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Soph0571

(9,685 posts)
Sat Jul 13, 2019, 06:42 AM Jul 2019

There are not many people in paradise, but the population of hell is huge?!?!

This must be what many right-wing evangelical Christians believe. For millions of Christians the belief that you must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God is a fundamental cornerstone of their belief system:

‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again he cannot enter the Kingdom of God’, so said Jesus to Nicodemus. A puzzled Nicodemus asks how is it possible for a man to be born when he is old. The answer of course was that man should be reborn in the spirit, not in the flesh. Millions of Christians claim to have experienced that spiritual rebirth, without which they believe you cannot enter Heaven.

However what about the millions who are brought up as Christian but whose religious rules and mores say something different. Catholics for example, believe in talking to God through Priests, not through Jesus. There is 1.2 billion that are alive today, heading for the fiery inferno. How about those with no faith who live a life of good works. Fire and brimstone for you. Faithful Muslim, praying 5 times a day? 1.5 billion, burning for eternity.

Hell is starting to look pretty crowded. 2.5 billion Souls, just taking into account currently living Catholics and Muslims. Of course we have had 200,000 years of homo-sapiens on planet earth before the birth of Christ. We have all the people in all the world, who by virtue of their geographic location, or by the time of their birth, could never have possibly heard the word of God, and therefore could never make the choice to be born again? How many do you think that adds to the fiery pit?

Born again Christians believe that you cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven unless your spiritual experience is exactly like theirs. Current estimates suggest that worldwide there are about 285 million evangelical Christians. About 13.1% of the total population. They are going to heaven. Everyone else is going to hell. Sounds somewhat like a privileged, gated, middle class community to me. Does your face fit? Can you follow the rules? Do you think, act, and behave exactly like us? Praise Jesus or be damned. Truly. In this version of events there really are not many people in paradise.

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There are not many people in paradise, but the population of hell is huge?!?! (Original Post) Soph0571 Jul 2019 OP
Big opportunities in hell for housing construction! RKP5637 Jul 2019 #1
Thought the Bible says only 144,000 would go to heaven. sinkingfeeling Jul 2019 #2
Some are going to Heaven. Others are getting their own planet. 3Hotdogs Jul 2019 #3
Only mormons get their own planet. Voltaire2 Jul 2019 #4
How are people tortured in Hell edhopper Jul 2019 #5
They only get FOX News. CaptYossarian Jul 2019 #6
Remember, God is all powerful. Mariana Jul 2019 #9
Not too worried about the conventional Christian views on Hell (or Heaven). gtar100 Jul 2019 #7
Trump carries around his own Hell with him every day. eom guillaumeb Jul 2019 #8
Fick. Iggo Jul 2019 #10
Much ado about nothing. AtheistCrusader Jul 2019 #11

3Hotdogs

(13,327 posts)
3. Some are going to Heaven. Others are getting their own planet.
Sat Jul 13, 2019, 07:28 AM
Jul 2019

I'd choose the planet over being in the same place as Bakker or Robertson.

Voltaire2

(14,632 posts)
4. Only mormons get their own planet.
Sat Jul 13, 2019, 08:46 AM
Jul 2019

And they have their own special book of utter bullshit, which fact sort of makes them not exactly christians.

edhopper

(34,660 posts)
5. How are people tortured in Hell
Sat Jul 13, 2019, 09:58 AM
Jul 2019

when we are discoporeal spirits after we die.

No body should mean no pain.

CaptYossarian

(6,448 posts)
6. They only get FOX News.
Sat Jul 13, 2019, 01:30 PM
Jul 2019

My theory of Heaven and Hell is this: If your life on Earth was a living Hell--as in poverty, bad health, abuse or family separation--you are guaranteed a place in Heaven.

If you are born to privilege and money--and take every advantage (military deferments, not being punished for crimes, mistreating/torturing fellow human beings, being a traitor to your country, etc.)--you will rot in Hell for eternity.

Donald Trump and his crime family & cronies can go rot in Hell.

Mariana

(14,965 posts)
9. Remember, God is all powerful.
Sun Jul 14, 2019, 12:53 PM
Jul 2019

An omnipotent god can make it so you suffer physical pain, even if you don't have a physical body.

gtar100

(4,192 posts)
7. Not too worried about the conventional Christian views on Hell (or Heaven).
Sat Jul 13, 2019, 02:33 PM
Jul 2019

Eternal punishment is an absurd idea. Especially when it's related to concepts of justice, love, and forgiveness which Islam and Christianity also espouse. Eternity is kind of a long time (or no time at all depending on how you look at it). From my own experience, heaven and hell have doors that swing open both ways and we can move between both places based on our circumstances, decisions and perspectives - they are psychological "places". They aren't locations that are only accessible on the other side of our death, of that I am sure.

So whatever these Christian organizations say about it, orthodoxy or not, it makes no difference to me. I cannot subscribe to their points of view. They just don't fit with my experience.

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