[Old School Hound]

Do you believe in a literal "hell"  that non-believers are headed for after they pass from this Earth?  


According to a 2014 Pew Research poll,   58% of Americans believe in hell.   This number , along with those who believe in heaven, has been trending down for the last couple of decades. A poll that i saw from the late nineties had  71% of Americans expressing a belief in hell.  The number varies quite a bit from religion to religion and even among Christian sects(shocker!).  Only  7% of Jevohah Witnesses believe in hell. 

What about you?   DO you believe people are headed for a literal hell when they die?  Why do you really  think  people believe in hell?



Here's an interesting opinion piece from the NYT entitled "Why Do People Believe in Hell?"   According to the author, a religious scholar, the idea of eternal damnation is neither biblically, philosophically nor morally justified. But for many it retains a psychological allure.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/opini...bible.html

Wow, just noticed that this is my 666th post and my 66th thread ! Odd. Is that a sign that I may be headed for hell ?

[TheRealThing]

Do you believe in a literal "hell"  that non-believers are headed for after they pass from this Earth?  


According to a 2014 Pew Research poll,   58% of Americans believe in hell.   This number , along with those who believe in heaven, has been trending down for the last couple of decades. A poll that i saw from the late nineties had  71% of Americans expressing a belief in hell.  The number varies quite a bit from religion to religion and even among Christian sects(shocker!).  Only  7% of Jevohah Witnesses believe in hell. 

What about you?   DO you believe people are headed for a literal hell when they die?  Why do you really  think  people believe in hell?



Here's an interesting opinion piece from the NYT entitled "Why Do People Believe in Hell?"   According to the author, a religious scholar, the idea of eternal damnation is neither biblically, philosophically nor morally justified. But for many it retains a psychological allure.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/opini...bible.html

Wow, just noticed that this is my  666th post  and my  66th  thread !  Odd.    Is that  a  sign that I may be headed for hell ?

Of course, the deniers of God are going to deny the judgment and the existence of Hell. Men are foolish enough to contradict just about anything that God has said in His Holy Word. That doesn't make them brave or wise. "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." Psalms 14:1

"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." - Matthew 10:28

As far as polls go--- You know, every man woman and child could theoretically state that they don't accept as real, the concept of Hell. And of course, if there is no Hell then likely there is no Heaven, and everything is as they say; relative. But the vast numbers of folks who deny eternity, in and of themselves, don't imply any sort of likelihood of legitimacy. In fact the opposite of that case happens to be the truth--

13 “Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat.
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

So we can pick a pretty accurate margin of those who are right against those who are wrong. I say when the Lord says only a few will find it, it would be safe to say 3 out of a hundred might well be stretching it. Is that fair? Well in that case I would say men ought to limit their opinions about the Almighty to what He has actually said. Certainly not what those who deny Him say. The Bible in other words. Because I can assure that polls where the Lord is concerned, don't amount to a speck of dust blowing in the wind.

But look at it like this. History always coincides with the Biblical accounts of same. We have the Bible, God's revealed Word. God has said that He is Holy, Perfect. And that His Word is Perfect. I'll put that which God has said against the things man has said any day, and literally twice on Sunday.

One thing is certain, there can only be two possibilities. God is real and we will one day stand before Him. Or the whole thing is as Darwin said, and we rose up through impossible odds from the slime. Those who bow before Him know the truth already, because He has revealed it to them.

Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, lest any man should boast.

In other words it is the Lord Who visits sufficient faith upon us so as to confer belief. It is His gift. All we bring to the table is our own need.   One more thing--- Romans Chap 1 tells us that God has revealed Himself to every man through His creation of the universe. And our conscience bears witness to this fact within us. No man, will have any excuse for rebelling against the Sovereignty of God.

[jetpilot]

Do you believe in a literal "hell"  that non-believers are headed for after they pass from this Earth?  


According to a 2014 Pew Research poll,   58% of Americans believe in hell.   This number , along with those who believe in heaven, has been trending down for the last couple of decades. A poll that i saw from the late nineties had  71% of Americans expressing a belief in hell.  The number varies quite a bit from religion to religion and even among Christian sects(shocker!).  Only  7% of Jevohah Witnesses believe in hell. 

What about you?   DO you believe people are headed for a literal hell when they die?  Why do you really  think  people believe in hell?



Here's an interesting opinion piece from the NYT entitled "Why Do People Believe in Hell?"   According to the author, a religious scholar, the idea of eternal damnation is neither biblically, philosophically nor morally justified. But for many it retains a psychological allure.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/opini...bible.html

Wow, just noticed that this is my  666th post  and my  66th  thread !  Odd.    Is that  a  sign that I may be headed for hell ?

Of course, the deniers of God are going to deny the judgment and the existence of Hell. Men are foolish enough to contradict just about anything that God has said in His Holy Word. That doesn't make them brave or wise. "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." Psalms 14:1

"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." - Matthew 10:28

As far as polls go--- You know, every man woman and child could theoretically state that they don't accept as real, the concept of Hell. And of course, if there is no Hell then likely there is no Heaven, and everything is as they say; relative. But the vast numbers of folks who deny eternity, in and of themselves, don't imply any sort of likelihood of legitimacy. In fact the opposite of that case happens to be the truth--

13 “Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat.
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

So we can pick a pretty accurate margin of those who are right against those who are wrong. I say when the Lord says only a few will find it, it would be safe to say 3 out of a hundred might well be stretching it. Is that fair? Well in that case I would say men ought to limit their opinions about the Almighty to what He has actually said. Certainly not what those who deny Him say. The Bible in other words. Because I can assure that polls where the Lord is concerned, don't amount to a speck of dust blowing in the wind.

But look at it like this. History always coincides with the Biblical accounts of same. We have the Bible, God's revealed Word. God has said that He is Holy, Perfect. And that His Word is Perfect. I'll put that which God has said against the things man has said any day, and literally twice on Sunday.

One thing is certain, there can only be two possibilities. God is real and we will one day stand before Him. Or the whole thing is as Darwin said, and we rose up through impossible odds from the slime. Those who bow before Him know the truth already, because He has revealed it to them.

Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, lest any man should boast.

In other words it is the Lord Who visits sufficient faith upon us so as to confer belief. It is His gift. All we bring every man through His creation of the universe. And our conscience bears witness to this fact within us. No man, will have any excuse for rebelling against the Sovereignty of God. to the table is our own need.   One more thing--- Romans Chap 1 tells us that God has revealed Himself to

First sentence says it all. "Polls, NYT, 'religious scholar'" 

[TheRealThing]

^^ It's as if the old 'more the merrier' axiom somehow outweighs what the Creator of this universe has to say. I am a carpenter and therefore have built a great many things. None of those 'things' would be here if not for the fact that a builder had made them.  Same is true for mankind.

The Lord created us out of the dust of the ground. The elements and minerals of the created universe in other words. But then came along Charles Darwin and ascribed his creation not to the Creator, but to those elements and minerals. In other words the lumber and sheetrock of the house constructed the house, and not the builder. Ridiculous right? God created not only man, but the very elements and minerals of which he is comprised.

But why would Darwin's mind take him to such a place?  The natural man is no seeker of God, so say the Scriptures. But the Scriptures also tell us that all men are aware of God, and fear the judgment. Hence the conscience placed within the heart of every man. But after a time men learn to ignore their conscience and they go their own way. It is said (and denied by those who purport to believe in evolution) that Darwin admitted he came up with his so-called 'theory' in order to ignore his own conscience. So came into being the 'Origin of the species' The concept of evolutionism was cut out of whole cloth to ease Darwin's conscience. And unfortunately, all those who would justify their own similar rebellion readily glom on to Darwin's fantasy.

Satan had a similar renaissance when He rebelled.

Isaiah chap 14
12“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’

Adam and Eve had a near mirror image experience when they fell from grace. The Lord said they could do whatever they wanted to do. He had set them over all of creation and they literally had nothing withheld from them. It was all at their fingertips... save for one tiny little thing---

They were not to eat of the Tree of Life. That's it. Just one rule and everything else was wide open. Along comes Satan who tempts Eve to do that which her heart had always longed for anyway; telling her if she and Adam eats the fruit, they will be 'like gods.' So by breaking only one rule mankind was condemned to pay the sin debt (wages) of his disobedience, that being death. But then came Jesus to live among men, and by one Man those wages were paid when He voluntarily died for us on the cross. Thusly paying for that which all men had earned through their disobedience.

One might conceivably take a poll. And given the Scriptural accounting reconciliation for the sted of mankind, which says only a few will find the way, almost the entirely of every man woman and child could vote in that poll to say they don't believe in Hell. In round numbers the ratio could well be something like as follows. There are 7.8 billion people on earth. If 3 out of every 100 accept Christ that would be a 1-33 ratio. Which might well be a little rich BTW. But overall the vote would be 7.8 billion to 234 million or 97 to 3 don't believe in Hell. The poll Hound cited said the number was trending down. But God is the God of absolutes. Therefore there are only 2 categories His truth, versus Satan's lies. Who should men believe, the God Who created them, or the one who wants to kill everyone of them, or a straw poll for the stricken of guilt?

We live in a world where men want to be god. But I know which One I believe, and I am excited to worship Him at sunrise service in the morning.