so if must be true. :lol: Check out this 'great' piece of '____'written by the 'bible answer man'. So weak is this paper i was embarrested for him just reading it. This is from his website (satans) 'equip.org'.
Why Should I Believe in Hell?
by: Hank Hanegraaff
"Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt� (Daniel 12:2 NIV).
The horrors of hell are such that they cause us instinctively to recoil in disbelief and doubt; yet, there are compelling reasons that should cause us to erase such doubt from our minds. First, Christ, the Creator of the cosmos, clearly communicated hell’s irrevocable reality. In fact, He spent more time talking about hell than He did about heaven. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), He explicitly warned His followers more than a half-dozen times about the dangers that lead to hell. In the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25), He repeatedly told His followers of the judgment to come. In His famous story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16), He graphically portrayed the finality of eternal torment in hell.
Furthermore, the concept of choice demands that we believe in hell. Without hell, there is no choice. Without choice, heaven would not be heaven; heaven would be hell. The righteous would inherit a counterfeit heaven, and the unrighteous would be incarcerated in heaven against their wills, which would be a torture worse than hell. Imagine spending a lifetime voluntarily distanced from God only to find yourself involuntarily dragged into His loving presence for all eternity. The alternative to hell would be worse than hell itself in that humans made in the image of God would be stripped of freedom and forced to worship God against their will.
Finally, common sense regarding justice dictates that there must be a hell. Without hell, the wrongs of Hitler’s Holocaust would never be righted. Justice would be impugned if, after slaughtering six million Jews, Hitler merely died in the arms of his mistress with no eternal consequences. The ancients knew better than to think such a thing. David knew that it might seem for a time as though the wicked prosper despite their evil deeds, but, in the end, justice will be served. We may wish to think that no one will go to hell, but common sense regarding justice precludes that possibility.
IS ANNIHILATIONISM BIBLICAL?
If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name. (Rev. 14:9–11 NIV)
Just as universalism (i.e., everyone will be saved) is the rage in liberal Christian circles, so, too, annihilationism (i.e., God will annihilate unbelievers) is gaining momentum in conservative Christian circles. The question, of course, is whether annihilationism is Biblical.
First, common sense tells us that a God of love and justice does not arbitrarily annihilate a portion of the crowning jewels of His creation. He graciously provides everyone the freedom to choose between redemption and rebellion. It would be a horrific evil to think that God would create people with freedom of choice and then annihilate them because of their choices.
Furthermore, common sense also leads us to the conclusion that nonexistence is not better than existence since nonexistence is nothing at all. It is also crucial to recognize that not all existence in hell will be equal. We may safely conclude that Hitler’s torment in hell will greatly exceed the torment experienced by a garden-variety pagan. God is perfectly just, and each person who spurns His grace will suffer exactly what he or she deserves (see Luke 12:47–48; cf. Proverbs 24:12; Matthew 16:27; Colossians 3:25; Revelation 20:11–15).
Finally, humans are fashioned in the very image of God (Genesis 1:27); therefore, to eliminate them would do violence to His nature. The alternative to annihilation is quarantine. That is precisely what hell is. - Hank Hanegraaff
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This guy is such a fool its sad. :cry: See how he keeps using the words 'common sence' this natural man foolishness. And notice how he calls us 'liberals' guess he's never been to bibletruths/*not-allowed*.com.
I'm not even going to waste my time refuting this nonsense. And to think of all the good this guy could do for the kingdom with that kind of platform.
Guess thats what the Lord means by few. :cry:
Wow! I saw someone post this on myspace. Don't worry... I refuted it.
http://forum.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=messageboard.viewThread&entryID=16883493&categoryID=0&IsSticky=0&groupID=100096596&Mytoken=8222EFC9-C4A4-444B-81EFA27B5550412B679579937Here's my post:
The doctrine of hell and eternal torment is the result of sick and twisted minds and the lack of understanding of the Scriptures.
This person quotes Daniel 12:2. I would like to point out the word translated everlasting. The Hebrew word is olam. This is the same word used in Gen 9:16.
"And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth" (Gen 9:16, KJV).
We all know this covenant, spoken of in Gen 9:16, was not everlasting. Jesus formed a new covenant. Will anyone disagree with me? I hope not. Therefore, olam, at least in this case, does not take on the meaning of never-ending-ness.
The word is also used in Hab 3:6.
"He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered" (Hab 3:6, KJV).
The moutains are considered "everlasting, " or olam, yet are scattered. Therefore, the moutains were not "everlasting."
The fact is, the language of Hebrew, and Greek for that matter, did not have a word to denote eternity. They did not think like we do. Time to them was different. Thus why olam is used to describe general duration with beginning and end or time as long as one lives.
This guy says Christ talked more about hell than he did about heaven. Well, let me run a quick search.
Gehenna, the word used to describe judgment, used by Jesus, is used ONLY 12 times in the entire New Testament. On the other hand, the word heaven is used 238 times throughout the New Testament, mostly by Jesus!
This person goes on to use Luke 16 for an example. I would like to point out that this is a PARABLE. It is allegorical. Tell me, are the seeds Jesus preached about in his parables literal? (Mar 4:15). No! Can you gain spiritual meaning from those parables? Yes!
The person goes on to write one of the most ridiculous and anti-scriptural things Ive ever read:
"Furthermore, the concept of choice demands that we believe in hell. Without hell, there is no choice. Without choice, heaven would not be heaven; heaven would be hell. The righteous would inherit a counterfeit heaven, and the unrighteous would be incarcerated in heaven against their wills, which would be a torture worse than hell. Imagine spending a lifetime voluntarily distanced from God only to find yourself involuntarily dragged into His loving presence for all eternity. The alternative to hell would be worse than hell itself in that humans made in the image of God would be stripped of freedom and forced to worship God against their will."
This is in utter contradiction with the Scriptures. He says that it would be "torture" to be "involuntarily dragged into His loving presence." I dont know about you, but when my parents DRAG me into their loving presence, after chastening me for a good cause, it is NOT TORTURE, but LOVE that is for my own GOOD.
I guess this guy is being tortured. I guess I am being tortured. BECAUSE NO MAN COMES TO CHRIST EXCEPT HE OR SHE IS DRAGGED! YES THATS RIGHT! This man says its torture to be dragged to Christ, BUT THATS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS!
"No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day" (Joh 6:44, KJV).
The Greek word translated draw in this verse is:
hel-koo'-o, hel'-ko
Probably akin to G138; to drag (literally or figuratively): - draw. Compare G1667.
This word means to drag, literally! So NO MAN COMES TO CHRIST "EXCEPT THE FATHER DRAW [LITERALLY TO DRAG] HIM." Are we all being tortured? According to this heretic we are.
He goes on to talk about free will without a single Scripture to support the heretical doctrine. All I can leave you with for the sake of brevity is this verse:
"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:" (Eph 1:11, KJV).
He goes on to say:
"Finally, common sense regarding justice dictates that there must be a hell. Without hell, the wrongs of Hitlers Holocaust would never be righted. Justice would be impugned if, after slaughtering six million Jews, Hitler merely died in the arms of his mistress with no eternal consequences. The ancients knew better than to think such a thing. David knew that it might seem for a time as though the wicked prosper despite their evil deeds, but, in the end, justice will be served. We may wish to think that no one will go to hell, but common sense regarding justice precludes that possibility.
Why Should I Believe in Hell?"
Who ever said the wrongs of Hitler would never be righted? The Bible speaks of jugement, in which the world will LEARN righteous (Isa 26:9). But judgment serves a purpose. Our loving God is our FATHER and He teaches us.
Tell me, what would happen if I had a child, and tortured him for his entire life? Would that make me a very good Father? ABSOLUTELY NOT. On the other hand, if my child did something wrong, and I chastised him for it, would not my child learn, and would I not be a loving Father?
I dont know about the rest of you. But I LOVE Hitler. I feel bad for him. Its horrible when a human being (like Judas) is DESTINED to be influenced by spirits. I, however, know that Hitler will be judged. But through judgment he will learn! Thank God!
If hell is eternal, then God is not just. No doubt about it. Tell me, if I steal a piece of candy, and am sentenced to life in prison, is that just? Tell me, if a person that never hears about God, dies in his sins, and gets sentenced to ETERNAL TORMENT, is that just? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Jesus said that those that do not follow him will be BEATEN with stripes. But for a purpose. And he never said the stripes are endless.
"And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes" (Luk 12:47, KJV).
Paul explains to us that the sinners will reap what they sow (Gal 6:7). Now, tell me, did Hitler SOW eternal torment? No. Now tell me, will he reap eternal torment? God forbid. Sinners will reap what they sow, and NO SINNER HAS EVER OR WILL EVER SOW ETERNAL TORMENT. Yet, we say our loving God, who tells us to overcome evil with love, and LOVE our enemies, will do the oposite, and torture his enemies with HATEFUL FIRE for all eternity. How sick!
"If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" (1Co 3:15, KJV).
Fire will save mankind, I assure you.
"And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:" (Rom 11:26, KJV).
All Israel will be saved, including all the murderers, and spiritually fornicating Christ denying Jews.
"And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest" (Heb 8:11, KJV).
ALL SHALL KNOW HIM, LEAST TO THE GREATEST!
Do I deny judgment? No. Do I deny chastisement? No. Do I deny the act of total injustice of torturing mankind in their sins for all eternity? Yes.
"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;" (Rev 2:7, KJV).
PS. I do not have the time to go through the entire article. Im sorry. But Im still in high school and I have homework. What I wrote is the best I can do. I pray that the rest of you can read it with an open mind. Thanks.