Do you believe in eternal fire of hell?

According to those who believes in God, Hell is a place of eternal separation from God, and people go there when they die because they chose to separate themselves from God while living on earth. God created us with the free will to make our own choices, and separating ourselves from God is one of the choices we are free to make. Our free will is a wonderful gift from God in that He does not force us to love Him or to follow Him. Without our free will, we would be nothing but puppets or robots, which does not please God, and certainly does nothing to better our lives. But for me there is no existence of god and hell too.

Fire and Brimstone flying down from heaven...I agree with you. A great many writers have said that the only hell is the one we are living in and heaven is the mind becoming aware and changing itself. I was raised a Christian and believed with my whole heart that I would go to hell if I had not accepted Jesus Christ as a personal savior. The thing that changed my mind (at 16, just before I left for college) was looking at the people who shared this faith with me and the children they raised. Unhappy parents and athiest children grasping at fear to not only increase the congregation's numbers but the donation plate passed around every time we met. I am not an athiest either but my view of God has widened. I believe that all religions are the same. God, gods...it's all the same soul just different masks.

no there's no such thing in the bible, the very idea of it conflicts with God's personality. check out the discusions i responded to if you want some proof biblically.. =:)

hi friend..... the lord is most merciful,more tn any father and mother.he alwayes redy to forgive u if u say sorry. if u not keep belive in bible or quran then i think no one can satisfy u. it is not a time to search about "eternal fire in hell"........bt it is time to search that , where is mention these words, "is these words of God or Not". if not then where i can found the words of God.

Well, I'm not a believer in god, because I'm a Taoist. I don't see why your so upset about this. I'm a firm believer that if you believe something and whether it's true or false if it makes you a better person then you should stick with it. One of my old roomates was a realllly religious guy, and he always told me that smoking pot and drinking were going to get me in trouble when I met the maker... I never bought into him or his beliefs, but I truly believe that if he didn't have religion and all those crazy beliefs he'd be one lost soul lol!

Sorry, but there is no point in believing in God if you don't also believe in his word. Hell definitely is in the Bible if you take time to look it up and it is a place to be avoided at all costs. At no place does it ever say that God's children will be thrown into the lake of fire. That place, according to the Bible is reserved for the devil and his angels.

I'm with you! And it's really just common sense! And, also, "hell" is a carryover from ancient pagan beliefs.. and it's a mistranslation, which should read "the grave". The thing that gets me too, is how "hell" implies God was somehow surprised by how things went and are going. Nah, He just gave thinking ability, thus the ability to make choices.. but hey, what else are ya gonna do? Make robots? Anyway, surely God is both Life and Perfection, and one of the things that means is that the 'end' result of all this, can only be the best-end-result. God is Perfect and all Good. Any thought, idea, or even doctrine, that does not agree with that, simply cannot be true. God bless.

Think by yourself that you are studying in a school where your mom is head mistress but you failed in 4 subjects so will your mom allow to pass or promot you next higher class? Never, as it is a system that you must pass in exam. Similarly God sent us to earth to examine who will obey His orders or who will not. God kept hell and heaven in a system that is if you pass obeing His orders then you will get heaven if you do not pass being His orders then you will enter into hell - system will take to two place and there will be way to escape this system. Disobedient person could not reach upto mercy place as like above example that if you fail your mom will not able to take you upto mercy place for passing you for next class. So do not neglect to your fate and if you believe in God deeply, believe His system.

Good and bad are two sides of the same coin. The eternal fire actually represents the bad side of the coin and both good and bad are created by God himeself. Scaring people with such stories are the heights of stupidity.

This is exactly what I have been attempting to say my entire life. People try to take the Bible at it's most literal, even though they have not lived in the time in which it was written, and they believe the translations their preacher sets forth for them. They do not take the Bible with a grain of common sense. I agree with your father scenario. I personally have always believed that all good people go to heaven. Because God recongnizes good works in all. I will never believe that Jeffry Daumer went to heaven just because he was "born again" in prison, but the athiest who goes out every day and feeds the homeless is going to hell just because he doesn't believe. Common sense tells me that this is not fact. And no fundie or mainstream Christian can tell me otherwise.

Hi achyuta, i think we need someone who has actually been to hell to come and expalain whether for sure there is a hell,but were are we going to find that special someone?Is that the logic you are looking for?someone to actually tell you they have been there and to even prove to you however you want them to prove it to you?i really don't think so.You say you believe in God,can you logically prove that he exits,if you can please do i would also like to know. Most of the christians that are going to respond here will refer you to the bible,but you need logic and not theory right? its a very tough one. Okey so this is what i think....If there is a God there is also a devil,in this context God is the good and the devil is the bad.So really what happens to people who are bad in terms of the law were you live,do they get away with crimes or do they go to court and get judged for their wrongs, then later prosecuted?(depending on whether they are guilty or innocent)if they are found guilty they go to gail and if they are innocent they go home.sometimes in the jails you will find people who are pardoned, why? because of change of character and probably repentance for the act committed,the case is revealed,the judge hears the case and if he is conviced that there is true change and repentance,the criminal is pardoned. I can apply this small scenario to religion,we are all children of God,as i beleive we are all wonderfully and beautifully created.Never is it God's intention that any one of us should be punished for anything in any way,can you think of something bad that you did and you had no idea it was bad while you were doing it? and after you found out that it was bad,what did you do?did you feel sorry?Since we are children of God we know the difference between right and wrong,and we are responsible for our own actions.So its up to us to choose heaven or hell as God would never force a decision on us.It is a choice that we make,even being disobedient is a choice we make,no one can force you to do something you don't already want to do,even if you die making the point,its your choice and the end result of that choice will be your responsibilty...yours and no one else's.God's mercy is everlasting and extends to each and every one of us.When your child does something wrong and does not appologise to you for doing it,how does it make you feel..happy or sorry? Since i believe in heaven(were the non christian/christian rapist who realised the act was wrong and repented will be found,were all sinners who repent to God and turn away from the act will be found),i also believe in hell( were all those who choose not to turn from acts of sin will be found-like jail).So hell is a place meant for the devil and his follwers,all sin is of the devil so if you sin and refuse in your heart to turn away from it, that makes you the devil's follower and qualifies your entrance into hell. By the way,do you believe in heaven?

I agree with you, God did not write those books, men did, for the purpose of control, I don't believe in eternal hell or punishment, man does that on his own, but because people don't think for themself and they let others think for them they swallow every thing and suers that is the Word of God. I beliave in a Loving all mercifull God, he is the Love Energy that moves everything. There is only Love, God is Love

I can't explain anything.. according to bible, hell did exist.. or try this link.. http://www.av1611.org/hell.html

Interesting topic.I also beleive in God (or in my perspective a supreme "being" or a "entity") but choose not to listen to all they say in the Bible just because it's written there.I mean...a lot of parts are written by humans so it can be a "campaign" for non-believers(that's my own beliefs!!!).As for the "eternal fire" of hell...well , in a philosophical kinda way...it might even be "eternal ice" (form the ideea that heat (light) brings life and darkness(cold) kills it.I think if you consider a real hell i don't think it represents a material one (no burning pits, no fires ,no demons,etc.)but instead a more...spiritual place.Also if you think of the "forces" and "elements" that exist in this world (universe) you can't deny the existance of bad or good spiritual elements.The thing is....good and bad....applies ONLY to humans because the term of "good" an "bad" refers to examples in our life.

The almigty God sent his son Jesus Christ to come and reconsile us back to him after adam. The chance is now foe all of us to accept Christ as our Lord and saviuor. Every human being of cause will not be punishen for his or her ignorance. But if you had the opportunity and did not use it, then you do not have cause to blame God.

Well, since I believe in the Bible and from my understanding it's being stated about heaven and hell so clearly, so I do believe there is eternal fire of hell and everlasting of life. I do believe the same GOD that they are talking in the Bible, is the same GOD who puts the idea of there is eternal fire of hell. Which 'god' do you deeply believe in if I may ask you a question? The idea of lovingly and merciful God I know is the one that being mentioned in the Bible, Jesus the GOD. So, if/when we are talking about the same GOD here, I guess, you should take the idea that, EVEN when things don't seem to make sense to me or to you, He is JUST, He is GOD, He does whatever He wants, He is who He is. He doesn't have to justify/clarify anything to make it sense to you or me, logically or illogically. After all, when/if He said there is hell. So what's our logic gonna do about it anyway?! He is GOD.

yes i do believe in hell, a burning hell.I want you to understand that Hell was not made for man,hell was made for the devil and his followers...It is never Gods wish for any man to go to hell,and God does not send you there.A person sends themselves there for murdering others,Rape and all the filthy things that they do,and they refuse to quit and become better human beings and they continue to rape,Kill,destroy,and do all evil deeds,so actually they send themselves there,God does not send them there,they go there by their own choice because they refuse to give up these evil deeds...What is you had a child that was raped and mutilated,don,t you think that person sould pay for his crime? but all he has to do is turn from his evil ways...but he refuses so there is no place for him in heaven so he has made his choice..

You are right. The lord is a merciful God who gave his only son so that you and I could have our sins forgiven and be given the opportunity to get into Heaven. But that's the key point. Opportunity. We all have the opportunity to be saved and be destined for Heaven. But for those who refuse to believe and receive Christ as their savior are condemned to Hell. The Bible is very clear on that. God doesn't just throw us into Hell for being disobedient. We are all disobendient at some point, most of us probably on a daily basis. But we can ask for forgiveness, and if we do, God will forgive us and restore us. You're right, alot of people unfortunately haven't had the chance to learn about God, and yes they have gone to Hell because of it. But that is what missionary work is for and why so many people are working on brining God's word into third world countries. The idea of burning in Hell for eternity is not a "scare tactic". It's a basic, fundamental part of the Christian belief system. If you want to read scare tactics, go read up on material used during the First Great Awakening by men like Jonathan Edwards (Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is a great example). Evangelists don't use scare tactics, they are more like salesmen trying to sell the high points of Christianity to unbelievers.

Hmm. If you were plunged into the eternal fire of hell, don't you think you might just get used to it after a while? I'm unsure about the plausibility of such a punishment.

If you were going to make a nice place like heaven would you want to let the bad people in? In the Bible they use the analogy of separating the weeds from the flowers. The weeds have to be burned. It's not an eternal suffering thing in my eyes, it's garbage disposal. If you decide to turn away from God, then you live in separation from him and that's Hell enough without the fire. I think Fire is a metaphor for being away from God. Jesus used it for his parables and Jesus spoke about it more than anyone. I think I read that he used the example of a ditch where refuse is burned as being like hell. So that's my personal take on it. Hell is where the weeds are sent to be disposed of. Heaven is where the ones who have been made beautiful by God go.