Yea they should to keep society safe like i said..is sending people to hell to keep the ones in heaven safe?
Okay, therefore God doesnt allow sinners in heaven because they would ruin it for the rest of the people.
The whole point is that a person has to give up sinning to be accepted into heaven. If you choose to embrace sin, then you wouldnt be accepted into heaven.
Maybe 'goal' isn't the best word, but you obviously know what I'm talking about and are getting around it via semantics. That's cool and all but if you want to have an actual discussion to understand others' and your own beliefs, you're gonna have to do better. You said, what good would laws be if there was no punishment for breaking them? in response to my sarcastic statement implying that prison time doesn't make one moral. Obviously you agree that the purpose of laws is to prevent them and improve the criminals/sinners morals. If the purpose of hell is to prevent sin, then god is not omnipotent. If the purpose is to find out where to send the bag guys, then your god is not omniscient.
If hell is merely oblivion ,then there is nothing to fear , since you and I didn't feel hurt in the year 1800. But if you mean hell , by eternal torture , it's rather interesting that an all loving god would create such a place for the children he loves. In this world where our lives are very limited ,with radically different experiences one is bound to reach different beliefs,because of it , which ultimately distinguishes one another.Now God will judge every soul by their actions through standards that are very grey , due to the numerous ideas of different religions and open interpretations of scripture. One could simply go to tell , because this individual earnestly followed a particular path he though was righteous , because of what their parents taught them. I'm not aware of what preresequisites you think are needed to get to heaven , but the fact of worshiping the right god in theory makes the results night and day. If there are two men who live their lives nearly identical , but the only difference is one is atheist while the other is Christian , and yahweh sends the atheist to hell , it's rather despicable and rather petty of him to care so much to be worshiped. . Now if they both go to heaven , this would take away the purpose of belonging into a particular religion ,since all that is needed is to live a good life and so the concept of a god is was never important , but the path of reason , since it takes reason to make peace. Let's assume one scripture is really the word of God.Simply by probability you would be worst off having faith on a particular scripture to be the word of god , due to the countless option that are very different ,which will likely lead you astray. I think this concept of hell is really a sick idea humans conceptualized to give themselves conformity that the people they despise are being tortured. It's their desire for revenge wrapped in the cloth of justice. No one , no matter how bad they are deserves eternal torture , because their evil deeds are finite , while the punishment is infinite. This is rather disproportionate. Punishment is really a primitive way to shape society , when research has shown that rehabilitation is more effective . But I'm going to suggest that god could had made it so that we rehabilitate until we get it right, kind of like the reincarnation concept of Buddhism , but you're going to say something about god giving us free will, and I and many atheist reject that notion , because It's philosophically unlikely given the arguments proposed by determinism and indeterminism. Modern interpretations are just more refined versions of the previous primitive predecessors masking the unforgivable evils it has spread on the world by adapting to social norms and changing it's policies or by creating new denominations. Personal interpretations are nothing like the old interpretations, so much that it can be said they are not the same God , but only the same by name. Adding more variation to the unlimited possibilities of what is the right God and further shows how ridiculous Pascal's wager is.
well what do you think accepting Jesus and asking for forgiveness means? Its not just mumbling some words. You have to genuinely change.
I dont know what hell is however it's not like God enjoys sending people to hell. Its just one of the consequences of free-will. Whoever gets sent to hell would have made a choice in their heart to reject God/embrace sin. The way most people understand hell is "you reap what you sow"....if you reject God, you become separated from God. If you embrace sin, you will live in a world of sin and its consequences. God does give us the chance to "rehabilitate"....there are many people who voluntarily change their ways and turn away from sin. However, once again, you dont realize that laws would be meaningless without punishment. Also, you can say that its impossible for God to give us the ability to make voluntary decisions all you want but that doesnt make it a fact. You dont know enough about God to make that claim.
'Accepting Jesus' is found no where in Scripture. It's believe and repent. BELIEVE- that Jesus died on the cross, bore your punishment, paid it in full, then rose again on the third day. REPENT- of your sins against a holy God. There is no special recital or actions- you can't fool God. It's a change made in your heart. Unless this happens in your heart, it's not genuine.
I dont buy the forgiveness thing anyways..what about kids that die before accepting jesus? How about a deaf and blind person or a mentally disabled person who doesnt have the ability..they get a free pass?
If they havent heard of the gospel then they wouldnt have the chance to reject it. It doesnt mean they're going to hell.