Why do I deserve Hell?

JoshC · Post by **JoshC** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 6:37 am

Why, as an atheist, do I deserve burn and rot in hell for eternity?

I'm sixteen an find it disturbing that so many people in the world absolutely believe that when I die this is the eternal punishment I deserve.

Assuming a political party held these views also, I'm sure there would be outrage when they announced that anyone in their country who did not believe in "Yahweh, the one true God" would be thrown into a big fiery pit they had dug. However this is the jealous view the God in the Bible holds and no Christians seem bothered about its ethical implications.

Is this an equal punishment for looking at the evidence presented and making a fair assumption (in my opinion) based on it?

Can anyone justify Hell as a punishment for atheists?

Jonah · Post by **Jonah** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 9:34 am

You do not in any way deserve eternal hell.

But, you might choose to be senisitive to the fact that many Jews would appreciate that you not use the Name of G-d in the way that you did. It's nothing to fight about, but it's a point of respect if that is important to you.

McCulloch · Post by **McCulloch** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 9:36 am

JoshC wrote:Can anyone justify Hell as a punishment for atheists?

You're getting a misrepresentation of Christian theology. They believe that everyone: theist, believer, muslim, atheist, agnostic, genius and fool deserve everlasting torment in hell.

JoshC · Post by **JoshC** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 12:16 pm

You do not in any way deserve eternal hell.

John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Seeing as I doubt Jesus was anything like the story written in the bible and if he even existed he was nothing more than a cheap magician who lied to many people. I'm pretty sure the words he uttered above that Christians take to be "The Truth" would put me pretty firmly in hell (in his, and therefore Christians', opinion.)

I'm sorry but I don't really understand how I was disrespectful in my use of the word God.

JoshC · Post by **JoshC** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 12:40 pm

They believe that everyone: theist, believer, muslim, atheist, agnostic, genius and fool deserve everlasting torment in hell.

Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

I understand this, they also believe the only way to salvation is through Jesus. Meaning they believe I am not worthy of salvation and therefore deserve hell

.

Can someone make sense of this for me?

cnorman18 · Post by **cnorman18** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:12 pm

Just for the record, in my opinion you DON'T deserve Hell. There's nothing in the Hebrew Bible that would indicate that you do. Jews don't believe in Hell, by and large, and we don't presume to know how God will judge us or if He will judge us at all; but we certainly don't think that your Eternal Fate, if any, will be decided by whether or not you thought the right thoughts (i.e., believed the proper beliefs).

I can only speak for myself, but in my opinion, you can also throw around the word "Yahweh" all you want. We aren't sure how the Tetragrammaton was pronounced, but that wasn't it. I know of at least one scholar of Kabbalah who thinks it was pronounced "Ee-yah-hoo-wah," but no one knows for sure. At any rate, the name Yahweh is not the same as the four Hebrew letters that signify the name of God, so there is no special restriction on using it.

Your rabbi's mileage may vary. I suppose those who don't care to spell out the word "God" might have a problem with it, but then "God" isn't God's name either.

McCulloch · Post by **McCulloch** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 4:46 pm

JoshC wrote:Can someone make sense of this for me?

According to many Christians, God is perfect and therefore cannot tolerate any imperfection. Thus unless you have lived a perfect and sinless life, you cannot on your own merit come into the presence of God. Thus you are, by your own sins, condemned to eternal torment. There are a number of Christians, with a kinder version that has the sinners annihilated rather than face eternal torment. But those Christians have been theologically shunned by the more orthodox ones. I have yet to hear an explanation as to why anyone would describe such an intolerant being as perfect. Anyway, their solution, is that God (who is perfect and cannot tolerate the presence of sin) became a human and die and take on the punishment for our sin on our behalf, metaphysically transferring our sin to himself. That does not make a whole lot of sense to me either.

JoshC · Post by **JoshC** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 4:57 pm

That's good to know.

However it remains that the majority of Christians (in America particularly) believe atheists go to hell when they die.

Going to hell doesn't bother me (as I believe it doesn't exist) however the thought that some people in the world believe that is the correct fate for me is horrifying.

The other option is belief systems don't affect a person's afterlife, which begs the question, Is religion really necessary in a modern world? As I believe I have a sound moral compass without the need to fear a man in the sky...

JoshC · Post by **JoshC** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 5:01 pm

Thanks McCulloch, as long as I'm not the only one mythed by it haha.

I'm going to Whistler soon (sorry bit off topic) but Canada is just one of the most beautiful countries there is.

myth-one.com · Post by **myth-one.com** » Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:34 pm

JoshC wrote:However it remains that the majority of Christians (in America particularly) believe atheists go to hell when they die.

The truly pathetic part is that many Christians believe humans cast into hell are tortured for eternity. This false belief is forced upon them once they believed all mankind to be born with an immortal soul. If we live forever, we must reside somewhere eternally.

JoshC wrote:Going to hell doesn't bother me (as I believe it doesn't exist) however the thought that some people in the world believe that is the correct fate for me is horrifying.

Being cast into hell and quickly perishing isn't as bad as what Christianity has historically taught -- that you will suffer eternally in hell. That concept is false according to the scriptures:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

Christians gain everlasting life! Nonbelievers perish.

The belief in the immortal soul is the reason Christianity has failed to fulfill its "Great Commission" of spreading the gospel to all the world! The bulk of mankind suffering eternal torture in hellfire is good news to absolutely no one! Few have ever heard the true good news of the gospel.

Debating Christianity and Religion