Pesharim

“For God to throw ANY person into eternal fire where they will never die and never know respite, and scream and wail while God and Jesus treat it as “music to their ears” is such a morally unconscionable act it beggars description!! The fact is, God is a two-faced hypocrite who employs a “double standard”. He claims not to tolerate cruelty and inhumanity, and he will become the most inhumane, vicious, merciless, animalistic, brutal, sadistic, monster ever in history when, on Judgment Day, he throws the billions of “lost souls” into this eternal barbecue pit.” – Desolate Paladin

I am constantly amazed by what people will say in a rant. But for a writer at Debunking Christianity ranting seems to be the substance of every post, and logic is almost an exception, as he even says:

“Also, as far as your contention that my arguments are void of logic, uhhhhhhh, and your’s aren’t either?? We’re debating religious dogma, doctrines, and values. Logic doesn’t come into play here, but rather subjective values and personal philosophical beliefs and convictions!”

What astounded me most were other claims, however (see this post):

“The judge tells the girl that she will be allowed no legal representation. No one will be permitted to speak on her behalf but she herself. “

His example has no place in scripture. God, indeed, gives us the option of an advocate in the person of Jesus Christ, “We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He himself is the propitiation for our sins…” (1 John 2:1). Christ is a mediator on our behalf –our advocate and ransom– yet the sinner has disavowed Christ the chance to testify on his behalf. “If we deny Him, He also will deny us.” (2 Tim. 2:12) and in Matthew 10:33, “But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven,”

“The girl has committed no “crimes” per se, but has committed many of the same “sins” that an average young woman of her age might have committed in the course of her short life…. The judge tells this girl that although her “crimes” are minor, she will be taken out, doused in gasoline, set ablaze, and then thrown into a vat of sulfuric acid while she is still burning…”

The matter isn’t how of how small or how great one’s sin is, but of what has been done about it. Every one of us is born into sin, and all continue in sin (cf. Romans 3:23). Even so, it is not the sin itself, but the active participation in sin that brings judgment. In Eden, The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil had no apparent magical qualities. It was the action of eating the fruit, of disregarding God’s law, that brought the knowledge of sin –and death. Just as today, it is the act of going against God’s commandment that lays on us the guilt of sin. “But He by no means clears the guilty” (Num. 14:18 )

Since God is infinite, perfect and holy, His law is a mirror of these attributes. What God set up as of utmost value, the sinner –the human– has devalued, and has cast down the perfect law of God. So, judgement is precipitate to the slighest sin, and eternal hell is the logical result of one’s own decision. If one denies God in life, in hell his rejection of God is gratified. There can be absolutely no justification of sin on human terms.

Those who would paint God as sadistic monster need realize their precarious position. The only impediment to a sinner being immediately cast into hell is God’s mercy. Therefore, it is not that God demonstrates unjust wrath in any action, but that He ceases from showing mercy. Consider your own place in the matter, remembering the Advocate that God has provided. You have sinned, and there is absolutely nothing you can do, of yourself, to alleviate God’s righteous wrath. Take heed while you still have a chance.