Barney, was there really a need to resurrect a five year old, dead thread for this? The thread has a nasty, argumentative spirit about it, the member had 121 posts, 3 likes, and is long gone.
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Though this may be a "five year old thread", the false doctrines of the Trinity, the immorality of the soul, hellfire, etc, are still "alive and well". When a person builds a quality home, they obviously have given it a lot of thought, so that when completed, it will be "home sweet home".
But what about "hellfire", that so many claim is in the Bible, using such Scriptures as Matthew 5:22, 29, 30 in the
King James Bible ? How many have some serious research into this "hot topic" ? If "hellfire" is real, then God would have given it much thought as to how he could torment "wicked people", just as he has done for all his creation.
But again please notice what He says in the Bible book of Jeremiah: "For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD; they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart".(Jer 7:30, 31;
King James Bible)
Because the apostate Jews burned their sons and daughter to the false god Molech just outside the south walls of ancient Jerusalem, which God "commanded them not" or did not command, that did not come into his heart to do such an "evil deed", this is what he now says will happen to those Jews who have done this wicked deed: "Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter; for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no more place".(Jer 7:32;
King James Bible)
At Jeremiah 32, God, who name is Jehovah (see Isa 12:2,
KJV), repeats this condemnation for the apostate Jews burning their sons and daughters in the fire to Molech, god of the Ammonites.(1 Kings 11:7) At Jeremiah 32:35, Jehovah says: "And they (the apostate Jews) built the high places of Baal (as well to other false gods such as Ashtoreth, Chemosh, Molech, Milcom, see 1 Kings 11:5-7), which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech;
which I commanded not, that they should do this
abomination, to cause Judah to
sin".(
King James Bible)
So, Jehovah was angry at the Jews for burning their sons and daughters to Molech, calling it an "abomination" and "sin". So what does this tell us about the doctrine of "hellfire" that has been promoted down through the centuries as "Christian" ? That it is just one of the lies that Jehovah's archenemy, Satan, has been distributing, deceiving people into believing that Jehovah delights in seeing people tormented forever in "hell", that Jehovah handed the reigns of "hellfire" over to his archenemy to run.
How could Jehovah condemn the nation of Israel burning their children to false gods and yet be doing the same himself ? This be more than hypocrisy, but would place Jehovah as being wicked too, alongside the Jews who were guilty of doing this.
Had those who believes in "hellfire" or "hell" done any real research with an open mind, they could have seen that
(1) that it does not correlate with Jehovah's personality, for 1 John 4:8 says that "God is love" and a truly loving person does not want to see anyone tormented, but seeks to benefit them, their best welfare (see John 3:16), and only when this is rejected, are these ones deserving, not everlasting torment, but everlasting death, or Gehenna, ceasing to exist, returning to the ground as they were before they were conceived in the womb,
(2) that it is an abomination and sin to do such a dastardly deed,
(3) that the word "hell" used in the King James Bible in 1611 did not mean torment, but this: "Old English hel(l) . Ultimately from an Indo-European word meaning “to conceal."(
Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2005)
Thus, in the 17th century, the word "hell" merely meant "to conceal",
not roast, and in which when people of that era were "helling potatoes", they did not roast them, but concealed them by placing them in a cellar below ground to keep them
cool, not hot.
So, when Jesus used "fire" at Matthew 5:22, he did
not mean torment, but rather to permanently destroy, just as fire, when hot enough, consumes what it burns and leaves only ashes, being destroyed, for at Matthew 10:28, Jesus said: "And fear not them which kill the body (or who a person is now as flesh and blood that turns back into "dust" when they die, see Gen 3:19), but are not able to kill the soul (or who a person is in personality that can be recreated in the resurrection with a new body); but rather fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body (or the person completely so that they are dead forever) in hell (or Greek
Gehenna)".(
King James Bible)
And note that "hellfire" is dependent on the false doctrine of the immortality of the soul, in which the soul (or us as a person with all our desires) can be destroyed, for at Joshua 10:39, according to the
King James Bible, it says: "And he (Joshua) took it (or captured Debir), and the kings thereof; and they smote (or struck them) them with the edge of the sword, and
utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining; as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done to also to Libnah, and to her king."(see also Deut 12:20 that shows that the soul eats, Lev 23:30 that it can be destroyed, Jer 2:34 that shows it has blood, Joshua 10:40 that shows that souls breathe, for the Hebrew word for soul is
nephesh that literally means "breather")
