Is it possible for anyone to merit eternal punishment?

[Tipsy]

Not looking into any specific religion's concept of hell or of a similar concept, does anyone deserve to be eternally punished for actions they committed during their lifetime?

[Biske]

I say no, but there are always exceptions...like hitler. But then again, what could one person do that was so heinous, that God would see fit to torture them every second for a million lifetimes.

[AZN_FLEA]

no, there is no exception to this. eternal punishment is unacceptable in my eyes. if we are all loved children of God, then would he really condemn eternal punishment to us? i can understand punishment but eternal punishment is not reasonable to me. there are unfair places and times. most of the world arent christians and most christians arent devout followers. that means like...1% of all ppl will go to heaven. to me this is just bs. it is his fault that he let us eat the fruit of knowledge. it is his fault satan exists. why do we have to bear te punishment?

[Renzokuken]

Originally Posted by AZN_FLEA

if we are all loved children of God, then would he really condemn eternal punishment to us?

It doesn't work like that. God does love us.

This is how it works. We're all sinners and none of us deserve to go to Heaven. But thanks to Jesus Christ dying for our sins, we're able to have everlasting life with God in Heaven.

Originally Posted by John 3:16-17

For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

If one rejects Jesus then one cannot be saved by His blood. What then can God judge us on? Our works. And our works will never be good enough to allow us into Heaven. If one isn't taken into Heaven with The Lord at judgement day he is left behind, with Satan (I could go deeper into this, but that's it in a nutshell).

Originally Posted by AZN_FLEA

most of the world arent christians and most christians arent devout followers. that means like...1% of all ppl will go to heaven.

Who are you to judge how many people will and will not go to Heaven? I can confidently say that it's gonna be alot more than just 1% of the world's population. I'm not saying i'm perfect, i suck just as much as the rest of us. I sin all the time, i can't help that. I am human. But i am saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. All of my past sins, the sins i'm committing now and the ones i will commit were carried by Jesus when he hung on the cross.

What i'm saying is, is that you don't need to be devout to get into Heaven. Now that's not to say you just accept Jesus as your saviour and then just go back to doing what you did before. God knows if it's genuine or not.

Originally Posted by AZN_FLEA

it is his fault that he let us eat the fruit of knowledge. it is his fault satan exists. why do we have to bear te punishment?

How is it God's fault that we ate the fruit? We're the ones that ate it. We were tempted and deceived by Satan. Seems like our fault to me.

Yes, it is God's fault that Satan exists. But what would you have God do? When Lucifer challenged God and wanted all the power and glory for himself (He thought he was better than God), God could've easily have killed him. But what then? If God had've destroyed Satan then the Angels would only worship him out of fear (Rather than love). Fear of being destroyed if they did what Lucifer did. So God instead threw Lucifer out of Heaven.

[little-cheeze]

god is simply an asshole

[Renzokuken]

It's a shame you think that.

[little-cheeze]

well i heard in the bible that this chick went against god she just didnt get forgiven or anything she got the whole meal deal she got kileld the kids killed and pregnant woman ripped open and theres killed

[Jimbo]

The essence of Christianity is told to us in the Garden of Eden history. The fruit that was forbidden was on the Tree of Knowledge. The subtext is, All the suffering you have is because you wanted to find out what was going on. You could be in the Garden of Eden if you had just kept your ****ing mouth shut and hadn't asked any questions.


.....


The whole foundation of Christianity is based on the idea that intellectualism is the work of the Devil. Remember the apple on the tree? Okay, it was the Tree of Knowledge. "You eat this apple, you're going to be as smart as God. We can't have that

[little-cheeze]

i didnt eat nio apple and im already smart as god

[TrongaMonga]

Originally Posted by Renzokuken

How is it God's fault that we ate the fruit? We're the ones that ate it. We were tempted and deceived by Satan. Seems like our fault to me.

He knows everything that was, that is and that will be.

Therefore, it looks pretty wicked from him to even give us the option, he knew we would do it, and he knew he would expel us from Heaven.

We didn't have a choice, since he knows what will happen, and therefore would have to happen.

If you believe in god, you do not believe in free will. It just can not be done, it's pure logic.

[Renzokuken]

Originally Posted by Condestavel

If you believe in god, you do not believe in free will. It just can not be done, it's pure logic.

Religions aren't based on logic, they're based on faith.

[little-cheeze]

faith = bull**** too

[TrongaMonga]

Originally Posted by Renzokuken

Religions aren't based on logic, they're based on faith.

Oh I know, that's the reason why there's so many people doing it. The human race is not a logical race.

[x42bn6]

What if you are North Korean and never heard of Christianity or religion? Is it fair that they will go to Hell because they never knew of Jesus Christ? (North Korea might be Hell itself, but that's a separate matter).*

[B)ushid(o]

Originally Posted by Jim Morrison

The essence of Christianity is told to us in the Garden of Eden history. The fruit that was forbidden was on the Tree of Knowledge. The subtext is, All the suffering you have is because you wanted to find out what was going on. You could be in the Garden of Eden if you had just kept your ****ing mouth shut and hadn't asked any questions.

I think the implication was that if they had not eaten from the Tree, they would not been aware of their free will. Once they became aware of it, they had, not only knowledge of Good and Evil, but the ability to act goodly or evilly. Because Eden was "Paradise", there existed no evil there, but once Adam and Eve had the knowledge to act in the aforementioned capacity, they were no longer "pure" and "good", and thus couldn't live there anymore.

Would it have been a greater punishment if God had not granted Adam and Eve free will, or was banishment from Paradise still worse?

Originally Posted by Condestavel

We didn't have a choice, since he knows what will happen, and therefore would have to happen.

Does being precognitive make God liable for the decisions of mankind? He gave Adam and Eve a choice, told them of the consequences of eating from the Tree, and let it play out.

If God had given Adam and Eve the choice, without knowing the ultimate consequences, they would have taken the exact same path. The choice, and the liability, still falls squarely on Adam and Eve.

Precognition does not equal the loss of free will.

[TrongaMonga]

He didn't say anything about any consequences, he just said not to.

[Emperor Pan I]

First off, If you don't know or believe in God, you don't go to hell. Hell does not exist. There is no fiery landscape with eternal tortures. Hell is considered to be simply the absence of God. If you reject God and God's love, you are already preparing for hell.

How can you say you don't have free will. Your actions are your own, God's ability to know what you are going to do does not change the fact it is your actions.

The Garden of Eden is not a literal story. At no point were there ever an Adam or and Eve. Like most of the old testament with miraculous events, they are not literal interpretations of anything.

[TrongaMonga]

I know it's not a literal story, I never said that.

And I'll try to explain my not-free will logic: God grabbed an apple tree and said, do not touch this. He did know, however, that Eve would grab an apple. Supposedly, because of the devil, but the trick here is, would Eve actually treat it in any different way had god not said not to touch it? After all, the reason why she even went to the tree was to see what was so wrong with it. The devil just took advantage of it.

Meaning, god said something that influenciated Eve. And he did so because he wanted us to get out of Heaven, as he knew would happen. Otherwise, he would have never said anything, and wait for the devil to tempt Adam or Eve. Then we could truly say there was free will.

Bleh, not very well explained

[Renzokuken]

Originally Posted by x42bn6

What if you are North Korean and never heard of Christianity or religion? Is it fair that they will go to Hell because they never knew of Jesus Christ? (North Korea might be Hell itself, but that's a separate matter).*

God will judge those who have never heard of Jesus Christ on their hearts. It's in the Bible, but i forget where

[B)ushid(o]

Originally Posted by Condestavel

He didn't say anything about any consequences, he just said not to.

Well, actually, He said they'd die if they ate from the Tree.

Originally Posted by Genesis 2:16-17

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Take that literally, figuratively, metaphorically, w/e. Just FYI.