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Are there atheists in hell?

Pixel42 said:
Surely, according to the Bible, there is no-one currently in hell? Judgement day, when Jesus returns and the Kingdom of Heaven is established on earth, is when the dead rise from their graves to be judged. Only then will the wicked/unbelievers be sent to hell, whilst the faithful live everlasting lives here on earth (which will then be part of heaven). So there's no-one currently in heaven either. Everyone who has died is still rotting in their graves.
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But, but, but ....... you can't have everlasting life on earth, because our planet has a finite life. All these revisions needed (or interpretations of text needed), make it such a drag. :(
 
Thor 2 said:
But, but, but ....... you can't have everlasting life on earth, because our planet has a finite life. All these revisions needed (or interpretations of text needed), make it such a drag. :(
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Nah, not difficult at all.

Fudge the details, declare it a sacred mystery, shame anyone that questions the bible....
Or just don't think about it. Nod the head, smile knowingly then head off to the pub after the mass.
 
8enotto said:
Nah, not difficult at all.

Fudge the details, declare it a sacred mystery, shame anyone that questions the bible....
Or just don't think about it. Nod the head, smile knowingly then head off to the pub after the mass.
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Just not thinking about it is a popular strategy. In one of my most favourite movies "Inherit The Wind", when Drummond has Brady up against the wall, Brady responds "I don't think about things I don't think about."
 
p0lka said:
If there's a hell, anyone in heaven would need a mind wipe to remove the unhappiness of knowing people you love are in hell.
In which case, would it even count as being you, or heaven.
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Unless Heaven is filled with the sort of religious ******** who don't really love anyone. They could erect bleachers above Hell to keep themselves amused.
 
shemp said:
There are no atheists in Hell. There are no people in Hell. There is no Hell.* Case closed.

*Except for places named Hell in Michigan, USA; Netherlands; Norway; and Cayman Islands. It is doubtful that anyone will end up in any of these after they die.
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Til you die and find out you were wrong. Though hell, is the sum total of human ignorance.
 
Foster Zygote said:
Unless Heaven is filled with the sort of religious ******** who don't really love anyone. They could erect bleachers above Hell to keep themselves amused.
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Well that was Tertullian's idea. He thought those nice saved ones in Heaven would get great pleasure from looking down on those suffering in hell. This early father of the church really sounds like a swell guy. :rolleyes:
 
A neat circular argument.

You need a god for him to have a heaven. And a hell to store the deviants.

Deny the god existence and the other two evaporate instantly.
If said god or gods assert themselves in an undeniable manner that changes things. It hasn't happened yet.
 
In some Christian narratives, the nature of hell is that it is completely cut off from God's (otherwise omni-) presence. The torture isn't devils poking you with pitchforks, it's being separate from God and thus bereft of the presumable warm fuzzies inherent thereto. In that case, atheism would be kind of the expected condition there. And arguably, atheism itself is already hell.

(See also: Azkaban)
 
8enotto said:
A neat circular argument.

You need a god for him to have a heaven. And a hell to store the deviants.

Deny the god existence and the other two evaporate instantly.
If said god or gods assert themselves in an undeniable manner that changes things. It hasn't happened yet.
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The corollary being that if you do happen to find yourself in heaven or hell, it follows that God does exist. Therefore, no longer atheist.
 
Myriad said:
In some Christian narratives, the nature of hell is that it is completely cut off from God's (otherwise omni-) presence. The torture isn't devils poking you with pitchforks, it's being separate from God and thus bereft of the presumable warm fuzzies inherent thereto. In that case, atheism would be kind of the expected condition there. And arguably, atheism itself is already hell.

(See also: Azkaban)
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cf Robert Lowell:

https://allpoetry.com/Mr.-Edwards-and-the-Spider
 
arthwollipot said:
The corollary being that if you do happen to find yourself in heaven or hell, it follows that God does exist.
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No, it doesn't. Why on earth does the existence of Thing A necessitate the existence of Thing B, just because some people said that Thing B made Thing A? We're pretty sure that apple trees exist and Johnny Appleseed didn't, and I don't know about your house but I get candy at Easter without believing in a magical rabbit. A whole elaborate afterlife could exist without necessitating the existence of any gods, any more than the existence of this life necessitates the existence of any gods.
 
Indeed, if I discovered there was an afterlife I would look first for a natural explanation before reaching for a supernatural one.

Peter F Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy describes a natural (and absolutely horrific) afterlife.
 
TragicMonkey said:
No, it doesn't. Why on earth does the existence of Thing A necessitate the existence of Thing B, just because some people said that Thing B made Thing A? We're pretty sure that apple trees exist and Johnny Appleseed didn't, and I don't know about your house but I get candy at Easter without believing in a magical rabbit. A whole elaborate afterlife could exist without necessitating the existence of any gods, any more than the existence of this life necessitates the existence of any gods.
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You're right, of course. What I should have said was that if you find yourself in the Christian heaven or hell, then it follows that the Christian god exists.
 
Of course, the odds that anyone making this claim follows the right kind of religion are small, so the question could be expanded. After all, if you're a believer, did everything according to your faith and then ended up in hell because it turns out you followed the wrong kind of faith, you'd be in the same position as an atheist.
 
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