Not sure exactly what you're saying, but let's take the SDA case. You live a "rational and reasonable" life by your definition, i.e. you're a "pretty nice guy": Sometime after the end of your life you are judged and sometime thereafter your life is taken away. This is exactly what you "want" and how you view life right now. As a materialist, you believe that your life will end after your time here on planet earth anyway. So I don't see the objection as you essentially would be given exactly what you want and expect...
Hmmm...I didn't know that about the lake of fire part. That's one of my exasperations with most Christians: they take apocryphal and/or vision/dream language and turn it into something literal for which it was not necessarily intended. That's a big subject that I think would bore most materialists into a comatose state since they don't accept the Bible as true anyway. So I guess what I'll say is that we have very little to go on as to what hell will be like, but imo the fire will not generally be a literal flesh-searing, Miltonian fire. (Okay, it might get a little toasty for Uday Hussein...) Let me ask this question: why would anyone assume that God would use a earthly fire (as we're used to it down here) to destroy human spirits/souls? The "fire" that will be used would certainly be beyond our knowledge here on earth - it's not going to the byproduct of carbon combusion, right?!?
___________________________________________ I think I am hearing that you already made your decision. If so then that is fine. So you can now leave the rest of us to face the consequences of our decisions.
Shoe on biblical hell: >There is a deliberate silence... A: Let's say there IS silence (there isn't) -- the evidence to support that this silence is "deliberate" is what? B: The references in the word of god to hell as a fiery place are available repeatedly in BOTH the old and new testament. How many times must he speak in regards to this subject before one concludes that there IS NO silence, let alone "deliberate silence"? JB
Just so everyone knows, Shoe's example is NOT the SDA version. I know this because every relative I have, coming and going for generations on both sides of the family are SDA -- well, except for those few of us who have strayed. Both of my brother-in-laws plus many other relatives are SDA ordained ministers. In the SDA version, your "life is taken away" alright. BY A LAKE OF FIRE!!!!!!!!! JB
Both of my brother-in-laws plus many others relatives are SDA ordained ministers. Turok ____________________________________________ Gee, who can blame you for your aversion to Christianity. Please take this as feeble attempt at humor.
I'm sorry for misrepresenting the SDA position, although I think it is a minor point. Regardless, this only proves my point: there is so little written about the afterlife for those who reject God that there is widespread speculation... Think about it: we have several passages describing heaven, i.e. streets of gold, etc. Where is a similar description of hell?
Doubter, You may well be hearing that very thing, but it is not what message boards, communication between people or logical discussion is about. You are doing the equivalent of jumping in the pool, taking a wee, then climbing out whilst shouting "leave the rest of us to face the consequences of our peeing". My interest is, why you feel you have to pee in the water first off.
LOL. No offense taken Doubter. While of course we are all greatly affected by our pasts I like to think that my "aversion to christianity" comes from my years of study AFTER I left the cult environment in which I was raised. JB