There is no Hell

This time I'll try to be as brief as possible, in hope that someone might actually have the patience to read through ;) (I think this might be one of my best debates so far, thank you.) [quote]Therefore God, who isn't a person, has the ability to cross between Heaven and Hell. However, he chooses not to. [/quote] Touche! So, he *could* save millions (maybe even billions) of non-christian souls from eternal torture, but he CHOOSES not to. Is that loving? Having a chance to end someone's torment, but choosing not to? [quote]I said: "The passage goes on to say that the rich man begged god to send someone to warn his brothers about hell, but god declined. So, god had a chance to save five plus people from eternal flame and torture, but he CHOSE not to." My opponent said: He didn't send any warning? The whole story of Lazarus and the rich man is a warning about the horrors we'll face in hell if you do not believe in God.[/quote] Okay, during the time of Jesus there was only the Old Testament, which, by the way, has NO teaching of hell. So basically Jesus just invented the concept, or... Also, here is another problem. [quote]Actually, the destruction of the world is never established in Revelation. The creation of a New Heaven and a New Earth is though.[/quote] Well, this is a question of definition. Revelation 21:1. "...For the first earth and heaven had passed away." And for one, this universe will not be around forever. [quote]God doesn't expect us to be perfect. But, he does expect us to try. That is why non-believers go to Hell and believers go to Heaven. No one deserves to go to Heaven, we only get there by the Grace of God.[/quote] Okay, first I'm going to comment on this and then I'm going to present a straight question for which I expect a straight answer. Comment: Christians are not better than the rest of mankind. If a Christian tries to be perfect, and an atheist tries to be perfect, why is ONLY the Christian allowed into Heaven? The question (and this is a "what if"-type of question.) I expect a clear and straight answer.: Person 1 is Hitler. Person 2 is Mother Theresa. On the very last second of his life, Hitler became a Christian. On the very last second of her life, Mother Theresa became a Hindu. According to the Bible, Hitler is allowed into Heaven and Mother Theresa will be sent to the everlasting flames of hell. How is this logical? Rhetorical question: Why does god only allow those who believed in him to heaven? Why doesn't he value our actions more? Or why couldn't he take us all into heaven? [quote]First of all, I believe that God doesn't WANT us to go to Hell. However, I believe that he allows us to. God didn't create Hell (it's never stated in the account of creation recorded in Genesis); however when he disbanded Satan from Heaven, he kicked him into hell. God gets his power from those who believe in him. If no one believed in God, then he would be powerless. We are his tools, his work is reflected in us. That is called the Holy Spirit and it is a widely accepted component of Christianity. So, I believe that God is helpless to help someone who doesn't believe in him. That person's soul belongs to the devil, so therefore it is controlled by Satan.[/quote] You completely dodged my question. Although you made a point (which I'll get to), I would like an answer for this question. Answer this question. Think it has nothing to do with hell. Think It has nothing to do with anything. One word will be enough (yes or no.) Okay. If I were your child [or best friend] (as humans are god's children), could you, as a loving father, send me to a place of torture, and pain? If you did that, would you also make me immortal so that I could not simply die, but would have to endure the pain and who knows what for an eternity? (Just so that you know, the above question is a checkmate to anyone who believes in hell.) And now to your point. Let's go one thing at a time. "First of all, I believe that God doesn't WANT us to go to Hell. However, I believe that he allows us to." "God didn't create Hell (it's never stated in the account of creation recorded in Genesis);" To be exact, there is no mention of hell in the OT. "...however when he disbanded Satan from Heaven, he kicked him into hell." ...So why do humans have to go there? Couldn't God have made a little less... painful... place for non-Christians? Like A prison? "God gets his power from those who believe in him. If no one believed in God, then he would be powerless." Are you saying that God is dependant of his creations? This poses several problems, of which I'd like to mention one. How could god have created the universe when there were no humans around? "We are his tools, his work is reflected in us. That is called the Holy Spirit and it is a widely accepted component of Christianity. "So, I believe that God is helpless to help someone who doesn't believe in him." Therefore you're saying that God is NOT almighty. Notice the word "HELPLESS". "That person's soul belongs to the devil, so therefore it is controlled by Satan." Since God is almighty, he could just basically say, "Hey! Give those souls to me!" After all, Satan is his creation. Don't you think God has more power over his creation than his creation over him? And now the rest. [quote]So God should create a bunch of robots who have no choice other than to love him? If you're forced to love something or somebody or some God, is it a true love?[/quote] I agree 110%. However, it is said that you don't need to love God in order to gain salvation, you need to believe in him. [quote]The only reason the New Testament is included in the Christian Bible is for 2 reasons. 1) For our education. 2) To show the contrast in the world before and after the coming of Christ.[/quote] "The only reason that the NEW Testament is..." I understand. We all make mistakes. Errare humanum est ;) And now to the point you were making. Maybe, just maybe there are other reasons for the OT being in the Bible. For one, Jesus said: "Truly I twll you, Until heaven and earth pass away, not even one yoth [Hebrew for: smallest letter] or a dash shall pass away from the law [old Testament] until it is all fulfilled." Second of all, the God it's the same God speaking in OT and NT. [quote]Yes. God doesn't expect us to be perfect, he expects us to believe. We can't be perfect, God isn't going to hold us to a standard so high that no one on Earth can ever meet it.[/quote] Question: What is so good about believing in God that it entitles for salvation? Why couldn't he just take all of us to heaven? [quote]Part B is true. However, Part A doesn't make any sense. But, he doesn't have any authority over it. We decide for ourselves if we are going to Hell or not.[/quote] So, if in heaven an atheist (while he was alive) says, "Hey, God, listen. I know I've been an atheist, but now that I'm finally able to see for myself you, hell and heaven, I believe in you! I'm a Christian now! Don't send me into hell!" he will still be sent to hell? Interesting. [FYO, the Bible says that after a man dies, he cannot change his fate.] [quote]BUT JESUS WAS DEAD FOR ONLY THREE DAYS!!! He rose from the dead and ascended to HEAVEN. This is described many times in the Bible in Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, and Acts 1:9-12.[/quote] Okay. Let me make this clear. The Bible says many times that if you sin, you go to Hell for eternity [and since Jesus took all the sins of the world on him, he should be in Hell forever.]. However, in the Gospels etc etc it is said that he arose after three days! This is a contradiction. That's what I was trying to say. So, how do you explain the contradiction? [quote]None of the above things happened. They simply discovered the scripture that proved the existence of hell.[/quote] In the 4th century the NT was translated into Latin. A coincidence?