Protestantism

» pink101 - Hell

In response to Hell posted by BrianTubbs:
.
I don't think my gripe is so much about what the Bible has to say about Hell as that is quite confusing and ranges from a hole in the ground to a place where Job saw his deceased friends begging for a drop of water to be placed on their lips. We can forget that.
.
My question is more about the threat we hear from so many teachers of the Gospel that Hell is a place of pain and anquish where human beings are punished for being guilty of breaking God's law just by having been born. Where does that come from? Do you teach that from your platform?
.

-- posted by pink101

» Brian Tubbs - Hell

In response to Hell posted by pink101:

My question is more about the threat we hear from so many teachers of the Gospel that Hell is a place of pain and anguish..."

Well, I think JESUS makes it clear that hell is a place of pain and anguish. See the parable of Lazarus and the rich man.

...where human beings are punished for being guilty of breaking God's law just by having been born.

See Paul's letter to the church in Rome, especially Romans 5:12. That's what I teach.

Where does that come from? Do you teach that from your platform?

The "that" you refer to is some twisted concept that we are punished just for being born. I don't preach that. We ARE born with a sin nature, but I don't believe babies go to hell. The Bible is pretty clear that we are punished for our sins, not because we are born.

» pink101 - Hell

In response to Hell posted by BrianTubbs:
.
So, you exemplify the problem that comes about when we accept the Bible as the Word of God.
.
The apostle Paul was a great teacher--no doubt. And, there is great truth and understanding to be discovered studying his writings. But, when a person uses the perspective that the Bible represents a literal reality, they are caught in one of those traps you spoke of earlier.
.
I've heard that Jews in rabinical schools read and reread scriptures for endless numbers of times while they bob their heads in meditation to seek out meanings that may they have missed--always seeking new understandings.
.
Many mystics refer to the Bible as well as other scriptures as being the repositories of hidden wisdom. Hidden because some people interpret what is written as though it were meant to be a literal truth.
.
I always worry about people who think they have found an absolute regarding the divine.
.
Always.
.

-- posted by pink101

» Brian Tubbs - Bible

In response to Hell posted by pink101:

Your reservation holds a considerable amount of merit...

...UNLESS...

God really did inspire the authors of the Bible, including Paul.

» paper_turtle - Bible

In response to Bible posted by BrianTubbs:

Even if God did inspire the writers of the Bible, that inspiration was being transmitted to an imperfect being, who might not have gotten the message exactly as it was sent.
.
peace and love,
Bonnie

-- posted by paper_turtle

» pink101 - Bible

In response to Bible posted by BrianTubbs:
.
Yes, that's true--no doubt.
.
But, the Bible is NOT the Word of God. Even so, it contains great information and wonderful understandings can be taken from it.
.

-- posted by pink101

» Brian Tubbs - Bible

In response to Bible posted by pink101:

...the Bible is NOT the Word of God.

Can you prove that negative?

» pink101 - Bible

In response to Bible posted by BrianTubbs:
.
No, and you can't prove that it is.
.
So?
.
Neither of us can disprove the giant tea cup that orbits the moon. Or can you prove that?
.
Dumbo.
.

-- posted by pink101

» redback - Squirming Again?

In response to Squirming Again? posted by pink101:

Pink...I'm forever reminded of my relative 'ranking' healthwise. Best wishes.

-- posted by redback

» pink101 - Squirming Again?

In response to Squirming Again? posted by redback:
.
I think we're all in the same boat.
.
"There Charon stands, who rules the dreary coast-
A sordid god:
down from his hoary chin
A length of beard descends, uncomb'd, unclean;
His eyes, like hollow furnaces on fire;
A girdle, foul with grease, binds his obscene attire.
He spreads his canvas; with his pole he steers;
The freights of flitting ghosts in his thin bottom bears.
He look'd in years; yet in his years were seen
A youthful vigor and autumnal green."
~ Virgil's Aeneid
..
:)
.

-- posted by pink101