I pretty much agree with this. I'm also afraid that if i believe there is no God, that eventually it will come back to bite me when i'm knocking on the pearly gates trying to get in.
I used to hold a loose belief in god just out of fear of hell. I figured I would hedge my bet. I then realized it was ridiculous to believe out of fear, and that there were so many gods to choose from throughout history I likely wouldn't choose the right one anyway.
You are an atheist when it comes to every god except your own. I just go one god further.
there are plenty of indirect references to what we call/consider hell in the bible....'fire and sulfer', 'hades', 'the lake of fire'....same thing...I also disagree with fearing Hell if you don't believe in God....if you truly believe in God or truly do not not, you should do either without fear or stigma...
None of the Hebrew or Greek terms translated into "Hell" in English Bibles carry the connotation of a literal place where sentient souls are punished. In fact, the modern concept of a "soul" is not found in the Bible either.
I recognize your penchant for linguistics and you raise some interesting points..the Greek and Hebrew terms that were translated considered a place of punishment for the naughty, or a place and/or consciousness where both the naughty and the good go in darkness ...but the concept (not necessarily a literal place) of Hell as a not so nice place to go where for the naughty that really sucks, and which is indirectly referred to in the modern English Bible is what I think folks are referring to here....The King James bible also indirectly speaks of what we today consider to the concept of a soul--i.e. God breathing into man, giving him life and man becoming a living soul while other English bibles refer to a 'being' which is considered to be the same as soul...Nonetheless these are all concepts that have changed over time...
The Hebrew term translated "soul" is "Ne'phesh". The term simply meant a living, physical being, and was used to refer to animals as well as human beings in the Hebrew scriptures. It did not refer to any sort of immaterial being that inhabited fleshly bodies and survived death. Interestingly, it is used to refer to animals before humans (Genesis 1:20). A "ne'phesh can die (Ezekiel 18:4). At Ecclesiastes 9:5, the dead are said to be conscious of nothing at all.
I could write a book about this, but I doubt I'd be the first, and the Bible itself is of course sufficient for those with alot of free time. The Bible is alot like "Origin of the Species" by Charles Darwin; They are both very large and controversial books that nobody actually reads.
Do you believe in god? Where are you on the 7 point belief scale?
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I want to believe that their isn't but I'm afraid that I might be wrong and go to hell...
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rsw
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I pretty much agree with this. I'm also afraid that if i believe there is no God, that eventually it will come back to bite me when i'm knocking on the pearly gates trying to get in.
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But what if you choose the wrong god? There are thousands you can choose from. That is the problem with Pascal's Wager.
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Good point, and you've also given me a new thing to check out on wikipedia, Pascals Wager. I love the internet !
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I used to hold a loose belief in god just out of fear of hell. I figured I would hedge my bet. I then realized it was ridiculous to believe out of fear, and that there were so many gods to choose from throughout history I likely wouldn't choose the right one anyway.
You are an atheist when it comes to every god except your own. I just go one god further.
Some religions teach a concept of "Hell". The concept is not found anywhere in the Bible, though. Just some trivia for you.
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there are plenty of indirect references to what we call/consider hell in the bible....'fire and sulfer', 'hades', 'the lake of fire'....same thing...I also disagree with fearing Hell if you don't believe in God....if you truly believe in God or truly do not not, you should do either without fear or stigma...
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Rufus
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None of the Hebrew or Greek terms translated into "Hell" in English Bibles carry the connotation of a literal place where sentient souls are punished. In fact, the modern concept of a "soul" is not found in the Bible either.
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littlelulu1999
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I recognize your penchant for linguistics and you raise some interesting points..the Greek and Hebrew terms that were translated considered a place of punishment for the naughty, or a place and/or consciousness where both the naughty and the good go in darkness ...but the concept (not necessarily a literal place) of Hell as a not so nice place to go where for the naughty that really sucks, and which is indirectly referred to in the modern English Bible is what I think folks are referring to here....The King James bible also indirectly speaks of what we today consider to the concept of a soul--i.e. God breathing into man, giving him life and man becoming a living soul while other English bibles refer to a 'being' which is considered to be the same as soul...Nonetheless these are all concepts that have changed over time...
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Rufus
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The Hebrew term translated "soul" is "Ne'phesh". The term simply meant a living, physical being, and was used to refer to animals as well as human beings in the Hebrew scriptures. It did not refer to any sort of immaterial being that inhabited fleshly bodies and survived death. Interestingly, it is used to refer to animals before humans (Genesis 1:20). A "ne'phesh can die (Ezekiel 18:4). At Ecclesiastes 9:5, the dead are said to be conscious of nothing at all.
I could write a book about this, but I doubt I'd be the first, and the Bible itself is of course sufficient for those with alot of free time. The Bible is alot like "Origin of the Species" by Charles Darwin; They are both very large and controversial books that nobody actually reads.
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Seems like you know your stuff, which is refreshing :)
who created us?...................................................
GOD
I use to have that same fear