Are you reading the bible? And if so.....

[David Walton]

David, are you saying that hell is not eternal?

I don't believe hell is eternal, no.

I think hell is a 'purifying fire with an exit.'

But still a terrible condition to be avoided at all costs.

[David Walton]

I'm fairly certain he means your response to the pope. Whose authority is supported by scripture as his branch of Christianity interprets it.

Actually, I did mean his response to you personally.

Specifically, the implication that you didn't know what you were talking about.

I believe we can have honest intellectual discussions about the scriptures without assuming ignorance on the part those with whom we disagree.

[The Whovian]

I'm fairly certain he means your response to the pope. Whose authority is supported by scripture as his branch of Christianity interprets it.

His authority is not supported by scripture. They believe people who are not saved go to a place called "purgatory" where family and friends can pray for their souls and if they pray enough, their souls will be allowed to go to Heaven. NOWHERE in the bible is there any place called purgatory, nor does scripture support this teaching.

[The Whovian]

I don't believe hell is eternal, no.

I think hell is a 'purifying fire with an exit.'

But still a terrible condition to be avoided at all costs.

Where do you believe the souls of those who are not saved and go to hell go to if hell is not eternal?

[Kirby101]

So has Hell only been there for a few thousand years?
How was anyone saved before there was a Jesus to accept as their savior?
Or condemn for not accepting someone not yet born?
And when only a small handful of people on Earth in a very small geographic area, even heard of the God of Abraham, how were those people judged when they died?
And what about the vast majority of the world population that did not even hear about Jesus for centuries or millennium after he was here.
Does every person who does not accept Jesus go to Hell?