Does the fear of hell influence your religious beliefs?

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  1. Silver Fish profile image68
    Silver Fishposted 12 years ago

    Does the fear of hell influence your religious beliefs?

  2. profile image0
    JThomp42posted 12 years ago

    NO, Not at all. If you accept Jesus just because of fear of hell? Then you haven't genuinely accepted Him for the correct reasons. You accept Jesus for dying on the cross for your sins. You must feel this in your heart and confess it with your mouth that you believe he has done this for you. Please read John 3:15-17

  3. GodTalk profile image66
    GodTalkposted 12 years ago

    There is no fear of Hell for the Christian who truly has accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and knows what God's Word says about the relationship that a person now has through faith. Jesus has taken away my sins, and has given me His righteousness. And the Bible tells me that nothing can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord (Romans 8:38,39). Knowing Christ gives me real assurance. And it makes me want to live a holy life to please Him. I want to live for Him who died for me.

  4. ecoggins profile image87
    ecogginsposted 12 years ago

    I would say to some small degree "Yes"; but MUCH MORE SO THE LOVE OF GOD. Eternal separation from God and loved ones would be horrific. You don't even have to think of it as a Lake of Fire; you could think of it as being locked up in a room with white walls and nothing else and never able to interact with anyone else again. For me the thought of eternal separation is frightening.

    However, I come to God not to escape damnation, but to know the pure joy of his love and acceptance. Many fear God or nullify the idea of God because they feel God is a punishing dictator who only wants to condemn us. Unfortunately, they feel so because God's representatives in the Church have in large part portrayed God as such. However, Jesus made it clear that God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17). That they might know freedom, peace, hope, joy, and love to the depths of the soul.

  5. profile image0
    SparrowMinistriesposted 12 years ago

    Wow, that's an awesome question!  What made you think of it?  I was taught about hell when some neighbors took me to a Baptist church as a child.  It scared me and I said the "salvation prayer" but it wasn't life changing.  I believed that Jesus lived and died and rose the third day, and that the Bible was true, but I didn't really give my life to Him with all my heart.

    At age 26 I started attending church again and my heart was changed.  I gave my life to Him.  That time is was not out of fear, but knowing He loves me softened my heart.  The Bible says perfect love casts out fear, and God does love us perfectly.  I also believe that when a person gives their life to Jesus, they surrender themselves fully to God for all eternity.

    We are marked in Him with a Seal, the promised Holy Spirit, a deposit guaranteeing our redemption.  So while Hell is a reality, it is not a reality for me.  I am safe in His loving arms. If I disobey Him he may chastise me to get me back on track, as any loving parent would, but He will never let me go.

    The fear of Hell does affect me in the sense that I am concerned for others who do not know the Lord.  I know it does no good to try to "cram it down someone's throat"  but I pray for those people I care about that God would open their eyes and soften their hearts, and that He would give me the right words to say so that they, too, would come to know the Savior.

    1. profile image0
      SparrowMinistriesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The same is true of my son.  He loved the Lord so much as a child, but his parents' divorce and college influence eroded his faith somehow.  I only pray for him because he already knows the truth. I just believe God will draw him back.

    2. profile image0
      Garifaliaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Dear friend,
      It's normal that people have doubt about God--what that means to each. When your son has your approvla, undivided attention and love, he will soon understand that that's what God is all about.

  6. Disappearinghead profile image61
    Disappearingheadposted 12 years ago

    I do not fear something that I do not believe exists.
    http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/hell_test.html

    1. profile image0
      Garifaliaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Great answer

    2. PastorAndrew profile image61
      PastorAndrewposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You don't have to be believe in oxygen to breath it.  You do not have to believe in Hell to end up there.  Jesus taught about hell.  If you don't believe Jesus, you have much bigger problems.
      But Jesus loves you, & died for your forgiveness.  Bel

    3. Disappearinghead profile image61
      Disappearingheadposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Neither Jesus nor Paul taught about some hell. There is no hell in the OT so his listeners had never heard of it. He taught about Gehenna, Ben Hinom, Hinom Valley. Go look up what Israel did to their children there, then ask if God will do the same.

    4. profile image0
      JThomp42posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      With all due respect Disappearinghead, What Bible are you reading. It talks about the devil and hell throughout the bible. Who do you think convinced Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit?

    5. Disappearinghead profile image61
      Disappearingheadposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      @JT. The bible I read  would be an interlinear Greek NT or a Jewish OT. What do you read from?
      There are no demons in the OT. Jesus never mentioned hell (read a Greek) and the snake was the yetzer hara or evil inclination (read a Jewish commentary)

    6. profile image0
      JThomp42posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Then who was it that God allowed to torture Job? Who tempted Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days and forty nights? Jewish people do not believe in Jesus. Why would they have anything to do with the NT?

    7. PastorAndrew profile image61
      PastorAndrewposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Your denial of the truth does not change it.  There are different words for death.  That doesn't mean that hell & the eventual lake of fire in outer darkness are not there.  They are there & real & No one has to go there.  Jesus offers li

    8. Disappearinghead profile image61
      Disappearingheadposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      There is no record of any angels in rebellion in the OT. The word 'satan' is the Hebrew for accuser or opposer. It can apply to a man or an angel of the Lord (Num 22:22) in the Hebrew. In Judaism this satan is an angel that God sent, his servant.

    9. PastorAndrew profile image61
      PastorAndrewposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Jesus said that, Mt 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
      If you don't believe Jesus, you have bigger problems than what we can fix.

    10. profile image0
      Garifaliaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I don't see why we must disagree or agree on this. Most importantly how each of us perceives hell is dependent on his own beliefs. Jesus meant hell, as far as I understand it, metaphorically. Certainly what matters are our good deeds.

    11. profile image0
      JThomp42posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
      9 Not of works, lest any man should boast
      Ephesians 2: 8-9

    12. Disappearinghead profile image61
      Disappearingheadposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Ah the old problem of only reading English translations and ignoring the OT because of a perceived idea they have been superseded.

    13. profile image0
      JThomp42posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This is from the NT.

  7. unvrso profile image84
    unvrsoposted 12 years ago

    Not at all! you create your own hell by the lifestyle you practice.

  8. Apostle Jack profile image60
    Apostle Jackposted 12 years ago

    Mostly, to go to any other place but heaven is what i fear. Anything on the other side of good is nothing but a sad and dreary place to be. Whatever name one may apply to hell and damnation,....  i don't want to be in the crowd.

  9. profile image0
    Garifaliaposted 12 years ago

    H_ _ _ no! I believe only in the goodness of man. I leave man's evils behind me and focus on what I choose - only the good. Trust me, it's not an easy thing to do, especially when your lifeline is wearing thin.

  10. ThompsonPen profile image65
    ThompsonPenposted 12 years ago

    I think that if it does, a person is in their belief system for the wrong reasons. One should be doing good because they WANT to do good, and spread love, and practice love, not for fear of what might happen as an alternative. Should the path of God and Jesus be the way, they are a higher being than we are, which is obvious. I don't mean higher as in they sit at a high elevation either. They exist in a dimension that we can't comprehend. And if God is the way, and God has in fact created us as well as our world and this Universe, and who knows, maybe several other Universes, and we are judged at our deaths, it will be known who acted out of the love within their soul, or acted out of fear.
    At the end of the day, fear is the root cause of hate and anger. So and so doesn't like that chick because she was catty...meaning that chick was hitting on so and so's guy, and so and so is AFRAID of losing her. A group hates the gay community because they fear them, spiders are hated because people fear them. Back in the day, during the time of the Civil war, the north hated the slaves because of their ignorance which caused them to fear them. the South began hating them because they had kept their slaves ignorant and feared what they would be swayed to do by the north and the privileges the north had given them. They also hated the north, because they feared them.
    If Hell were not an option, just the option of staying on earth or going to heaven, I think there would be a lot more love going on.
    Love should be the only thing influencing a person's beliefs.

  11. keepmovingforward profile image59
    keepmovingforwardposted 12 years ago

    Yes, exactly fear of hell influence religious beliefs, this the reason why people afraid to commit sins.

    1. profile image0
      SparrowMinistriesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hell is for those who reject Jesus Christ as Lord, who don't admit they are sinners in need of a Savior.  I won't go to Hell if I sin.  I love God, accept Jesus' sacrifice for my sins. I fear sin only because I love God desire to follow Him.

  12. Rosana Modugno profile image66
    Rosana Modugnoposted 12 years ago

    I don't believe in Hell, so I have no fear of it.  And unless someone has been there to tell me about it, I may change my mind.  But until then, it has no influence on what I believe in whatsoever.

  13. Matthew Weese profile image61
    Matthew Weeseposted 12 years ago

    Not at all, hell is just a state of mind that anyone can change and eek out of.

  14. profile image0
    danielabramposted 12 years ago

    Fear of hell is one of the biggest reasons people stay moral.

    1. A K Turner profile image65
      A K Turnerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That is very true, I don't doubt it, fear is a great way of keeping control

    2. Silver Fish profile image68
      Silver Fishposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      So does that mean that we cannot have morality without religion?

    3. profile image0
      JThomp42posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm sorry, But that is one of the most judgmental, generational  statements I have ever read.

    4. Disappearinghead profile image61
      Disappearingheadposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      True, in a sense. The Church after Augustine borrowed the Egyptian, Greek and Roman myths of hell to keep people in line, just as they had done for centuries.

  15. A K Turner profile image65
    A K Turnerposted 12 years ago

    Great question, I mean Hell too me is a real place, I think it is under the judgement of God, whatever that means, so for me personally I think it is much more likely to herald destruction in the lake of fire, than anything else. My reason for believing this is looking at the example of the passover lamb, the children of the Egyptians were killed, and we do to certain extent create our own personal Hell by our behaviour.

  16. PastorAndrew profile image61
    PastorAndrewposted 12 years ago

    I have no fear of hell because I know that I have eternal life.  I John 5:13 "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." 

    Even before I was saved though, I did not fear hell then.  For me it was not the fear of hell that brought me to salvation, but the search for the truth. 

    My mother did not come to Christ for either of those reasons.  She came to Christ because of the love of God given through Jesus. 

    This is what the Bible says.  Some are saved through fear.  Some through compassion.  And some are saved through search of purity (hating the garments spotted with the flesh) which for me translated as the search for truth.

    Jude 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
    23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

  17. Darrell Roberts profile image69
    Darrell Robertsposted 12 years ago

    I would not say the fear of hell influences my religious beliefs, instead I would say that not desiring to have bad Karma influences my actions. 

    Hell will be there with or without me, preferably without me.  My actions will either get me into "hell" or keep me out of "hell". 

    I think it is that simple. 

    Best wishes

  18. greeneryday profile image69
    greenerydayposted 12 years ago

    Of course I fear hell, try to do the right things according to my religion belief, because at the end of the day I want to go to heaven, I think nobody have a plan to go to hell when he or her life is over...

  19. profile image52
    yoabbey12posted 12 years ago

    I believe in hell and I no longer fear going there because I am saved.The biggest influence on my religious beliefs is the love that Jesus showed when he died for my sins.It is his influence that governs my life.
    I am a woman who struggled with severe depression. I was raised by a loveless mother. The love of the Lord has made me whole and happy.I am grateful and my belief in Him has shown me just how special I really am .

  20. anuws profile image61
    anuwsposted 12 years ago

    Yes, But as my point of view the hell exists in this world itself. the people who are suffering the life like hell experience in this world itself.

 
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