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

The idea that any creature possesses a soul independent of its body and which survives death is absurd to the point of nausea.

You an undercover agent for the Watchtower, Neo?

I admit I derive much of my information from their publications. I shy away from the label hoping to have my posts judged on their reasonableness, or, as you might say, lack of reasonableness.

I wouldn't necessarily contend that you are deficient in the faculty of reasoning, you do quite well most times--rather i would suggest that you allow your reason to be swayed by dogma.

Precisely why I search for reasonable posts. I think all of us should answer these questions for ourselves:
Do I believe in God solely because I hope for some reward or because the existence of God has been clearly demonstrated?
Do I not believe in God only because disbelief provides a convenient license for sin?
Honest reasoning should provide an answer.

At any event, so we hope. The question then turns upon the proportion of honest men and women in our society and polity. A consideration which gives me pause, and leads me to the kitchen to make another cup of coffee, before returning here to read a different thread . . . any different thread.

The Christ Myth. Is the bible God's word? Did Jesus ever live?

http://www.xs4all.nl/~wichm/christmyth.html

au1929, I don't think you ever answered 00agent kid's and my questions on the other thread...

You say dogs do God's will and will be with God. How about cats, worms or salamnders? How about snakes or fish?

Did the Neanderthals go to Heaven, or Homo erectus?

Thunder
Is that answer enough for you? You wanted the bible to be disproved. I believe there have been a sufficiency of posts on this thread and the other thread to give even the most brainwashed to question the validity of the bible. What would it take for you to even question it's validity a disclaimer after the last chapter?

Maybe Jesus was the reincarnation of Horus.
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen046.html

There is so much paganism in Christianity that it should be called the Judeo-Pagan religion.

Trinity
Virgin Birth
Full body resurrection
Christmas
Easter
Miracles
Deification of a human

"The Egyptian and later Greek and Roman practice of deifying their kings was also adopted by Christians for their new king, Jesus, descended from the royal bloodline of Jewish Kings (Matthew 1). After the death of Jesus, Paul and the writers of the Gospels began to claim that he was one and the same as the Creator of the Universe. In fact, the deification of Jesus can be traced back to Ancient Egypt and the Osiris/Horus myth cycle, in which the God is killed in blood sacrifice and three days later, is resurrected as the new King and Creator of all Life. Other elements in the story of Jesus, such as his virgin birth, come directly from Mesopotamian and Pre-Gathic Aryan Myth."
http://www.vohuman.org/Article/The%20Pagan%20Heritage%20of%20Humanity.htm

BIBLE CONTRADICTIONS

The Bible, that is the Torah, is the legacy of Moses. It consists of the books Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It forms the basis of the Jewish religion, and has remained essentially unchanged since Ezra and Nehamiah "canonized" the Torah in 444 BC. The "New Testament" consists of materials surrounding Jesus (diaries, letters, narratives, pious fabrications, written and oral histories) that survived Catholic editors 400 years later who were motivated by politics and not, as is obvious to anyone free of theological bias, logic. "Translations" of both the Bible and the New Testament are pitifully lacking; Hebrew (Torah), Greek (New Testament), Aramaic and Chaldean (bits of both) are rich, beautiful, poetic languages with myriad hidden meanings and depth. English translations are pale shadows of the originals. The more mystical or universally philosophical overtones were left out altogether, at Nicea, in 325 AD, when any of the [over 150 versions of the Gospel - hence "Heterodoxy'] writings not in line with the council standards were systematically destroyed to favor the mystically vacant and emotionally mean Orthodoxy. This is when four Gospels (and the other New Testament books) were selected and enforced. (See Bible Roots)

Hosea 13:4 "...thou shalt know no G-d but me; for there is no Savior besides me." So much for Jesus....

Link
http://www.dimensional.com/~randl/tzohr.htm

Thunder, you've just been xinged! It's a sad commentary on nominal christianity when the reasonings of the unbeliever underscore the credulity of the 'believer'. If you would read the bible yourself, you would see how far fetched the concept of doggie heaven (fish valhalla?) really is.

Make that 'nominal christianity' and I'll buy it. Oh, and also add the concept of the immortal soul.

I never said anything about doggie heaven. All I said is that they are probably not punished. Do you believe that animals have souls?

Personally, i no more believe that animals have souls than do humans--which is to say, i do not believe it at all.

And you neologist?

Animals are souls. Just as you and I are souls. When we die, we are dead.

My belief in a resurrection is a separate topic which, no doubt, Setanta will challenge as only he can do.

So long as you don't make it boring . . .

Well, then what happens to doggies when they die?