Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uupsi!njin!paul.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: shallenb@news.colorado.edu (Nualle) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Hell Message-ID: Date: 8 May 91 07:29:49 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder Lines: 54 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu As far as I can tell, when rational adult humans refer to hell, they mean the burning, sulphurous ocean which sits as a threat to sinners, or infidels which most of us were taught of as children. I find that idea absurd. Some, having given hell a modicum of thought, refer to an eternal state of separation from God. Though I respect this idea a great deal more, it still doesn't account for an omnipresent God --and before I get flamed for that (no pun intended)-- let me quote David (in loose translation) "Wherever I go, even to Sheol, there you are [, God]." In the light of that reference (I forget which psalm it's from), I'd like to put out my own theory of Heaven & Hell, for your reactions. I assume of God two things: that They are omnipresent, and that They are, in nature, only God and no other thing -- that God is pure God. The theory is this: In eternity, God will discontinue the forbearance They have shown throughout time and all creatures will experience Them in Their divine fullness. No part of the person or being of God will be hidden. Heaven, then, would be the experience of God's whole self and being so like Them that the experience amounts to bliss. (But no, I don't believe in the existentialist corrolary -- that that bliss constists in melding into and together with God, becoming part of God.) Hell would be experiencing all of God and being fundamentally inconsistent with Them. It is God's universe. They are the paradigm. To be eternally and irreconcilably inconsistent with a pervasive God would be an unspeakably painful way to be. In short -- I think hell is not eternal separation from God -- an atheist would enjoy nothing better. Nor do I interpret "eternal death" to mean a death-of-the-soul and then non-existence. I interpret it as being eternally in process of dying. So there it is. Whadda y'all think? Responses welcome both on the forum and through email. (shallenb@spot.colorado.edu) [There's a variety of concepts of hell. Issues that have come up here in the past are: - hell as a separate "place" vs. a state of existence. I.e. those in hell might be in the same "place" as those in heaven, but because of different spiritual conditions it would be hell for them. - hell as imposed by God vs. as chosen or created by the inhabitants - hell as lasting forever vs. being annihilation In fact I doubt that many of our readers think the sulpher is real, physical sulphur. However we certainly have plenty of people who think it is symbolic of a very unpleasant situation into which people are put by God as punishment. --clh]