The statements below are my local papers opinion section (I changed the place to someplace and name of the newspaper to newspaper) :
I am sure you will not print this opinion piece because it goes against what most people believe here on someplace, and the job of the newspaper is to sell newspapers, not to educate or inform. I support the newspapers's right to the freedom of the press covered under the First Amendment, as well as one's right to religion, but to print religious fiction and pass it off as anything but diminishes the credibility of an otherwise excellent news source.
The fiction article I read on the "Opinion" page of the Tuesday Dec. 2 printing of this newspaper is quite delusional. The article in question is titled the exact opposite of this article, and makes illogical unsubstantiated claims about hell and Jesus, taken from a fantasy book known as the Bible. Beliefs should not be promoted as fact when coming from a public news outlet. In case you read the article in question and are confused, here is the truth on the subject: No one has proven the existence of god or a soul or hell, and when you die your body goes in the ground and decays.
One is free to believe whatever one chooses, but the newspaper and other authority figures should not promote religious information, despite personal beliefs. The newspaper has a duty to provide accurate news to the public. Yes, the article in question was printed in the "Opinion" section, but a headline such as "Hell is real, but Christ offers salvation" will not be discerned by most beyond thinking that it is true, because it is in the newspaper.
Stating that, "Hell is real..." and then offering the Bible as support is akin to someone saying, "Harry Potter is real because it says so in these books about Harry Potter." I'm sure most would agree that printing a headline stating "Voldemort is real, but Harry Potter offers us salvation," would be quite misleading. Just as one should be embarrassed to refer to oneself as a "muggle" using this criterion, one should feel the same embarrassment to refer to oneself as a "Christian" based on this same criterion.
Here are some facts that can be supported by multiple sources of evidence: The Big Bang occurred 13.8 billion years ago, humans and chimps evolved from a common ancestor, and Harry Potter is a series of fantasy books. There is no scientific proof of god or hell or a soul, and no prayer has ever been answered. Believing in something does not make it true. Just because it is in print, does not make it fact. Find out for yourself what is true, and if you go looking for evidence of hell and Jesus, good luck, because there is not any that holds up against the scientific method. Science does not care what you believe.
End of article.... Hmm
The article on dec 2 refered to above was the article that follows:
Make no mistake, hell is very real and everyone will exist eternally, either in heaven or hell. The good news is that where you spend it is up to you, since when Jesus gave us his free gift of salvation by grace, by dying on the cross for our sins, (Ephesians 2:8,9), he also gave us the free will to either accept or reject it. For the righteous, "To be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). For the unrighteous, "It is appointed for man to die once, then after that the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27) in Hades temporarily, in torment then judged and go into the "lake of fire," the final hell, eternal punishment for the unrepentant who rejected Christ as the "only" way to salvation.
Choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19). Now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Jesus warned not to be afraid of those who can kill you since they can't harm you anymore, but rather, fear the one who can kill you and has the power to cast you into hell (Luke 12:4-5). "Be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell" (Matthew 10:28). He also had plenty to say about people outside of heaven who will be cast into outer darkness where there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:12, 13:41-42, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30 and Luke 13:27-28).
Torment will be:
• Physical: The rich man said to Abraham, "For I am tormented in this flame, send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue" (Luke 16:24). The unrighteous are cast into the lake of fire, tormented day and night forever (Revelations 14:11, 19:20, 20:10). "In flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:8).
• Mental: "He is comforted, you are tormented" (Luke 16:25).
• Spiritual: "These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power" (2 Thessalonians 1:5-9).
• Just: At different degrees. God's punishment will be less for some (Matthew 11:20-24) and double for others (Revelation 18:5,6).
Know this -- hell is eternal separation from God, for he is holy. The attribute most used in the Bible, even more than loving, merciful or kind, is that he is holy. Sin cannot enter heaven and be in the presence of a holy God.
Christ was the only perfect sinless one (1 Peter 1:19, 2:22) who suffered and died for all of us, for all time (Hebrews 10:10,12,14). "God made him to be sin for us for that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). "The blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). "God sent his son to be the propitiation/substitute for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2, 4:10).
Pushing the concept of purgatory gives a person false hope that he can die in his sin because he will be prayed into heaven, totally negating the fact that Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin" (Hebrews 9:22).
By the way, when you read this in context, the scripture that talks about our works being tested by fire isn't about purgatory but rather about the rewards that the righteous believers will be receiving, not the unrighteous. Just as there are varying degrees of punishment in hell for the latter, there will be varying degrees of rewards in heaven for the righteous as well (1 Corinthians 3:13-16). God said, "My people perish for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6).
Pope John Paul II said the essential characteristics of heaven, hell and purgatory is that they are "states of being" rather than places. Very misleading, dangerous false teaching. Only God is infallible, not man.
end of article
SO i would like whoever feels like responding to respond to the first article. What would you say to this guy/girl? You could respond as if you were talking to the author of the first article. I would greatly appreciate the responses... What do you think..
Also note: that the newspaper has a requirement for all letters written to the opinion section that states: all claims or facts must be substantiated.
I am sure you will not print this opinion piece because it goes against what most people believe here on someplace, and the job of the newspaper is to sell newspapers, not to educate or inform. I support the newspapers's right to the freedom of the press covered under the First Amendment, as well as one's right to religion, but to print religious fiction and pass it off as anything but diminishes the credibility of an otherwise excellent news source.
The fiction article I read on the "Opinion" page of the Tuesday Dec. 2 printing of this newspaper is quite delusional. The article in question is titled the exact opposite of this article, and makes illogical unsubstantiated claims about hell and Jesus, taken from a fantasy book known as the Bible. Beliefs should not be promoted as fact when coming from a public news outlet. In case you read the article in question and are confused, here is the truth on the subject: No one has proven the existence of god or a soul or hell, and when you die your body goes in the ground and decays.
One is free to believe whatever one chooses, but the newspaper and other authority figures should not promote religious information, despite personal beliefs. The newspaper has a duty to provide accurate news to the public. Yes, the article in question was printed in the "Opinion" section, but a headline such as "Hell is real, but Christ offers salvation" will not be discerned by most beyond thinking that it is true, because it is in the newspaper.
Stating that, "Hell is real..." and then offering the Bible as support is akin to someone saying, "Harry Potter is real because it says so in these books about Harry Potter." I'm sure most would agree that printing a headline stating "Voldemort is real, but Harry Potter offers us salvation," would be quite misleading. Just as one should be embarrassed to refer to oneself as a "muggle" using this criterion, one should feel the same embarrassment to refer to oneself as a "Christian" based on this same criterion.
Here are some facts that can be supported by multiple sources of evidence: The Big Bang occurred 13.8 billion years ago, humans and chimps evolved from a common ancestor, and Harry Potter is a series of fantasy books. There is no scientific proof of god or hell or a soul, and no prayer has ever been answered. Believing in something does not make it true. Just because it is in print, does not make it fact. Find out for yourself what is true, and if you go looking for evidence of hell and Jesus, good luck, because there is not any that holds up against the scientific method. Science does not care what you believe.
End of article.... Hmm
The article on dec 2 refered to above was the article that follows:
Make no mistake, hell is very real and everyone will exist eternally, either in heaven or hell. The good news is that where you spend it is up to you, since when Jesus gave us his free gift of salvation by grace, by dying on the cross for our sins, (Ephesians 2:8,9), he also gave us the free will to either accept or reject it. For the righteous, "To be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). For the unrighteous, "It is appointed for man to die once, then after that the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27) in Hades temporarily, in torment then judged and go into the "lake of fire," the final hell, eternal punishment for the unrepentant who rejected Christ as the "only" way to salvation.
Choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19). Now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Jesus warned not to be afraid of those who can kill you since they can't harm you anymore, but rather, fear the one who can kill you and has the power to cast you into hell (Luke 12:4-5). "Be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell" (Matthew 10:28). He also had plenty to say about people outside of heaven who will be cast into outer darkness where there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:12, 13:41-42, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30 and Luke 13:27-28).
Torment will be:
• Physical: The rich man said to Abraham, "For I am tormented in this flame, send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue" (Luke 16:24). The unrighteous are cast into the lake of fire, tormented day and night forever (Revelations 14:11, 19:20, 20:10). "In flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:8).
• Mental: "He is comforted, you are tormented" (Luke 16:25).
• Spiritual: "These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power" (2 Thessalonians 1:5-9).
• Just: At different degrees. God's punishment will be less for some (Matthew 11:20-24) and double for others (Revelation 18:5,6).
Know this -- hell is eternal separation from God, for he is holy. The attribute most used in the Bible, even more than loving, merciful or kind, is that he is holy. Sin cannot enter heaven and be in the presence of a holy God.
Christ was the only perfect sinless one (1 Peter 1:19, 2:22) who suffered and died for all of us, for all time (Hebrews 10:10,12,14). "God made him to be sin for us for that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). "The blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). "God sent his son to be the propitiation/substitute for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2, 4:10).
Pushing the concept of purgatory gives a person false hope that he can die in his sin because he will be prayed into heaven, totally negating the fact that Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin" (Hebrews 9:22).
By the way, when you read this in context, the scripture that talks about our works being tested by fire isn't about purgatory but rather about the rewards that the righteous believers will be receiving, not the unrighteous. Just as there are varying degrees of punishment in hell for the latter, there will be varying degrees of rewards in heaven for the righteous as well (1 Corinthians 3:13-16). God said, "My people perish for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6).
Pope John Paul II said the essential characteristics of heaven, hell and purgatory is that they are "states of being" rather than places. Very misleading, dangerous false teaching. Only God is infallible, not man.
end of article
SO i would like whoever feels like responding to respond to the first article. What would you say to this guy/girl? You could respond as if you were talking to the author of the first article. I would greatly appreciate the responses... What do you think..
Also note: that the newspaper has a requirement for all letters written to the opinion section that states: all claims or facts must be substantiated.