Dee Dee Warren's pick for 06-07-2004 ~ AJ on Hell (without flames of course)

[Dee Dee Warren]

Originally posted by cirisme in the thread Am I Going to Hell? on 06-07-2004:

[smile=2]Not to get into a debate... but I can't help it

1) Why are finite moral crimes (as are all committed in this world of finite existence) appropriately punished infinitely? And ancillary to this is the question of why the moral crime of stealing a pack of gum should receive the same infinite punishment as mass murder.

Primarily, I would disagree that hell is the place for typical(stealing, murder, etc... things people generally think of with hell and sin) sins, but (imho) rather it is the punishment for the greatest of all sins, rejecting God.

Think about it this way... without violating the victim's freewill, what sin on eath is there that God can't undo? He can undo murder(He will in the resurrection preceding the judgment of all men), He can restore life savings, He can heal wounds(both physical and mental), and on.

But, without violating the victim's freewill, how can He have the victim come to know accept God? That is the only sin I can think of like this(you could argue suicide but that makes things a little bit more complex then I'd prefer for now as it is rather irrelevant in answering your question).

If the ultimate purpose of humanity is to know God, and if God stepped down and gave His own life so that you could and you still rejected Him, what greater sin is there from His perspective?

And if hell is the place where people who have no desire to know God go to and God's presence is not there, and if heaven is where God in all His glory is revealed in the highest and where people who have the desire to know Him and be with Him go, then I think things make a lot of sense.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that hell isn't a place of punishment for sin(it's also more than that), what I am saying is that the primary sin that everyone is guilty of is rejecting God, all else pales in comparison to that.

I realize that none of this will work but in a Christian worldview(hence all the ifs) but you asked.

2) If Hell is justice for moral crimes, what would be the hypothetical fate of those who never commit any? Is the virtuous non-believer exempt from Hell?

Well, if the primary sin is rejection of God, then I'd think it would be a contradiction to say they are a non-believer and sinless. [/smile]

[$cirisme]

Thank you, thank you!