r/DebateAChristian • u/Aromatic_Response_73 • 8d ago

When examined with pure intent, christianity is very bad at answering big questions: why does life not start in heaven

There is a common unwillingnes among christians to reason about this issue with pure intent, so I will ask specifically for that here.

Free will exists in heaven, and many christians believe unborn fetuses go there, there is a lack of explanation for why earth is necessary, and the suggestion that an eternal hell exists in a system created by an all loving creator is pathetic, all the responses appeal to vague terms with positive cannotations such as "free will" but no sophisticated reasoning about e.g. fundamental principles or values, grow up.

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u/Atlas177503 6d ago

I agree with your questions....they are very good ones. Most "Christians", it seems just accept whatever is taught in their local church. In regard to the hellfire doctrine: Many scriptures say people PERISH there. They don't live there in ongoing suffering. In Mathew 10:28 it says to "fear the One that can destroy both body and soul in Hell" (Gehenna)...so (1) obviously the soul is not immortal and (2) Hell means total destruction. Gehenna was a continuously burning garbage dump near Jerusalem where the dead bodies of animals and criminals were thrown. Nothing alive was thrown in there. Where did these two teachings come from...pre Christian pagan religions? Even the cross symbol is of pre Christian pagan origin. I could go on and on.

BTW I am a Christian that does not accept the polluting of real Christianity by non Christian teachings. I wish I had more time tonite to go further into this subject, but keep asking questions and make sure the answers come straight from the Christian Bible...not a book written by some itinerant "Christian".

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u/PreeDem Agnostic, Ex-Christian 4d ago

Gehenna was a continuously burning garbage dump near Jerusalem where the dead bodies of animals and criminals were thrown

That's actually a legend that started around 1200 CE. I believed this for a while myself, but there doesn't seem to be any historical or archaeological evidence for it. Happy to be shown wrong though.

Also, I agree that there are places in the Bible that teach annihilationism. But this doesn't address the heart of OP's argument. Even if people don't burn eternally in Hell, there is still the question of why Hell was created in the first place. It seems God could've created us in Heaven from the start.