posted April 19, 2016 10:22 AM            

Your thoughts?

posted April 19, 2016 11:12 AM            

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The problem of Hell is an ethical problem in religion in which the existence of Hell for the punishment of souls is regarded as inconsistent with the notion of a just, moral, and omnibenevolent God. It derives from four key propositions: Hell exists; it is for the punishment of people whose lives on Earth are judged to have repudiated God; some people go there; and there is no escape.

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There are several major issues to the problem of Hell. The first is whether the existence of Hell is compatible with justice. The second is whether it is compatible with God's mercy, especially as articulated in Christianity. A third issue, particular to Christianity, is whether Hell is actually populated, or if God will ultimately restore all immortal souls (universal reconciliation) in the World to Come. Lastly, if Hell ceases once the wicked are destroyed or consumed.[4] Criticisms of the doctrines of Hell can focus on the intensity or eternity of its torments, and arguments surrounding all these issues can invoke appeals to the omnipotence, omniscience, and omnibenevolence of God. In some aspects, the problem of Hell is similar to the problem of evil, assuming the suffering of Hell is something God could have prevented. The discussion regarding the problem of evil may thus also be of interest for the problem of Hell.

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posted April 19, 2016 07:50 PM            

I love your writing....how you just loosely play with the concept of hell. Rather than getting your frown on and your wagging-finger out, and don't forget the glasses slipping down the nose that you glare at people over...

LOL, that was one of the nuns who taught me about hell in high school. She was a Capricorn. Very serious about how most of us were heading there.

Let's see, I have 949 HEL @ 1 Aries, conjunct Vesta, Klotho, some others. Wow I don't get two degrees into the zodiac before facing HEL? Sheesh.

posted April 20, 2016 12:57 AM            

So..... Hell. Does it exist?

Some people say that Hell is on Earth.... We have a responsibility for care. Draw Heaven Down, Lift Earth Up. Meet you in the inbetween places, and BOTH, simultaneously, at once.

posted April 20, 2016 06:25 AM            

Amazing writing...but I am so sad that you had that health scare and were punished for it by nuns and felt so miserable! Ugh...well you were spared from something that would have turned out bad, maybe? Even if it did hurt.

Thank you for the asteroid talks and for always making me laugh!

posted April 20, 2016 01:04 PM            

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Originally posted by Sulkyarcher:
I tend to believe in the eastern belief of hell, like in religions of Buddhism and Hinduism.

I do believe there is a hell, but you get out once you burn out all of your karma that you needed too.

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Wow.

posted April 20, 2016 05:12 PM            

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Originally posted by Faith:
Wow.

Do you believe it may take a billion years for that to happen? (Something I read on wikipedia.)

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posted April 20, 2016 05:13 PM            

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Originally posted by Faith:
Wow.

Do you believe it may take a billion years for that to happen? (Something I read on wikipedia.)

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posted April 20, 2016 07:48 PM            

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I've got your back gurl'friend!

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Thank you.

Yeah, I never know how to approach Scriptures. So I don't anymore.

Once in a while I do look at religions a little closer just for the sake of reminding myself how weird people are.

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Arbuda, the "blister" Naraka, is a dark, frozen plain surrounded by icy mountains and continually swept by blizzards. Inhabitants of this world arise fully grown and abide lifelong naked and alone, while the cold raises blisters upon their bodies. The length of life in this Naraka is said to be the time it would take to empty a barrel of sesame seed if one only took out a single seed every hundred years.[4]

Nirarbuda, the "burst blister" Naraka, is even colder than Arbuda. There, the blisters burst open, leaving the beings' bodies covered with frozen blood and pus.[4]

Aṭaṭa is the "shivering" Naraka. There, beings shiver in the cold, making an aṭ-aṭ-aṭ sound with their mouths.[4]

Hahava is the "lamentation" Naraka. There, the beings lament in the cold, going haa, haa in pain.[4]

Huhuva, the "chattering teeth" Naraka, is where beings shiver as their teeth chatter, making the sound hu, hu.[4]

Utpala is the "blue lotus" Naraka. The intense cold there makes the skin turn blue like the colour of an utpala waterlily.[4]

Padma, the "lotus" Naraka, has blizzards that cracks open frozen skin, leaving one raw and bloody.

Mahāpadma - is the "great lotus" Naraka. The entire body cracks into pieces and the internal organs are exposed to the cold, also cracking.[4]

Each lifetime in these Narakas is twenty times the length of the one before it.

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posted April 20, 2016 07:56 PM            

But I'm also intrigued by the trauma experienced by children living in fear of hell.

posted April 21, 2016 11:36 PM            

Let's not pretend people converted to Christianity because the Christians were so sweet. It's because those left alive were too terrified to do anything else, when speaking out against Christianity or even saying it didn't make sense could get your tongue cut out, or coals on your stomach or even eyeballs cooked right in their sockets. (Granted, even many Christian sects were also subjected to the same vile behavior, and one manual of inquisitions said the worst punishments were for priests busted for helping members of their parish escape the Inquisition, either giving them a heads up so they could flee, freeing them, or even slipping them some poison for suicide in their cell as it was a mercy. The mind boggling evil things Protestants and Catholics did to each other, including painful and terrifying deaths as well as mass slaughter, is the primary reason there's a separation between church and state in the US Constitution. Jesus got off easy being crucified in comparison to many killed in the name of Jesus.)

But if the alternative is Hell, then it's the lesser evil. Had all that evil not been done, then so many would be heading to eternal torment. In the long run, it's saving far more than it condemns. Therefore, how can one not support it, no matter how regrettable?

posted April 22, 2016 07:43 PM            

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"But how am I going to be able to enjoy the splendor of paradise, should I actually get there, all the while fully knowing that many people who I liked or loved, maybe even my own parents, are meanwhile being tormented in hell? How can you ever look forward to such a state?" The priest said, "God will somehow make this acceptable to me." To which the theosophist replied, "I think I like your god even less than your hell."

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posted April 23, 2016 08:10 PM            

Great comment.

One thing that sprang to mind for me:

Because of my spiritual experiences, I do know some things...but I also think, others can know different things...and these knowings might be spoken of as mutually exclusive, in a religious context. Yet I have to *believe* they are not mutually exclusive.
For instance just because I spontaneously went into a trance state one day and clearly heard OM without any previous experience with meditation....that does not mean that someone else cannot see Jesus. Even though Christians tend to think OM is nonsense, and some who meditates may think Christianity is nonsense. I think both can be real.

That is where my belief comes in.

It's where my experience just points in a certain direction.

And while I trust the Mystery is vast and inclusive of many kinds of things (like OM and Jesus), I think it's a state of limited, as opposed to unlimited, possibility. I don't want to grant that an eternal hell for sinners exists. I don't want to believe "anything is possible." I only want to believe that certain things are possible, within limitations that align with the limitations I'm accustomed to.

* There is a limit to how long something can appear to remain in a static condition.

* There is a limit to how much one can suffer.

I don't know that these "laws" exist universally, so I just believe.

As for NDEs, yes, great point...I've seen people saying they experienced hell as part of their NDE. Eben Alexander's account of hell is most interesting to me, so far.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_of_Heaven:_A_Neurosurgeon%27s_Journey_into_the_A fterlife

It's interesting because it's complex and detailed. He dies and goes to this dark place where sounds are grating up against him. Then he goes to three other places. Then back to the dark place (hell). Each visit to hell is less and less painful, more objectified, because he knows it's just part of the cycle. He carries the understanding he got from God's intercessor (a Christ figure, though he's not religious) to hell with him.

There are many people testifying that they have been to hell, but none have failed to be rescued from it.