beard ひげ @beardalaxy@gameliberty.club

@shortstories @Insomnolant saying that Judaism and Islam incorporate the Old Testament is just an easy way of saying it, I know there are more differences. They don't literally call it the Old Testament but they use many of the same books. They all come from a very similar place but have different interpretations, and within those interpretations are even more interpretations. I don't think any of them are 100% correct and it is better to have a personal connection with God and your own interpretation instead of putting your trust fully in man, who is faulty and fickle.

@shortstories @Insomnolant I just kind of think it weird to know that God is omniscient and still would decide to permanently keep people out of heaven that maybe didn't make the best choices in life, although God knew they wouldn't. I think free will is part of the necessary human experience and that hell is of our own creation. An absence of God and absence of spirit that results in darkness and pain. But that's just me, I know there aren't many people that think the same way. I've never been a conventional person.

It is also nice to think that people who are sinners will be endlessly punished, but we don't even possess the capability to know who will and who won't go to hell. There are a practically infinite amount of variables. It seems a little self righteous to me, at various levels, so I don't entertain that channel of thought.

I think that, if there are people that go to hell, it would have to be people who were faced with the ultimate truth and knowing that God exists, and have the ultimate truth of His exact teachings, and still deny everything and continue on their malevolent ways. It is very likely we will never experience that.

It ultimately isn't super beneficial to argue about it though because nobody truly knows. We will only know when we die, and at that point we're either going to be faced with the eternity of our fate or the opportunity to accept the truth and change. No point in arguing over a detail such as whether hell exists or not when we're both going to be trying our best in our lives anyway, right? I just find it interesting to share beliefs like that every now and then.

@Insomnolant well I'm telling you what they believe, not necessarily what I believe. I'm just saying it might have influenced what I ended up believing ultimately and it's that I don't think the vast majority of people will go to hell, if a hell even exists at all beyond being a concept as a wayward soul detached from God, rather than a physical place.

There are a lot of interpretations of the Bible to the point where 3 entirely different major religions came from the old testament, and within those religions are many sects that also have their own interpretations. I think it's impossible to know for sure what the original intention was, especially because it's been changed. I personally believe some of the concept of hell was used as a way to scare people into submission from the Catholic church, and there is a decent amount of the modern interpretation of hell that comes from other, non-canon sources as well.

@Insomnolant that being said, I know a lot of people who have left the church because they didn't like the people there, or they got their feelings hurt, or they just wanted more freedom to do stupid shit. Can't say I identify with those people.

@Insomnolant maybe it's because I was raised Mormon that I have a bit more of a unique outlook on this. Their belief is that hell (outer darkness, as they call it) does exist, but the only way to go there is if you know for an absolute fact that God exists and you still deny it. They acknowledge that the vast majority of people will probably end up in the "terrestrial kingdom" which is more or less like earth but eternal, and some people will end up in the "telestial kingdom" which is a degree below but certainly not as bad as the typical depiction of hell.

That is to say, perhaps since I was raised that way, I think that if hell even exists, it's nigh impossible to actually go there. For various reasons. We also can't be the judge of who is saved or not, that's up to God.