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Raccoon1010

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Just wanted to apologize for my "going to hell to preach the gospel" thread. I really don't know what's after this life except for NDE testimonies I've seen. But really we should want to enter into rest instead with the Lord and be in his presence and serve him as the Angels do. So I changed my mind and that is what I would like if God allows it.
 

Episkopos

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Just wanted to apologize for my "going to hell to preach the gospel" thread. I really don't know what's after this life except for NDE testimonies I've seen. But really we should want to enter into rest instead with the Lord and be in his presence and serve him as the Angels do. So I changed my mind and that is what I would like if God allows it.
I thought it sounded like a line from "the impossible dream" (To be willing to go into hell for a heavenly cause)....or something like that.
 

amigo de christo

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Just wanted to apologize for my "going to hell to preach the gospel" thread. I really don't know what's after this life except for NDE testimonies I've seen. But really we should want to enter into rest instead with the Lord and be in his presence and serve him as the Angels do. So I changed my mind and that is what I would like if God allows it.
Truly truly there is but one way anyone will be forever with the LORD who did save them .
BELIEVE YE IN JESUS CHRIST . HOLD the faith firm , the hope in him firm to the end and never be moved away
from the hope of the glorious gospel that does save .
These things i write that those who do beleive may KNOW they have eternal life
and that all others will BELIEVE ON JESUS CHRIST and have eternal life . its that simple .
Now raise those hands and praise the KING .
And daily be in the bible reading and learning .
 
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Johann

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Just wanted to apologize for my "going to hell to preach the gospel" thread. I really don't know what's after this life except for NDE testimonies I've seen. But really we should want to enter into rest instead with the Lord and be in his presence and serve him as the Angels do. So I changed my mind and that is what I would like if God allows it.
Thought I'd just "sneak" this in here.






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many of the early Church Fathers did believe in a literal hell, understood as a place of eternal punishment for the wicked. Their writings reflect a belief in the reality of hell, often described as a place of eternal fire and torment for those who reject God and fail to repent. Below are some key quotes from prominent Church Fathers that demonstrate this belief:

1. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35–107 AD)
Ignatius, a disciple of the Apostle John, wrote about the eternal consequences of unrepentant sin:

"Corrupters of families will not inherit the kingdom of God. If they who do these things according to the flesh suffer death, how much more if a man corrupt by wicked doctrine the faith of God for which Jesus Christ was crucified? Such a man, being defiled, shall go into the unquenchable fire, and so also shall he who listens to him."
—Epistle to the Ephesians, Chapter 16

Ignatius refers to the "unquenchable fire," emphasizing the eternal punishment awaiting those who spread false doctrines and lead others into sin.

2. Justin Martyr (c. 100–165 AD)
Justin Martyr, one of the most well-known apologists of the early Church, described hell as a place of eternal suffering:

"We believe that those who live wickedly and do not repent will be punished in everlasting fire. This is what we have learned from Christ and what we teach."
—First Apology, Chapter 18

Justin affirms the teaching of Jesus regarding eternal punishment for the wicked, reflecting the early Church's acceptance of the doctrine of hell.

3. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130–202 AD)
Irenaeus, a key figure in combating heresies, affirmed the belief in hell as a place of eternal torment for the unrepentant:

"The penalty increases for those who do not believe the Word of God and despise His coming... they shall be cast into eternal fire."
—Against Heresies, Book 4, Chapter 28:2

Irenaeus points to eternal fire as the consequence of rejecting God's Word and Christ's coming, reinforcing the idea of hell as eternal.

4. Tertullian (c. 155–240 AD)
Tertullian, often regarded as the father of Latin Christianity, wrote extensively on the nature of hell and eternal punishment:

"After the present age is ended, He will judge His worshipers. Those who have done good will be assigned to eternal life; those who have done evil to everlasting fire."
—Apology, Chapter 48

Tertullian here echoes the teaching of eternal fire for the wicked, a recurring theme in his works.

In another of his writings, Tertullian vividly describes hell:

"That last and eternal judgment, which God is to administer through Jesus Christ... shall send them away from His presence to that very eternal fire, which He has prepared for the devil and his angels."
—On the Resurrection of the Flesh, Chapter 35

5. Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–215 AD)
Clement also discussed the reality of punishment for the wicked:

"All souls are immortal, even those of the wicked. However, it is for the sake of punishment, that the fire that does not go out awaits them."
—Fragment from a work on the soul

Clement, while nuanced in some of his views, acknowledges the existence of an eternal fire meant for punishing the wicked.

6. Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD)
Perhaps one of the most influential Church Fathers, Augustine explicitly defended the doctrine of eternal punishment:

"The penalty of the damned will be endless. It is not temporal, but eternal. What the scriptures call eternal is to be taken as everlasting, just as the eternal life of the saints will be everlasting, so too the eternal punishment of the wicked will have no end."
—The City of God, Book 21, Chapter 23

Augustine presents the idea of parallel eternal fates for the righteous and the wicked, emphasizing the endless nature of both heaven and hell.

J.
 
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Skovand

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Many of them are also known as using rhetorical techniques and biblical jargon. Some things also meant something very different. Like unquenchable fire means a fire that can’t be put out. It’s not the same as a fire that can’t burn out. A unquenchable fire in a city means no one can put it out like with water, it’s going to burn until nothing is left. It can help to understand things like this when interpreting the Bible. Same as how hell is a forced transliteration of Gehenna.
Also this is from Irenaeus of Lyons and it talks about the lost perishing, ceasing to exist.
And therefore he who shall preserve the life bestowed upon him, and give thanks to Him who imparted it, shall receive also length of days for ever and ever. But he who shall reject it, and prove himself ungrateful to his Maker, inasmuch as he has been created, and has not recognised Him who bestowed [the gift upon him], deprives himself of [the privilege of] continuance for ever and ever. And, for this reason, the Lord declared to those who showed themselves ungrateful towards Him: “If you have not been faithful in that which is little, who will give you that which is great?” indicating that those who, in this brief temporal life, have shown themselves ungrateful to Him who bestowed it, shall justly not receive from Him length of days for ever and ever.

Also take Justin. In the fifth chapter of Dialogue he writes this.

“But I do not say, indeed, that all souls die; for that were truly a piece of good fortune to the evil. What then? The souls of the pious remain in a better place, while those of the unjust and wicked are in a worse, waiting for the time of judgment. Thus some which have appeared worthy of God never die; but others are punished so long as God wills them to exist and to be punished”

Justin believed that some souls never die, because of the promises of Christ while those not in God are only punished until God stops willing them to exist. He did not believe in the immortal souls for all.

There are others too. But ehh…. Other things to do.