Comments on: BS95: What’s all this about Hell? : Ezekiel 18:32 http://www.haldric.com/?p=113 The Website of the Haldrics Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:50:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Lindsay http://www.haldric.com/?p=113&cpage=1#comment-23 Lindsay Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:30:58 +0000 http://www.haldric.com/?p=113#comment-23 Thanks for your comments!! God does change his mind, but I'm not sure that he"bends the rules" tho, because if we break/bend rules then we sin (and God doesn't sin.) However, God is God and he is the only one who can offer us forgiveness of our sins when we repent. Like with poor ol' Jonah telling everyone that they were doomed, knowing that they would repent and then God would forgive them and not destroy them. God wasn't sinning/bending the rules by forgiving them, he was simply responding to their repentance with forgiveness and love (coz he's so great and compassionate and not like us!!) Thanks for your comments!! God does change his mind, but I’m not sure that he”bends the rules” tho, because if we break/bend rules then we sin (and God doesn’t sin.) However, God is God and he is the only one who can offer us forgiveness of our sins when we repent. Like with poor ol’ Jonah telling everyone that they were doomed, knowing that they would repent and then God would forgive them and not destroy them. God wasn’t sinning/bending the rules by forgiving them, he was simply responding to their repentance with forgiveness and love (coz he’s so great and compassionate and not like us!!)

]]> By: Peter Sewell http://www.haldric.com/?p=113&cpage=1#comment-22 Peter Sewell Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:07:52 +0000 http://www.haldric.com/?p=113#comment-22 I think you hit the nail on the head when you say "Without Jesus in our lives we cannot enter heaven on our own merits". To me it's not about good people or bad people, but believers and non-believers. No one can doubt what "good" things for others many non-Christians we know do for others and how they sometimes put Christians to shame with their good deeds. However, without Jesus in their lives then, according to the bible, they're not on the path to heaven. Sometimes I don't think that's fair, but then again is it fair to not acknowledge God's existence, presence and authority, but still expect to enter His kingdom? As for God not bending the rules, he does change his mind from time to time. If you look at Exodus and when the Israelites made a golden calf. God was so angry that he told the Israelites that they could go to the promised land, but that he wouldn't go with them. The Israelites chose to stay with God as life in the promised land without him would be meaningless. God then decided to go with the Israelites. Also, could sending Jesus could be seen as a change in plan (if God's initial hopes for the world had come true, if people had always listened to God, Adam and Eve hadn't eaten the apple, if the Israelites hadn't become so governed by hundreds of set laws, etc, would there have been a need for Jesus? Then again, maybe God knew that people wouldn't stay on the straight path so sending His son was always part of the plan). I think you hit the nail on the head when you say “Without Jesus in our lives we cannot enter heaven on our own merits”. To me it’s not about good people or bad people, but believers and non-believers. No one can doubt what “good” things for others many non-Christians we know do for others and how they sometimes put Christians to shame with their good deeds. However, without Jesus in their lives then, according to the bible, they’re not on the path to heaven. Sometimes I don’t think that’s fair, but then again is it fair to not acknowledge God’s existence, presence and authority, but still expect to enter His kingdom?

As for God not bending the rules, he does change his mind from time to time. If you look at Exodus and when the Israelites made a golden calf. God was so angry that he told the Israelites that they could go to the promised land, but that he wouldn’t go with them. The Israelites chose to stay with God as life in the promised land without him would be meaningless. God then decided to go with the Israelites. Also, could sending Jesus could be seen as a change in plan (if God’s initial hopes for the world had come true, if people had always listened to God, Adam and Eve hadn’t eaten the apple, if the Israelites hadn’t become so governed by hundreds of set laws, etc, would there have been a need for Jesus? Then again, maybe God knew that people wouldn’t stay on the straight path so sending His son was always part of the plan).

]]> By: Lindsay http://www.haldric.com/?p=113&cpage=1#comment-21 Lindsay Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:44:25 +0000 http://www.haldric.com/?p=113#comment-21 Hi Adam Thanks for your comments, you are right about the specific word "hell" not being mentioned in the OT. This is because Hell was an actual physical place in Jesus' time, I think he mentioned it as a way to visually discribe how awful it would be for the people who reject God. "Gehenna" is the greek word for Hell and I've read that it refers to a valley near Jerusalem which was viewed as cursed because of all the violent deaths there. In Jesus' time it had become the town's dump - a place of waste and distruction with fires burning and wild animals fighting for scraps to eat from the rotten piles. When Jesus talked about Hell, everyone in those times would immediately have a vivid image of this horrid, filthy, death-ridden place. In the OT people talked about "the grave" "the depths of the grave" "the realm of death"and things like "fire." Which I think refers to what we now call hell. Read Isaiah 14:9 if you want to shudder!! Mmmm not enjoyable reading!! Perhaps we should now move on and talk about heaven?! Hi Adam

Thanks for your comments, you are right about the specific word “hell” not being mentioned in the OT. This is because Hell was an actual physical place in Jesus’ time, I think he mentioned it as a way to visually discribe how awful it would be for the people who reject God.

“Gehenna” is the greek word for Hell and I’ve read that it refers to a valley near Jerusalem which was viewed as cursed because of all the violent deaths there.

In Jesus’ time it had become the town’s dump – a place of waste and distruction with fires burning and wild animals fighting for scraps to eat from the rotten piles. When Jesus talked about Hell, everyone in those times would immediately have a vivid image of this horrid, filthy, death-ridden place.

In the OT people talked about “the grave” “the depths of the grave” “the realm of death”and things like “fire.” Which I think refers to what we now call hell. Read Isaiah 14:9 if you want to shudder!!

Mmmm not enjoyable reading!! Perhaps we should now move on and talk about heaven?!

]]> By: Adam White » What is hell? http://www.haldric.com/?p=113&cpage=1#comment-20 Adam White » What is hell? Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:16:20 +0000 http://www.haldric.com/?p=113#comment-20 [...] friend Lindsay has just posted a very interesting bible study on hell based on Ezekiel 18:32. She was talking about who goes to [...] [...] friend Lindsay has just posted a very interesting bible study on hell based on Ezekiel 18:32. She was talking about who goes to [...]

]]> By: Adam http://www.haldric.com/?p=113&cpage=1#comment-19 Adam Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:43:32 +0000 http://www.haldric.com/?p=113#comment-19 I have always wondered about hell. My biblical knowledge isn't exactly extensive but I don't recall it ever being mentioned in the old testament anywhere. Nor heaven for that matter although this could be implied with the various people who got taken up to be with God. With the coming of Jesus a new covenant was established and the "modern" ideas of heaven and hell were formed. Does this mean they didn't exist before then? I don't think so. So either there has always been a hell and God happily sent all his followers there without warning or hell is not exactly what we think it is. I'm sure there are some passages in Revelation that explain what hell is but I've always considered the fact that maybe hell is just the absence of God. Maybe hell is what I used to think of as death when I was an athiest: nothing. An eternity of darkness and nothingness without God. This makes the whole ressurection thing make more sense in my head as Jesus coming back to life to live at God's side doesn't mean anything if you have to die to be in heaven. If death is death and ressurection means heaven that makes more sense to me. In order to get to a fiery place called hell would mean having to be ressurrected as well surely? Now I'm sure I am very wrong in all of this and that there are lots of biblical verses to tell me as much. Can anybody give me a few... I have always wondered about hell. My biblical knowledge isn’t exactly extensive but I don’t recall it ever being mentioned in the old testament anywhere. Nor heaven for that matter although this could be implied with the various people who got taken up to be with God.

With the coming of Jesus a new covenant was established and the “modern” ideas of heaven and hell were formed. Does this mean they didn’t exist before then? I don’t think so. So either there has always been a hell and God happily sent all his followers there without warning or hell is not exactly what we think it is.

I’m sure there are some passages in Revelation that explain what hell is but I’ve always considered the fact that maybe hell is just the absence of God. Maybe hell is what I used to think of as death when I was an athiest: nothing. An eternity of darkness and nothingness without God.

This makes the whole ressurection thing make more sense in my head as Jesus coming back to life to live at God’s side doesn’t mean anything if you have to die to be in heaven. If death is death and ressurection means heaven that makes more sense to me. In order to get to a fiery place called hell would mean having to be ressurrected as well surely?

Now I’m sure I am very wrong in all of this and that there are lots of biblical verses to tell me as much. Can anybody give me a few…

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