I have a hard time believing that an all just, merciful, loving God would send someone to burn eternally in fire.

Why can't God just send those souls to a place of purification? No soul has ever sinned, the only person who never sinned was Jesus Christ.

So, at death, our soul is not perfect. That is why we need Jesus Christ to save us.

To me it just doesn't make any sense that if someone is sorry for the sins they committed and admit they need Jesus Christ, that he would still send them to hell for eternity,

separated from their family, separated from God, to be in punishment forever.

I'm not saying it's okay to sin, I'm not saying it's okay to neglect your duties as a christian, I'm just saying that we mess up sometimes because we are human, and sometimes we

mess up a lot, but in the end, doesn't our soul matter the most?

Please don't change any of your beliefs based on my troubles and please forgive me if I have stated any information that is incorrect.

May we all be with Christ.

People choose to be separate from God. Man has chosen since the beginning to turn their back on God. Don't think of hell as burning eternally, it's more a continuation of the choices you readily make in this life. Hell is being apart and completely cut off from God for eternity, which is your choice, a continuation of what you are choosing here in the now.

I realize I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, and a lot of the years I have spent on Earth I have not been at my full potential.

I attribute my own potential to correspond with the amount of love I have received and the amount of love that I have given.

I was really happy at my younger ages, and that's because I had a lot of love, I was very lucky, but now I'm very unhappy.

I would like to change that, it seems like I'm..."stuck".

However, I have hope, and that hope is driving me to be a better person, even though it's hard, I have come to the decision that changes need to be made.

It seems like I have sort of, distracted myself from the main topic, or maybe subconsciously I wanted to talk about this because I attribute my current state to be almost like hell.

I say almost, because, although mentally I am suffering, I am not separated from God, I have Jesus Christ, and his Holy Spirit within me, so hope is never lost.

I have a feeling of a need to be with Christ, it pains me that I have not been able to give the love that Christ wants me to give, and I have not given him the love that he deserves from me.

I need help from God and from my brothers.

I am afraid of death. I am afraid because I have done a lot of things that I am not proud of in this life. I don't want to go to hell. I want to be in heaven with Christ and my family and friends.

I knew my purpose from the very beginning, my purpose is to spread love, which is given by God. I have strayed from my path and I have made those around me suffer.

Your sins are forgiven and washed away in Christ. Being in Christ should transform you to want to be more Christ-like, to work towards sinning less, not being sin-less. The latter is simply not possible in our human state. It sounds like that is the path you're on or trying to get on.

Yes thank you for your help.

Also, it is more than sinning less, but also feeding my spirit's need for Godly love.

This post was edited by DCEVO on Jun 28 2012 12:32pm

Considering this statement, and considering what we might believe to be true Godly justice, would it be just for the souls in hell to continue in torment if they seek God while in hell and repent of their sins?

Maybe an eternal hell is a hell in which the souls choose to continue to not seek God and not repent of their sins?

Also, considering verses from the bible that talk about a fiery hell, a literal eternal fiery, burning hell, seems to be a contradiction of the love and mercy of God, perhaps it is correct to assume that a

literal interpretation of hell is incorrect, and that a spiritual one is correct, but perhaps we must also consider that a literal interpretation of hell could very well be true.

Let us also consider what we might think is true Godly justice might not be true Godly justice at all.

Please don't change any of your beliefs based on my troubles and please forgive me if I have stated any information that is incorrect.

May we all be with Christ.

Also in response to this quote, there are religious beliefs that are getting in the way of me being submerged in the love of Christ.

For example Protestantism vs Catholicism. Confession in prayer vs Confession to a priest.

The catholic view of confession to a priest makes me feel like if I have committed a sin, then I cannot go receive the body and blood of Christ unless I confess to a priest first.

It makes me feel guilty, and it makes me sad to think that I do not have a right to receive the body and blood of Christ unless I go through this form of penance.

Talking about penance, what if I actually did go to confession, and the priest tells me to pray the Rosary, and I tell him I do not believe in praying to Mary, only to God? Would he change my penance to only our Fathers?

Do I really have to go to confession every time I sin?

Or if I truly have the conviction to not sin again or at least try very hard not to sin, then can I go back to church and receive the body and blood of Christ?

This post was edited by DCEVO on Jun 28 2012 12:56pm

God is just. Check out the parable about the rich and poor man that died, the poor going to heaven, and the sinning rich man that did not. His hell was eternal torment that differed from a literal "fiery hell". Fiery hell is an analogy to basically mean your own worst nightmare, brought on by your own actions and life you've crafted for yourself without God.

You should talk to a pastor/minister/priest about your concerns. Joining and attending a church would also help.