An Example of the Typical Christian "Answer."

Here is the typical "answer" to Normal Bob Smith's question, and I am only reposting one of them. Bob has more of this excuse...I mean, "answer: than he can handle.

I think the thing to keep in mind is the God did not create Hell for people. He created Hell for Satan and for the demons.

Jody: did God make the rule that non-believers go there or did he not? My question was "why did God make the rule that non-believers must go to hell. I was a christian. I know your excuse about hell being made for demons and angels. I was asking for an answer, not an excuse. This is not a justification, Jody. Why? And to add to that: why should satan go to hell? Please go into the bible, and give me a reason--a good reason--that satan should suffer for all eternity. What did he do that made him deserve to suffer terribly for all of eternity? This is your assignment. I want you to learn the truth about who Satan is in the bible, and who he is not. Next, find all instances of the word "Lucifer" in the bible, and then come back and tell me who he really is. This can only be good for you, Jody, to read the bible carefully. Right?

The reason Satan and the fallen angels couldn't dwell in Heaven any longer is because they wanted to be as powerful and great as God. God created angels (including Lucifer) to worship Him in Heaven. When the angels no longer choose to do so, or if they decide they want to follow Satan and serve themselves then they are in sin, and sin cannot dwell with perfect light.

Again, Jody, find this in the bible. Find out where it is located, and then report to me what you have found. This is important, Jody. It's my immortal soul we're talking about. Next, I want you to find out the origin of this story. Hint: this is a myth of the babylonian religion. You aren't a Babylonian, are you? So why do you follow the Babylonian myth? Also, why do they deserve to be tortured forever?

When God created Adam and Eve He gave them free will to choose to follow Him. But man is inherently selfish and self-serving, because we desire pleasure over pain, and naturally we want to pursue what's best for us. So, I think to assume there are "no good people" is faulty only because we do have good traits. We do love and care and nurture, but we also have a selfish side.

Yes. We want what's best for us. Why do you think, Jody, that what is best for us is bad for other people? Do you think that helping other people harms us? Why is that? Also, why does wanting what's best for us make us deserve to be tortured forever?

I think when Paul talks about people (in Romans) not being good, I think he means that we are not completely good. I think he means that we have faults, unlike God who is perfect. So, as imperfect creatures, we need to rely on God to show us a measure of grace and mercy, and guidance. If we reject God's love and correction we are telling Him what Lucifer told Him- loosely, "I am Better than You are."

OK. So if I am not all good, which is very, very true, why do I deserve to be tortured forever? If I said that I was better than Jesus--which I am, because I don't believe people should be tortured forever, no matter what they did--do I deserve to be tortured forever? Why?

The Bible tells us that God desires that no person would go to Hell. So we know that none of us are predestined to that fate. But we can choose our fate by rejecting God's precepts and elevating ourselves above Him.

So if God doesn't want me to go to hell, then why did he make the rule that only a very few people won't go to hell? You would think that God's hands weren't tied here, Jody. Do you believe that people who donh't believe in God think they are better than God? How does that work, JOdy? DO you believe that people who believe in HInduism and Buddhism deserve to burn and be tortured forever? Why? I don't care if God doesn't want it and is powerless to make it stop. I want to know why. So far, you haven't answered either fo the questions, JOdy.

One question I have that is completely off topic. I have been told that angels in Heaven are not given an equal amount of free will. If not, are they only able to choose whether or not to worship God, since Lucifer chose not to?

I'm glad you are thinking, Jody. If angels don't have free will, they cannot choose to do anything. IF you have started to read about Lucifer, you will find only one mention of his name in the bible. The fallen angel thing is not scriptural, Jody. It is in books that were rejected as part of the bible. The story of the fallen angels comes from babylonian myth. "Lucifer" was not an evil god. Lucifer was a Babylonian god who was incorporated by the Greeks. He was rivals with his brother, who was head honcho. Lucifer was never meant to be satan. In fact, there is not one Satan in the bible. There are many. Once you start reading the bible, you will learn this. A satan is an adversary. One of God's "sons," in the older books, is interpreted as Satan. He does what God tells him to do, nothing more. "A" satan, one that is referred to by people like King David, is anyone who opposes him. Like a human being.

This is how people learned to demonize others, and make it okay to kill and torture them. There is a lot of this in the bible, Jody. But what I am asking you to do, Jody, is to find a justification for torture. If God made the rule that allnonbelievers will be tortured forever in hell, then this is god's justice. If it is moral, then, Jody, it must also be moral everywhere. If you apply morality to some things and not others, this is called "relativism." You could also call it "wishy-washy." If you want to actually prove something is good, it has to always be good everywhere. Therefore, Jody, you have to justify to me why people, no matter what they have done, should be tortured, forever. Please do this for me, Jody. If you can, perhaps I'll look into your religion. Until then, I'm sticking with the sensible position that people are mostly good, and tend to want the best for themselves and the people they love, and that there is no morality whatsoever in torture and force.