What Do You Think Will Be The Worst Aspect Of Hell?

[Guest shiloh357]

The Bible in both the old and new testaments is described as a state of non-being. Utter despair and eternal darkness, a returning to dust, deafening silence, the absence of joy, strength or vitality, and utter powerlessness. Eternal darkness, separation from God though the Psalm scripture says that is not entirely true.

So as mentioned, I accept what the scripture says of Sheol and reject the later Catholic version that relates fire and brimstone as part of the antithesis of salvation.

The fire and brimstone description is not "Catholic." Jesus used the fire of Gehenna to show what hell is like. Long before the RCC and Dante's inferno, the description of hell as a place of eternal burning tormet was described in Scripture.

You need the whole counsel of the word of God to get a better picture of what hell will be like. The Pslam you cited is not the totality of the reality of hell. We need to be careful to guard against of pcking and choosing which parts of the Bible we will believe or not believe.

[BlessedByTheBest]

i think about before coming to Christ, and can only now after being saved truly appreciate how very precious the presence of God's Holy Spirit is within me..

so the feeling of being lost and hopeless is seen in true clarity now..

i can only imagine that the same feeling in a place like Sheol/Hades must be so utterly amplified..just that aspect alone is beyond what i can comprehend or confine into the word: torment..

a lack of comfort for the soul is an understatement.. an infinitude of agony in a state of being not meant for us..apart from the love of our Creator..

i pray for those who cannot come to believe that such a place is real..so many back from the dead testimonies out there..

[GoldenEagle]

A. The Bible in both the old and new testaments is described as a state of non-being. Utter despair and eternal darkness, a returning to dust, deafening silence, the absence of joy, strength or vitality, and utter powerlessness. B. Eternal darkness, separation from God though the Psalm scripture says that is not entirely true.

So as mentioned, I accept what the scripture says of Sheol and reject the later Catholic version that relates fire and brimstone as part of the antithesis of salvation.

A. Do you mean Hell is described in "the Bible in both the old and new testaments is described as a state of non-being."?

B. Are you saying that Hell is not eternal darkness and separation from God? Which Psalm are we talking about?

[Guest shiloh357]

I don't believe that you can boil it down to only one worst aspect. Hell will be experienced as a totality and there will not be one part of it that will be worse than another. It is indescribably horrible in all aspects. It is the single worst thing that can happen to someone. It will be absolute in all ways. It willbe absolute fear, pain, hopelessness, mental and emotional anguish, and other things we probably have no point of reference for in human experience I think of it like this: There are joys and pleasures in heaven that we have nothing to compare to on earth. So, the magnitude and incomparable pain and torment in hell will mirror the degree of magnitude of the matchless joy and pleasures of heaven, which our minds cannot yet comprehend.

[Guest shiloh357]

And certainly with an omniscient omnibenevolent God it is not in keeping with those characteristics either, if God is thought to be infinitely kind. Infinite suffering for a finite condition or mistake by the forefather of the human race, for those who were born sinners as predestined, is not something an omniscient omnibenevolent God would be responsible for.

The problem Panda, is that God is not omnibenevolent or infintely kind. Those are false values that you are assiging to God. God's chief attribute is not love. His chief attribute is holiness. God will not compromise His holiness and it is a holy God that punished sin in the body of His Son Jesus Christ and offers eternal life to anyone who will receive it. They have chosen how they will spend eternity.

Hell is the consequence of consciously rejecting Jesus as Savior. Those who choose continued separation from God go to hell not because of a mistake of someone else, but because their own decision to reject the Lord.

Hell is not in the new testament. The inferno, purgatory, and the concept of 'limbo' now abandoned by the RCC, was added after 110C.E. by the church.

That is factually incorrect. Hell is all over the NT. The following verses refer directly to hell as a place of torment and/or fire.

Mat_5:22; Mat_5:29; Mat_5:30; Mat_10:28; Mat_11:23; Mat_16:18; Mat_18:9; Mat_23:15; Mat_23:33; Mar_9:43; Mar_9:45; Mar_9:47; Luk_10:15; Luk_12:5; Luk_16:23; Act_2:27; Act_2:31; Jas_3:6; 2Pe_2:4; Rev_1:18; Rev_6:8; Rev_20:13; Rev_20:14;

[Jayyycuuup]

I think the worst aspect of hell would be regret. Having memories of all the opportunities to repent and place faith in Christ during one's mortal life, but rejecting them all. Memories of mocking Christians, who only sought to share the Gospel with you in love.

Thoughts of loved ones who accepted God's pardon through Jesus, and knowing you will never see them again. Leading others (by example or otherwise) into a life of Christ-rejecting sin, who now share your fate.

Regret knowing that God once pursued you for His Kingdom. That His desire for you was not an eternity in hell, but instead to share the glories of heaven forever.

Regret knowing you will be completely separated from God and all that is good. Regret knowing you will never have another chance for redemption.

And the knowledge that you will never leave that horrible place.

Had it not been I be saved, and died unsaved I think that the worse aspect of being in Hell would not only be being separated from God but then knowing what I had done out of selfishness and out of self gratification. All that time spent putting myself before others, and before the God who died for me, even though I did not deserve it. Putting myself before a gracious Savior who took the place of me when it was me who deserved to hold that suffering, when it was me who deserved those nails, when it was me who should have been abolished, to be mocked and hated. To be reminded that I chose my destiny and despite all the signs and the constant ministering that I turned away that the Lord has set before me. How selfish could one be?

[silviawang]

frankly to say,when i can not keep my faith,i just say to myself:insist on,and you will live in North Europe in the eternal life,otherwise, the north Korea is waiting for you-------i can not image how the heaven and hell will be,but i do know some place near the heaven,some place near the hell in this life on this planet---i strongly commend you guys to observe north Korea and to study the history of 10 years' culture revolution in china,and you will make some sense of hell,GOD does not expected us have too much imagination,so he gave us samples/testimonies

[silviawang]

one question:Marx VS Einstein,these 2 Jewish guys,whose impact is bigger on the human being?

[Guest]

one question: Marx VS Einstein, these 2 Jewish guys, whose impact is bigger on the human being?

Both Brought Death

Whereas There Is Another Jewish Man Who By His Death, Bought Life

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10

~

frankly to say,when i can not keep my faith, i just say to myself: insist on, and you will live in North Europe in the eternal life, otherwise, the north Korea is waiting for you------- i can not image how the heaven and hell will be, but i do know some place near the heaven, some place near the hell in this life on this planet--- strongly commend you guys to observe North Korea and to study the history of 10 years' culture revolution in China, and you will make some sense of hell, GOD does not expected us have too much imagination, so he gave us samples/testimonies

Amen~!

[Guest shiloh357]

First I would disagree that Omnibenevolence is a false value added to God. There are scriptures that allude to as much. Two of which would be:

"As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him." Psalms 18:30

"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” Psalm 19:7

If we accept that God is love, as scripture tells us, and he gave his only begotten son so as to save the world then infinite kindness is a co-factor of all those characteristics and sacrifice for our own sake.

There is a difference between saying that God is love or that He is kind and saying that God is omnibenevolent. Omnibenevolence is not contained in the two verses you cited leading me to believe that you probably don't know the meaning of the word you are using. Omnibenevolence is a false value because it tries to place God's love above his other attributes. God's chief attribute is His holiness, not His love. God is not omnibenevolent. He is love, but He is not "all-loving."

God's kindness and love are not infinite. God's love is revealed by HIm giving His Son, but there is a point at which the mercy and kindness of God toward this world will come to and end and the doors of grace will be shut. Those who choose continued separation from God face an eternal existence. It is not the existence that the God of love wanted for them, but they will face it as a consequence they brought upon themselves.

I'll excerpt just a couple of the many verses you shared there. Matthew 23:15. It serves to reiterate my prior point about Sheol and how Jesus reference to Gehenna from the Greek. Which was the language the new testament was written in. It's the narrative if you will, the Parable, that Jesus used to warn the Jews to focus on the spirit and not the flesh. Because the flesh can burn in the pit at Gehenna and thus shows the flesh is no more than garbage in the eyes of some men. While the spirit survives and should be the focus as that what invigorates life and survives beyond it.

Also, 2 Peter 2:4 (ESV)

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell^[a] and committed them to chains^[b] of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;

Footnotes:

• 2 Peter 2:4 Greek Tartarus
  
• 2 Peter 2:4 Some manuscripts pits
  

Matt. 5:22 speaks of hell fire. Matt. 18:9 speaks of hell in terms of fire. Mark. 9:45 refers to hell as a fire that will never be quenched. In Matt. 23:15, you are completly missing point. Even in Jewish literature, Gehenna is viewed as a metaphor for hell. That it is a garbage dump is irrevelant. Jesus was using a common metaphor for hell that people of his day would have understood. Gehenna is a picture of what awaits those who go to hell. Luke 16:23 pictures hell as place of torment and flame. There are plenty of references to the fires of hell that have nothing to do with the Gehenna metaphor.

As for 1 Pet. 2:4, notice that it says that these angels were in chains awaiting judgment. The description of chains and the gloomy environment isn't the entire picture. We know from elsewhere in the Bible that they will cast into the lake of fire.

Your problem Panda, is that you are ;cherry picking the parts of the Bible you want to accept when it comes to hell. You have decided what you are willing to accept and you are picking the parts of the Bible that you think support your perspectve and ignoring any parts that don't. You are trying to mold the Bible around what you want to believe and are willing accept.

And by the way, the notion of hell as a place of burning didn't originate with the Catholic Church. It is a pre-Christian notion that is found in the Jewish Talmud. Jesus used that notion in His own preaching. So claiming that this is a made up church doctrine is factually and historically wrong and you need to drop who or what is giving you misinformation.