Why is Hell an Eternal endless punishment for sinning in Christianity?

I was thinking about Hell as a law school student and It really makes very little sense, even for human principles, legal values and standards to punish a "soul" to eternal torment for sins committed during say, 24-30 years? Think someone that abused Alcohol, committed lust sins such as fornication and adultery and then stole a few items during his lifetime.

In human criminal law, the punishment delivered by the state to those found guilty of crimes is supposed be among other things

• A deterrence for other potential criminals so they wont break the law
• A deterrence to the criminal himself, so he refrains from his illegal conduct in the future once the punishment has been endured (unless its death penalty)

IF we, Humans, are aware that eternal torment and suffering, even for criminals is not fair why would god punish sinners in a way that is arguably "inhumane" and extreme, which also leads to the following question, why would god send people to eternal torment and torture just because they have different, non christian religious beliefs in their respective cultures (Buddhists, Hindu etc)

There should be a determined, efficient and proportionate punishment for each form of sin. Lets say, 80 years in hell for premeditated murder, 20 years in hell for adultery, 60 years for premarital sex etc. What does OT think?

I'm pissing my pants I'm so excited for the debates about to occur in this thread.

Its easier to have one punishment then figure out an equation sin done x amount of time / good deads = time in hell

its just a another form of social control. its quit selfish and downright ignorant to say thet you are going to hell if you dont believe as we (christians, radical islam, etc) everyone thinks their right and everyone else is wrong.....ridiculous

Better yet. Why would an omnipotent, all knowing god, put certain humans on the earth when he already knows that they're sinners who are going to spend eternity in hell? Sounds pretty sadistic to me.

I was thinking about Hell as a law school student and It really makes very little sense, even for human principles, legal values and standards to punish a "soul" to eternal torment for sins committed during say, 24-30 years? Think someone that abused Alcohol, committed lust sins such as fornication and adultery and then stole a few items during his lifetime.

In human criminal law, the punishment delivered by the state to those found guilty of crimes is supposed be among other things

• A deterrence for other potential criminalss so they wont break the law
• A deterrence to the criminal himself, so he refrains from his illegal conduct in the future once the punishment has been endured (unless its death penalty)

IF we, Humans, are aware that eternal torment and suffering, even for criminals is not fair why would god punish sinners in a way that is arguably "inhumane" and extreme, which also leads to the following question, why would god send people to eternal torment and torture just because they have different, non christian religious beliefs in their respective cultures (Buddhists, Hindu etc)

There should be a determined, efficient and proportionate punishment for each form of sin. Lets say, 80 years in hell for premeditated murder, 20 years in hell for adultery, 60 years for premarital sex etc. What does OT think?

AgentA-Mi6

[QUOTE="AgentA-Mi6"]

I was thinking about Hell as a law school student and It really makes very little sense, even for human principles, legal values and standards to punish a "soul" to eternal torment for sins committed during say, 24-30 years? Think someone that abused Alcohol, committed lust sins such as fornication and adultery and then stole a few items during his lifetime.

In human criminal law, the punishment delivered by the state to those found guilty of crimes is supposed be among other things

• A deterrence for other potential criminalss so they wont break the law
• A deterrence to the criminal himself, so he refrains from his illegal conduct in the future once the punishment has been endured (unless its death penalty)

IF we, Humans, are aware that eternal torment and suffering, even for criminals is not fair why would god punish sinners in a way that is arguably "inhumane" and extreme, which also leads to the following question, why would god send people to eternal torment and torture just because they have different, non christian religious beliefs in their respective cultures (Buddhists, Hindu etc)

There should be a determined, efficient and proportionate punishment for each form of sin. Lets say, 80 years in hell for premeditated murder, 20 years in hell for adultery, 60 years for premarital sex etc. What does OT think?

FPSunionOWNS

Hell isn't eternal.

Because that's the best scare tactic. If Hell weren't eternal, people wouldn't be as frightened... or so the writers thought.

Stopped reading at title. Hell exists pretty much all religions, not just Christianity.

Or just right before you die repent and you'll be ok.Agent-Zero

It would be quite a remarkable feat to have a complete change of heart about this topic after a lifetime of skepticism. I don't believe most of these "deathbed" conversions are genuine; more likely they are simply inspired by fear of death. But as any Christian will tell you, there's more to being saved than admitting you have sinned.

I doubt I could do it... unless I was provided the proof I needed just before I passed away.

[QUOTE="FPSunionOWNS"]

[QUOTE="AgentA-Mi6"]

I was thinking about Hell as a law school student and It really makes very little sense, even for human principles, legal values and standards to punish a "soul" to eternal torment for sins committed during say, 24-30 years? Think someone that abused Alcohol, committed lust sins such as fornication and adultery and then stole a few items during his lifetime.

In human criminal law, the punishment delivered by the state to those found guilty of crimes is supposed be among other things

• A deterrence for other potential criminalss so they wont break the law
• A deterrence to the criminal himself, so he refrains from his illegal conduct in the future once the punishment has been endured (unless its death penalty)

IF we, Humans, are aware that eternal torment and suffering, even for criminals is not fair why would god punish sinners in a way that is arguably "inhumane" and extreme, which also leads to the following question, why would god send people to eternal torment and torture just because they have different, non christian religious beliefs in their respective cultures (Buddhists, Hindu etc)

There should be a determined, efficient and proportionate punishment for each form of sin. Lets say, 80 years in hell for premeditated murder, 20 years in hell for adultery, 60 years for premarital sex etc. What does OT think?

AgentA-Mi6

Religion might just have been a creation by humans to ward off criminals in society. By doing God's will(avoiding 'immoral' practices), they will be devoid of eternal punishment in the "afterlife." At least, concerning the punishment counterpart of most religions.

[QUOTE="Agent-Zero"]Or just right before you die repent and you'll be ok.pianist

It would be quite a remarkable feat to have a complete change of heart about this topic after a lifetime of skepticism. I don't believe most of these "deathbed" conversions are genuine; more likely they are simply inspired by fear of death. But as any Christian will tell you, there's more to being saved than admitting you have sinned.

I doubt I could do it... unless I was provided the proof I needed just before I passed away.

Hell isn't eternal.

br0kenrabbit

Hell isn't eternal.

br0kenrabbit

I'm incline to believe this, plus my latent belief in Buddhism led me to think nothing is eternal, at least the consequences of sin does not lead to eternity of suffering

The same principle should apply to heaven as well.

No one would know if that is true until they are dead though..

I was thinking about that same thing actually. Hell is a cruel manufactured device to scare people into believing, its that simple. A place with no human moral code in place is not a human place at all, that is why the concept of hell terrifies people so much.

Hell isn't eternal.

br0kenrabbit

I guess when you commit sins you should have a recourse that is 2nd to none. Take murder for example, if someone killed one of your loved ones without care, dont you think the murderer should suffer eternal endless punishment?

I guess when you commit sins you should have a recourse that is 2nd to none. Take murder for example, if someone killed one of your loved ones without care, dont you think the murderer should suffer eternal endless punishment?

PrimusGears

I too can't understand why. I think the subject of hell is ignored too often in today's churches. You should not teach only the lovey dovey stuff and forget the rest.

I think the necessity of self-loathing that the new testament introduced was a tool that the authors used to get people to obey. Muhammad and Joseph Smith also knew that fear would increase their amount of followers in a hurry. I think that that's one of the reasons why there are an enormous amount of hell threats in the Qur'an, and it's also why Joseph Smith was so adamant in condemning christian creeds.

Stopped reading at title. Hell exists pretty much all religions, not just Christianity.

Samurai_Xavier

yeah but only in christianity is hell eternal

[QUOTE="PrimusGears"]

I guess when you commit sins you should have a recourse that is 2nd to none. Take murder for example, if someone killed one of your loved ones without care, dont you think the murderer should suffer eternal endless punishment?

trust_nobody

lol what does that mean? i like the tsk tsk part for some reason

Better yet. Why would an omnipotent, all knowing god, put certain humans on the earth when he already knows that they're sinners who are going to spend eternity in hell? Sounds pretty sadistic to me.

RearNakedChoke

Because God provided a simple way for us to get out of it.

Anyways, the standard for Heaven is absolute perfection. Which no one on Earth meets, not even a Ghandi or a Mother Theresa. Meeting this standard through Jesus is the basis of Christianity.

[QUOTE="trust_nobody"]

[QUOTE="PrimusGears"]

I guess when you commit sins you should have a recourse that is 2nd to none. Take murder for example, if someone killed one of your loved ones without care, dont you think the murderer should suffer eternal endless punishment?

PrimusGears

lol what does that mean? i like the tsk tsk part for some reason

Hell isn't eternal.

br0kenrabbit

[QUOTE="RearNakedChoke"]

Better yet. Why would an omnipotent, all knowing god, put certain humans on the earth when he already knows that they're sinners who are going to spend eternity in hell? Sounds pretty sadistic to me.

TaCoDuDe

Because God provided a simple way for us to get out of it.

Anyways, the standard for Heaven is absolute perfection. Which no one on Earth meets, not even a Ghandi or a Mother Theresa. Meeting this standard through Jesus is the basis of Christianity.

[QUOTE="PrimusGears"]

[QUOTE="trust_nobody"]

That's unethical vengeance..nootttt verrrryyy Chrrriiissstiiaaannn tsktsktsk...

trust_nobody

lol what does that mean? i like the tsk tsk part for some reason

The punishment is separation from God. He isn't punishing you, He just cannot be with sin. AKA, can't be with someone who has sinned. So He doesn't punish you. Why would He desperately try and save you. Judgment comes to those in Heaven and Hell. In the end, we all are judged, but that doesn't decide our fate (heaven or hell), repentance and believing that Jesus was God and was sent as the sacrifice for our sins is what decides our fate

What if I said that according to the laws of sin, the sentence is eternal death? One sin is all that it need to be sentenced to death, and the only way to pay for that sentence is through blood. If you're going to judge the concept of hell as a punishment, then examine the law through God's standards instead of human ones.hiphops_savior

While I certainly cannot understand God's standard (after all, who honestly can?), but my question is, isn't the point of punishment is to mend ones error and send them onto the correct path? Does it still make sense to continue on punishing the sinner even after the point of realization? Or maybe once someone is send to hell, he/she lost the capability to reflect on ones actions?

Or, I guess really my question is, what really is the point of hell? Is it as someone said, just a scare tactic to make believers out of people? If God does exist, in his infinite wisdom I am sure he would have thought of a more fitting punishment than eternal suffering, which, essentially, does not offer any possible "out" whatsoever.

Can it be possible that, maybe, we interpreted the Bible wrong? Maybe hell is not meant for eternity? Maybe "eternity" is a concept in human term, but for God is just mere moments?

[QUOTE="trust_nobody"]

[QUOTE="PrimusGears"]

lol what does that mean? i like the tsk tsk part for some reason

seabiscuit8686

The punishment is separation from God. He isn't punishing you, He just cannot be with sin. AKA, can't be with someone who has sinned. So He doesn't punish you. Why would He desperately try and save you. Judgment comes to those in Heaven and Hell. In the end, we all are judged, but that doesn't decide our fate (heaven or hell), repentance and believing that Jesus was God and was sent as the sacrifice for our sins is what decides our fate

Can it be possible that, maybe, we interpreted the Bible wrong? Maybe hell is not meant for eternity? Maybe "eternity" is a concept in human term, but for God is just mere moments?ariz3260

[QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

Hell isn't eternal.

Lockedge

Yeah, the whole story from Genesis to Revelations makes much more sense with this view in mind, doesn't it?

[QUOTE="Lockedge"][QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

Hell isn't eternal.

br0kenrabbit

Yeah, the whole story from Genesis to Revelations makes much more sense with this view in mind, doesn't it?

In its original form, the mainstream Christian belief was that all men would be reconciled with God and that the lake of fire and sulfur was a (literal or symbolic, I tend towards the latter) place of divine purification, not eternal torment. The doctrine of eternal punishment for the wicked did not come to prominence until some four or five centuries after the crucifixion, at the point in time where powerful people began to see Christianity as useful rather than a threat. The Latin translation of the Bible was the first one to contain any notion of "eternal punishment", and it is no coincidence that the rise in the mainstream belief in that doctrine coincided with the time period after which all people were required to read the Bible only in Latin.

[QUOTE="trust_nobody"]

[QUOTE="PrimusGears"]

lol what does that mean? i like the tsk tsk part for some reason

seabiscuit8686

The punishment is separation from God. He isn't punishing you, He just cannot be with sin. AKA, can't be with someone who has sinned. So He doesn't punish you. Why would He desperately try and save you. Judgment comes to those in Heaven and Hell. In the end, we all are judged, but that doesn't decide our fate (heaven or hell), repentance and believing that Jesus was God and was sent as the sacrifice for our sins is what decides our fate

This paints to me the picture of a God who, while very powerful, is not all powerful and cannot do anything and everything. If this God was all powerful he would not try with all his might to save you, he simply would. Do, or do not, there is no try. A being that has no limitations would not have to try because if he/she/it wanted it to happen, it would happen. A being with untold omnipotent power would not be subject to a disability of "being unable to be with sin", a being like this would have no limitations and could be with who or whatever it wanted.

Then again I always got that vibe from the bible. God is powerful but has limits, can be bested, and is not unstoppable.

Humanity was given one thing, choice. Eve was the first and we where all granted the same. Remember to keep the two parts of the Bible separate. Things cant be compared from the old to the New Testament and remember not to take everything up in a literal sense. I think hell will be what you as a person fear most.

Humanity was given one thing, choice. Eve was the first and we where all granted the same. Remember to keep the two parts of the Bible separate. Things cant be compared from the old to the New Testament and remember not to take everything up in a literal sense. I think hell will be what you as a person fear most.

Roguetrp