Has Hell Disappeared?

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by missourimary

Don't think I'd put it quite that way, Prax.

lol. Yeah. Preaching on being saved and mentioning "hell" is not a bad thing

Depends on the definition of warn. We should, after all, speak the truth in love.

You know, it's the strangest thing... I just realized I've never witnessed to anyone by telling them there was a lake of fire and they'd burn in it if they didn't pray through.

You ever watch "The Way of the Master"? They do it often...

Of the verses you quoted, Prax, those in Revelations were for the church. Those quoted in Hebrews, Philippians, Corinthians, Timothy and Peter are about judgment or destruction, not fire or everlasting torment. The verse in Thessalonians could be figurative. None of those bother me in reference to hell, though several disturb me because some, like Hebrews, have been used to tell me I was damned even while I sat on a Pentecostal pew because the preacher thought 'there must be something wrong' with me. (he admitted he didn't know what, just that something must be wrong-well, if I was doing something wrong, I could change my action. I couldn't change his unnameable 'feeling' though.)

My point was, these can all be construed by some as threats or even depressing things to mention yet the early church had no problems mentioning them to the church and or to sinners

Jesus sure didn't focus on hell.

Right, but remember....I wasn't saying he did focus on hell or that we should focus on hell. That's beside the point.

Neither did anyone else in the New Testament. But mention hell if you will. Just be careful not to forget to balance it out by telling people God loves them and doesn't want them to die, but it's their choice. If there is a hell, people will go there because of the choices they've made, not because God revels in sending them there.

See...it goes without saying...well because I didn't say it. I actually said over and over that we DON'T focus on hell. We DON'T preach it over and over and over. We need to be balanced...in the face of those that say we should not preach hell at all. In discussing salvation you include what salvation is, from what? What are the consequences eternal and temporal and what is God's solution.

Some here have tried to characterize that as "fear mongering" (I know you did not but others have)

I didn't post these verses to prove we should focus on hell and never mention Love. I posted these because the bible warns people about some uncomfortable subjects (to some).