Definitions of Hell....

Some people say that the definition of Hell is the seperation from God and that God loves us so much that he gives us a choice, to choose God and be with him or not to be with him, or Hell.

Some say thats what it is and not a fiery pit where you are being poked with pitch forks. If that kind of Hell existed and if there was a kind God, why would he let it exist, couldnt he destroy it now?

And if the definition in the first paragraph (separation from God) is true, then wouldnt it be true that we are in Hell right now? Or, is Hell a state of mind. You can choose to be with God within your heart and feel is presence and feel is love or you can ignore it, a.k.a Hell...

In my opinion the fiery pit and pitch forks idea sounds like something your Mom would say to keep you from doing bad things. Maybe man felt ashamed of themselves for all the things that is in our nature to do, sex, masturbation, steal, murder, and decided that it would be a good idea to tell people if you do the above things then you will be tortured for all of eternity.

Im not saying it is good to murder, but if you think about it, it is in our nature. All animals on earth kill one another as an act of rage, jealousy, etc...

Neither am I saying that theft is good... but its in our nature, the way God made us, to want something and if we can't get it then we will try our best to get it.

I dont know of any scriptures that actually say masturbation is a sin but I do know that it was sin, in the Old Testament atleast, if you were not circumsized, which makes masturbation difficult. An obvious attempt for control over something man was ashamed of....

with "controls".

Hell is what we put ourselves through while not realizing we presently reside in God's kingdom-Heaven.

Definition of hell:

Being alone in a crowd...the others not hearing ur screams for another voice to talk too...for them not to see u as they walk past!

The Rich Man & Lazarus

Luke 16:19-31


Once there was a poor man named Lazarus who suffered from a disease that was not curable medically during the time that he lived. He was covered with disgusting sores all over his body. He was thin and weak from the devastation caused by this terrible disease and was not able to work to earn a living. If this poor man lived in today's world he would receive financial assistance from the government so that he could buy food and clothing and to pay rent on a small apartment where he would be sheltered from the heat, rain, snow and cold.
The one bright spot in Lazarus' miserable existence was his strong faith in God. Unfortunately, Lazarus did not understand that God loves us as children and will provide healing for those who believe in the healing power of God. The Bible states that "My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge." If Lazarus could have understood Psalm 103:1-5 he could have received his healing from God. That scripture states, "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's".
Nevertheless Lazarus' simple, childlike faith in God extended to a belief that his soul was safe in the care of God. He prayed morning, noon and evening to the LORD, the God of all creation, entrusting his soul into God's care.

Lazarus had no relatives who would offer him money, food or other help. Due to his sickness he was forced to become a street person. He slept on the street, huddled against the cold and rain, clutching his torn and ragged clothes around him. He crawled to the gate in the wall surrounding a rich man's house, holding out his scrawny, bony and sore covered hand for scraps of food from the rich man'stable. These scraps were the only food that Lazarus was able to get, and consequently he became sicker and sicker, thinner and thinner. During those times it was considered evidence of righteousness to give money and food to the poor and so the poor usually were not chased away from the streets in front of the homes of the wealthy. Nevertheless, the rich man held Lazarus in disdain and secretly was enraged that Lazarus chose to grovel at his gate, begging for food. He did not wish his important visitors as they passed through his gate to be forced to look at this disgusting creature. This caused them to lose their appetites and to think unpleasant thoughts.
Before long Lazarus died of starvation and sickness.
As he died God dispatched an angel to guide his soul to the kingdom of heaven, into the presence of the LORD God to Whom Lazarus had prayed so diligently throughout his life. Lazarus discovered that his new body was free from sores. His thin, scraggly hair had been replaced with a thick, lustrous and shining mane of rich dark brown hair. His face glowed with health and vigor and his wrinkles had smoothed away. He found himself surrounded with other, loving people who had entered the eternal gates before him. He recognized Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Isaiah, David and all of the other saints about whom he had learned during his earthly existence.

Lazarus had passed from a miserable, starving and pain-filled life into a realm of happiness, love, joy and plenty. All of the misery he had experienced was more than abundantly rewarded because of his faith and trust in the name of the Lord. Lazarus is forever, throughout eternity, to enjoy his existence in the wonderful kingdom of God in Heaven. When we pass over into our eternal life in the kingdom of God we, too shall be able to meet all of those people, and in addition we shall be able to discuss with Lazarus himself the joy with which he met the LORD, the God of the whole universe.

Not long after Lazarus died and went to Heaven the rich man also became sick and died. Unfortunately, the rich man never had humbled himself before the LORD God. In fact, in his heart of hearts he was not convinced that there really was a God. He had believed that his wealth and position in life was proof enough that he inherently was good and righteous in his own self. And even if there were a God he believed that he did not need to confess his sin of pride. He believed that the good deeds that he performed, such as allowing Lazarus to crouch at his gate and in giving Lazarus the scraps from his table should be enough to satisfy any demands that God might have. The rich man had lived his life without thinking much about God at all.

As he died there were no angles of God to direct him into God's eternal home of love and peace. The rich man had not wanted God to intrude into his life on Earth and God allowed him to make that choice. Therefore God also did not intrude in the rich man's death. Without the power of God and His angels to interfere the rich man's soul passed into the natural abode of those who had rejected the love and power of god. At his death the rich man passed into hell.

The rich man had not thought much about hell. In fact, just as he had not believed in the existence of God, so had he not believed in the existence of hell. Nevertheless, he found hell to be a very real, terrifying and horrible place to be. All around him were fires, and he was suffering in the heat of the flames. Far away he could see Abraham with Lazarus sitting beside him in the beautiful kingdom of Heaven. He called out in anguish, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame."

But Abraham replied, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. and besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us." The rich man called again, "Please, I beg you, that you would send Lazarus to my father's house for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment."

Abraham answered, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them."

The rich man responded, "No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent."

Abraham replied, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."

The former rich man considered this statement and was extremely sad. He knew that not only was he destined to spend eternity in the torments of hell because of his unbelief and lack of trust in God, but also his five brother shortly would join him in this place of torment. His brothers also had paid no attention to the writings in the Bible and took no time to think about God nor to ask forgiveness for the sinful things they were doing in their lives. Soon they would join him in hell, this place of torment.

Jesus offers forgiveness for all of our sins if we confess them and ask forgiveness based on His sacrifice on the cross where He died in our place, for our sins. Jesus was resurrected from the dead and now lives in the Kingdom of Heaven where He awaits us. If Jesus does not return to Earth in His second coming before the end of our lives, we shall join Him in Heaven at our death. We shall live forever with Jesus and the saints of God, just as Lazarus even now is enjoying the presence of God.



Key Concepts

1. Heaven is a real place with eternal joy and happiness.
2. Hell is a real place with eternal torment.
3. Our eternal abode in either Heaven or Hell is determined by the choices we make.
4. If we repent of our sins and confess them to God the Father as we believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, in our place. All of our sins will be forgiven us. We shall dwell forever in God's eternal Kingdom of Heaven because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Oh crap.

If you want to talk about hell then you have to first say where do I get the concept?

Most people take it from the bible, and some from greek teachings.

The bible speaks of hell in a couple of ways, with the greek there is a place "hades or sheol" which is a black place, a place of nothing, where people wait. This was emptied by Jesus when he died on the cross.

Then there is the hell of demons and sulfer etc. That too is in the bible and is the ultimate place of destruction populated by beings who rejected God.

Now if you want to use the term "hell" then these are definitions about its structure.

If you want to indulge in "I think it is ..." then give it a name of your own, as you are not talking about hell but a place of your own imagination.

Hell is living on this world when you are a good person.

Hell is probably much worse for those that choose the dark side.

An ATS "topic" search on "Hell" would have turned up a number of past posts and threads dealing with this. Many, if not all, had broad amounts of "definitions pertaining to hell.........

regards
seekerof

My definintion of Hell & how the concept of it has been altered by the "Religious Hierarchy" in several places & times throughout history has been scattered among quite a few threads within this topic...
...In a nutshell, the *original* concept of Hell (from the ancient Hebrew) was not even a place for punishment at all, merely some time (described as "an age") to rest, away from earthly concerns until you were ready to answer to God's call.

It was the Greeks & Romans who came afterward that decided to turn "sheol" (in Herbrew script, "grave" or "pit"; Basically, the spiritual life immediately after death) into a straight ticket to either eternal bliss or eternal punishment.

...Which is why I don't follow the tenants of "Organized Religion"...

A good source I've found that's available online is a site that contains a study of scriptures as they concern Hell, what it is, what it's made for & who actually made it into the common concept of today;
The Hell Page
Lots of info contained at not only the site itself, but also a $hitload of related links.

These also give very good interpretation's:

"The Bible Hell"
Link:
hellbusters.8m.com...

"What the Hell is Hell?"
Link:
what-the-hell-is-hell.com...


regards
seekerof

Hell is being absent from God for eternity. Knowing that you'd never see God again is Hell. You see, I believe that everyone sees God after death for personal judgement. Those that go to Hell have seen God and want to be with Him but it is too late and thus suffer torment and spiritual agony because they have seen the face of God. Physical agony follows when their Earthly bodies merge again to their spiritual selves during the Last Judgement.

Hell is having all the negativity you created and cast onto other people during your life coming back to you for an indeterminate duration. When you've payed your debt, learned and grown you move on!

To me, that is a cop out, because if that is the case you can be evil and do anything you want and not worry too much on owning up for what you did. That is passing the buck for your actions and not taking responsibility for your actions.

im sure youve all heard the expression hell on earth. i dont think we should worry about hell as much as we should worry about the hell on earth. as for the real hell, i just think it is every bad feeling you can have, or an eternal bad feeling, and there is knowone to help you, or knowone to hear you. you are all alone with your fears, and you cant escape.

Locked in a room with nothing but Facts of Life reruns...(from Animaniacs)....

Hell to me, is streets paved with gold (that you can't pry up or sell), harp music all over the place (once in a while it's nice, but every damned day?), walking on clouds (man, it's a long way down if you step through a hole), and then meeting everyone you thought was out of your life for good...having to always be good and virtuous, having to listen to the big guy drone on and on about mortals these days....and how he laments the old days when a flood or plague would scare them, and.....

Hey, wait a minute, that sounds like the other place!

(chuckle) Gaz, that sounds like a real hell to me, too! And it was also Mark Twain's definition of hell.

www.hell.com...