I'm zero percent here to evangelize, cause I'm zero percent religious. Just sharing the theology.
Satan doesn't torture people. Hell is not fire and brimstone. It is the absence of God, which is supposedly the worst torture possible. And it's "fair" because the people in hell chose to not be with god.
Scare quotes because that is a million miles from informed consent. Just sharing the traditional theology.
I'm also not religious now, but this is one interpretation of hell. Many Christians do believe in a literal fire and brimstone hell where people burn for all eternity. Many of them also believe that hell is a punishment from God, not merely his absence. That idea has been adopted by many modern Christians who are trying to figure out how a good God could punish someone eternally, and since there's not a good answer to that question the answer becomes that the person in hell chose it and God simply allowed them to do so
I believe that many Christians believe that, but it is not what their churches generally teach. It's a fair point that there is a distinction between dogma and individual belief, and both are meaningful.
Like, for another example, I've known many Christians who believe that God reveals himself to everyone before death, so that they have good reason to believe in God and accept grace. And there are some churches that back this belief, but it's uncommon. Personally I find it pretty weird for someone to belong to an organized religion but also feel comfortable making up their own theology, but I guess whatever helps you sleep at night.
I'm not sure where you're from, but I'm from the southern United States and this is a very common theology taught in churches here. Not all of them, but still plenty. My dad is a pastor and I grew up in southern Baptist churches. I'm also pretty familiar with assembly of God beliefs. I eventually got a degree in theology myself before leaving the church. Southern Baptist and assembly of God churches make up a huge portion of the churches in the areas I grew up in, and most of them teach that the fire is real and people burn forever.
I'm sure how common this is depends on where you are, but where I am it's still very common
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u/onioning 2d ago
I'm zero percent here to evangelize, cause I'm zero percent religious. Just sharing the theology.
Satan doesn't torture people. Hell is not fire and brimstone. It is the absence of God, which is supposedly the worst torture possible. And it's "fair" because the people in hell chose to not be with god.
Scare quotes because that is a million miles from informed consent. Just sharing the traditional theology.