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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | how to start reading the bible? | Bible general Archive 1 | goodnewsminister | 87705 | ||
WHAT IS "HELL"? SHOCKING as it may seem, you may go to "hell"! Many of your loved ones are RIGHT NOW in "hell"! But don't be alarmed! You probably never heard the TRUTH about what "hell" really is -- and where all of YOUR ideas on the subject came from in the first place. You probably just accepted, WITHOUT QUESTION, this world's idea of a horrifying, nightmarish place of never-ending torture for lost sinners. It's time we QUIT "swallowing" the IDEAS and THEORIES of confused humanity, and begin STUDYING the truth for ourselves in GOD'S Word! The Common Idea of Hell FIRST, let's notice the generally accepted common belief in our Western world about hell. Here's the terse and brief summation of this popular belief, from the "Encyclopedia Americana": "... As generally understood, hell is the abode of evil spirits; the infernal regions ... whither lost and condemned souls go after death to suffer indescribable TORMENTS and ETERNAL punishment .... Some have thought of it as the place created by the Deity, where He punishes, with inconceivable severity, and through all eternity, the souls of those who through unbelief or through the worship of false gods have angered Him. It is the place of DIVINE REVENGE, untempered, NEVER ENDING. This has been the idea most generally held by Christians, Catholics, and Protestants alike. It is also the idea embodied in the Mohammedan's conception." From the Pagans Now where, and how, did this popular belief about hell ORIGINATE? The "Encyclopedia Americana" states: "The main features of hell as conceived by Hindu, Persian, Egyptian, Grecian, and Christian theologians ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME." The Western religious leaders through the Middle Ages borrowed the doctrine of eternal torture FROM THE PAGAN PHILOSOPHERS. Certain of these writers of the Middle Ages had such tremendous influence on the Christian-professing world, that their writings and teachings came to be generally accepted and believed, until it became the doctrine of the Christian-professing world. Among these influential writers were Augustine (345-430 A.D.), and Dante Alighieri (1265-1321 A.D.). Dante wrote a tremendously popular book titled, "The Divine Comedy", in three parts -- HELL, Purgatory, and Paradise. There is another book titled "Dante and His Inferno", which sums up the history of the Christian-professing doctrine of HELL. This factual history says that "of all poets of modern times, Dante Alighieri was, perhaps, the greatest educator. He possibly had a greater influence on the course of civilization than any other man since his day ... he wrote, in incomprehensible verse, an imaginative and lurid account of a dismal hell -- a long poem containing certain phrases which caught the attention of the world, such as, 'ALL HOPE ABANDON ... YE, WHO ENTER HERE!' This had a tremendous impression and influence on the popular Christian thought and teaching. His 'Inferno' was based on Virgil and Plato." DANTE is reported to have been so fascinated and enraptured by the ideas and philosophies of PLATO and VIRGIL, who were pagan philosophers, that he believed they were divinely inspired. Here is an article on Virgil, from the "Americana": "Virgil, pagan Roman poet, 70-19 B.C., belonged to the national school of pagan Roman thought, influenced by the Greek writers. Christians of the Middle Ages, including Dante, believed he had received some measure of divine inspiration." PLATO was a pagan Greek philosopher, born in Athens, 427 B.C., a student of Socrates. He wrote the famous book, "Phaedo", on the immortality of the soul, and THIS book is the real origin of the modern belief in the immortality of the soul. [To be continued...] |
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2 | how to start reading the bible? | Bible general Archive 1 | goodnewsminister | 87711 | ||
[...continue from first part...]So the world's concept of "hell" is admittedly a product of centuries of MAN'S THINKING on the great problem of reward and punishment which man associates with human deeds. It did NOT COME AS A REVELATION FROM GOD, but is rather the product of MAN'S THINKING -- using HUMAN REASON to decide what ONLY GOD CAN REVEAL! What About the Millions of Heathen? Now, before we examine to see whether man's idea of hell is TRUE, let us consider where this concept of hell, if true, leads us! On this earth there are more than three billion people! The most populous lands are China, India, and other parts of Asia, and in spite of missionaries from the West, actually MORE THAN HALF of all the people on the earth have NEVER SO MUCH AS HEARD THE ONLY NAME BY WHICH MEN MAY BE SAVED -- the name of JESUS CHRIST! For your Bible says, "... there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). This means that BILLIONS of people here on this earth have lived, and DIED, without having known anything about Christian salvation -- without SAVING KNOWLEDGE -- neither having heard the ONLY name by which men may be saved! Now think what that means. If all UNsaved have gone immediately to hell at death -- the hell commonly believed in -- then more THAN HALF the people who have ever lived on this earth have been consigned there without ever having been given so much as a CHANCE to escape it! They are ETERNALLY LOST IN TORMENTING "HELL FIRE"! Can you really believe THAT IS the plan by which an all-wise, all-merciful, LOVING GOD IS working out His purpose here below? WHAT IS THE TRUTH? We face these alternatives: Either the Holy Bible is the INSPIRED Word of God, by which the Creator REVEALS the TRUTH on this subject, or else we must fling up our hands and confess we JUST DON'T KNOW -- we are IGNORANT on the question -- because no one has ever COME BACK from such a hell to tell us about it. We must believe what the Bible says, or we can believe NOTHING, if we are rational and honest! IS there even such a thing as "hell fire"? What does the BIBLE say about it? Didn't Jesus say something about "hell fire"? Yes, He did! We are about ready for the actual lesson. But first, read these instructions. Before You Begin Is your Bible in front of you? If not, go GET YOUR BIBLE -- or Bibles if you have more than one translation. Also have several sheets of paper, and a pen, pencil or typewriter so that you can MAKE NOTES to help you in remembering what you learn. Remember -- you must open your Bible to EVERY PASSAGE. Never say to yourself, "Oh, I think I know what the scripture is referring to" -- and then pass over it. You need to KEEP YOUR NOSE IN THE BIBLE, SO to speak. You must READ and REREAD and STUDY EVERY PASSAGE in your Bible. Don't forget, this is a BIBLE STUDY COURSE -- not just a study of these lessons we send you. This lesson is intended to DIRECT YOU to the Bible -- to help you LEARN the TRUTH of God's Word. Now with your Bible, a good dictionary, and concordance, if you have one, and your stationery all in front of you, here is the METHOD of study. Write down neatly on your paper the lesson TITLE. Next write down the lesson number. As you come to each question section, write down ITS HEADING. Then, at the lefthand margin, print the NUMBER OF EACH QUESTION as you come to it, and WRITE DOWN THE BIBLE ANSWERS, together with any PERTINENT IDEAS that may come to your mind. Be sure to WRITE OUT THE SCRIPTURE which answers each question. Writing the answers and any comments you wish to make as you go along WILL HELP YOU GREATLY IN REVIEWING AND REMEMBERING WHAT YOU LEARN. Now we are ready to begin this lesson. Awaiting your responce on whether you wish to continue this lesson or not...I surely hope you're sincere, as God desireth those that are such to worship Him... Yours for the Good News, The Good News Minister |
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3 | how to start reading the bible? | Bible general Archive 1 | DAIRYLEADER5 | 87713 | ||
The scriptures are given to men by the Inspiration of God. Good news Minister, I cant see how you say that hell is a product of mans thinking. To me your saying the the scriptures are a lie. I will not try to decieve people on this subject. Your wrong and I hope you will change what you write, so others wont be decieved. | ||||||