Saturday 20 April 2013

Hell.

In the end times section of Daniel the beast is defeated in battle and his body "given over to be burned with fire."   Daniel 7:11b (NRSV)

This refers to the normal practice of burning the bodies of the dead after battle.
There is nothing supernatural about it.

In Revelation, where the end times passages from all the prophets are combined and exaggerated, this becomes the unquenchable fires of Hell, reserved for Satan and his followers.

This is a spiritualization of the practice of burning the bodies of the dead.

Therefore Hell does not exist in reality.
It is a fabrication.

This is the lesser understanding's approach to evil - to battle against it and defeat it and destroy it.

This is not Jesus' approach - Jesus said, "Do not resist an evildoer.  But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also"  Matthew 5:39 (NRSV) = non-violent non-cooperation.


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]  

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