A question about hell as eternal separation from god?

Hard to answer without getting deep, but let me try to simplify. First of all, remove a burning pit out of your mind. It is a horrible doctrine that has slipped its way into Christianity.

What will happen to those who don't make it to heaven? They will be wiped out..forever...they will cease to exist. They will not burn forever in a pit...that's a misunderstanding of scripture.

Now, how would separation from God be a punishment? Well, you are His child, created in His image, even if you don't know it yet. But let's break it down like this...let's look at eternal punishment as what a person would NOT be receiving. That person would not live forever in the most beautiful place the human mind can imagine. That person would not experience the pulsating life of heaven, the peace, the overwhelming joy.

That person would not experience happiness beyond measure, nor would they experience living in a body that never wrinkles, gets a cold, a toothache, disease, or any such thing. They would never know of a body that is filled with never ending vigor.

I personally had a co-worker "die" on the operating table, they brought him back, but before they did, he told me that he went to a place where the very air was "love". Wow!

For a person to not be able to enter this place, is punishment to the highest level.

One last word for you...if...i repeat...IF...you have never been taught about the Lord Jesus Christ...you WILL NOT be eternally separated...you WILL get the chance to learn. Don't let any Bible thumper tell you that you are going to "hell." Hell is for those who reject AFTER knowledge.

Are we actually "connected" to God? Yes, we are all created in God's image (not physical, but essential or spiritual). We are created for the purpose of being with God as such that is where we achieve our most potential.

What would being completely separated from God be like?

I'll borrow this paragraph from Timothy Keller's book The Reason for God:

"A common image of hell in the Bible is that of fire. Fire disintegrates. Even in this life we can see the kind of soul disintegration that self-centerness creates. We know how selfishness and self-absorbsion leads to piercing bitterness, nauseating envy, and distortions that accompany them. Now ask the question: 'What if we die and we don't end, but spiritually or life extends on into eternity?' Hell, then, is the trajectory of a soul, living a self-absorbed, self-centered life, going on and on forever."

In short, hell is to be put apart and be apart from the source of good. It may be quite an appealing trade for some just to not be in God's presence so that they can be their own god, but it is at least a trajectory leading to a self prescribed and constant torment.

Jesus showed a Catholic nun a vision of hell about 100 years ago Eternal separation from God is only one component of hell. the others are much more painful:

"Today, I was led by an angel to the Chasms of Hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! The kinds of tortures I saw:

The First Torture that constitutes hell is:

The loss of God.

The Second is:

Perpetual remorse of conscience.

The Third is

That one's condition will never change.

The Fourth is:

The fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it. A terrible suffering since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God's anger.

The Fifth Torture is:

Continual darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own.

The Sixth Torture is:

The constant company of Satan.

The Seventh Torture is:

Horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies.

These are the Tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings.

http://www.divinemercysunday.com/vision.htm

That is an idea of Hell I've never heard before.

My studies in seminary led me to think Hell is just death. Eternal life is only in heaven. Hell is like a garbage dump, where souls are destroyed (in the everlasting fire).

That is just one component of it. With that separation from God you also are excluded from the Kingdom and are aware continually that God indeed exists. With that, an awareness all your arguments against God were wrong, most likely an awareness of the things pointing to God that your dismissed and rejected. Additionally that would probably come with regrets for rejecting God and being excluded from a place of honor in the kingdom. Worse than that would be the possibly some shame for having lead others away from God if you were an atheist that follows the Dawkins example. Imagine going to sleep each night and seeing the faces of all the people you falsely attacked, accused, ridiculed and showed spite towards. Or worse than that being surrounded by neighbors who were excluded from the kingdom because of you misleading them. You tell me, would that be punishment?

There were times when I was finishing medical school that I worked in Nursing Homes. I can tell you one of the most horrible sources of personal torment is regret. People knowing their days are numbered regretting this or that decision, from decades earlier. Mental wrestling with ones self, what if I did this, or that what would my life have been like then. I cannot imagine many things that are worse, and what is most interesting is it is one tormenting himself - not the work of some external malevolent entity or person. In such a circumstance, the punishment and torment by virtue of coming from within, cannot possibly be seen as beyond what is just for that individual since it is that individual who torments himself!

What else are they gonna say if they believe singing hosannahs to the big guy for all eternity is their idea of everlasting bliss? As a rational person, you should at least be reasonably certain that when you die, your molecules separate, "eternally" for all means and practical purposes, to become food for daisies. Unless you're cremated and leave a carbon footprint in our atmosphere.

I have died and came back and seen things and will post but being an atheist you will probably not believe me but is true,

In the beginning there was only God and he is made of magnificent energy more glorious than anyone can imagine. Everyone thinks he is an a form similar to man but he is not. And us as part of the divine are living this life in human form to learn and grow spiritually and when we are done we return to the divine source and we do maintain our individuality. I saw this in a vision and felt the presence of other souls and felt a love more wonderful than can be described in human terms. If only this could be conveyed to those who do not believe. A wonderful future awaits all who desire to return to our source of life and energy and from which all things were made. All souls are a part of him yet with a separate consciousness. All of us are a part of God and it is glorious and wonderful.

In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus gives us a vivid view of hell. It is called a place of torment. Those there are in agony by fire. There is a great chasm that separates Hell from all other places and there is no escape. Those there can see, hear, speak, have intellect, experience emotion and physical sensation. It must be a literal place. I see it as a physical place within the spirit realm.

In Rev. 20:14-15 we’re told that at the end of the age Hell itself and all unbelievers from all ages will be thrown into the lake of fire. Rev. 19:20 calls it a fiery lake of burning sulfur, just like Rev. 14:9-11, which also says the torment of those therein lasts for ever and ever. While this does constitute eternal separation from God it’s much more than just that. In Matt. 24:51 and Matt. 25:30 the final destiny of unbelievers is called a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In Matt. 25:41 it’s called the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, and in Matt. 25:46 it’s called a place of eternal punishment.

You may be wondering why there's a need for punishment in the first place. The punishment is a product of God's righteousness, as in there will be consequences for your disobedience. What's amazing about God is that He's perfect. That means He can't favor one of His attributes over another. Everything He does must be in perfect balance.

So while His righteousness demands a penalty be exacted for your disobedience, His love prompted Him to become a man and pay the penalty for our sins so we don't have to. At the cross justice and love were served at the same time.

And you ask "are we connected to God?" Genesis 1:26-17 tells us man was made in God's image. And if God is indeed perfect then that image of God in man was once perfect as well. The first man chose to disobey God, shattering that image into perhaps thousands of little pieces. Some reflect God in us better than others. It's why some of us are intellectuals while others are artistic, some readily "see" God while others have to blink a few times to focus. But no one is blind to God. No one can ever say, "I never knew you."

Genesis 5:3 tells us we are no longer made in God's perfect image, but in the image of the fallen man Adam. So we all inherit those broken shards of the mirror image. Still, Romans 2:15 says God's Law is written on our hearts. It's why atheists can be moral people, sometimes displaying a greater degree of morality than so-called Christians.

But getting to Heaven is not about how moral we are or how good we are. None of us is righteous (Romans 3:10); we're all sinners and fall short of God's standards (Romans 3:23). We're not perfect and that's what it takes to enter Heaven.

Paul wrote that he couldn't stop sinning no matter how hard he tried. Then he said when he did sin God didn’t count it against him, but against the sin nature that still lived within Him (Romans 7:18-20). Sins are violations of God’s law, but Paul said we have been given a righteousness from God apart from the Law. It comes through faith to all who believe (Romans 3:21-22). This righteousness allows God to see us as if we don’t sin at all. He sees us as if we’re a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) as righteous as He is (2 Corinthians 5:21) That’s because by His one sacrifice for sin, Jesus has made us perfect forever (Hebrews 10:14) in God's eyes.

So it's not about leading a good life or how much money you drop in the collection plate. It's all about admitting you're a sinner and believing that Jesus of Nazareth is God in the flesh who gave His life to pay the penalty due you for all your sins, past, present and future.

Accept the pardon He provides and the responsibility for keeping you saved now rests with the Jesus, not you (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). Scripture says no one can take you out of his hands (John 10:27-30), or separate you from Him (Romans 8:38-39), and that He’ll never lose even one of us (John 6:39). We are God's children (John 1:12) and His heirs (Romans 8:17). Our inheritance is guaranteed (Ephesians 1:13-14). We can address Him by His most intimate name (Romans 8:15) and come into His presence with freedom and confidence (Ephes. 3:12). These promises are so all inclusive that it’s clear, once we’re saved there’s nothing we can do to break our union with God.

Listen to this for a better explanation: http://gracethrufaith.com/free/mp3/mp3-union-fello...

yeah there is different versions of hell and I thought it was a separation of God until one day i wanted to take my life away and God gave me a vision of what hell looked liked and thats when i realized it was a place not a feeling.

This is a very good question.

Will you- just for the sake of this question- suppose that God does exist. Allow yourself to imagine that He really did create the earth. He really did make us in His Own likeness with the desire to know Him, to love and be loved. Imagine that everything you value- friendships, laughter, choice, good food, joy, sunlight, security, peace of mind, satisfaction, caring for someone, beaches, fulfilment, kindness, gentleness, hope, affection, comfort ect.- it all matters to us because it matters to God too. He gave us the capacity and opportunity to enjoy these things because He knows how good they are.

Now, imagine He has given you these things. You may not experience them as often as youd like but they are still good and attainable gifts from His hand. And you dont even know Him. But He allows you to enjoy them when you can. This is so you might see Him in them and be thankful enough to seek Him- this God who is so generous to you.