If Jesus died to forgive us, then why is there a Hell?

Interestingly, hell might also just mean floating as a disembodied spirit out in the spaces between the stars-
"Ungodly men,wandering stars for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved forever" (Jude 1:4-19)
But whether hell is hot or black it doesn't sound very nice..

To avoid it we simply have to LIKE Jesus so that we connect or mindmeld with him, so that when our bodies die, our souls automatically fly to him and absorb into him-
"On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you" (John 14:20)

Well, I still think that if the god wanted to be truly merciful, he would just zap all sinners out of existence when the time comes. What good will it do the god to have a bunch of disembodied spirits trashing up his space?

But if that's what the god wants, and I can't do anything about its version of justice, then I suppose I could like Jesus. Does it matter if I'm sincere in my feelings of like for Jesus?

I more or less like for what I know of him the figure of Jesus, a tid bit delusional nice chap that helped the poor and his ego...its the common Christian figure of God almighty that I don't like. So I am left wondering am I saved ?

Spiritually speaking, I have found that the only thing that people need to be saved from is that idea that they need to be saved.

amen

A man was drowning so another man risked his own life and jumped in the deep dragged the man ashore gave him mouth to mouth and revived him. The drowning man thanked the man then got up and went straight back into the water again but this time he drowned for sure. Being saved means staying out of the deep

Trying to decide if that's really deep or incredibly shallow...

I think doug fog's story has many truths, and we see it almost every day.

said- "Does it matter if I'm sincere in my feelings of like for Jesus?
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What's there NOT to like about him?
Call it a test- if you want to be his chum you're at least halfway to the pearlies, but if you don't like him you haven't got a chance..
Jesus said- "You're my friends if you follow me. I don't call you servants, but I call you friends"- (John 15:15)

"If you follow me?" What a strange threat.

said- "If you follow me?" What a strange threat."
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Seems logical to me, for example if you applied for a job as a Samurai with a Japanese warlord, he'd tell you what your duties were and say "If you follow my rules we'll get on great, but if you don't follow them you'll be out on your butt!"..

There's no analogy between your god and human situations. In human experience, once dead, you're dead. No second chance at life. Faith of eternal life is a religious concept.

said- "In human experience, once dead, you're dead. No second chance at life"
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Yup, if you die without having connected with Jesus, it's game over, you failed the test, no second chance.
PS- some "christian" cults say there IS a second chance but that's illogical baloney..

Yes, it's true. Most men never go very deep.
Question is: Do you always want to stay at the shallow end of the pool?

I see. So, there's no eternal punishment for not connecting with Jesus.

I used to be a fair swimmer, but haven't tried it for many decades. At 80, my stamina is not it used to be.

Yeah, but what I'm really looking for is a passport that will allow me entry into Heaven? Can you do that? And what will it cost me?

I don't believe you are completely unable to understand metaphor CI. But I could be wrong; could it be that you really are that shallow?

I'm the shallowest person on a2k. That's when I can't swim at all.

Genesis in Japan rises from a journal of reflections that were collected by the author while teaching the Bible to Japanese university students in Tokyo. It relates the diverse responses to the Bible that rebound, subtly but forcefully, back to the teacher from these students—extraordinary responses, in that they are simple, pure, ordinary, and entirely disorienting.

Teaching and learning the Bible in Japan has led the author to another view of the Bible, one that stands in stark contrast with the Bible in the Bible-heavy culture that was the author’s beginning at a small crossroads in central South Carolina.