So, can we get back to talking about hell and stop the silly insults? Please.
I was doing a little of my own exploration regarding how hell became part of the Christian ideology. While I am an atheist, it always bothered me that my mother was burdened with the belief that people like me were going to hell. And, apparently the author of the article is correct. Hell was added later to the Christian belief, and perhaps Poli will correct me if what I read was wrong, but some articles said it was a pagan concept, originally used, to "keep the rabble in line."
I encourage the Christians here who take hell as a literal place where nonbelievers will spend eternity while feeling like they are on fire, to open their minds a little and do some DD on their own. Go visit a variety of sites, not the ones that support what you currently believe, and see what you can find.
http://www.hellhadesafterlife.com/hell/hell-early-christian-church
Because adherents of eternal torment have a difficult time finding legitimate biblical support for their position they naturally resort to extra-biblical arguments based on religious tradition and Judeo-Christian history. This chapter is devoted to exploring Judeo-Christian history as it relates to the topic of human damnation to see if there is any validity to these contentions. Let’s start with…
At the end of the previous chapter we discovered that the popular saying “you will spend eternity in either heaven or hell” does not match the biblical descriptions of eternal life and damnation. How did Christendom lose the exciting biblical picture of a tangible new earth and new universe and replace it with the unscriptural picture of an ethereal spirit realm where we’ll float around on clouds playing harps forever? How did the church come to officially adopt the unbiblical doctrines of the immortal soul (apart from Christ) and eternal torment? These unfortunate errors can be traced to one of the most influential theologians in Christian history: Augustine of Hippo, who lived from 354-430 AD. Augustine is hailed by many Christians today as “the father of orthodoxy.”
I didn't read the entire chapter, but I will try later if I have the time. Apparently, there are many sources that give evidence to the claim that eternal hell was never an original part of Christianity. I said earlier that everyone cherry picks and what I meant was, even if one takes a certain Biblical translation literally, they've already cherry picked which translation to support. Plus, these days, it seems to me that White evangelical Christians are obsessed with the nastier parts of their Bible instead of the more humanistic ones. I wonder why?
While Politesse was right when he said I over simplified how the KJV came about, I stand by my simple explanation, even though it doesn't include all of the details. Basically, a bunch of men got together and decided which books and scripts should be included in the KJV. Of course, it's more complicated than that, buy you get the idea.
The translation wasn't even done until 1611, but one of the Christian posters here said that he preferred the older translations. The older Biblical translations or scriptures were around in the 2nd and 3rd Century, so why would anyone consider a translation that was manufactured in 1611, an early translation? That's closer to modern times than it is to the 1st Century AC. Even if I was still a Christian, I'd be highly skeptical of a translation that was put together over 1600 years following what Christians refer to as the nativity. Please give that some thought.
So, if any Christians or former Christians would like o reply, please tell me why do you put so much faith in the KJV? I was simply told as a young child that it was the most accurate translation. I was a child who rarely questioned what adults told me, but I would hope that thinking adults would be more skeptical than that.
I'm not in the least concerned about spending eternity in hell as I have no beliefs in an afterlife, and if I did, I could only belief in a god who was less cruel than the one that many Christians support. There certainly are other options.
Y'all might think it's crazy for me to say this, but I feel bad for good Christians who are burdened with the belief that some of their friends or family will be sent to an eternal place of torture. Keep your Christian beliefs if they satisfy you and help you be a better person, but consider that some of the things that you've been taught had nothing to do with the original teachings of the Jesus that you claim to love.
