CHRISTIANITY - THE PENALTIES OF
UNBELIEF
Let those who may
be tempted to question the eternal reality of it all take warning from the
fearful threat against unbelief which the chief apostle hurls at the
incredulous:
"That they all might be damned who believed not the truth."
(2 Thess. 2.12)
The same dire fate is pronounced against him who even hesitates in his faith:
"And he that doubteth is damned"' (Rom.
14.28)
This is that to which they are damned:
"Are set forth for an
example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
(Jude 7)
to which is added the Jesus' fearful admonition:
"Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
(Matt. 10.28)
and the fulmination of the ex-persecutor of the faithful, persecutor now of the
faithless:
"He that despised Moses'
law died without mercy: ... Of how much sorer
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath
trodden under foot the Son of God?" (Heb. 10.28, 29)
followed by the warning of the horrible example of the past:
"The
Lord, having saved the people out of the
and the very pertinent warning for the future:
"For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience."
(Col. 3.6)
and the yet more terrifying threat in the gentle Jesus' own words:
"Ye serpents, ye
generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation
of hell?" (Matt. 23.33
Paul again says:
"For the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost."
(1 Thess. 2.16)
and John:
"For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall
be able to stand?" (Rev. 6.17)
This is augmented by the apostolic prophesy of yet more wrath to come:
"But a certain fearful
looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries." (Heb. 10.27)
The argument of terror and its efficiency is again urged by Paul, who admits he
uses it for the moral suasion of converts:
"For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in
his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men."
(2 Cor. 5.10, 11)
and who brings it to this climax of terrorism:
"Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to
recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who
are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking
vengeance on them that know not God, and that
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come
to be glorified in his saints." (2 Thess. 1.6-10)
All this tends to induce the mind to yield a very ready assent to the total
truth of the same apostle's warning:
"It
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
(Heb. 10.31)
Many may well wonder how ― and why ― a kind and loving god should make such terrible threats or inflict
such fearful penalties upon his human children for simply not believing things
so contrary to the most godlike faculty he supposedly endowed them with, divine
reason. These threats and penalties would be more consistent with the practices
of savages than with the principles of a just and merciful god (Jesus, Hashem,
Allah, etc).
The truth is there is no Invisible Friend
in the Sky aka god. Only the pen and imaginations of primitive men devised
these threats to keep the sheeple ― flocks ― under control and
easily manipulated. They are merely the invention of Christianity ― lies
― all designed to coerce and threaten people, out of fear, to leave their
old god(s) behind and follow this brand of paganism.
Leave the lies, fear, threats and delusions of Christianity far, far behind.
As Samuel Clemens
(Mark Twain) said of the bible; "It is full of interest. It has noble poetry
in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good
morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies."