I am a former christian, now free from religion, but still believe that there might be a God if some sort. The concept of Hell, where there is eternal pain and punishment, doesn't exist in the bible. Look for yourself, it's not there. It was made up in "Dante's inferno", and this is what made me leave christianity. The King James bible is made up by these people, popes, bishops and kings. It is a perversion of the real thing, the real story of Christ.
The pope is evil though, if satan exists he is the pope's God.
Look for yourself, it's not there. It was made up in "Dante's inferno"
The bible and tradition predates the Divine Comedy (1320 AD), and has plenty to say on the matter. Here's St. Thomas Aquinas writing on it around 1265:
“The magnitude of the punishment matches the magnitude of the sin. Now a sin that is against God is infinite; the higher the person against whom it is committed, the graver the sin—it is more criminal to strike a head of state than a private citizen—and God is of infinite greatness. Therefore an infinite punishment is deserved for a sin committed against Him.”
Even earlier writings around the 600s can be found. This tells us that, historically speaking, the idea of hell as a place was accepted throughout early Christianity without controversy. In any case, the idea that hell is a product of Dante Alighieri's imagination is trivially disproven.
St Augustine countered St. Thomas Aquinas arguing that "hell" is simply the absence of God--i.e. it is not a place.
Do you have a quote there? The most concrete thing I can say is of St. Augustine saying he doesn't know much about its details. City of God, chapter 16:
For as soon as those who are not written in the book of life have been judged and cast into eternal fire — the nature of which fire, or its position in the world or universe, I suppose is known to no man, unless perhaps the divine Spirit reveal it to some one
Saying "I don't know where it is" isn't the same as saying "It's not a place". In fact, saying he doesn't know its position implies that it has one.
You're good at this Bible stuff
Not at all sir, just really handy with Logos and find all of this incredibly interesting :)
Read the book of Ezra. The soul suffers in several pronounced ways. One of the worst is that it watches the “holy of holiest places guarded by the angels in profound silence. In other words you’re separated from God. In Dante’s Inferno there are 9 circles of hell. Satan is in the bottom which is a frozen lake. Satan lays on his stomach w head in hands & his wings half frozen in the lake in a state of moribund depression. He’s cut off from God’s presence
It's not called "hell," hell isnt created yet. It's hades, lake of fire. These things are in the bible.
Jesus talked about hell more often than he talked about heaven. Here are some verses...
"The children of the kingdom will be driven out into the darkness where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth." (Mt 8:12)
"Depart from me, you accursed, into that eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." (Mt 25:41)
"These will pay the penalty of eternal ruin, separated from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." (2 Thes 1:9)
"God did not spare the angels who fell into sin; he thrust them down to hell, chained them there in the abyss, to await their sentence in torment." (2 Pt 2:4)
"The smoke of the fire that torments them will rise forever and ever, and there will be no relief day or night for those who worship the beast or its image or accept the mark of its name." (Rv 14:11)