ANDR3W is offline ANDR3W Post #1  October 23,2009, 6:50am
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This is a forum where atheists can pose questions to Christians about anything and everything. Differing opinions are welcome but please be good-humored about it. The goal is not to offend anyone but to understand the other sides point of view. There are many knowledgeable Christians here and i thank you in advance for your participation.
 
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Sassafras54 is online now Sassafras54 — Advice Official Moderator Post #2  October 23,2009, 10:29am
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If you are a Christian who believes in hell, and believes that non-believers will go to hell, how do you handle that, in relationships with people you care about, who are non-believers?

I ask because my Christian brother views me as a Pagan who will go to hell. We have drifted apart and I think this may be one of the reasons. I have wondered if he finds it too painful to think of me in hell? or if he thinks I will be a bad influence on him and drag him there with me?
 
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THX11386 is offline THX11386 Post #3  October 23,2009, 1:51pm
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Sassafras54 wrote :
If you are a Christian who believes in hell, and believes that non-believers will go to hell, how do you handle that, in relationships with people you care about, who are non-believers?

I ask because my Christian brother views me as a Pagan who will go to hell. We have drifted apart and I think this may be one of the reasons. I have wondered if he finds it too painful to think of me in hell? or if he thinks I will be a bad influence on him and drag him there with me?
A true Christian doesn't believe that non-believers will go to hell.
 
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chawks64 is offline chawks64 Post #4  October 23,2009, 3:12pm
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THX11386 wrote :
A true Christian doesn't believe that non-believers will go to hell.
Many "true" Christians do.

Personally, I'm not sure, and feel it's not my job to judge what will or should happen to people when they die. Not my job; don't want the responsibility.

The other difficulty is the with the definition of Hell. A very common belief (that I share) is that Hell is the absolute and total abscence of God for eternity. So you can make of that what you will.
 
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Leo_V is offline Leo_V Post #5  October 23,2009, 9:15pm
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I am still something of a New Testament kind of guy...

I think that the point was to sweep aside past prejudices and practices and offer salvation through Grace.

I think Jesus and the Dalai Lama would have a lot in common. At least, they could share some tea without casualties...
 
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chawks64 is offline chawks64 Post #6  October 24,2009, 3:42am
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Leo_V wrote :
I think Jesus and the Dalai Lama would have a lot in common. At least, they could share some tea without casualties...
Beer summit?
 
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Comedian is offline Comedian Post #7  October 24,2009, 8:44am
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Leo_V wrote :
I am still something of a New Testament kind of guy...

I think that the point was to sweep aside past prejudices and practices and offer salvation through Grace.

I think Jesus and the Dalai Lama would have a lot in common. At least, they could share some tea without casualties...
It is too bad that the New Testament kind of Christianity has been crushed beneath the Old Testament kind of Christianity in recent years.

There is a meditative Christianity that could coexist with many faiths.

Salvation is a personal matter between God and the individual conscience.

So give the Dalai Lama some communion wine and forget the tea.
 
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Diann1950 is offline Diann1950 Post #8  October 24,2009, 8:52am
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I would never presume to tell someone he/she was doomed to hell. That isn't my call. Since I believe in a generous and loving God, who am I to say who he/she will choose to save. I only know what works for me.
 
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rix is offline rix Post #9  October 24,2009, 5:04pm
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chawks64 wrote :

The other difficulty is the with the definition of Hell. A very common belief (that I share) is that Hell is the absolute and total abscence of God for eternity. So you can make of that what you will.

Yes. The concept of Hell is something that went through refinement over the course of several centuries. The most notable influence was during the Jewish period of exile, and contact with Persian Zoroastrianism. Basically, the Jewish people previously believed in a shadowy realm known as Sheol, in which both the righteous and unrighteous decended (The Old Testament precedent is found in the account when King Saul summons the spirit of the prophet Samuel, who rises up from the earth).

However, it is Zoroastrian notions of both heaven and hell that explains the sudden appearance of similar doctrines in post-exilic Judaism (Daniel 12:2). Moreover, it is the eventual Jewish depiction of hell's everlasting fires that can be compared with the centrality of fire in Zoroastrianism. The Jewish people drew upon the imagery and stench of the garbage dump that perpetually burned outside of Jerusalem in the valley of Hinnom (arabic Ge Henna) to provide the landscape for Hell.

However, it is interesting to note that even the Church fathers disagreed over the duration of punishment. Origen believed in the idea of apocatastasis, in which all things are eventually restored to the source, or God. Also, Judaism incorporated the idea of the Sabbath (or day of rest), even into the concept of Gehenna, or place of punishment. I guess that would really make you dread the coming of Monday morning. Or, I should say, Sunday morning, since the Jewish Sabbath is on Saturday. [Which is ironic if you've ever attended a Christian college, since you have Church services on Sunday, and chapel services all week during classes. The only day you are not involved in religious activity, is ironically on the Jewish Sabbath, or Saturday].
Last edited by rix; October 24,2009 at 5:07pm.
 
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rix is offline rix Post #10  October 24,2009, 5:21pm
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Comedian wrote :
It is too bad that the New Testament kind of Christianity has been crushed beneath the Old Testament kind of Christianity in recent years.

There is a meditative Christianity that could coexist with many faiths.

Salvation is a personal matter between God and the individual conscience.

So give the Dalai Lama some communion wine and forget the tea.

Yes. It is sad that legalism often trumps any notions of grace.

Yes. I believe many fundamentalists have good intentions, since they actually believe souls are going to burn in fire for all eternity. Therefore, they often employ manipulative sales tactics, and scare tactics, to coerce others to convert. However, they forget that each individual has their own conscience, and is therefore judged according to "the light in which they receive." That is why it is important to examine our own lives, and not judge what others do.

I found it interesting that Christian monk, Thomas Merton, found more of a sense of common ground and brotherhood with his Buddhist counterparts, than many Christians. And many of the spiritual disciplines, meditation, contemplation, yoga, etc. can be employed into the various religious and spiritual traditions.
 
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