Another apologetic argument for hell that I have heard from Christians is that their god is holy and without sin, and because of his purity and holiness, he can't be in the presence of sin. The claim is that only by being metaphorically covered with the blood of Jesus can you enter into the presence of Yahweh.
There are several reasons this doesn't make much sense. First, even from within the Christian theological framework, many people in the Bible interacted with and entered into Yahweh's presence. Here is a short list.
All of those are examples from within the Christian worldview that suggest that the idea that the argument that hell is necessary because of Yahweh's property of being pure and holy is not consistent with the Bible's account of Yahweh's interactions with people in both the Old and New Testaments.
There are other valid questions that lack an answer as well. How does belief that Jesus died for your sins enable you to go into the presence of this god? What does that belief change? And if you were exposed to the presence of this holy being, what exactly would happen? Would you go blind? Would you suffer worse than eternal burning? Would you be blasted into oblivion? Personally, I would take oblivion over eternal torture.
Maybe sinful beings in Yahweh's presence has some kind of negative impact on him? What affect would it have on Yahweh if Gavagai dropped by for a visit? Melt? Hives? Maybe he just needs a Benadryl. Yahweh needs an EpiPen... bad.
I wish I had more skills with photoshop. If anyone would like to make a better image of a god with a bad rash, please send it to me. I'll gladly give you the credit.
Please like, share, and offer feedback.
Cheers,
Gavagai
There are several reasons this doesn't make much sense. First, even from within the Christian theological framework, many people in the Bible interacted with and entered into Yahweh's presence. Here is a short list.
- Adam and Eve walked in the garden of Eden with Yahweh and interacted with him after they had sinned (Genesis 3)
- Yahweh allegedly directly communicated with Cain after he killed Abel (Genesis 4)
- Yahweh spoke with Noah to tell him to build an ark (Genesis 6)
- Yahweh showed Moses his butt (Exodus 33)
- Old Testament priests went into the Holy of Holies (Leviticus 16)
- Jacob wrestled with Yahweh and supposedly saw him face to face (Genesis 32)
- Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were supposedly in a fiery furnace with the son of god (Daniel 3)
Also, if the New Testament is true, Jesus was in some sense identical with Yahweh and he was able to walk around for 30 years among imperfect humans. After Jesus floated off to heaven, the Holy Spirit is supposedly mingling with people all the time every day. Do Jesus and the Holy Spirit possess the same holiness properties that Yahweh does? If so, how did people interact with them without terrible consequences? What's Yahweh's issue? Are Jesus and the holy spirit less holy than Yahweh?
All of those are examples from within the Christian worldview that suggest that the idea that the argument that hell is necessary because of Yahweh's property of being pure and holy is not consistent with the Bible's account of Yahweh's interactions with people in both the Old and New Testaments.
There are other valid questions that lack an answer as well. How does belief that Jesus died for your sins enable you to go into the presence of this god? What does that belief change? And if you were exposed to the presence of this holy being, what exactly would happen? Would you go blind? Would you suffer worse than eternal burning? Would you be blasted into oblivion? Personally, I would take oblivion over eternal torture.
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| Yahweh with hives from too much sin exposure... |
I wish I had more skills with photoshop. If anyone would like to make a better image of a god with a bad rash, please send it to me. I'll gladly give you the credit.
Please like, share, and offer feedback.
Cheers,
Gavagai
When speaking of YHWH, one must remember that YHWH is the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In Exodus 33 GOD showed Moses his back, not butt.
ReplyDeleteUnknown, what does being mindful of the doctrine of the trinity bring to this issue? I'm familiar with trinitarian doctrine. I don't think it makes any sense at all. The three persons of the trinity are distinct but also one thing that is the same?? How exactly does that work?
DeleteRegarding your correction about butt vs back, does your god have a butt?