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| Author | Topic: The Psychology Behind the Belief in Heaven and Hell | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Phat Member  Posts: 18349 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
DevilsAdvocate writes: OK. In summation, why do I believe in Heaven and Hell...I'm not sure that I give them proper thought, but it was always my understanding that Hell was never directly created for disposal and storage of humans...it was to be the place where fallen spirits went. Humans ended up there by default, having chosen to follow said fallen spirits. But again...I don't give this stuff a lot of thought. I am not sure if this topic has been discussed yet or not but I would like to investigate the rational many Christians and other religious people have in justifying a certain religious belief. This religious belief entails their willingness to accept the reward by God of going to eternal bliss in heaven for eternity while at the same time accepting the fate of even their closest friends and family members spending eternity in everlasting torment, torture and excruciating pain and agony forever which makes the holocaust and any other man-made atrocity a mere slap on the wrist compared to this appalling set of conditions.
D.A.'s sig writes: As a side-note, I saw your signature, and it reminded me of something that I just read from Henry Hazlitt "And as Mark Twain has remarked, "When even the brightest mind in our world has been trained from childhood in a superstition of any kind, it will never be possible for that mind, in its maturity, to examine sincerely, dispassionately, and conscientiously any evidence or One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous. - Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detectionany circumstance which shall seem to cast a doubt upon the validity of that superstition."Anyway, back to the topic.... 
Iano writes: That cuts the argument rather short, however. For the sake of argument, are we allowed to bring the Bible into any sort of questioning? After all, IF God exists, and has given us the ability to reason, should we fear questioning Him?
The rationale for justifying any of my beliefs stems from an overarching belief that the Bible is the word of God. Once I've accepted that, there isn't much need to justify any specific belief arising from that overarching acceptance: God says it's so - who am I to argue with God? DevilsAdvocate writes: I believe that God interacts with humanity in the present realm and under individual situations. I don't believe that God judges us based on what the book said in the past.
Here is what I think is happening: a. The majority of Christians really do not believe that hell exists. Also they may compartmentalize the belief in hell so much that choose to deliberately ignore that it exists, which essentially means they do not believe it exists in all intensive purposes.b. Many Christians only believe the worst offenders are going to hell. c. Some Christians do not care that the majority of the human race is going to hell. Honestly, I think very few people really think this way unless they are truly self-centered people. d. Very, very few Christians believe that hell truly exists and do care that the majority of the human race is going to hell and are doing everything in their power to save as many people as possible. Honestly, I think most religious people fall into the first two categories even though the Bible itself clearly indicates only option D is the correct answer. In fact I would speculate that fewer than 1% of Christians are in the D category, otherwise you would have hundreds of people every day pleading with you to be saved from the everlasting, burning fires of hell and doing literally EVERYTHING in their power to pull you from such an awful horrendous existence. Of course this clearly does not happen so I suspect 99% of Christians fall into categories A and B. Iano writes: Yet surely God understands human psychology and knows that people are often in denial. Does He expect us to overcome our own defense mechanisms?
The person who ends up in Hell did what they knew to be wrong..by suppressing the knowledge they had told them what they were about to do was wrong. Then they suppressed the guilt and shame that follows wrong doing. And they persisted along in that pattern their whole life through. Iano writes: Could it not be argued that those who do willfully reject Him are just in a weaker state of mind and either have more of an addictive personality or more of a skeptical inquiring nature about them? Personally I believe that if God is judging us, He takes all of our defense mechanisms into account before passing judgment. And speaking of judgment...one more thing. Why can't God give those headed for Hell the option of ceasing to exist? Wouldn't that be an act of benevolence on His part? I mean, why force people who have chosen to reject Him to suffer? Whats the point there? They (The ones in Heaven) turned to God because God has designed it that those who don't willfully reject him to the bitter end will find him. Edited by Phat, : mistake#1
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Phat Member Posts: 18349 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
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Phat Member Posts: 18349 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
Iano writes: So are you essentially saying that for the purpose of argument I could surrender to God even if I did not believe that God existed? That a person might not believe in God at the time of their believing God in this matter isn't a problem. I mean, if their rebellion against God can be waged without belief in God then so can their surrendering. OK. Say that I surrendered and said that I would concede this particular argument fully to you, Ian. Now what? 
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Phat Member Posts: 18349 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
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Phat Member Posts: 18349 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
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Phat Member Posts: 18349 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
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Phat Member Posts: 18349 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
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Phat Member Posts: 18349 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
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