Neat day today, although I’ll still be in the frameshop catching up. But there are some literary I-gotta-do’s that will be pushed in between here too.
Got a red eyeball; suitable for scaring small children. I don’t remember getting something in my eye, so likely I poked it with a fingernail in my sleep. It looks wonderfully horrid.
Read that the Pope has reiterated the existence of Hell. Now see, here’s where I fell off the Catholic wagon to begin with; this and divorce. My rational mind tells me that there’s no one–absolutely no one–living or dead that I would condemn to eternal fire. I just don’t think everybody’s had the same fair breaks in life. I’ve said this before: If Adolph Hitler had been brought up by my folks, he just would never have done what he did. And here’s where I lose a lotta folks: If an innocent newborn dies and is baptized, he goes straight to Heaven; do not pass trials and tribulations–go directly to Heaven, like in Monopoly. Not sure that’s fair either (forget for a moment the horrible tragedy of it all and focus on the end result–if you’re a good Christian, that’s the best thing you could wish for your child). So, it follows that if I can’t find candidates for Hell, and I’m not the most forgiving person in world, then God, in all His goodness and love couldn’t possibly do it either.
But I could be wrong.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
Just one thing friend, GOD doesn’t send anybody to hell (and hell its not a place like you would think of like a house or prison) rather the person itself chooses to go there:
GODs always invite to be at his side, presence, love etc. but he doesnt force you to be there, so if you decide to walk away or no to be in his presence, you are walking away from ALL love, ALL goodness and therefore you getyourself into hell ( the fact of knowing what was given to you, and that you didnt get close to, )
i hope i was clear, my english is not very good, and i think its even worst talking deep things with such a short amount of words in my knowledge
beWell
Your English is fine and I realize we can’t get into a theological discussion here; I, for one, am not as learned on the Bible as I should be, but I don’t believe that it’s been clearly stated as to the presence of a hell.
My personal viewpoint is merely that I couldn’t even conceive of a place where I would send someone for eternal punishment. I respect your position and I suppose one day we’ll all find out the truth.
I agree on the fact of clearly stated on the bible, as there are lots of signs, concepts, metaphors.
but to clear myself:
Hell its not a place, its a decision
( and the living of that decision i could say but its more confusing)
the term “place” its more like a way to understand it ( in cristian ideology, actually its not stated as a place, but it was some decades ago)
and, of course, i hope one day we will find the truth since its such a confusion everywhere 😀
beWell
Nice to have this talk… reading… with you
I think that the question of any sort of life beyond this material one is one that unfortunately too many people make up their minds one way or the other and push it out of their head. I appreciate your sharing of your thoughts and realize that what we’re looking for when we seek an answer is peace of mind. Thank you, and I too wish you well.
First, I have many issues with the Papacy–the Bible outlines grounds for when divorce is admissable, and in when the wrong choice is made, it is a sin BUT a forgivable sin; people who die without baptism aren’t automatically barred from Heaven just as receiving baptism doesn’t punch some kind of guarenteed spirtual ticket; the Bible does NOT mandate celibacy for priests, pastors, etc.; Mary is clearly not meant to be a person of worship.
The problem with the Catholic leadership is (and has always been) that they can’t stand letting God be the leader of His own Church. Catholicism is a very vain and selfish version of Christianity and it burns me that the Papacy continues to propagate the referenced teachings (and others) on the Catholic church-goer.
As for hell, and this is just a general statement on the subject:
Whenever the topic of hell’s existance comes up (and this is like the third blog on my blog roll where this issue is being talked about), it seems to always be the same question: How could God possibly condemn someone to such a place?
The problem is that hell is the consequence of choice, NOT God’s preference to send people. (Where do people get that from?) If hell didn’t exist then what would be the point of faith and moral living? But of course it’s always easier to blame the person next to us (or God) when we screw up. It’s the human way.
Hell is about faith that God is a just God.. but it is more immediately about personal responsibility. I firmly believe that every person has multiple chances in their life to accept God and make the right moral choices. If we didn’t, that could be rightly deemed to be truly unfair.