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From: ta00est@unccvax.uncc.edu (elizabeth s tallant)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Hell and the Faithful
Message-ID: <Dec.11.01.01.55.1990.7693@athos.rutgers.edu>
Date: 11 Dec 90 06:01:57 GMT
Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu
Organization: University of NC at Charlotte
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Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu

In article <Dec.6.04.03.54.1990.23913@athos.rutgers.edu>, BINDNER@auvm.auvm.edu writes:
> Recently my brother and I were discussing hell, a reason
> a friend of his stopped practicing religion.  Apparantly, she
> has quite practicing (she was devout) because she couldn't
> endorse it as a concept (would a merciful God have a hell).

I'll answer you question with another quesition.  Would God be merciful
to the rest of us if he sent Adolp Hitler to Heaven?  

God is merciful.  That means that He doesn't punish us for a many of the
bad things that we do, but that does NOT means that  we are completely
free of punishment.  If God didn't ever punish us, then none of us
would have much reason, other than for the love of God, to do what is
right.


Elizabeth