So today I just learned that in Christianity, if you don't believe in god, you go hell. I've Ben a Catholic(somewhat) all my life, and that's the dumbest shit I've ever heard! So what, people who weren't born in a religious family are automatically going to hell if they don't convert? I'm already shaky on even believing in god and this makes me not believe even more. What do you guys think on this?
You've been a Catholic all your life? Hell is synonymous with Catholicism...How could you not know about it?
Excerpt from Wiki: Equilibrium and Spiritual Free Will According to Emanuel Swedenborg, people are kept in spiritual freedom by means of the equilibrium between Heaven and Hell (i.e., polarities). So who sends people to Heaven or Hell? Nobody but themselves. There is no inquiry as to their faith or former church affiliations, or whether they were baptized, or even what kind of life they lived on Earth. They migrate toward a heavenly or hellish state because they are drawn to its way of life, and for no other reason. Anyone can enter heaven. However as soon as an evil person inhales the air there they have excruciating torment so they quickly shun it and escape to a state/place in keeping with their true state. As the old saying goes, “Where the tree falls, there it lies.†The basic spiritual orientation of a person toward good or evil cannot be changed after death. Thus, an evil spirit could leave hell, but never wants to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwrmILnrzbk
How I wish that believers and non believers were able to discuss this topic without being disrespectful. We can all hold to our opinions and stil be able to disagree without any conflict. So, as a believer I will say this to Iknuksohgong. First of all, I was catholic. I left because I really felt that it was time for me to find God personally, and from my experience when I was in Catholicism, you basically follow the convictions of another man. Ever done the experiment in a class of where the message is shared from one classmate to another until it get to the end? Almost never the message stays intact. Therefore I started seeking God and reading the Bible (which btw I never read it in Catholicism to begin with), read these two scriptures to begin with: Jeremiah 29:13 and Deuteronomy 4:29. I recommend you find a more modern translation (biblegateway.com is free and you have access to every translation currently available, I like the NIV, Amplified and The Message). By the way, most people think that Satan rules hell, but that is not the case, as Satan is on Earth awaiting for the completion of his time given by...drum roll please...God himself. Read the book of Job so that you can see how Satan does his work. And last, I would recommend you find and study the history of the Christian Church and its reformation to today, very eye opening. May God direct you to find him, but you will not be able to find him until you seek him with your all.
Well said, well spoken. It is great to see that someone is willing to put effort in having a very personal relationship with God. Most people whether they consider themselves religous or not are willing to do so. Having a personal relationship with Goid does require effort which includes reading The Bible, prayer, asking God questions and being prepared to await the answers for God will answer you but not necessarily in the time frame you desire. I will say this, a truly intimate relationship with God is the most fulfilling relationship that we humans can experience but it takes time, effort and using the brain that God gave you. It is also free.
^^THIS! What Balrog has just said is exactly what saves according to the Bible. Most people are under the impression that attending once a week a meeting with people is what saves...until they get to confront the Almighty Himself. Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Having a personal, DAILY relationship with God is what saves, and there are so many examples in the Bible about this. Jesus also said in John 14:15 "If you love me, keep my commands." To have a relationship, any relationship takes time and work, similar to how a good marriage works (which in today's world is rare, including in "Christian" circles, google divorce rates and divorce rates among christians and you will see how similar the rates are...). Which is my personal conviction that baptism is similar to a wedding (John 3:5; Matthew 3:13, notice that Jesus was an adult), first you must meet the person (getting to know who God is), then comes the personal realization that my (yours, in the case of whoever reads this post) sin crucified the Son of God (Jesus), then must come repentance (or the giving up of other women in the case of a marriage, commiting yourself to one woman for the rest of your life), and then the wedding (baptism). Notice that this is the beginning of the true journey of a disciple of Christ. Notice what Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Everyone has an opinion and we can respect to agree and disagree. It is a good thing when we can all share our opinions because no one knows it all on this Earth and wisdom is better than riches.
Before i read through the thread i want to say dont lose faith, dont let anything weaken that connection that you already have, keep it strong. I need to go off line but i will be back to read the thread. Also, the more the connection is weakened the more you will be lead off the narrow path.
Coercion at its finest. Christianity wouldn't have a fraction of its followers if not for its safety net, known as the lake of fire. A modern invention which makes it laughable.
There is no hell. Jews don't believe in hell. I don't know why it's believed by Christians. Maybe just catholic dogma to keep people in church and keep the donations coming. Or maybe just bad interpretation. Just like Yeshua said, "all the laws can be summed up as 'love thy neighbor'". Yeshua taught us that we are free children and not the slaves Moses made us think we were. That is described in revelations. I don't remember exactly where. It basically says, the laws were mans fullfillment of the prophesy given to Moses. But Yeshua was gods fullfillment of gods prophesy. All that we have to do is try to be righteous(on gods side). Which means you need to do good and not bad. Satan is just mans inner evil. We were given free will to choose the right or wrong path. And you reap what you sow. We keep incarnating and trying to do better. But Yeshua is coming back to take satan out of the lives of those that are righteous in the end times. When we can live in new Jerusalem in peace for all time.
Not to bash the people speaking of personal relations with God, but as far as I know, a relationship is two sided. Muttering into the air with no tangible response seems one sided. I am aware of people 'feeling God', whatever that may mean, but isn't that merely the power of suggestion at play? The brain is after all its own most powerful narcotic
Because Christianity is WRONG. It's just a fact I'm not hating because I grew up a Christian. If God is real and is this loving omniscient being he won't punish is for questioning, being raised in another religion ect.. But if you wanna believe you're special you and your loving god can damn the majority of people to hell seeing that there is a lot of other people with different beliefs than Christanity