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I've been reading the Bibles for the first time since religious instruction before my confirmation.

The idea of hell as we know it really doesn't jive with me anymore. Old Testament certainly doesn't make a case for a concept of eternal torment.

New Testament sure does if you don't question the accepted translations. My study is far from complete but It seems their is potentially minor mistranslations that alter the concept of heaven and hell in a huge way.

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Used to have a problem reconciling a perfect and righteous God with eternal damnation. How could a perfect and loving God chose to punish someone with eternal torment.

Then I realized everyone including Lucifer chose their fate through their pride and rebellion against God.

I used to think annihilation of the soul was the end for a person that denies God/Christ. I guess that's what Seventh Day Adventists believe.

Been trying to figure out where my beliefs fall in the whole denominational Christianity world so I can maybe find a church to attend that is close to my beliefs. Bring on the Atheist hate lol

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That's not an accurate description, logically.  
Assuming the God of the Bible is real and described accurately, then He created everything, including hell and including us.  He also knows ahead of time what decisions people will make because He's all-knowing.  Therefore, He knew when He created us with free will that the vast majority of humans would disobey and rebel, that probably 80-90% of the humans who ever lived would wind up going to hell.  So, even though He didn't FORCE us to go to hell, He knew before creating us that by creating us, He was putting us in a position where most of us would be condemned to eternal torment.

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Why does God save any of us if man fell?

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God doesn't send someone to eternal damnation/Hell, they do it themselves.  God provided basic rules to follow and the person going to Hell decided themselves to break them

I am not Judging people on what will happen to them, not my call.  There is redemption and accepting God into your life and making changes.  Maybe that is enough, maybe it isn't.  Jesus didn't hang out with the best crowd and some were blessed with eternal life.

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Used to have a problem reconciling a perfect and righteous God with eternal damnation. How could a perfect and loving God chose to punish someone with eternal torment.

Then I realized everyone including Lucifer chose their fate through their pride and rebellion against God.

I used to think annihilation of the soul was the end for a person that denies God/Christ. I guess that's what Seventh Day Adventists believe.

Been trying to figure out where my beliefs fall in the whole denominational Christianity world so I can maybe find a church to attend that is close to my beliefs. Bring on the Atheist hate lol

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Hell is nothing more than being separated from a loving God.  We either choose to be with God or separate ourselves from him.  It is always our choice.  It is the one thing we can give to him.

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Did your ancestors understand the concepts of not stealing, lying, murdering, adultry, before they were exposed to Christianity?  Yes they did, and knew they were wrong.  Those concepts transend most religions and cultures.  

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When God created man, man had no sin.  God and man were in perfect fellowship with nothing between them.  Man is not just a physical being, but he has a spiritual nature as well - he is not just a living body but has a soul, as well.  This soul will exist forever.  It will spend eternity somewhere.

MAN CHOSE to turn his back on God and go his own way.  Man sinned against God, changing everything.  All of creation has been affected by sin.  Death is a result of sin. All the horrific things that occur in the world are a result of sin.  Men dying and their souls going to hell (and eventually into the lake of fire) is a result of sin.

God is going to restore things.  Heaven and earth will be remade.  God and man will once again have the fellowship that He intended from the beginning.

Do you want in on that?  God isn't forcing anyone - God wants a relationship with people based on love and love requires choice.  God didn't create robots or puppets - he created humans and gave them the ability to choose.

You had zero choice when it came to your first birth.  You didn't get to choose whether you would even be born or not.  You couldn't choose when or where.  You couldn't choose a socio-economic class, or your parent's religion.  You had no choice whether or not you would have a sin nature like your parents had - you just inherited it like everyone else.

But you do have a choice when it comes to a second birth.

God's holiness, righteousness and justice demanded payment for sin.  Man owed a debt to God, but man could not pay that debt.  God could pay the debt, but He wasn't man.

Great is the mystery of godliness - God was manifest in the flesh.  Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, could and did pay for our sins.  Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, was buried and rose again from the dead.

Believe the gospel and God will give you the new birth that you need - that second birth that Jesus said one must have.

If you choose to reject God's offer to save your soul, then you cannot be a part of that new heaven and new earth God will create.

There is only one alternative to the new heavens and the new earth God will create - the lake of fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels.  It is eternal and it is a place of torment.  

Don't go there - take God up on His offer to you.

If you end up in the lake of fire for all eternity it will be the choice you made that put you there.  God doesn't want us there.  If He did, Jesus would not have gone to the cross to pay for our sins.  God wants a relationship with each and every one of us - He proved that on the cross.

Question is, do you want a relationship with Him?  If you do there is one way:  Jesus Christ.

John 14: 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

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I bet God's a libertarian. All the people who minded their own fucking business and didn't victimize anyone gonna be up in heaven.  All the judgmental Bible thumpers gonna be down in the fire for being giant douches.

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Easiest way to understand it is, the gift of God is eternal life, the wages of sin is death.

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On a cross next to Jesus was a condemned criminal.

Dismas felt guilty about his actions and didn't complain about his crucifixion at all. He exercised humility, taking responsibility for what he did and owning his mistakes. He saw the innocence, selflessness, and glory of Christ.

Dismas recognized Jesus as the Son of God and asked him to take him to heaven , as is written in Luke 23:42:

"Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." Jesus replied, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."


Accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior sent Dismas to Heaven.  As far as I can tell he led a life of crime leading to his crucifixtion.  Repented in his last dying moments.  Once again, I don't pretend to know who God accepts or turns away. Not my call.

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Do you believe this because there is legitimate proof of reincarnation, or because it makes you feel better?

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That's not an accurate description, logically.  
Assuming the God of the Bible is real and described accurately, then He created everything, including hell and including us.  He also knows ahead of time what decisions people will make because He's all-knowing.  Therefore, He knew when He created us with free will that the vast majority of humans would disobey and rebel, that probably 80-90% of the humans who ever lived would wind up going to hell.  So, even though He didn't FORCE us to go to hell, He knew before creating us that by creating us, He was putting us in a position where most of us would be condemned to eternal torment.

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Just about the biggest lie ever told. Jesus is being misquoted which is dangerous. There was NO punctuation in the original writings. That comma is in the wrong place and even Jesus didn't go to his Father on Friday night. He told Mary as much that Sunday morning and yet everybody keeps repeating an obvious mistake and at some point they are lying on purpose to support the rest of their incorrect doctrines. edit to say, what does God say about and what happens to liars? and that includes every pastor, priest or anyone else who are considered men of God. They will pay dearly for perpetuating a lie.  Yes, the thief will be in paradise but he wasn't that day.  I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise. See how one comma makes all the difference. Read the rest of the Bible about death as sleep until the resurrection and things will start to make sense. There should be no confusion about this except Satan mixed in a bit of BS during a translation that included commas, periods etc. Ym shouldn't vary but the majority have been fooled.

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I hold with the ancients who believed "best not to be born".
I do not believe in god because why would he bother to create this mess. In fact, why create anything at all, there's no need for anything else to exist.

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I bet God's a libertarian. All the people who minded their own fucking business and didn't victimize anyone gonna be up in heaven.  All the judgmental Bible thumpers gonna be down in the fire for being giant douches.

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Answers in the quote.

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Honestly if I had to pick a religion I feel like buddhism makes more sense than any of them by far