Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!lll-winken!sun-barr!newstop!sundc!seismo!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: st0o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Steven Timm) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Hell and the Faithful Message-ID: Date: 14 Dec 90 09:23:05 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 26 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Why is there a hell? Let me suggest a parallel: It's late December and Chicago is cold. You and a bunch of friends are about to fly to Florida for a vacation with sun and fun. As you are boarding the plane behind the rest of your friends, you hear a trickling sound. You look to the wing and see a stream of liquid running from engine no. 1. It looks and smells like aviation gasoline. You see a mechanic walk by. What's wrong with the engine? you ask. It has a fuel leak--probably it'll blow soon after takeoff, he says. But I'm not going to fix it--I work for American and that's a United jet. Obviously concerned, you quicly board the plane to warn your friends. But convincing them of the joys of driving 24 hours across snowy roads is not an easy job. And nobody likes to say the word "CRASH" in an airport. What are you going to do? My point is that the idea of punishment is necessary in Christianity. All the "thou shalt nots" and warnings of punishment are God's way of saying, "HEY! IF YOU CONTINUE IN YOUR ROAD TO SIN YOU ARE GOING TO ***DIE***!" Steven Timm Physics Department Carnegie Mellon "Shame on you, and shame on you again for converting me into a bullet and shooting me into men's hearts." Richard Harris c 1972