On Hell...Have you ever considered.?.?

The Christian idea of hell seems partly to have come from the Greek Gehenna from Hebrew Gehinnom, the valley outside Jerusalem. This became a symbol of condemnation because child sacrifices had been offered there (2 Chronicles 28:3 and 33:6). “They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.” (Jeremiah 19:5-6)

As Sheol, hell is just lying dead in the grave, and not selected for eternal life in the new theocracy or kingdom of God.

But there is also the picture of darkness and unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43/Isaiah 66:24 and Matthew 8:12). "... cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." and " But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

And in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, it says: "The rich man also died and was buried. In hell (Hades), where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' (Luke 16:22-24). And there's the Lake of Fire in Revelation. Greek culture was plainly influential in the eastern Mediterranean at the time, so would have been adopted and adapted among the beliefs of the time.

Apart from this there's the imaginative picture given in Dante's Inferno.

The more modern re-interpretation of hell as an emotional or mental state, or the unhappiness caused by the absence of God, seems to be re-interpretation by church leaders embarrassed by the obvious mythical nature of the belief. But emotions are caused by chemical changes in the brain, as is our mental state, so after death these just won't exist.

Like all myths, people re-interpret the meaning to fit in with what is believed over time, and the later beliefs are read back into older scriptures to re-interpret them in ways that the original writer or prophet could not have meant.

But being myth, we know that we don’t have anything like hell to fear, despite what the late C S Lewis thought..

My trust is in the Jewish Bible teaching -- that Gd is merciful and forgives the sins of those who seek justice and ethics and love and proper behavior. Perfection is not the standard, and shedding blood is not the requirement. Isaiah 1.

Further, God's punishments are not eternal - nothing in the JB suggests any such thing. Nor will His forgiveness turn on what a person thinks or does not think about the Messiah.

God is said to be omnipotent. No sin that a human can possible commit can actually harm Him in any meaningful way. I suppose His feelings could get hurt. But the broad shoulders of an omnipotent being ought to be able to take it.

Therefore, if God tortures people in hell forever, He is just being really mean. It is like a human has a temper tantrum and kicks God in the shin. So God retaliates by locking the human up in a torture chamber, brings out all His medieval torture instruments, and makes the human die as painfully and slowly as possible. Where is the justice in that? Punishments should be proportional to the crimes.

I do not worship C.S Lewis. I worship Jehovah, the creator of the universe. Hell, as a place of torment is a pagan myth, not taught in the bible.

You identify yourself as a Catholic. You might want to study the book of Revelation. Especially the part that tells you to come out of false religion. That means ALL man made religion.

Up to you.

Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sin. Christ's blood on Calvary IS the atoning substance. To reject Christ is to reject His forgiveness.

Hebrews 9:22 -

"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."

CS Lewis was a nincompoop who had no more understanding of logic and reason than the average bible thumping fundie regardless of his insistant assertion to the contrary.

I am a Christian and know that Hell, except in a pagan indoctrinated mind, does not exist. When you die you cease to exist and your body is generally buried in a grave.

No, no, no.

First you DEMONSTRATE the existence of Hell.

THEN we can have a coherent conversation about the Doctrine of Hell.

You still have all your work ahead of you...

Yes I have and agree it is a place where negativity is left with negativity to fester into the realization that it does not work and its only capability is self destruction.