they are non-existent. That carries on to the question of whether they are different levels of hell. This questions follow the previous question I just answered. Being that I don’t think there are different severities as sin I sure don’t think that there are different levels of hell. The sinners that end up in hell are put there for one thing; because they sinned not because of the severity of their sin or what category their sin was placed in.
We all are here saying that there is or there is not a heaven or a hell. None of us have experienced it first hand, so how would we know. The bible was written by someone, so how do we know all of this is what it is proclaimed to be. I totally agree with Emily C. when she says no one really knows whether all of these superstitions are true.
My parents are both Roman Catholic, which makes me a Roman Catholic as well. I have grown up with Catholic beliefs and some morals. Ever since I began kindergarten I also began CCD. I went through CCD until my 8 grade year. I thought it was torture. Sticking a stick in my eye would have been less painful. I was always taught thought and understood the concepts of heaven and hell. Personally I don’t believe in hell. I also don’t believe that there even is one. I do believe in heaven. It is to my belied though that you can do something bad but God will always forgive you, even if you do something terribly wrong like murder some one. Everyone has some sort of good in them and God sees that. The Old Testament makes a reference to sheol as being a place where spirits reside (Deut. 32:22) and some of them will be resurrected to "everlasting life," while others are bound for "everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2) This sounds more realistic to me. I don’t see hell as being a dump because I don’t believe it exists. Dante Alighieri was a prolific writer who wrote the epic narrative poem titled Inferno in which the main character, Alighieri himself, travels through nine circles of hell. The main theme of this particular work is that there is a perfection to God's justice. Sinners on earth are relegated to various circles (or levels) of hell depending on the severity of sin. This would seem to indicate, at least in Alighieri's eyes, that there are varying degrees of sin and that each one is punishable in its own way. I do believe this. I think that everyone does something wrong and that for the degree of their wrongness there is a degree to which they would receive repentance. Even though there may be different degrees, everyone will eventually end up in heaven. They will see that God does truly love them and will give them forgiveness. Though in order to receive the forgiveness they must know what they did wrong and do something to make it better or to make something else better. I believe the worst sin to be lying. Lying is something that hurts people the worst. It is something that no one wants to do though sometimes it is inevitable. Lying is something people do everyday and it always seems to be the cause of anything and everything bad. I believe that it should be left to the guilt of the person for their own punishment but the only way to be forgiven is to tell some truth. I can’t imagine a world where everyone goes to hell because it is the God honest truth that no one is perfect. I agree with Dave. I hear all the time about people being given second chances, which is why I don’t believe there is a hell. If everyone is given a second, third and sometimes fourth chance then there would be no possible way for some one to get sent to hell.
Yes, I do believe there is a hell. I believe that God created hell in rage from one of his greatest angels, Lucifer. Lucifer thought he was just as good as or even better than God. So God created hell and sent Lucifer and Lucifer’s followers down into the dark pits of hell. In one of my favorite television shows that I watch every Thursday night is Supernatural, where there are two guys, Sam and Dean, who fight demands and send them back to hell. Although, in the show hell is never shown, the demands make hell seem like pure evil and a terrible place to go.
I am not exactly sure what hell looks like, feels like, or smells like but after reading the Bible I know it is the worst place ever imaginable. I picture hell as a dark pit ok endless burning fire!!! I can imagine the smell being a horrible stench and the heat is probably overwhelming and unbearable. I have learned about hell through my parents and church. Both my parents and my church believe in the Bible and believe that hell is for sinners who do not ask forgiveness from our lord, Jesus Christ. People get down to hell because they are sinners, but there is a way to get to heaven and people cannot do it by them alone. They have to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior.
I believe that hell is a spiritual destination that hell is an everlasting life of misery. Once a person dies and is sent down to hell there is no escaping the misery and pain they will have to endure forever. That’s why I believe it is important to accept Jesus Christ as your savior because there is no escaping hell once you are sent there. I do not believe that there are different levels of sin. In God’s eyes a sin is a sin no matter how big or small the sin is. Yes, in our society we make certain sins seem to be worse than other sins. In God’s eyes though a sin is still going against him and all he wants is for everyone to ask for forgiveness so the sin can be wiped free.
Although, God sends people to live in eternal suffering down in hell, it doesn’t mean he doest love those people though. I believe he loves us because he sent his only son to die for us so we could confess our sins to him and make it to heaven. God sends people to hell because he wants people to express their love to him and truly show that they love him too. God gave people the decision of free choice and people can do what they want with their lives but they will have to suffer their consequences depending on their actions. So he allows it to let the person make their own decisions and it is their choice if they go to hell or not.
In Jeannie’s blog I read earlier, she mentioned that the way you get to heaven is by good deeds and a person goes to hell because of their sins. I talked to her about this and she forgot to write that people make it to heaven because they have to accept Jesus as their savior. She also mentioned that there are different levels of sin and different levels of punishments. As I stated earlier I do not believe that statement and believe a sin is a sin no matter what.
To be honest, I’m not sure if Hell exists, or Heaven, or God for that matter. My dad is very religious and my mom isn’t religious at all. I used to read the Bible and go to CCD (Catholic Catechism Development, or something like that) when I was in elementary school and middle school. I thought religion was interesting, but even at that time, I didn’t know if any of it was true. Because of how religious my dad is, we go to church every Sunday, and it is the most unbearable hour of my week. If there is a Hell, I think that Dante Alighieri described it adequately. The punishment probably varies on the severity of the sin, and to get to Hell, I think you have to commit a serious sin that you do not feel sorry for whatsoever. For example, if someone stole money from their grandmother and they did not feel sorry about it, they would probably go to Hell.
Sometimes, I think maybe Hell isn’t such a bad place. According to the Bible, The Devil started out as an angel that wanted to challenge God because he felt he would be a better person to wield power. What if The Devil isn’t that bad? What if he went to Hell and realized he had all the power he could think of down there by himself? What if the Devil created a happy little world and everyone thinks it’s bad because God wants to help us as humans develop good morals? I agree that Hell sounds like it would be a spiritual journey due to the fact that a person would be judged by their heart and personality rather than what they did that may have been a sin in the past. I don’t know, it sounds odd, but the whole concept of dieing and having your soul go somewhere to be judged by its character is odd too.
The birth of my religious beliefs was either influenced by nobody or it was influenced by everybody. The ideas I have never stay the same, in fact, next week, I might think my whole paragraph two was a waste of word document and I might think of another way to see Hell. My ideas aren’t usually shared by other people and I think maybe it’s those around me and the way I perceive people and their behaviors that make up my ideas on the topic of religion. The last question, questions how good of a being God is for even making a place to condemn sinners to. It makes me smile because some would be hurt by this question and might even respond with a “Go to Hell!” This makes me think that there really isn’t a merciful God or a Devil and so going to Heaven or Hell is out of the question. But then, that brings me back to the question, “Where do we go when we die?” The thought of just ceasing to exist in mind, body, and soul is something I can’t quite grasp, even though so many people have done it. This mystery probably haunts us all and it will continue to haunt us all until the day we die.
I believe there is some sort of hell, I guess. Like alot of other people in the class, I myself grew up with the church belief of heaven and hell and if you do not follow the divine right of God you go to hell. Growing up and watching movies, hell was always a place consisting of fire and the devil who had horns and a pointy staff thing. However, now I'm not really sure. Before reading "Hell," I really didn't think that once we died we went somewhere afterwards. It was just once you die, you die. That is it. Period.
The place that is more realistic is the world destination because it feels more realistic than just a place "where spirits reside." Gehenna seems more realistic because it is described as a place where peopel can actually got to as a tourist place, for example.
I agree with Alighieri and his theme of hell. It is interesting in how he described his own version of hell. In a way, Alghieri's description seems more reasonable than how it is described in the Bible. I honestly cannot think of the worst sin. It would probably be taking life away from someone in no certain way. I also think that it is kind of hypocritical of God to say that he will forgive you of all your sins, but yet when you convict a sin, whether it is skipping class or killing someone, or are destined for hell. However, I know that the people who do no ask for forgiveness are the ones that are sent to hell. But, I still find it impossible to imagine the same person can be loving and yet can send people to eternal suffering.
Imagine every physical pain you can think of all over your body for all eternity. That is my belief of what Hell is. To say what it smells like or looks like cannot be defined by someone who has never been there. It is written that Hell has many levels and there are demons there and flames surrounding you, but who honestly has been there to see it? I personally don't like topics like this because being a catholic, I feel that I am forced to live a certain lifestyle or I will suffer for all eternity. Why do we HAVE to do any of that? Why can't we just live good lives as good people?
I agree with Tawni. I'm not even sure if Heaven, or God, or the devil even exist. Yes, it's good to have a belief, but to have it corrupt your life is a totally different story. And what if the devil really is a good guy? We don't know. We were not there to say that the exact events in the bible really took place. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not here to bash religions or anything, but why has religion become such a big thing? Why do we have these beliefs and how do we know they are true?
Going to CCD and the catholic church, I guess I could say I have learned an awful lot about God, but then again I don't understand it. It is all a bunch of jumbled words and I feel as if my religion is becoming a scam. It's good to believe in God, that if you live a good life you go to heaven, and that their is somewhere to go after you die, but why is there a Hell? Why is it that if you commit a simple sin you could be cast upon a torturous fate? For example, "Thou shalt not lie." So, if I tell my child that Santa is real, i would go to hell? Certain things in religions are very misunderstood and like I said before we should live our lives as good people and be rewarded for that. I don't like the idea of my life after death being held in the hands of a god that I am not even sure exists. Why does he get to choose? How do I know that he is not a bad guy and will screw me over?
The only worst sin I can think of is betrayal. Betrayal of your friend, your family, your country, all of that. You should not have to betray someone in life and it is sad that people have lowered themselves to that level.
I'm sorry, Bunje, that i asked alot of questions in my blog, but you see I am on my own religious quest right now and I need answers before I can answer your questions.
Oh, here we go. I’ve already mentioned that I didn’t like reading Hell because it was disgusting and disconcerting. But now I’ve gotta deal with it even more? Sigh.
To begin with, I do believe that there is a hell. Like most of my classmates, I learned about it at home from my parents and I went to Sunday school every weekend. When I was little, my Sunday school teachers were very straight-forward about their approach to teaching Christianity; this would be equivalent to “strict interpretation” of the Constitution, for all of you AP Gov’t geeks. We needed to memorize a certain number of Bible verses every weekend, and we received prizes for knowing them all. That was the beginning of my so-called knowledge. In more recent years, I wouldn’t say that this knowledge has gotten any clearer. In fact, and I’m sorry if I offend anyone, I don’t know if I believe everything that I’ve been told at my current church. There, I was told that you need to get other people to join you in your lovefest for Jesus, and this helps you in going to Heaven someday. Of course, you always need to obey the Bible, ask forgiveness for your sins, etc. What don’t I agree with? This “impressment” factor. I’m confident enough in my faith to say that one day I will go to Heaven, despite my, put bluntly, lack of enthusiasm. I also appreciate the worldly opinions that I’ve formulated, and sometimes, I’m not sure if they correlate well in the Christian world. I guess I’m one of those “follow your heart” type of Christians, and I don’t feel the need to be taught what to do and what to believe. I completely believe in Jesus, and that’s all that matters to me.
Okay, I’m finished with my tirade! As for “Gehenna” and “sheol”, I’d really like to say that sheol sounds more realistic, but I don’t know if I agree with it. I think that I’m secure in my faith, but my vision of hell is still elementary. So, purely based off of the fact that I don’t know much beyond Sunday school level, I learned that you deserve to go to hell for one reason or another, and that you don’t get let out. Some of the souls were really “resurrected to everlasting life”? Really? I can’t say I’ve ever heard that before. Everlasting contempt sounds more like it.
Hmmm. Dante’s Inferno, eh? Again, most of my “opinions” about hell, or lack thereof, can be traced back to my younger years from Sunday school. However, my next comment is based off of a conversation that I had with my dad that I remember vividly. We were watching the news one day a couple of years ago, and there was a man featured that committed murder and was sentenced to death. I wondered aloud, “Will he be sent to hell, even if he was good the rest of his life before?” My dad told me that if he “prayed for forgiveness and asked Jesus into his heart” (verbatim, too) he would go to Heaven. Skeptical? My dad also stated that God does not judge a man by how bad his sin was. We are all sinners, and even though the severity of our sins range from murder to disobeying your parents, we are equal in God’s eyes. This is actually something that I’ve kept in my back pocket for safe-keeping. I think it’s a very comforting statement. It helps me remember that I am a sinner and God loves me. In that case, I don’t what “the worse sin imaginable” would be, because only their faith matters. It’s everyone’s choice whether to accept God or not; if you do, your sins are erased, so long as you ask God to forgive you. Those who remain stagnant go to Hell. This is only one opinion of mine, however. Religion isn’t black and white, it’s very, very gray. I know there must be exceptions, but I don’t know what they are. That’s not for me to decide anyway, so I won’t begin to formulate any further hypotheses. Here’s a quote from The Patriot to end my blog: “That’s between you and God.”
706. hooray for mental throwup.
This definitely has to be the most argumentative topic we've ever discussed on a blog considering how this is all based on beliefs and opinions. I don't mind voicing my opinion so here it goes.
I know I'm one to say phrases such as, "I swear to GOD!" or "Go to Hell", which is probably going to contradict what I'm about to say but I don't even believe there's a God or heaven or hell and everything that comes with it. I see it as you die and you're dead and that's it. And to tell you the truth that sounds a little harsh to just plainly say that, but it's always how I felt and I'm never going to change that. But unlike most people who don't believe in God, I could care less and almost encourage someone to go to church and believe in God because who am I to stop them. I guess I'm not part of that 60% who say Hell exists. I have a mind of my own and I voice my own opinion, but I have to say that I probably think this way because my whole family does. Well not my grandmother, but at least the people I live with. My dad and I don't see church and praying or anything associated with God gets you anywhere. I guess it makes people feel better to believe that they will go somewhere after they are dead and they will do anything to get to that great place, but to me I think of it as I'm alive and living now and I'm not going to spend my whole life thinking and hoping to get into the "great place" when I could be so easily let down.
To answer Bunje's question about the levels of Hell, well I can't answer that because I don't believe Hell exists, but I can say that when it comes down to it you yourself knows if you were a good person or a bad person for your whole life and I think it's up to the person to believe what they want to believe, but to me I can't just believe in something without proof. All the power to the people who go to church and enjoy it, but to me it makes me uncomfortable. I'm just living now and that's what's important to me, not a future that might not even exist.
Gretchen said that from the time she was young she went to a Catholic school and has been forced to believe in God. Dave said he went to CCD, but didn't even know what it stood for, and Jeannie said that she was told over and over again that there is in fact a Heaven and a Hell. Yet again, I don't want to offend anyone, but how is it fair for someone to force you to believe in something. I understand that my classmates had no choice when they were little to be brought up the way they were, but by their blog it seemed that they didn't even understand or like that they went to Church and they sort of just accepted it. I completely disagree with that 100%. No one is ever going to force me to believe in something. Here's the perfect example. My half sister, who is ten years older than me, is very religious and would never miss going to church every Sunday. The main reason I would go was because I wanted to spend time with her, not because I wanted to learn about God. People say having a religion and going to church makes you a well-rounded person, but that's an understatement. Being yourself and not letting anyone force you into believing something makes you a well-rounded person, but hey, all the respect in the world for the people who love church. I guess it makes them happy and that's good for everyone.
Yes I do believe there is a place called Hell, but I don’t really remember who or what told me that it does exist, probably my parents. Joyce’s description of hell was not what I really had in mind, but his view just engulfed me into this isolated burning place where smoke and gas is directed around my breath. The the smell of the dead and decaying humans stacked up by the miles on top of each other. That just gave me the shivers down my spine. Honestly I just thought Hell was an isolated area with flames upon flames of intense heat and suffering, but I never imagined the smell of it nor the darkness that swallows a sinner up.
A realistic view of hell would definitely be a worldly one, but it’s not your body that’s going to Hell, it’s your soul, and that means spiritually. We’ve learned about the earth’s core and all that nonsense so many times and there’s never been a factually place underneath of us called Hell. I believe that Hell is a spiritual place in where a sinner’s soul is tossed into the flames. If we die where would our “inner bodies” go? Do we completely disappear forever or does your soul carry you forth to another world? There are so many questions about Hell that frankly no human knows, besides those who already died. Hell was always interpret as underneath the earth’s crust, but if we rip it up would we fall into Hell or see Hell? There are no evidential proof that Hell exists on “actual earth” so we should place Hell as it’s own spiritual world.
Now think about it, when you have kids, would you really punish your son/daughter if he/she lied to you about not eating candy before dinner time the same way you would punish him/her if they lied to you about doing drugs or killing his/her sibling? No you wouldn’t, there are many sins that are obviously wrong, but are very light compared to those who did something seriously bad. Even the United States Justice system is varied on levels depending on what the crime was and if anyone was injured or killed. I don’t believe that God would punish those who are sorry for their sins with their heart but never got a chance to repent, he wouldn’t go and say, “Hey you go to Hell, because you never repented for, blahdy blahdy, blah, and so forth.” God , in my eyes, has always been a benevolent being who forgives those who are good-hearted and truly sorry for their sins, not just people who are straight on right about their beliefs and religion. Would you believe that a Catholic, who party’s all night, compared to a Muslim, who helps her siblings and help out her community, would go to heaven just because they are Catholic? No, God knows that humans are flawed and we make mistakes, humans are not perfect, we don’t always know the right answers and I don’t think that God would punish us for our flaws, he would recognize every individual who do good deeds and help others rather than those who rob banks and repent and mean it fully.
Like Joanna, I trust that God has prepared a place for all people of all sin levels. Those who have commited light sins, those who commited serious sins, and those who are innocent. Although I do believe that the worst sin is to commit adultry in vain. There are many incidents, in which, women, and sometimes men, get rapped and it wasn’t their fault. Those victims would be outcasted all their lives, in their families, at school, or whatever the case may be. These victims may also go into serious mental stages, in which might lead to suicide, depression, and anger issues. This is the worst thing a person can do to another individual, all those rape cases and supposed “love accidents” don’t happen on accident, they happen because of selfish greed. If someone killed someone and it was by accident, just say, I accidently stabbed my best friend in the gut while I was cutting meat or vegetables and it accidently slipped, does that mean I go straight to Hell? And if I robbed a store because I need to feed my starving family and then lied to the offcials that I did it out of greed, does that mean I go straight to Hell? No I believe that God, being the almighty being he is, is a kind and benevolent being who forgives sinners on behalf of their actions and thoughts.
My parents always told me that I should sacrifice my bad days and sacrifice the bad things that happen to me to God. That means when someone purposely punch me in the face, I should just forget about it and say, “Dear God, I forgive the person who did wrong to me, even though I did nothing wrong to them.” It’s the fact that you didn’t commit the sin back and just forgave them, if you live a poor and desperate life and do good even if people don’t do good to you, you will always end up in heaven because you were good at heart and at mind. Bad days happen but you should know that it would pass away and you, in return, would be innocent. I don’t really know how to exactly put what I want into phrase but as a Catholic, I believe that God is an almighty being capable of forgiving those with sins.
I do not think I am very religious, but compared to other people that could be quoted on that statement, I for one actually do believe in god, god with a haven and a hell. I do believe in hell and I believe that it is a place where sinners go. For me, Hell is everything that was described by James Joyce. Hell is hot. Hell is torture. Hell is unbearable. Hell is red and yellow and evil. My depiction of hell is modeled after the depiction other artists have tried to give it. I guess I haven't spent much time to think about it myself, since I cannot tell you how I think Hell smells. It must smell rotten. Diseased. Dead. Decay. Everything bad. All the bad smells ever smelled.
I think my belief in hell, similar to the way I have come to create a visual image of hell, is based on what other people think. In America, Christianity is accepted more so then ever. Christianity is a cult. A cult is defined loosely as a system or community of religious worship and ritual. Everyone is practically a Christian or associates themselves with some form of Christianity. At a young age I attended church and Sunday school. I believed in god just as I do now, however, I feel like you are not able to make a choice like that yourself when you are young. For example, in first grade I received communion. I had no idea what that meant. I really didn’t. You see these kids that say that god saved them at the age of 5, and you shake your head asking if they really are that obvious. Don’t get me wrong, I believe you can be saved. I believe that you can have an epiphany at one point in your life. My belief in god with heaven and hell is a result of our culture. Our society.
The reference of the word Gehenna make practical sense, in respect to it being used to describe a place in which hell was confused with.
I believe that hell has varying degrees of sin. Some of which give you a one way ticket to hell (ex: murder) and some which can be forgiven (ex: lying) and some which are completely absurd (ex: sexuality). The worst sin one could commit would be murder. You have no right to decide if a person shall live or not. And the more times you murder, the worse it gets. The experience a soul has in hell varies upon how bad the sins were. It is easily reconcilable to think of God as being the embodiment of love and grace yet imagine that it is through his word that people descend into hell, which is, ostensibly, a place of eternal suffering.
-------------------------
I disagree with Joanna with part of her third paragraph. I do not trust in god enough to believe in god enough to accept it as fact. I look at religions like Scientology and think scam. All for your money, for the power. Religion and the millions of people associated with it are one of the most important reasons for why they can sway political votes. What kind of president wasn’t religious? You know. I don’t believe in god enough to know for sure everything exists. I need 100% certainty.
I think that before I say anything that it’s necessary for me to say that I am Jewish. Being Jewish puts me at a different view point than most other people. I grew being told that once you’re dead your dead. No one has ever really elaborated on that for me so. My point of view is that there is no hell. In Christianity hell is a big thing and I never really understood why. From what people have told me is that is you are not a Christian then you are going to hell, so because I am Jewish I automatically when I die get a pass that says “Go to Hell, do not pass go, do not collect $200”. That’s just something I can’t dig. I don’t understand why some people are spared and other people just get thrown right into the fire. Sine I brought up the word fire. I never understood why hell had to be a burning inferno. A human wrote the bible right? If a human wrote the bible then how is it that he/she would know so much about hell when there is no way in hell (pardon the pun) the they could have been there. Also just as an add on there is no way Jesus could have gone to hell because then he would have been a sinner and most likely wouldn’t have been re incarnated. I just want to add on to what I said earlier about how all Jew are automatically sent to hell, Well on that note I would like to make it clear that Jesus was a Jew when he was born wasn’t he actually Jesus was a Rabbi which is a for the most part a Jewish minister. There is one question that has really bugged me for the past couple of weeks. Would a soldier be considered a Sinner? The most known commandment that both the Jewish and the Christian believers believe in is “Tho shalt not kill”. What about the soldiers? Do the soldiers in Iraq right now not only risking their lives but are they also risking their souls? That a question that might never get answered but I do hope it starts some controversy for you Ms. Bunje because there’s a difference between getting killed and then maybe going to heaven or hell, or getting killed and having to spent all of eternity in agony.
In the move Constantine their rendition of hell didn’t have any fire in it. It was basically that the person in hell would relive their last few moments over again for all eternity. Also just for the record my computer doesn’t auto capitalize Jewish but it does Christianity.
I would like to comment on Megan’s blog. I agree with her on the fact that throughout all the years I’ve taken Hebrew school I have never had any believes forced upon me. Also I really don’t like it when people try to correct me on my religion because when they try to contradict something I’m saying they use their religion to back it up and when you think about it you can say my religion is wrong based on your religion but that’s the reason why we have different religions.
I never went to CCD class like Dave M. and I don�t know what it stands for either. I remember people used to call it Catholic Children�s Detention so it couldn�t have been that much fun. It was probably just a whole bunch of talking and writing. That was my impression of people talked about it however. I don�t go to church every Sunday. Actually, its more like when someone gets married, baptized or dies. I should probably attend church more often, however I have a strong belief in God and I try to live my day to day life as morally as possible. I believe hell exists but Ms. Bunje knows that all dogs go to Heaven. I picture hell as a scary dark place with flames all over. The heat probably makes you instantly sweat and it probably smells like death. I don�t know if it is really like this or not because none of my friends have went there on vacation recently, but this is what I picture in my mind. I think I got this idea from things I have seen and heard growing up. I think it is hard to get to Hell as long as you have a conscious and truly regret your sins and ask for forgiveness. God forgives. Gehenna and sheol are both realistic to me. It is easier to believe the reference in the New Testament for hell which is Gehenna, just because you can physically see it. I also think that if you have faith, there is no reason why you the reference in the Old Testament, sheol, is not realistic. I think that a sin is a sin but there is some kind varying degrees of sin. Biblically, sins are all the same. They are bad and you should not sin. Personally, I wouldn�t say that someone that uses a curse word should have the same punishment as a psycho murderer rapist. But all can be forgiven by God. Everyone can be saved but you have to want to. The worst sin I can imagine is taking someone else�s life. Ending someone�s life is something that you have to live with for the rest of your life. I think you have to be an incredibly coldhearted person to be sent to Hell. And I didn�t know Gretchen went to Catholic School?!?!??!??!!???? Dumebi isn�t even catholic!!!??
Just a few add ons to my comment
the worst sin that I could imagine is suicide. If god put so much time into creating you and your life and then you say you don't like it and kill yourself then thats like a slap in the face to god. If I was god I would make those people live 10 times the lives they thought were horrible untill they musule through it and like their life throught. One of my favorite quotes is "when life gives you lemons make lemonade"
I am part of the 40% of Americans who do not believe in Hell. I don’t believe that people go there or that it is even a place. I don’t even really believe in religion all that much either. I don’t believe in a God because so far nobody has been able to truly prove that this guy was ever alive or real. I don’t believe in stuff that can’t be proven to be true. We all end up either in the ground or as ashes. That’s just how life is. I believe that somebody a really, really long time ago just, out nowhere, made up religion and that all of this stuff because I have yet to hear that anything anybody did in the Testaments was true and actually happened. I believe in this because one day I just sat down and really thought about God and if he is real and religion and why there are so many religions. I came to the conclusion that God was never a real person because there are no remains of any kind left. You asked us Ms. Bunje if Gehenna or Sheol sounded more realistic to us. Gehenna sounds more realistic to me because it sounds like a place where people could go to instead a place where only spirits go to.
Since I don’t believe in Hell, I don’t believe in the nine circles of Hell either. No matter how good or bad we are, we all die, some of us sooner than others. You could be the worst person ever to set foot onto Earth and be hated by every individual of Earth. You will still die and be buried in the ground or in a vase as ashes. The same thing goes for good people. You could be the best person ever and helped millions of people and be famous because of your generosity. You will still die and be buried in the ground or in a vase as ashes. I know I’m being blunt about this topic but that’s how I feel about it. If you disagree then disagree. I’m not changing for anybody. I absolutely hate talking about death because it always upsets me.
I agree with Meghan B about God. People believe that he is a loving person and that he brings good to everybody. But at the same time, he is the reason why people go to Hell. I don’t understand how somebody can have to extreme personalities like that. I also don’t understand how people actually go around believing that this same person can either bring you happiness or suffering after you die. It just seems weird to me.
I would have to agree that hell is a controversial subject. However, it is quite interesting. Personally, I believe that there is a hell. When i was little, for some odd reason, I thought that hell was located in the center of the earth. I don't know what possessed me to think that, but that's what i used to think. Also, i believed that it was full of fiery magma and lava, and evil people were sent there. However, I never stopped to think about hell smelled or felt. But, after reading Hell, I would have to say that I agree with that interpretation of the smell and feel of hell. If i had to pick one influence of how i became to generalize hell; it would have to be my parents. They basically just told me about it and i guess the memory of that stuck in my mind. Also, i remember my mom saying a long time ago, that the only way to get to hell is to either not be sorry for your sins, or kill someone on purpose. That's seems logical to me. It's a bit strange wondering what the worst possible place imaginable would be like, so i usually try to stay away from thinking about it. I guess that's why I enjoyed reading Hell so much.
Nowadays, having more knowledge, I have changed my interpretation of what hell is. I believe that hell is what you make it. If someone doesn't like spiders and gets sent to hell, their hell will be full of spiders. I think that because, what if someone in hell, besides the devil and his minions, liked fire, foul smells, heat, and torture? They would have a blast there and wouldn't get the full effect of hell as it was meant to be. That's why i believe that hell is what you make it, rather than a generalized pit of doom, despair, destruction, and heat.In addition, I believe that the vision of hell, as depicted in Dan. 12:2, is the type of hell that hell is. Either you get to go to heaven and be happy, or go to hell and be miserable for all eternity. However, I do believe that there are severity of sins. Some are worse than others. To me lying is much less offensive than killing someone. So i guess i do believe in the nine circles of hell also. I sort of have a wide variety of beliefs. I'm pretty open minded in this topic, and who really knows what hell is like. No one has been there that is living obviously. Hell is one of those unsolved mysterious that will never be solved, even if you have an army of the best detectives. No one will ever know the truth.
Reading James Joyce's Hell makes me not want there to be a Hell because I don't like boiling brains. But I believe that Hell does exist. I read people writing that they hope they never see or smell what Hell is like, but I know I won't. I'm not trying to sound any better than anyone else, but Hell is a lot easier to get to then Heaven. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, "For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate, and narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few find it." None of us know what it looks, smells, or feels like. I think though that it probably does reek, I think it is dark because it is a place without Jesus, and Jesus is light, and it probably feels like your body is being burned and decaying with it burning or decaying. Of course I get this from my church, but you can find a verse that supports everything. Pastor Steve, our youth pastor, has always said to never just believe what the pastor says but question it and see if there is biblical truth in it and discover it for yourself. So I have and by reading the Bible, I think the way to Hell is to pretty much live life, even if it’s a good life. The key to get out of Hell is through Jesus Christ. Most people know John 3:16 where it says God sent His son to die for our sins but verse 17 says that he came to save us. Romans 10:9 says “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." And that doesn’t mean just saying it; the demons say they believe in Jesus. This means that you have to live for God and listen to him.
That was a lot. But I believe that Hell is a more of a spiritual place. The soul is eternally separated from any good but the torment is both physical and mental. I disagree with what John said today that it is a place where you just are totally annihilated, because like Megan said, that wouldn’t be proper punishment. Hell was originally designed for Satan and his demons so they would be eternally separated from God but once people sinned, it allowed for us to go there too. So God made a way for us to keep our souls from going there and instead go to heaven.
James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” So I think that any sin will bring you to Hell and there aren’t any specific levels. It might be worse for Hitler to kill thousands of people but someone who only lied still can go to Hell. It was meant for the devil, we weren’t supposed to go there. But the worst sin, I say, would be to kill someone deliberately and out of malicious intent. To take another’s life away for no reason than your own is the most unfair thing someone can do. And I think Hell is punishment enough for anything.
People always argue that if God is a just God then why does he send people to Hell? First of all, he doesn’t. He has provided a way out of Hell back to Heaven simply through Jesus and a life lived for God. As many people said, like Joanna and Brittany, you don’t have to go to church every week. That is a place to worship God, but not a way out of Hell. And also, since God is a just God it is just of him to allow people to go to Hell. He made a law that we were meant to maintain in the Bible. The punishment for breaking it is Hell. But God had taken that punishment upon him and provided a way for those who trusted in him to escape that place and come to Him. One last verse saying how God had given us a get-out-of-jail-free card and an example of how much he loves us, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) That was long.
As I sat down to do this blog (on my BFFL Courtney’s computer of course because my computer is currently residing, I’m sure, in Hell), I let out a huge sigh. I was not looking forward to writing this blog, and especially after today’s “field trip”, I am still not happy about writing this blog. I am all for controversy, but this topic always leads to personal things. Today everything was just way too uncomfortable for me, which is an odd occurrence in my life. Religion is such a personal topic, and sometimes I feel that talking about it should be left to a bare minimum.
So because I am forced to do this blog, and because I value my grade more than my own happiness, let’s start the hell talking. My view of hell closely resembles James Joyce’s view. I see hell being this foul and putrid place, stacked with rotting human souls being burned in the eternal furnace. Most of this view was already in my own set of beliefs, but more or less put into an actual image instead of an idea because of “Hell”. I grew up a Roman Catholic, but changed all that once I grew a brain and personality separate from my parents. I’m now just a Christian, and the church I am at now most likely planted the seeds of my opinion of hell.
Sure there is a hell on earth; I believe that your junior year in high school is it. But all joking aside (or maybe I’m not really joking), there is no spot in on the earth that can be named “Hell”. It is spiritual, not in this realm whatsoever.
I have been trying for the past year and a half to start Dante’s Inferno; I just seem to not have much time to fully dedicate myself on reading it. However, I do know a fair amount about it, and I really do not agree with its presumptions of hell. As I said in class, there can be no classifications of sin. They all mean the same thing in the eyes of God, according to my set of beliefs. Crimes are a different thing all together; crime against man can be set up into classifications because they are subject to man’s punishments.
God is a wrathful and merciful god. It is not as if he just sends people off to hell just for the hell of it (haha pun!). He does this all for a reason. We as humans were born with the mark of sin on us, which is traced back to the original sin with Adam and Eve. We are fallible, and we are all doomed to hell because we are not perfect enough to get into heaven. However, the good thing for us is that God tosses us a life-line to save us all. He sent down his son, who lived a perfect life, to die for us so that we all can get to heaven. What all of this means is that God’s son made a trade off, he traded his perfect life for our imperfect ones so that we could get into heaven. If you believe this with all of your heart, otherwise known as accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, than you can get to heaven. But just by saying this doesn’t guarantee your ticket in. You have to try your hardest to live your life the right way also. God is the embodiment of love and grace because he offers his grace to those who want it. If you don’t want it, that is your choice and you have to live with the consequences and don’t go around blaming anyone or anything else (like God) for your own mistakes.
I would also like to put this last little snidbit of info in saying that I agree with Britt S and Joanna in their deal about the church on Sunday thing. I live a demanding life, and I would like to attend church more often, but I can’t. So do believe people should stop taking all of that so seriously.
Hell. The word seems so simple but it obviously isn't. Who knows what hell really is? Maybe it is the hell from Little Nicky, maybe it resembles a Death Camp from World War II. I, personally, do believe that there is a hell. I believe that hell is a place that you go when you do not accept the fact that you are a sinner and do not believe that Jesus has saved you. Obviously my belief of hell came from my religion. I was raised Episcopalian, or Catholic Light as some people like to say, and I attended Sunday School regularly. My mom ran the Sunday School program at my old church, and was a Vestry member (a committee that pretty much runs the church). I always did what I thought I had to do. Yet it wasn’t until the summer between seventh and eighth grade that I finally accepted the fact that I was a sinner. I was at a summer camp with Emily Capille called Delanco. In just that one week, my life was changed forever.
I had never thought of what hell would smell like or look like. I always thought that it was just a place that would be personalized based on what is horrible to you. For me, I would always feel regret. I absolutely hate feeling regret and/or guilty.
Although Gehenna seems more realistic here on earth, I think that heaven and hell are more like sheol. I believe that it is your spirit that that lives forever, whether with God, or in hell. That's why I believe that there is no racism, or sexism in heaven, because it is your spirit. No one is black or white, no one is man or woman. And I do believe that there are levels of sin. I do not believe that the torture will be any different, but it does make it harder for that person to come to terms with what they did and ask forgiveness. Killing a person, to me, is the worst sin.
I agree with Emily C when she said that God did not make hell. It was the devil that made hell, and the whole essence of hell. God does not punish someone to hell, he tries to warn people against it. God tells us that the devil is going to tempt us. God tries to protect us from the evils of the devil and hell, but just like a parent learns, they can’t control their child.
Being raised in a Catholic family, I do in fact believe that Hell is a real place. Of course what my parents tell me or what my religion insists are two influencing factors in beleiving in hell; however, when it comes down to strictly my beliefs, I can honestly say that I feel the same way and agree with what I have been told about hell from others. Obviously I would not know what being in hell feels like, and never intend to either. From learning what one must do to go to hell, though, is what makes me close to positive that the way I imagaine it is precise. In my eyes, hell is a place where no good exists and evil has overcome every poor soul. It glows a fierce ruby red with a mixture of burnt orange flames and black ashes scattered. Hell is the most dreaded place for every being on this Earth, and somewhere that the word bad goes on forever and can never be altered into good, or even okay. It is a place where evil people with sick minds and ruthless, cold hearts sit in misery for the rest of eternity being punished for their unforgivable cruelty.
As a Catholic, I believe that God will always forgive me for my wrongdoing. However, I also belive that God knows the difference between a stupid mistake that is able to be avoided at all costs in the future, and an intentional act of evilness that deserves no forgiveness. God is a figure that provides an endless amount of chances to enter his kingdom, but there is indeed limits to his acceptances.
Sheol, from the Old Tenstimate, sounds more realisitc to me as a place where good and evil stay far away from eachother. Sure our world is a huge collision of good and bad. When you die, though, whichever one's side that you took throughout your journey of life is the one that your spirit deserves to proceed to eternally.
Speaking about the nine circles of hell, I feel that hell has no levels to its severity, and that if one does something evil enough to go there, then thats the worst punishment possible. In order for God to send a human being to hell, they must commit a horrid sin that deserves no forgiveness. Therefore, everyone in hell should suffer endlessly and equally as well.
God, in my eyes, is the savior of all mankind and is one that has authority over all the earth. He has every right in deciding who comes to meet Him, and who goes to hell. God died for us, and loves us unconditionally. Why would God die for us if he wanted to torture us after death by sending us to hell? I firmly believe that God respects and is not judgemental of any person on this planet. However, we must understand that God sacrificed his life for us. The people that go to hell have been given chance after chance but fail to recognize the importance of God. With that, why should they be allowed into God's home when they die?
I do not agree with Stephanie when she says that God has extreme personalities. God is a man of truth, wisdom, and love. However, if someone kills someone else, why should they be granted with all of this goodness? It seems to me that people that are evil enough to go to hell don't even care to give God a chance anyway...which to me, is the biggest sin and heartbreak of all.
I do believe there is a hell. I do not know what it is like but my imagination tells me that it is a place, draped with reds, organs and black, fire and loud symphonious music. I feel that there is a ruler of hell, the devil who sits high on his wicked chair levels among the rest of hell. He sits high not to torture, but to watch, and observe, to manage his vast abyss of fire. There is a walkway leading to him from all parts of the never ending hell which only a select few ever walk, those who earn to see the devil, those select few people are the scum and hell is the only destination for them. I never really thought of the smell of hell until I read “Hell” by Joyce, and still I didn’t take that into consideration. Im sure it smells like fire, soot, ashes, lava, magma, and evil, but not of the raunchy stenches Joyce chose to describe. MY perception of hell can be attributed to a variety of influences, church, family, friends, but mostly entertainment such as movies and books. Therefore hell is a place accessible to people only those who truly do not forgive. Religion not always a big part of my life, much larger in my earlier years than today, but I still think that it attributed to it, if anything the looks and perception. Therefore I kind of have my own morals and ethics that are somewhat similar to my religious affiliation, but not mirrored. If I feel that someone has broken those ethics, intentionally, and without a motive, reason, or forgiveness, then they deserve hell.
This next question is hard for me to answer because I lack the religious influence that I once had. But I think heal is a more realistic place, like in the New Testament. Gehenna seems more true to my description to hell than a spiritual residing place.
I for one do believe there are different levels of sin and equally different levels of hell for those sinners. I think Dante’s poem more closely fits the image I have of hell than the bible when talking about the severity of sin. I feel that murder and tax evasion are on opposite ends of the spectrum, and deserved to be acknowledged differently. It would not be fair to the family of a murder victim to convict the criminal on the same sentence as a 17 year old bread stealer. That is why there are different levels of hell, because sometime the world does not accurately assess situation properly, and that is what hell is for. Hell is almost acting as a backup system to the judicial system of the world. In more cases than not the victim and their family are not properly compensated as equally as the criminal is given false justice. I think in some situations the world lets cold blotted killers of easy, and hell is the only place where we know it will be fixed.
When I read Nick’s blog it made me chuckle first, then think. I never thought about hell in that sort of way, which was pretty unique. After taking into large amounts of consideration I still think that hell is a place of fire, heat, and intimidation, which no person has the pwer to overcome. Heaven and hell are on two opposite sides of the stick, and each is supreme in their sphere.
Of course hell exists. Hello how else would people who sinned be punished if there wasn’t a hell? Luckily I have never been to hell I have no idea what hell looks like or smells like I’m assuming the smell is pretty bad though. To my belief hell has an everlasting flame so I’m pretty sure it feels hot! Before reading Hell I thought it was a bright flame now I feel different I agree with Joyce when he says it’s a colorless everlasting flame. In my mind that’s even worse. My belief systems stems from the belief of my family mainly my parents and grandparents. Just like Brittany I also developed my beliefs through my religion and church. I am a Christian, Baptist supposedly. I say supposedly because I don’t agree with everything the Baptist believe and preach. I am non-denominational and my church isn’t very strict. I sort of put my on swing of things on religion like I do mainly everything that I’m come into contact with. But I was taught pretty much in a nutshell that if you’re bad you go to hell so accept Jesus and be a good person. To get there you would have to have sinned and not corrected your sins by repenting and changing your behavior. Also devil worshippers and people who don’t believe in god not like Muslims and Buddhists but people who don’t think there is a divine being such as the lord. How would we be here if there wasn’t?
The spiritual destination sounds more realistic not that there couldn’t be a worldly destination just that like Joyce believed hell is so horrible that the worldly destination wouldn’t be awful enough.
No I didn’t believe that hell had levels. It makes perfect sense though because not every sin can be weighed the same each sin has a “level” of severity therefore levels in hell make sense. Just like our justice system you wont go to jail for life if you stole a candy bar, its wrong but not as wrong as murdering someone. I think one of the worse sins imaginable is killing or rapping or both, not just one person but multiple people. This would be a level nine sin in which the person should spend the rest of eternity burning at astronomical temperatures.
As far as the lord being the embodiment of love and grace even though many perspectives of hell are from his word it’s reconcilable because not everyone lives a life of love and peace, and they should be punished for their sin. If not then what’s the point in having heaven after life if all people go when not everyone deserves to go?
Hell? When I think of the image of hell and heaven I think of the movie Constantine. The visions of hell and heaven were just two different cities. The city of hell looks like a city that has been destroyed by an explosion and fire. Heaven looks exactly like a perfect city in the clouds. Hell and heaven to me looks like cities of the Best and the Worst of the city. In the movie Constantine the makers capture the nscene of heaven and hell so well. When you go into heaven it would make sense that everyone would be wearing White suits or white clothing altogether. And in hell you will where black but not be suffering. You’ll just be in a world of nothing but destruction and fire. Basically, a destruction of abyss.
The worst sin I can think of is to take the life of another’s away. If you don’t ask to be forgiven and change your ways then you are going to hell. I think god is the figure of love even if he can determine who goes to hell or heaven. He accepts those who live a good life and decide not to be overly wrong about life and the decisions we make. I believe that god does forgive everyone until the one sinner decided to turn his or her back and stop asking for being forgiven. Once you have decided to change your ways, obviously there is no good in you.
In all I believe that heaven and hell exist, but in the form of an ordinary world in different forms. You can sin but ask to be forgiven and change your ways. If you do not change your ways then you will go to hell. If you do change your ways then you can get into heaven.
Hell? When I think of the image of hell and heaven I think of the movie Constantine. The visions of hell and heaven were just two different cities. The city of hell looks like a city that has been destroyed by an explosion and fire. Heaven looks exactly like a perfect city in the clouds. Hell and heaven to me looks like cities of the Best and the Worst of the city. In the movie Constantine the makers capture the nscene of heaven and hell so well. When you go into heaven it would make sense that everyone would be wearing White suits or white clothing altogether. And in hell you will where black but not be suffering. You’ll just be in a world of nothing but destruction and fire. Basically, a destruction of abyss.
The worst sin I can think of is to take the life of another’s away. If you don’t ask to be forgiven and change your ways then you are going to hell. I think god is the figure of love even if he can determine who goes to hell or heaven. He accepts those who live a good life and decide not to be overly wrong about life and the decisions we make. I believe that god does forgive everyone until the one sinner decided to turn his or her back and stop asking for being forgiven. Once you have decided to change your ways, obviously there is no good in you.
In all I believe that heaven and hell exist, but in the form of an ordinary world in different forms. You can sin but ask to be forgiven and change your ways. If you do not change your ways then you will go to hell. If you do change your ways then you can get into heaven.
I don't believe that there is a hell, so i guess that means I disagree with most of these bloggers. I, like Danielle, am raised in a catholic family, but I can't help but question. I guess its kind of a normal feeling because I know others who feel this way. First off, I'm not sure of my beliefs, at least for now. I don't think that if there is a God, he would want us to burn for all eternity. This doesn't seem right. Sins are supposed to be forgiven, not held agaisnt us forever. I think that if there was a hell, it would be disgusting, and dark, and hot. I'm not sure where my beliefs came from. My friends have a lot of deep conversations, and they usually end up in confusion and not having any answers at all. I don't think that there should be any way to get to hell, if we would really be forgiven. Maybe, if you didn't feel sorry for the sin you committed then you deserve to go to hell. I'm still not sure.
I don't think there are "levels of hell." I think that if you are "permanetly damned" then you just go and suffer, forever. There is no worst sin. There are simply sins.
Hell, Heaven and Hogwarts all have something in common, as far as I’m concerned; they are all fictitious places created in the minds of the author/authors of a book. I know this is by no means a widespread belief, but think about it. Why is it that a person would read the Bible with a different mindset than if they were about to read Harry Potter? What makes them any different? They are both books and probably about the same length too, yet when you pick up the Bible you read it as if it were all truth, but when one reads Harry Potter they are only trying to be entertained and have no expectation of being enlightened. Why is there this division? Why are they treated differently? If you read the Bible and believe the words it preaches, than why don’t you expect to see a wizard flying around on his broomstick through the center of town? How can you say the Bible is all true and holy, yet say Harry Potter is just a fiction novel? You have no evidence of either being true, yet you accept the Bible as truth and discard Harry Potter as fictional. I just can’t understand the logic behind this way of thinking, it seems flawed.
So obviously, I don’t believe there is a hell, heaven or God for that matter. My view of the afterlife is a total satisfaction of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This states the entropy of the universe is increases, or that everything is going from complex to simple. So when I die, I’m dead, that’s all there is to it. There will no longer be a Joecamp; I’ll just be bug food and be broken down into simple elements and compounds. I understand that this is a very bleak outlook, but from what I can see it is all anyone can expect.
Another problem I have with religion is that the all mighty God who loves all his children is so willing to send them to hell where they will suffer for all of eternity. It could just be me, but that seems like a major contradiction. If he loved everyone so much than why wouldn’t he accept everyone’s flaws and let everyone into heaven? It only seems right to do that if he loves us all, but that’s just my opinion.
Since I don’t believe in religion, I don’t believe in sins, I only believe in a moral compass that drives us all in the right direction. Everyone knows the difference between right and wrong. I agree with Stephanie, there is really no proof for a God and that is part of the reason I don’t believe. But in the end, I guess it’s not about proof, it’s about faith. Being a very logical person, I don’t have any.
As I sit down between trick-or-treaters to write this blog, I draw many blanks. This is going to be pretty hard, but here goes:
Ever since I was very young I was a Catholic Christian. For about fourteen years I found out what that was and I believed deeply in it. At age fourteen I began to attend a Catholic school where religion was in every class, even math. But we also did have the class of religion where we learned about the history and philosophy of the faith. And little by little, the more I learned, the more that faith dwindled. At this moment in time, I am not quite sure what I believe. So honestly, I am not sure if there is a hell. Or even a heaven for that matter. How do I know that we aren’t just buried in the ground, and that is that?
When I was younger and did believe in all the stuff I was told about heaven and hell, I pictured hell as a dark inferno, with orange fire everywhere and bubbling lava around the cold dark ground. Somehow, the ground was cold around all the fire, to match the cold, cold hearts of those who were sent there. You burn in hell, but not literally, but internally. I’m not quite sure how, but your heart of ice helps to burn you from the inside out. These images came from the teachings of my mom, the priests and my CCD teachers about how horrible and terrible place that hell would be, so that I would not want to go there. But, Joyce’s explanation of hell makes total sense, as Caitlin viewed it. I also agree with Cait in the fact that junior year is our own little hell.
I really never figured out what was necessarily hell-worthy. Some may think sin in general; other may think specifics such as murder and rape. But if the murderer didn’t do it on purpose, and repented, and the liar knowing went on with their devilish ways, who goes then? There are too many ‘What If?’ situations for me to make a list really. And as far as the worst sin, I simply can’t say I know.
Honestly, neither of the situations, everlasting life and everlasting contempt, sound realistic to me. But, this all goes back to the simple fact that nothing seems quite realistic to me. Going somewhere unable to be seen, and going no where at all just don’t seem possible.
I can not say I believe in what Caitlin says about God and his son, but it is what I was taught my entire life. They always said that we were born sinner but could change out ways if we truly wanted to be in heaven with God.
First off, I do believe hell exists. I was brought up, like Emily Rheault and Dave and Jeannie, as Roman Catholic. I agree with them and the few other people I noticed that when you are Catholic, the fact that there is a heaven and a hell as well as about everything else is shoved down your throat. Especially when you must attend Sunday School until you graduate eighth grade and get confirmed, all you hear is what you must believe. I was turned off to religion when I was younger mostly due to force. When I was forced to go to church at 8 in the morning, when I was forced to go to CCD, and then forced to do homework on Saturday Night or Sunday Morning for it. It just made me associate religion with being a hassle. So back to hell, despite all this I still believe in it because not all people go to heaven. I definitely believe there is a heaven, so then there must be a hell because the murderers and rapists of the world cannot possilby get in.
I think that hell looks mostly like what James Joyce described it as. I was taught that hell was a place where all the sinners go to burn because they committed a sin against God. It was a place where the Devil was and that you always burned and it smelled like bodies. It smelled basically like burning flesh because that is what happened down there. The peoples' bodies were being burned so this is the obvious smell that would be given off. It would be the worst place that you could end up when you die. I actually think it would be fairly hard to get into hell. Most people start off going to heaven. That is supported obviously by the cliché "Innocent until proven guilty." You must prove to God that you are deliberately disobeying him and knowing that you are doing wrong. It must be against the Bible and his teachings and be unforgivable. The people that definitely go to hell would be the murderers, pedphiles, rapists, and all others that hurt people. The people who commit serious crimes may also go to hell, such as grand theft or arson. Those crimes may go to heaven or hell depending on their repentance and the rest of their life choices.
I agree with Alighieri that there are different levels of sin resulting in different levels of hell. The worst sin would be a child murderer or child rapist because this is not only the defamation of a child, but the brutal assault or killing, too. These horrible criminals would go to the worst ring of hell. As most people aren't, I am not sure of what determines the rings/levels of hell. I think it is simply that the worse of a sin you commit, the farther level of hell you are damned too. The fire could be worse or the torture is committed slower, or the actual fact of being in hell there is worse. I really don't know and I don't think anyone does.
Lastly, I think that God can be the embodiment of love and grace but still damn people to hell. He gives this love and devotion to the people that follow his teachings and those who lead their lives by his example: the good people, in his eyes. The people that choose not to do what he feels is right, he damns to hell. The people that disobey him horribly and commit violent or terrifying acts will go to hell. He can still be God and send people to hell, because that is the way the religion works.
I am a Christian and have been my whole life. But, even with that being said, I am not entirely sure of my religious beliefs regarding hell. I think it's because I don't like to think about death. I'll be honest - I don't ever think about it because it freaks me out and I really don't want to die anytime soon.
My initial reaction to the hell reading was fear, but accompanying the fear was a feeling of tremendous shock. As I said during class today, I never really pictured hell as a place of "torture," per se, at least I never pictured it as containing the torture reminiscent of concentration camps that was inflicted on the captives in the story. I always pictured it as a place of eternal, insufferable captivity, like in the song Hotel California. I honestly think that a lot of teenagers, whether they realize it or not, share this belief. When angry kids in the corner say "School is hell," they are referring to it in the sense it is a prison they can't escape from.
About religious beliefs, I believe that if you repent for your sins and believe in God and in Jesus Christ you will go to heaven. I think the worst sin you can do is sin and not repent for it. I think those are the people trapped in hell - the people that don't feel pity, remorse, or any sense of regret. I believe that any sin can be attoned for if you are genuinely sorry in your heart and regret your sin.
I grew up with going to church ever weekend and learning of where we want end up going as our time on earth comes to an end. Hell, as I learned through my church and my parents, is the place where we will end up if we do not repent to God. Hell is hotter then the surface of the sun and smells a thousand times worse then my shin guards after three hours of soccer practice in the blistering sun.
There is a Hell in my world; I believe that when someone commits any sin, however small or large, if the sinner does not clear their soul of the sins to God then they will go to Hell. Growing up I felt like Jeannie, going to church every weekend, under protest, because my parents said that’s what “good Christians” do. I disagree with my parents on that statement and I agree with what Brittany said. We have busy lives and if we can’t make every Sunday service, it’s ok, as long as we go when we can.
God loves everyone on the earth no matter what they have done, but, yet again, if they do not clear their souls of their wrong doing and pray to god for forgiveness, then God will turn them away at the pearly white gates and they will fall into the smoldering depths of Hell for eternity.
I agree with katie when she said "you burn not literally, but internally". Its your spirit that goes to hell not your body. I think its funny we are doing a blog about hell on halloween.
I'm sorry this is up late but when I tried to post it up at 6:00, the "post comment" button didn't work. I tried to send Bunje an email saying that I would try again after I was done trick-or-treating, but I might have put the email adress in wrong.
In order to truly understand Hell, one must understand Heaven. Without this understanding the other becomes merely a hallow shell of its actual meaning. Most people’s ideas of heaven and hell are extremely cartoonish and silly. People see Hell as a place where little men in ed suits run around poking people with pitchforks. People see heaven as a place where beautiful angels with feathery wings sit atop fluffy clouds, and play their harps while dreamily eating Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Both of these are rather hallow definitions of much more deep concepts.
Personally I see Heaven is a place where we can be perfectly one with God. It is a place where everything is more beautiful than can possibly be imagined. I could try to describe it with words, but anything I could ever say would never do it justice. It is a never-ending state of perpetual joy with the one true God.
Basically I see Hell as the antithesis of this concept. I see Hell as a place of eternal separation from God. It is in a sense, an end. It is an eternal nothingness, to truly perish and be with nothing. The commonplace idea of Hell being a place where all of the wicked are tortured day and night goes against much of what Christ truly stood for. Honestly, after a few thousand years watching even Hitler scream in agony would get a little old.
Biblically speaking there are not different levels of sin. All sin separates us from God. Whether its stealing a piece of gum or murdering thousands, as far as damnation is concerned they are all the same. The punishment for sin is death, that means all sins, not just the big stuff. This is not some sort of grand punishment devised by God to take revenge, it is simply how things were created at the beginning of time. The very essence of sin is that it pulls us away from being with God. In the days of the Old Testament it was believed that the only way to be freed of sins was to make a sacrifice. In place of your own blood, some other blood has to be spilled. 2000 years ago that sacrifice was made for each and every one of us. That debt was paid by the blood of the one true sacrificial lamb, Jesus Christ. To think that Hell is some sort of threat devised by God to punish disobedience is almost ludicrous when seen through a Biblical view. The very reason Christ came to earth was so that he could take our punishment for us when he died on the Cross. To obtain this salvation, man must first accept this gift, and then truly live for Christ. The Bible says that if you seek heaven you must love the lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind. You must serve God in all your deeds and actions.
Looking at many of my classmate’s opinions I noticed one major flaw in their concepts. Many of them seem to either believe that man can reach heaven only by faith or only by works. The truth is in between the two. Faith without works is dead, and works without faith are meaningless. In order to reach heaven, he must live as Christ did. Live for your fellow man with an honest intention to serve the one true God Jehovah. There is only one true road to heaven, and that is through Jesus Christ.
Well for starters i completely agree with Alli in not being really religious. I was just not brought up that way and thoguh i did go did church i never really exactly believed in everything the bible said or talked about. On the other hand, i do believe in hell ... well in a sense. See what i believe is probably not like what anyone else would believe. I think every person has to learn all the same main lessons of life. Once a lesson a learned and their life is ended, part of their spirit will go on and move into a better place but the deeper less easily tapped into part of your soul moves on into another body, another form to learn another one of the lessons they must learn. THis is where hell comes into play. I believe the people who are kind and innocent while learning their lessons will be blessed with the undeniable oppurtunity of going to heaven, the happiest place to be. THe others who are not so nice and are more on the evil side are forced to go hell. Hell is a place where happiness does not exist. THe only feeling the people there are aloud to feel are pain and suffering. All you can see is pain and upside down smiles. THe only thing you can smell is burnt rotting skin. No one can feel anything other than extreme sadness. My beliefs of how i view hell are probably based on a mixture of what movies show and what my parents tell me. My views on life (event htough ut has nothing to do with this) come completely from laying on bed staring at my ceiling and contemplating the way life works. Both "gehenna" and "sheol" paint a good picture of hell. To me, "sheol" seems more like what hell would be like becuase people who are really bad in my opinion will be damend for all eternity. THere is no doubt in my mind about this. BUt for all i know hell oculd be a freezing cold place and oculd nothign at all to do with fires burning for all eternity. I beieve the worst sin someone could do is kill someone. taking away someones life is so unbelievably horrible nothing could be considered worse. I think it is ridiculous for anyone to believe that GOd can not be considered the embodiment of love and grace. ANyone who goes to hell (not condemned by GOd to hell) it completely 100% their fault. No matter what happens to someone sin is never the only answer. No matter how hard it is to do the right thing,anyone can. NO ONE has any excuse in the world to sin.
PS i am so sorry this is late long story, ill tell you tomorrow
I’m going to start off by saying that I really don’t enjoy participating in religious discussions. I’m usually pretty private about my beliefs, or rather lack of beliefs. I do enjoy listening though. Anyway, I’ll just move on.
I don’t believe that hell exists. I have a hard time in believing in things that can’t be proven. Partially, I believe it’s due to growing up in the Catholic Church and disagreeing with everything I’ve heard since I’ve been able to think for myself. I don’t believe life should be lived with rules and regulations such as religion; personally, I feel religion is an excuse to keep people in line. I have never believed in living my life in fear that a god that I should cherish and worship will punish me for my mistakes and “sins”. Another reason I do not wrap myself in religious beliefs or topics is because I don’t feel a god I should love and appreciate for my very existence is ignoring all the bad in the world. For example, I would want my god to take care of the poor, starving children around the world. Why would a god who is supposed to watch our every move and sin want to watch so much suffering in the world? I can’t stand to hear people say that god picks the good and cares for them; I don’t know why anyone would deserve to starve and suffer from birth. Along with god not watching suffering in the world, I would not want to believe that my god would decide my fate of heaven or hell, whether I made the right or wrong decisions in life. I want to do the right things because I feel they’re right. I want to have my own morals and ideas without the influence of a Religion that may be nothing but lies. Who knows who wrote the bible? There are a million different versions of it, which one is the real one? I feel religion will slowly become more and more outdated. I feel religion was developed when people didn’t have the technology to uncover the truth about things. We still don’t know everything, but we have other ideas now; ideas I think are a lot more probable than the world being created in 7 days and woman being created from the rib of a man. I don’t want to sound like a jerk or anything. I find nothing wrong with those who believe in these things, unless they try to force their opinions on others. (AKA My Mother) I haven’t been exposed to every religion out there. Who knows? Maybe I could agree with a religion in the future. I’m not completely closed to it. With the exception of Catholicism; I know enough about Catholicism to know I don’t agree with it.
I wish I could’ve answered all these questions fully. But, I don’t think I’m capable at this moment. Sorry.
In response to Joanna’s comment: I’m totally with you on letting kids decide for themselves on the issue of going to church. When people are forced into things it only makes them resist it. If you really want your kids to follow in a certain religious path let them decide for him or herself if they want to, if not, let it go.
Hell. A dark place that promises eternal misery to anyone that enters. Religious folk and atheists alike recognize it. To many, hell is no joke, and it is definitely no myth.
Do I believe that hell exists? Sure I do. It's called Oakcrest High School. (just kidding). But seriously, I do really believe that there is a horrible place down there called Hell run by a dude called Lucifer who totally and completely hates God and wants nothing more than to steal souls and make them hate God, too.
I often try to be considered a "good person", although it's hard sometimes (some people really just ask to be made fun of), because that's what people of the Christian faith aim to do, and I like my religion. Church, of course, is where I learned about heaven and hell. At my first church, it seemed like anything a person ever did was wrong, and Hell was beginning to seem inevitable. My new church showed me that Christians are human, and that it's OK to make mistakes: God always forgives.
I can't exactly say what hell looks, smells, or feels like; never been there myself. I'm sure, though, that there is a good description of it somewhere in the Bible...(I said I was a Christian, but I never said I was a perfect one!)
A question heard often is "What do I have to do in order to get into heaven?" The answer is surprisingly simple, according to my faith. All a person has to do to get into heaven is surrender to God, the father, and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. Or, to put it in less Ultra Catholic terms, befriend Jesus. In case, no one's noticed, I always wear a little crucifix around my neck. I call it my "Li'l Jesus", and I always find myself talking to him when I'm down, or lonely, or just plain bored. Call me a freak if you will, but it's the first friendship I've had that I know in my heart is true no matter what, and with that little conviction I know I'm going to heaven.
I cannot say that I got to my faith alone. It took a lot, I mean a LOT, of prodding by two of the coolest people in the entire world: Laina Lusk and Gary Carlson. Without Gary constantly asking, "Court, you coming to church this week?" and Laina picking me up and driving me there, I'm not sure I would have ever came to faith. Also, Laina bought me my first Bible, which I must say has turned out to be one of the greatest gifts I've ever gotten.
Which is why I'm responding to both of their blogs tonight. I completely agree with what Laina said about the degrees of sin. There is no degree. Murder is just as bad and saying "God darn it!" though it doesn't exactly feel like it. Why they're the same is because they are both blatant disregard for God's rules (the Ten Commandments), and the both leave a mark on God's heart when you commit them. The only way to remove that mark is to ask for forgiveness, which God promises to EVERYONE. And I think it was totally awesome that Gary was able to back his blog with so many verses. I wish I could do that. Oh here's one Braddigan (greatest person in the world) showed me: Psalm 92:12
"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in the Lebanon." OK that might not have much to do with anything, but I assure you that was totally from memory! Yay!
As for the last question, I had a little trouble understanding. If you, Bunje, are trying to say that God intentionally sends people to hell, than I'm afraid you're wrong. God offers the greatest chance for anyone to enter into his kingdom; all you have to do is surrender yourself. But to the people who had their whole lives knowing this, but not surrendering, than there is nothing God can do. In these cases, Satan wins. God remembers the name of every one of his children that he was not able to save, and keeps them on his heart forever.
I think it is natural for everyone to think about this sometime in their life. I may be abnormal in that I've been thinking about Hell and Heaven and my beleifs in God since i was about 9 or 10. I would always question God and creation and evolution. In fact, i would consider myself a very philosophical thinker, because i used to think of all the possible scenarios we could live our lives. I don't exactly beleive there is a hell, maybe because i dont want to go there, or maybe because i beleive differently than most churchgoers. I dont beleive you have to attend church every sunday or at all for that matter, but you must have a connection with God. I dont have any idea what happens after death so i dont know that i beleive in either a hell or a heaven. You can call me sad but like Bunje said about her beleifs, it isnt reaching Hell or Heaven, it is more about what you do with your life on earth. The old saying says it best, it says something like "The journey is more worthy than the destination". There is surely a divine being watching over mankind but every human has a different interpretation of that being.
I dont consider myself a christian, and i guess i cant really if i dont beleive Jesus is my Savior, but i was never really taught the complicated part of Christianity. Most people that go to church, I think, arent there for their true beleif in that religion. That is one reason why i hate religious recruiters as i call them. They are really followers, and i have no right to say theyre wrong in their beleifs, but it is not "their" beleif, they are following someone elses beleif. Im not saying their wrong because they could be right, but i beleive in my own beleifs not someone else's. Now if i were going to get married or for legal reasons, i am a christian just so it doesnt get messy, but i see nothing wrong with that because God wont be offended by that.
Now as for the different levels of sin, all sin is the same. Niah brought up the argument of a child molester and lying to your parents. Yeah, the severities are different to us, and the legal system, but in God's eyes a sin is a sin is a sin. But luckily, as long as you ask for forgiveness and make an effort to stop, God will forgive you.
This is a messy and controversial concept. I dont wanna say im frail or my beleifs are swayed easily, but things change and as people mature so do beleifs.
Ever since we were young, our parents, teachers, friends, whoever, have taught to ask questions, to ask "why?". On the other hand, as a Christian, I have been taught that heaven, hell, and God exist and that I must trust that they exist. Based on those consequences, I can safely say that I really don't know whether hell exists or not. I want to believe that there is a seat waiting for me next to Jesus behind the pearly gates (which brings up another point. Why is heaven a gated community? Were kids sneaking in to use the pool? What's the deal?). But I'm not sure. I don't really have anything scientific, anything factual on which to base my beliefs. And, like Joecamp said (although I will say not quite as radically), the Bible was written mainly for entertainment purposes. 2000 years ago, they didn't have iPods or televisions to keep themselves busy. They merely had the Bible (if they could read). So, how am I to base an opinion on something that could either be complete truth or a science fiction/fantasy novel? It's quite a quandary.
However, if hell really does exist, I picture it looking like James Joyce's amazingly vivid description. People will constantly be suffering because of their actions on Earth, it will smell like rotting flesh, and fire will be abundant. Basically, the worst experience you've ever had times a million.
Gehenna sounds more like hell to me than sheol. Not only because I can't picture spirits just "chilling" while they wait to go to "everlasting life" or "everlasting contempt," but also because Gehenna sounds like the Simpsons' hometown of Springfield, where they have a pile of burning tires whose flames never go out. I just think it would be cool to go to a place that reminds of the Simpsons. But, to clear that up, I do not want to go to hell.
And, finally, as someone previously stated (I can't remember who said it), I don't believe that there are levels of hell. I think that you're either there or not. If you did something bad enough to deserve going to hell, then why should there be leniency? Why should someone get punished less for stealing than for killing someone, per se? I don't think the process is that complicated. It puts too much pressure on the devil to form a bureaucracy, and it really holds up the whole afterlife process. To me, hell is simple: You go there, you get really hot, you die (spiritually).
By the way, what's the speed of dark?
I suppose I do believe in hell in some ways. However I do not rely on this belief and often consider that they may really be no hell, but just a figure of our imagination. In my opinion it is absolutely impossible to KNOW what hell looks like, because no one has ever dies, visited hell, and then came back to tell the tale. If I had to guess though I would say that it is a very gloomy, depressing place only because it is the opposite of heaven which is meant to be a safe-haven. I would also think that hell is not very pleasant smelling. Many people assume that there are things such as brimstone burning down there, which smells horrible, but this is just something that we assume would be there and cannot prove. My slight belief in Hell comes from the Catholic school I attended, St. Vincent de Paul grammar school. We were taught many things in our religion class, but since I am more of the rebellious type I did not fully commit to what they were teaching, therefore I do not believe in what they taught 100%. Upon entering Oakcrest High School my faith did not quite weaken, it kind of strayed away, and became more opened minded about what other people believed and could accept the fact that there might not even be a Hell of Heaven. I know that many people would become furious hearing me say something like that, but I believe that they are just too closed-minded and only believe what they are told.
It is difficult to say whether Gehenna or Sheol sounds more realistic to me. Considering we can prove that either exist I cannot pick a solid side. However, Sheol sounds more appealing, and possibly less sufferable then any of the other descriptions of Hell I have heard of. For one thing, how do we even know that “sins” exist. Sure many may believe in them because it is in the bible and there are the “Ten Commandments” but sometimes it seems as thought the facts to back them up are weak, which makes me question what a sin truly is. Who says besides God that we must go to Hell for doing the wrong thing, and that we must pray for forgiveness in order to regain our spot in heaven. Once again I may be going against what my school and many believe but if there is really no hell, then are there really sins that can send us to a place that doesn’t exist? I do believe that killing, and other crimes are bad, but only because we should make the best of our lives on earth, because for all we know we only live once. I find it hard to believe that such an all powerful, caring, loving, forgiving being such as God would do a thing like sending someone to Hell. If he truly existed as was how we describe, which we can also not back-up, then wouldn’t he allow us all to ascend to heaven? This is just a small part of a large argument I could make about God, Religion, Sins, and Hell.
I do not believe that "hell" exists. I don’t think the physical side to hell exists to be more accurate. Hell is not a something you can paint. There’s a difference between if you soul lives on happily or if it ends forever. That is what he calls "hell." In my mind no fiery burning pits of all the worst things I’ve seen exist, my hell is being forgotten.
If anything I believe that hell would be a spiritual thing. I grew up in a house where I had choice and was aloud to make my own decisions. My parents let me decide to believe in. After about 16 years of hearing what the other people thought hell was I could paint my own picture of hell.
I do not believe in these different levels of hell for "worst" sins. Living life without sin and being so pure doesn't exist in this day in age. The only thing we must do from these “worst” sins is learn from them. We must repair whatever the sin did and do the worst punishment of all too any person; forget them. What could be a more harsh punishment then being simply forgotten forever? That’s how these sins are punished. Ex: Adolph Hitler. Man commits some of the most gruesome, guerrilla, inhuman things you could imagine and to punish him we keep him around like some wartime nostalgia. Right now Hitler is not in hell; he is living what he dreamed. Maybe not in the physical terms but his legacy of fear has paved its way into our history books. Until we forget him, until not a single person knows what he did, will he finally be suffering in “hell.”
God’s “tone” to life was so inviting and forgiving. In his mind he needed a place to get rid of all of these disturbances. He figured if your not with the pure hearted, then you must be evil and suffer for it. This is why he painted a picture of hell and spoke so harshly. He had every right to.
Gretchen's response captures what really is going throw of people being raised by there parents religion. Her uncertainies are a prime example of what teens beliefs truly are. I disagree with her outviews on God though. She sees his way of saying there is a hell as not righteous and thats where we dont agree. I think his talking of such a place is more righteous and it is for the people in the future. Opposed to God only speaks of the good. Gretchen still had some very interesting views though.
As a child my father was very strict about me growing up with a catholic background. My father and my stepmother believed that having a catholic background would better discipline me and show me the dos and don’ts of the world. Growing up catholic, my CCD teachers and all the priests always stressed heaven and hell. If you were good and abided by the Ten Commandments and went to confessions, you would have a guaranteed ticket to the golden gates. Although all the talk, all the confessions, all the CCD classes, all of it seems worthless. My father always pushed for me to grow up catholic, but as I get older I can personally say I hate the catholic religion with a passion. I believe that there is and always will be a higher power, but as for it being God, I just don’t think he exists. In the catholic religion it is said I would go to Hell for saying that, but that’s another thing I don’t believe in Hell. I believe there is a Heaven but until your ready to go to heaven you stay in the mortal world, being resurrected. To be honest my mother is the one person who’s taught me that I don’t need to believe in God and I won’t go to Hell for a lie or two. I think that what is taught in the catholic religion is a way for adults to try and tame their children. Even though the catholic religion does give a child some kind of moral guideline, it’s not something you must always refer too. There are so many religions out there that I’ve explored, all different but also the same. As I stated before I believe in resurrection, although I believe more so in the spiritual resurrection. A spirit may wonder until their work or what they were put on earth to do is finished and until then they will continue living, but not forever. Everyone’s committed sins in their life, I’ve committed a good share myself. Does that mean were all going to hell? No. Sins are like mistakes we all make them, some being worse then others. Seeing as how everyone makes mistakes or commits a sin, I really wouldn’t pin point one as being the worst. God, Satin, it all seems made up to me. Its all a mystery fabricated and embellished stories from people who have supposedly witnessed these life-changing events. Regardless of what we should believe, I’m going to believe what I choose and if that means I don’t believe in God than so be it. There are many things that I’ve done that I regret, but there are many things that I’ve done that have bettered my life and others. It evens out and if that’s not good enough for God he’ll just have to get over it.
I think it’s funny that Deanna doesn’t know what CCD means. I attended CCD with many of my 2009 classmates, such as Dave, and to be honest I don’t think any of us know what CCD actually means. It was a waste of one hundred dollars a month in my opinion. We sat in a class for an hour and if you asked any of us what we learned, we probably wouldn’t even be able to tell you. CCD was exactly like school you get report cards and if you get in trouble, you get disciplined. The one and only thing any one of us could probably tell you, is that our principle Mrs. King was something quite unpleasant. CCD actually might have been Hell. The catholic religion is what it is and will never change but like Deanna said if you really did something wrong and want to be forgiven you can be. You don’t need a Bible to do so just a simple apology and understanding would due.
I will not say I agree with anyone’s blog or disagree with anyone’s blog because when it comes to religion, heaven, hell, spiritual beliefs, whatever, I feel that no one can share the EXACT same feelings, interpretations, beliefs, or anything involving these topics at all. Sure, people may have similar beliefs but to truly believe in the exact same thing as another is, in my eyes, impossible because, like it or not, everyone has their own mind, own thoughts, own choices to make, and own lives to live. I can not say I am not religious because honestly, I don’t even completely understand the concept of religion to say I do not or will not or can not accept it. Now, I am sure some of you may think I am just not educated in this particular subject or maybe that I am wrong for not having a “religion” but my personal take on the whole subject is finding your OWN voice. I don’t care if you and your neighbor go to the same church (or whatever you may refer to it as) and listen to the same preacher, or minister, or priest, or pastor, or pope, whatever the case may be, that does not mean you two have the same exact take on your religion you both feel very passionately about. People perceive things in their own way, using their own mind, eyes, experiences, surroundings, everything. Even if your parents drill religion and their beliefs into your mind, you still, unconsciously, will view things differently.
Hell, to me, is more of a state of mind. One day you could be put in the most difficult, stressful, disappointing situation of your entire life and say, “ugh, this is a living hell!” Well, if hell is a place where you go after you die, how are you in one now? My answer: there are many different hells. There are many different ways to be put in Hell. How ironic that this goes perfectly with how people’s beliefs create many different heavens and many different ways to “be accepted” into Heaven. I do not need a higher power than me to tell me right from wrong and punish me for my own opinions. I do, however, need someone to guide me through life. With the knowledge I gain in my early years of life, I am able to shape who I am and who I want to become. If I choose to do something that may be “sinful,” I will live with those consequences. I will not beg for forgiveness to God, or this greater power, in hopes that he will accept me. If God is as great and Al Mighty as people claim he is, my decisions in life should not cause me an eternity or sorrow in “Hell.” Which brings me to my next point- Hell? Does Hell exist? I have no idea. Therefore, to know what it looks like, smells like, sounds like, feels like would be impossible for me and I wouldn’t want to “sin” by lying and saying I do. I hope that all of those individuals who have caused great grief and sadness upon someone else in anyway will be punished but banishing them from eternal happiness seems impossible, even for God. Our own American government has levels of sins, or crimes and certain degrees of punishment. The jury is able to get some criminals out of a harsher punishment due to a mental health issue. My point is that if Americans, who are extremely diverse in both religion and morals can come together in some way and decide this, it seems strange to me that God wouldn’t feel the same. Reading Joyce’s “Hell,” I, literally, got a taste I was not expecting to acquire. He seems as if he had just gotten back from Hell and was an expert on its features in all aspects. I have no knowledge of this realm so I agreed with his view since the reality of it was so clear to me.
I would like to feel I have a destination in this world, a purpose I need to serve but at the same time, I love the feeling of being in control. I’m not all about sitting back and waiting for things to happen. I am a believer of everything happening for a reason but I think the reason everything happens is us. Everything that occurs and goes on in life is not some fluke thing but it is not some predestined act. It is affected by our everyday actions, choices, and thoughts. Living a predestination life would take away the drive, the passion, and the will to go out in the world and shoot for your highest dreams. After all, aren’t our fantasy dreams what drive us to ultimate success. Having a destination in life seems nice, but it is not practical at all! Everyone’s entire life is one big journey leading to some destination we create during our journey. If we all our born with our own thoughts, emotions, and passions, how could our lives have a destination we are trying to reach if we still are not even sure of who we are as a person?
Bunge, I do not like this question, “what is the worst sin you can imagine.” I feel like so many scenarios are running through my head, trying to pick the worst (best) one but and they all seem so different but at the same time they are all connected and related, resulting to the same thing. This thinking process brings me back to my point I was trying to make. Everyone is different and everyone has their own opinions no matter how much they may agree with someone. And, still, having their own ability to think for themselves, people will still all end up entangled in the same wed, made by the same great power, but all in different sections. Everyone ends up at the life after death cross road. There is no map and no billboard advertisements on where to go. It is just you and your own great power that has been by your side through thick and thin. Now, my question, is that if this great, powerful being has helped you out, gave you faith, and hope, and a reason to keep moving on, wouldn’t that great being trust your own judgment to choose to go where you want to go. Don’t get me wrong, I love to prey or wish to God that something will happen or that my family is safe just to the simple fact that these types of topics are out of my hands and everyone wants that control. This is what I think it comes down to. Everyone is in control of their own lives. When other people’s controlled lives step into the controlled life of someone else, things occur, from their own choices that are out of their control. This discomfort or insecurity they may feel is then transferred into a cry for help to your very own higher power to help you cope with this mixture of different lives all coming together. I definitely believe there is a God looking over me but he is not scoffing at all of my “wrong” moves or is not praising me for all of my “right” ones. He is simply there for me to turn to (or look up to) when I feel the need for some direction and insight for when I feel things are out of my hands. That’s the beauty of it. Everything is all in our power. People use God, or their higher power, as an excuse to give up on their little tasks during their life-long journey. I prey to God for support and comfort for situations I feel are not in my control. It’s refreshing and comforting to know someone, or something, is always there for you to confide in and talk to. But does this same presence have to be the decision maker for if you deserve eternal happiness of not. You lived your life. No matter how you lived if, you can not live it “wrong.” this, in my opinion, is completely true to the simple fact that some people believe your life comes with a predestination. So if you are destined to be a murdered, you technically are living your life “right” but with “wrong: morals and this is why I believe a destiny is finally decided once you reach the end of your journey.
ps. Happy Halloween, sorry its a little late.. =)
I believe that hell exists due to the fact that I am a Catholic and my religion tells me that it exists. I have always believed that hell is like in Bedazzled, but the devil does not dress like a girl. I also think that it smells like rotting trash and feels like a continuous gym session with no break or shower afterwards.
The one that sounds more realistic to me is hard to answer because even though a fire at a dumpsite seems probably to keep burning until it burns everything in its way, but due to my religious beliefs that other opinion that talks about where souls reside also sounds reasonable to me because I am religious. If I had to choose the logical choice it would be the dumpsite that it on fire. The reason for this is that in those days people ran with ideas like if they saw something they could not explain like a big fire they would take it out of context and make a ridiculous story which people will believe because people are gullible.
I believe that there are varying degrees of sins, but only to a certain degree because even though there are simple sins like lying, I still think that you can not look at a career robber differently than a murderer because they both harm society in big ways so I do not know if I could really say there is a difference between sinners unless I am the sinner. The worst sin I could ever imagine is the killing or slaying of another human being because your cutting someone else’s life short and are going against god’s plan for that person. I believe that the person when send to hell so have to work like a railroad everyday in the extreme heat.
Yes, I believe that it is easy to forgive that God stands for love, but can send you to hell, a place of eternal suffering because he set 10 rules for use to follow and base our entire life’s off of and if people can not follow those 10 rules than why should God reward then by letting them into his home. Would you let someone live in your house that broke your rules?
I am a C. I am a C-H. I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N. And I have C-H-R-I-S-T in my H-E-A-R-T. And I will L-O-V-E him E-T-E-R-N-A-L-L-Y. This is the song I used to sing in church, proudly. I love being a Christian, but like a few other people I question a few things. These things include stuff about God. First, I just don't understand how the Bible says Adam and Eve were the first to ever be here, I have learned that cave men were. Also, I don't understand how the dinosaurs are not in the bible, but they really existed. Well, I really don't want to get too deep in religion, I'll get lost, and drift off topic. Hell. I believe in hell. I believe it's a firey place that's dark and smokey. Well, maybe it's cold. It's a really hard question for me to answer.
WAIT THE BELL IS ABOUT TO RING SO ILL WRITE BACK NEXT PERIOD
I grew up, like most people, believing in a Heaven and a Hell. We were taught that religion is a belief, but you're almost forced into believing it. One of the major components of the Christian religion is the concepts of Heaven and Hell. I still do believe in both of them, just a little differently.
We are taught that God forgives all sinners. But if he did, there would be no concept of Hell. I think there are certain sins that God will not forgive, and these sould go to Hell. I don't think of Heaven as the glorified, angels in white robes, floating among the clouds perception. I believe Heaven to be a place where people's sould are prepared for them to be reborn. The souls can observe their surviving family members and friends on Earth, and these sould will eventually be reborn. The souls who are sent to Hell are tainted souls, ones that are "bad" and cannot be reborn.
I don't think that Hell looks like a worldly destination. I believe Hell to be a combination of the fiery, red, devil-like place that looks like a fiery cave, but also some components of Joyce's vivid description. I believe the smells and scenes he describes are real.
I also believe that there are no levels or classifications to Hell. Like Jake said, you're either there or you're not. But I think there is a sin that will get you into Hell. I think murdering a family member will get you into Hell. But I think the Bible is a little bit hypocritical of itself and the people in it in the sense of murder. God essentially murders the whole worldly population except for Noah and his family in the story of Noah and the Ark. However, there is a Hell for people who sin.
ok I'm back. While I was scrolling by, what Hannah wrote caught my eye. She made an excellent point. God is "supposed" to forgive all sinners, so who goes to hell? This is where we have a slightly different opinion. I believe that people are all sinners and people always sin. As long as you sincerely repent, you won't go to Hell. You also have to be saved and born again. The way this happens is through prayer. You must accept God as your savior and you must speak with your mouth and confess your faults. As long as you know how you messed up and you ask God for forgiveness sincerely, you are forgiven. It doesn't necessarily mean that you are going to heaven. Since you are born in sin, you must be born again. This is through baptism. When you go under the woater, believe whole heartedly that you are washing away your sins, all of them are washed away, and your are pure to God. Now, those who are'nt born again unfortunately go to Hell. I do, for some reason believe that there are layers to Hell. I don't think people that curse and don't repent should go to the same place as rapists, murderers, and people that do harsh things purposely.
I HAVE TO GO WORK SO I'LL FINISH LATER... (sorry)
My whole life has been involved with my church. My family has been involved with this church since my father was a young boy, so being in a church and an active member of the church is the norm for me. My church hasn’t really described what hell was to me in any of my CCD classes or during any mass. What I have come to think of it as, though, is a personalized place of fear. All my worst fears would come to life in hell. For me, my worst fear is a black abyss with nothing. My greatest fear is being gone from everyone around me and being by myself. This is what hell would be for me – nonexistence.
I guess in this sense hell does exist, although this is a paradox. When I die, if I am bound for hell, I can imagine being locked from the gates of heaven. I would be forced down a endless hallway. The pathway would only be about two feet wide, and there would be fires raging on either side of me. Statues of demons would line the sides of the hallway, and there would be door after door, each one holding its own terrifying scream behind it. I would then see the towering red demon known as Satan. His head servants would be around him, and he would stand a mile high. He would look down upon me with his head the size of the faces on Mt. Rushmore. He would then say in a deep voice that shakes my entire frame something sealing my doom, such as “Your fate is sealed.” An invisible force would push me towards a door with my name on it. I would be thrust into the room, and then I would fall into an abyss of black darkness. There is no heat, for that torture was experienced during the walk to Satan. There would be no smell, for there would be nothing to smell. There would be no sound, for the only way out, the door, would be miles above me in a matter of minutes. There would be no feeling, only the feeling of myself. There would be no tastes, only the dryness of my own mouth. Eventually, I would fall upon a floor. There would be no light, so my eyes would grow useless. All I would know is the little circular platform I was sitting on. It would be ten feet in diameter, and below the platform would be unknown to me, for I would be meant to spend eternity laying in darkness, pondering the reasons for me being in hell. My eternity would have me reliving each moment of my life and wondering why I possibly did the horrible things that earned me this reserved spot in hell.
To get into hell is a hard thing to do, in my opinion. The only unforgivable sin is not asking forgiveness, or at least feeling guilt, for wrong-doings committed. I think God has enough love for everyone in the world. I believe that he will forgive any sin I commit if I am truly sorry. I know that if I try my best to be a good person, follow the morals I have been taught through my growth, and know and fear God, than I will have a spot in heaven rather than hell.
I am not going to agree or disagree with any person’s blog entry. I think the abstract concept of “hell” is something personal, and there is no consensus amongst any two people. It is a place of suffering, that is understood. Suffering to one person though may not be suffering to another. Some people find that the opera is the worst place imaginable. Their hell might consist of a noise so high pitched that one’s ear drums might rip due to the intensity of the sound. Others may believe that hell could be a place of “bad-asses” on motorcycles that act just as they did on earth. For me to cast any opinion upon another person’s perception of hell would be to defeat the purpose of the place, I think, because hell is supposed to be an idea that we created to strike fear into people. This fear would cause someone to act morally. I think that is what hell was created for, more than for anything else, and that is God’s purpose of it. God doesn’t want to banish anyone to hell, he wants the fear of being banished to cause people to act like good people.
Just like Du and Jeannie I went to a private school. I attended a Christian school though not a catholic and I went there for almost half of my years that I am required to be in school. In this school of we had bible class and were taught from a very young age that there is a God who is watching over us and determines whether or not we will live in hell or heaven. Personally the whole idea of dying whether or not I am promised a happy ending to my end. (If that even made sense) Naturally having been schooled in this type of setting where not believing that there is a God that is what I believe. My depiction of hell and what I know about religion mostly comes from my mom. Not to say that my dad doesn’t believe the same as me its just that until my parents got divorced and my dad remarried he wasn’t really that into the whole idea of church because he felt as though people in churches where hypocrites. Mostly because the bible says come as you are yet church people dress up the most and are willing to turn their noses up at anyone who is not dressed appropriately. Not that I believe this or that my dad felt this way about all church people.
I believe that no sin is too big or too small to be forgiven. My moms used to say that if you cheat you lie, if you lie you steal, and if you still you’ll kill. But in a way she is right but Jesus died to be able to cleanse all of our sins and if you are truly sorry for what you have done, realize that it is wrong, and ask for forgiveness God will give it to you. But sinning I not the main reason I think people go to hell since it is so easy to be forgiven but rather that if you don’t believe in God you’ll end up in hell. I read this series of books called left behind the children’s version when I was younger and one of the people who got left behind was a preacher because he taught the word but didn’t believe it. I disagree with Du when she says that she doesn’t believe that there is a hell because why would God want his children to go there. But in response to that its not that God wants you to got to hell but rather that your actions landed you there. God gives you the chance to make yourself right its just if you want to do what is required of you to make it to heave.
I always picture heaven and being a place that looks like a cave but is way deep in the earth with fire burning everywhere and people screaming. The agony on the peoples faces in unbearable. Some of my mental pictures of hell come from not only the bible but from the Disney movies Hercules and Anastasia. I know that’s weird but it’s the truth. When you look around you hear people talking about hell on earth. But I don’t think hell is anything compared to earth and I would never want to find myself in such a horrible place.
Ok, so anyway, I believe everyone who repents and means it should be saved, and not sent to hell. My belief came from my mom and immediate family. Also, between the two forms of hell, both are possibly true. Hell is upon Earth now, I believe. It depends on people’s levels of faith all around. With God being so merciful, if one really means what they say, they will be saved. Even though God is a good God and allows people to burn in hell, I believe it’s because they weren’t born again or saved. Some people confuse me by saying they only believe in heaven, but if you believe in one, it seems evident that one would believe Hell exists.
Post a Comment