There are not many people in paradise, but the population of hell is huge?!?!

[Soph0571]

This must be what many right-wing evangelical Christians believe. For millions of Christians the belief that you must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God is a fundamental cornerstone of their belief system:

‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again he cannot enter the Kingdom of God’, so said Jesus to Nicodemus. A puzzled Nicodemus asks how is it possible for a man to be born when he is old. The answer of course was that man should be reborn in the spirit, not in the flesh. Millions of Christians claim to have experienced that spiritual rebirth, without which they believe you cannot enter Heaven.

However what about the millions who are brought up as Christian but whose religious rules and mores say something different. Catholics for example, believe in talking to God through Priests, not through Jesus. There is 1.2 billion that are alive today, heading for the fiery inferno. How about those with no faith who live a life of good works. Fire and brimstone for you. Faithful Muslim, praying 5 times a day? 1.5 billion, burning for eternity.

Hell is starting to look pretty crowded. 2.5 billion Souls, just taking into account currently living Catholics and Muslims. Of course we have had 200,000 years of homo-sapiens on planet earth before the birth of Christ. We have all the people in all the world, who by virtue of their geographic location, or by the time of their birth, could never have possibly heard the word of God, and therefore could never make the choice to be born again? How many do you think that adds to the fiery pit?

Born again Christians believe that you cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven unless your spiritual experience is exactly like theirs. Current estimates suggest that worldwide there are about 285 million evangelical Christians. About 13.1% of the total population. They are going to heaven. Everyone else is going to hell. Sounds somewhat like a privileged, gated, middle class community to me. Does your face fit? Can you follow the rules? Do you think, act, and behave exactly like us? Praise Jesus or be damned. Truly. In this version of events there really are not many people in paradise.

[RKP5637]

1. Big opportunities in hell for housing construction!

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Thought the Bible says only 144,000 would go to heaven.

[3Hotdogs]

3. Some are going to Heaven. Others are getting their own planet.

I'd choose the planet over being in the same place as Bakker or Robertson.

[Voltaire2]

4. Only mormons get their own planet.

And they have their own special book of utter bullshit, which fact sort of makes them not exactly christians.

[edhopper]

5. How are people tortured in Hell

when we are discoporeal spirits after we die.

No body should mean no pain.

[CaptYossarian]

6. They only get FOX News.

My theory of Heaven and Hell is this: If your life on Earth was a living Hell--as in poverty, bad health, abuse or family separation--you are guaranteed a place in Heaven.

If you are born to privilege and money--and take every advantage (military deferments, not being punished for crimes, mistreating/torturing fellow human beings, being a traitor to your country, etc.)--you will rot in Hell for eternity.

Donald Trump and his crime family & cronies can go rot in Hell.

[Mariana]

9. Remember, God is all powerful.

An omnipotent god can make it so you suffer physical pain, even if you don't have a physical body.

[gtar100]

7. Not too worried about the conventional Christian views on Hell (or Heaven).

Eternal punishment is an absurd idea. Especially when it's related to concepts of justice, love, and forgiveness which Islam and Christianity also espouse. Eternity is kind of a long time (or no time at all depending on how you look at it). From my own experience, heaven and hell have doors that swing open both ways and we can move between both places based on our circumstances, decisions and perspectives - they are psychological "places". They aren't locations that are only accessible on the other side of our death, of that I am sure.

So whatever these Christian organizations say about it, orthodoxy or not, it makes no difference to me. I cannot subscribe to their points of view. They just don't fit with my experience.

[guillaumeb]

8. Trump carries around his own Hell with him every day. eom

[Iggo]

10. Fick.

Shun.

[AtheistCrusader]

11. Much ado about nothing.

It was always a trick question; neither exist.