Do you believe in hell? [Spirituality & Religion]

@SarahAndSamantha do you believe someone should serve life in prison for crimes committed?

@NIC0LE Apples and Oranges, really, but that can at least be somewhat justified. It is finite punishment for finite crimes. Even if it takes death to end the punishment, it still ends. That's my problem with hell, it never ends. The longest amount of time you can imagine is still comparatively a blink of an eye in eternity.

Serving life in prison can be too much, if you ask me, but at least it does end. I think if it must be used, it needs to be reserved only for the most heinous deeds, and more of a way to keep people who are very likely going to be repeat offenders (serial killers, for example) from repeating their crimes.

@SarahAndSamantha Or, if some Christians are to be believed, eternal reward for crimes provided absolution is sought from Jesus's.

@SarahAndSamantha hmmm true. i'll give you that. they do die. but let's look at it this way. the Bible states that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus..." (Rom. 6:23) just like the law states certain penalties for crimes committed. we all know of it and most of us keep within the boundaries of the law. those of us who refuse to acknowledge the law, receive said penalties. why not stay away from sin, knowing the penalty for it? God knew all of us would fall prey to sin (darn those desires of ours), so He gave us a way out: Jesus (see Rom. 6:23). He became payment (if you chose to accept) for the sin we all have committed. in other words, He paid a debt we would have had to pay. another thing to note is this: the Bible also states that "He (Jesus) is the way, the truth AND the life..." (John 14:6) so to reject Jesus means to reject life. which leads us back on the path to death.

our lives might be finite, but the sin we commit within this vapor of a life, isn't. because it isn't, payment was given to us. not for God to shrug His shoulders and say He offered, but because when He formed you, He knew He wanted you to come back to Him one day, but along the way you might stumble into some things that go against who He is and that would shut you out. what He won't do is force you to believe in Him or accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. (if you run across a "Christian" doing that, they may need to re-evaluate) He wants you to chose Him of your own free will. tbh, it sucks that you don't believe. not because hell is a very real place, but because Jesus was/is very real. because His love for you is, also, very real. also the absolute greatness that's within you is very real. just like all my grammatical errors. 🤣 very real. i hope, one day, you realize it too. (not the grammar bit. i'm sure you've already realized it, but it's near 2am my time. i'm giving myself a pass).

@NIC0LE I grew up in a church. I've heard it all. I can believe in some form of punishment in the afterlife, although I don't believe it's necessary. I cannot believe in infinite punishment, nor can I believe in a god who would allow it, whether said god wants us there or not. We're going to have to agree to disagree on the finite/infinite nature of sin.

I don't know if there's a god, gods, heaven or hell, reincarnation or if we simply blink out of existence. Or if the truth is even stranger than any of those. I have my beliefs, which I won't bore you with the details of. The one thing I know is it is not a choice for me to not believe in a god that allows eternal suffering for anyone. If a god made me, she didn't make me in a way that CAN believe in that.

But I do believe in grammatical errors :P

@NIC0LE Is believing in Jesus Christ enough to get you to Heaven?

@Agent John 3:16 says this, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

@NIC0LE [quote]what He won't do is force you to believe in Him or accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior[/quote]
Do I have to accept Jesus into my heart?