Here are some short essays (by Dustin Horstmann) which might speak to those who are struggling with the notion of hell and eternal torment (Mark 9:42-48):
1. http://on.fb.me/1LGLROp - "(Some) years ago I *deeply* struggled with the doctrine of eternal suffering in Hell..."
2. http://on.fb.me/1IgdsqU - "Well, why is Hell *eternal*?"
3. From a separate comment thread:
"The reason that people are sent to eternal punishment is seen in Romans 1: God is making Himself known as the Creator through creation, and instead of acknowledging Him, man worships and serves things He made as gods, whether that be man, bird, fish, etc. Notice that Paul didn't say that God is judging people because no one is religious. In fact, he says the opposite: everyone is religious in that everyone is worshipping and serving something created. Some people worship money, others sex, others their own righteousness. In Paul's, much creature worship was expressed through carven idols. The same idol worship exists today, but is facilitated differently.
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So, I would not say that Jewish people who reject Christ are worshipping God. People reject Christ because they love their works, and those who love their works more than God, seek to worship the creature (of those works) and not the Creator, which brings us back to Romans 1 again.
So there are many faces to creature worship and that is the reason, according to the Bible, that men are damned. And sometimes (or often) religious people are closer to damnation that prostitutes and harlots because their worship of self is so profound, though they use much language about God. Make sense?
I'm just weary to hallow religious people as less idolatrous as others, and somehow more deserving of heaven."
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