Some Went to Hell and Came Back

My Christian friend Lucy Goh sent me a website address where many Christians share their real experiences about going to Hell and Heaven and then coming back to tell others about it.

http://www.spiritlessons.com/

If you have read my previous posts, you would know that I have made my stand that a true God of love would never ever be able to come up with the idea of a hell which will torture His creation with fire forever and ever. Only an evil being would think of it, and do it.Would a loving mother let her child be a prostitute? Would a loving father allow his children to suffer hunger and not do something about it?

So how should I look at these purportedly true experiences? We have to ask some fundamental questions.

1. Firstly, not only Christians tell such experiences. People from other faiths also do. So are they talking about the same hell and heaven, or those related to their own religions?

2. Are heaven and hell physical or otherwise? Can we go there in our physical bodies? The Bible says specifically that it is meant for souls, people after death.

3. Why are only selected people given the chance to go there and come back? If hell is so terrible, why doesn't God show it on a TV for us to see so that everyone can choose to obey Him? Even humans know how to warn others on all kinds of media about, say, the harms of smoking, which is not so terrible as burning in hell.

4. Are these people who make such claims using their stories to make money? Many such books are for sale. If they are serious about warning others, why not ask all Christians to pay for the costs of the books and then give them out free of charge? Instead we see Christians more worried about what they wear, what they eat, how to make more money to buy their dream houses, etc, etc. A communist once said that if hell and the gospel are true, he would crawl through broken glass just to tell the world about it. But I don't see any urgency from Christians today. In this aspect, the Buddhists are better, as many of their books are published and given away free, courtesy of some unknown donors.

5. With the use of books and websites, how long will it take to get their testimonies to everyone in the world? The website owner is also asking for volunteers to translate the books into other languages, which means that the whole world will not have the chance to read them. In the process, many people would have died and 'gone to hell'.

6. Who can be without sin? Who can be holy? Is sex sinful? Are sexual thoughts sinful? Which human being can say that he does not think about sex? So what is the criteria for heaven?

7. How do these people know that the being they saw was Jesus Christ? A Buddhist would say it is Buddha, a Hindu would say it is Vishnu, etc. Satan can disguise himself in any form, as the Bible says. It could be a kind of deception. Some aliens may also be able to control our bodies, minds and souls and make us go through some kind of imaginary experiences.

8. Is the size of hell fixed from creation? If it is, then will it be able to accomodate all the sinners going there? Or is God expanding it year after year as more and more people are sent there? Same questions for heaven.

9. Are Christians today going to church only for one reason - fear of going to hell? That is to day, if the Bible says there is no hell, will there be talk about holiness? Maybe there won't be churches at all!!

10. If hell is real and many are going to suffer there, will God be looking 'down' at them and enjoying Himself forever and ever, and won't even give a drop of water (as mentioned in the Bible) to ease their sufferings?

11. If we human beings can talk about giving people a second chance or third chance or more, why cant God do that?

12. Was the topic of hell part of the original texts, or was it added by some people along the way to frighten others into believing it? I notice that it was hardly mentioned in the Old Testament, where the Bible-god was more interested in leading Israel to a land flowing with milk and honey, and not heaven. He was also quick to kill those who disobeyed him.

13. Within the believers of the Bible are many different sects as the Bible can be interpreted or misinterpreted in thousands of ways (that is why there are many Bible-based cults too). So who is right? The Pentecostals? the Baptists? The Methodist? The Anglicans? The Catholics? Why is God quiet about this? So the Pentecostals condemn the rest to hell and they believe they will go to heaven, and same for the rest? If all of them can go to heaven, will they continue their bickering in heaven?

I challenge Christians to think about these points objectively, and not believe the Bible or some preachers blindly out of the fear of hell. I am sure the true God is able to reason with us and is not governed by fixed rules like 'sinners will go to hell and be burned forever and ever'. On earth, rules are set and changed by humans. So why not God?