Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: mccandld@lafcol.uucp (Fortunato) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Finality of Hell (was Re: Predestination and judgement) Message-ID: Date: 21 Jul 89 07:59:26 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Fields of flowers in a gravity flux Lines: 68 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , bnr-fos!bnr-public!hwt@watmath.waterloo.edu (Henry Troup) writes: > > > I believe that God's infinite mercy does not permit the commital to > Hell to be final. Only the continual, minute-by-minute and day-by-day > rejection of God keeps the damned in Hell. (That's the hell of it, > and I'm not joking.) THis life seems somewhat pointless, doesn't it, if Hell is not final? There's no big need for me to decide I want God now, is there? I can just wait til I'm in hell and change my mind then. After all, most people in hell certainly would turn to God to get out wouldn't they? If I wasn't sure about God and I died and went to hell, I'd think that I'd quickly change my mind. Why does Jesus make such a big deal about changing your life NOW on this earth? All his parables about the spirit that comes like a thief in the night and all of his demands that you turn and serve him NOW (he didn't tell the rich young man to keep his goods, what's the big deal, you can turn to me later if you want) seem to me to point to the fact that you have ONE and ONLY ONE chance to make your decision. When you die , that's all she wrote. No escape lines added. God IS a god of infinite mercy, but he is also a God of infinite judgement(you cannot ignore the old testament Jehovah : the God of Love and the God of wrath are the same GOD , and God never changes.) His mercy has already been revealed through Christ, but he is also a God who cannot ignore what our own free choice has brought upon us: if we desire to be seperated from him, he will let us be seperated from him, because he "respects" our decision. Any choice made from hell would seem to be invalid to me. Like I said before, who wants to be in Hell, especially after you've experienced it. It's not a nice place to visit and I certainly wouldn't want to live there. As a final question, do you believe God would take Satan back under his wing if he repented of his rebellion to God? Certainly God's infinite mercy would extend to the most beloved of his angels too, wouldn't it? hmmm... > Someone characterized Hell as 'the violent ward of a hospital for the > theologically insane'. If Hell doesn't get your attention, you > really are in trouble. If Hell doesn't get your attention, it really musn't be that hellish of an experience. > C.S. Lewis, in the 'Great Divorce' (I think) allegorically describes > a bus trip from Hell to Heaven. The point is that free will is what > sends people to Hell, and in free will is the ability to change, > repent, and escape from Hell. But first, you have to stop liking > being in Hell. > Yes, but free will only works on earth. When you die, you are either rewarded or punished for your life's work and your commitment to God and Christ. It's not an extension of your physical life allowing you to still do good and bad: its the results of how you have already lived. I'm sure that people will keep picking up little bits of scripture to support each side of this, whether its applicable or not. What is important is that we commit ourselves to God now, share Gods Love with people now and not tell ourselves that the now doesn't matter because people really have all eternity to decide. We need to push ourselves, not relax in thinking that hell most certainly is just a place for people to be put in until they decide they now need Christ after they're dead. ---David