If the soul is mortal why do christians believe in hell?

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The Bible has this to say about the end of life:

" Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. 4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. (Psalms 146:3,4, King James Version)

When you're dead you're dead. No possibility for baking, boiling, frying, or broiling. So why do the preachers continue to teach the doctrine?

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Type: Question • Score: 7 • Views: 9,973 • Replies: 131

[+3] - Smileyrius - 05/12/2013I blame the greeks.

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@neologist,

Is this a serious question ? Is it not blatently obvious that a major psychological functions of religions like Christianity is an "insurance policy" against the distinct possibility of the meaninglessness of life and death ? Policies are sold on the basis of simplistic "sticks and carrots" Discussing the ontological status or destiny of "souls" has about the same significance to such policy holders as drawing their attention to the fine print. They don't want to know.

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@neologist,

Oh please, this is so phony of you. If you want to preach that "the soul is mortal," then preach it. Most Christians will not agree with you, and what you are engaged in here is taking an obscure passage as a basis to make a claim which is not patently explicit in the passage. So you are begging the question of whether or not the soul is mortal, at the outset.

This is very dishonest of you.

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@fresco,

fresco wrote:

Is this a serious question ? Is it not blatently obvious that a major psychological functions of religions like Christianity is an "insurance policy" against the distinct possibility of the meaninglessness of life and death ? Policies are sold on the basis of simplistic "sticks and carrots" Discussing the ontological status or destiny of "souls" has about the same significance to such policy holders as drawing their attention to the fine print. They don't want to know.

It's the fine print I wish to highlight. Those calling themselves christian seem to have deserted the board. If this doesn't draw them out, what will?

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@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

. . . This is very dishonest of you.

I sold cars for a few years. That might have something to do with it.

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@neologist,

I blame the greeks.

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@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

This is very dishonest of you.

I would not call that "dishonest", rather I would use words like "mischievous" and "stupid".

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@neologist,

If you read the entire first section of Psalm 146:

NIV Bible wrote:

1 Praise the Lord.[a]

Praise the Lord, my soul.

2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.

6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

10 The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

This is just to say, all that we are physically dies, but the soul continues on through the Lord if you are saved.

Do Christians teach about hellfire and whatever else? Yes; mostly because of Revelations. But mainstream Christians also seem to attach themselves to the concept of the trinity even though it is not strictly biblical. The Nicean council largely determined the structure of the evangelical Christianity.

This passage is an excellent tool for which to approach Christians to open a dialogue about their thoughts amounting to near nothing. The words of man that are pasted from generation to generation are empty without an understanding from the heart.

Oh who am I kidding, people believe whatever they want to believe, and it is primarily instructed by their early childhood upbringing. Something that a simple stranger isn't going to change overnight.

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@RealEyes,

(Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6) . . For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten. 6 Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished, and they have no portion anymore to time indefinite in anything that has to be done under the sun.

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@Smileyrius,

Smileyrius wrote:

I blame the greeks.

How so?

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@Smileyrius,

It's about time for this clarion call do demand responsibility from the Greeks. They've been bullshitting us for thousands of years, and getting away with it.

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@Setanta,

The guys who started it are dead now. They have no idea how ticked off we are at them.

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@neologist,

1st century christians were heavily influenced by the philsopher fads of their time
Modern day christianity owes many of its conceptions to Hellenistic and platonic philosophy,

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@Smileyrius,

Greek philosophy permeated the Jewish culture long before the first century. First century Christians were able to keep these ideas out of the congregations, initially. The real apostasy began after the death of John, But you are right. The concept of an immortal soul came from the Greeks, though it was symptomatic of earlier religions dating all the way back to Nimrod.

After all, how would one explain death after the serpent promised Eve she would not die? How about saying you don't really die; a part of you lives on?

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Neologist said- "When you're dead you're dead"
-----------------------------------------------------------

Daniel in the Old T said "Sleepers in the dust of the earth shall awake,to eternal life or contempt" (Daniel 12:2)

And likewise Jesus said the same thing in the New T about a dead child- “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” (Mark 5:39)
And of his dead friend- "Lazarus is asleep, but I'm going to wake him up now" (John 11:11)
"Don't grieve for those asleep,for they sleep in Jesus" (1 Thess 4:13/14)

Then on judgment day we all get a wake-up call (including atheists) to hear whether we made the grade-
Jesus said:- "Pray..that you will be able to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36)

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@Romeo Fabulini,

So, is the soul mortal?

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Neologist said- "So, is the soul mortal?"
-----------------------------------------------

In what sense are you using the word "mortal"?

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@Romeo Fabulini,

I wrote:

So, is the soul mortal?

Romeo Fabulini wrote:

In what sense are you using the word "mortal"?

Animals are souls. "Let the earth put forth living souls according to their kinds, domestic animal and moving animal and wild beast of the earth according to its kind."(Genesis 1:24) You do not have a soul, you are a soul. ". . . God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul" (Genesis 2:7)

But is the soul mortal or immortal? Well. . .

The consequence of sin is death. "But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die." (Genesis 2:17) and "In that day . [one's] . thoughts do perish. (Psalms 146:7)

Mortal = when you're dead, you're dead.

1 Reply

@neologist,

Is hell a Place of Eternal Torment?

Some Bible translations use the word “hell” for the Hebrew word “Sheol” and the matching Greek word “Hades,” both of which refer to the common grave of mankind. (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27) Many people believe in a fiery hell. However, the Bible teaches otherwise.

1.Those in hell are unconscious and so cannot feel pain. “There is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol.”—⁠Ecclesiastes 9:10.

2. Good people go to hell. The faithful men Jacob and Job expected to go there.—Genesis 37:35; Job 14:13.

3. Death, not torment in a fiery hell, is the penalty for sin. “He who has died has been acquitted from his sin.”—⁠Romans 6:7.

4. Eternal torment would violate God’s justice. (Deuteronomy 32:4) When the first man, Adam, sinned, God told him that his punishment would simply be to pass out of existence: “Dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) God would have been lying if he were actually sending Adam to a fiery hell.

5. God does not even contemplate eternal torment. The idea that he would punish people in hellfire is contrary to the Bible’s teaching that “God is love.”—⁠1 John 4:8; Jeremiah 7:31.

This was a 99% cut and paste. Reference on request.

1 Reply

@neologist,

neologist wrote:

This was a 99% cut and paste. Reference on request.

http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/what-is-hell/

1 Reply

If the soul is mortal why do christians believe in hell?

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