"How can a God of love send anybody to Hell?"

Originally posted by checkbaiter
God paid a steep price by sending his son to die for the ungodly. The suffering and rejection Jesus endured is beyond my comprehension.
Having said that, anyone who rejects his free gift of salvation...
There is no hell deep enough, it cannot burn long enough to pay for rejecting Jesus....but God is kinder and more merciful than I am, and he will not t ...[text shortened]... ever, they will just burn up and cease to exist.
So, I agree with you, man sends himself there.

I am inclined to agree with you that the Christ rejecting will simply burn up and cease to exist because it is incomprehensible that one would exist forever in such a place as a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

But, Jesus said, "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."

"Their worm" is that which is left after total degeneration. I'm not sure how much "suffering" they will endure, but it appears they exist in such a state forever.

Unimaginable. God's wrath has no boundary, just as His love has no end. God is infinitely just, so if God says their "worm dieth not", then who are we to question Him?

Well, there's nothing wrong with asking why is there? I don't know why, but the scriptures are clear. Why else is it that so many stumble over this question, and since it is so graphically tragic to imagine it to be so, is it no wonder that so many reject God? Without a just cause they reject their creator. The arrogance of anyone that presumes to question the acts of a just and Holy God.

Created in the image of God. We never really die. This flesh dies, but the soul and spirit live on. Either with God in life, or without God in death. Eternal separation, outer darkness, destruction and the lake of fire.

God's mercy is infinite as well. Mercy and grace and eternal life to anyone who asks. But wrath and death to those who reject God.

Just the way it is.

Originally posted by josephw
Prove that there has been 200,000 years of human existence.

Start a thread on the Science Forum if you want to find out about how long humans have existed.

Originally posted by josephw
Unimaginable. God's wrath has no boundary, just as His love has no end. God is infinitely just, so if God says their "worm dieth not", then who are we to question Him?

If you think you know God is infinitely just, but this particular issue seems to contradict that, then the question is 'which is right'? So I see no reason not to question Him. Why should you pick and choose what you want to about God?

.... is it no wonder that so many reject God?
I actually know of nobody that has rejected God. Do you? Or do you mean reject the concept of God? If so, then yes, part of the reason I don't think the God you believe in exists is because I believe your description is incoherent, and this is just one way in which it is incoherent.

Without a just cause they reject their creator. The arrogance of anyone that presumes to question the acts of a just and Holy God.
Do you see that there is a problem with that? Suppose I tell you I am your emperor, and questioning my commands is pure arrogance on your part because I am a just and holy emperor. And no, you cannot question whether I am truly a just and holy emperor as that would be pure arrogance on your part. Will you obey me from now on? If not, why not?

Just the way it is.
So, as in the OP, you really have no answer to the thread title question.

Originally posted by stellspalfie
radiometric dating.

I believe the earth is old, but radiometric dating can't tell how long life has been on the earth. Only the age of rock.

Even then it isn't that trustworthy. Who cares how old rock is anyway?

Originally posted by twhitehead
If you think you know God is infinitely just, but this particular issue seems to contradict that, then the question is 'which is right'? So I see no reason not to question Him. Why should you pick and choose what you want to about God?

[b].... is it no wonder that so many reject God?
I actually know of nobody that has rejected God. Do you? Or do y ...[text shortened]... st the way it is.[/b]
So, as in the OP, you really have no answer to the thread title question.[/b]

It's just another example of the anthropomorphic attributes given a god by the god designers who started organized religions.

Originally posted by twhitehead
If you think you know God is infinitely just, but this particular issue seems to contradict that, then the question is 'which is right'? So I see no reason not to question Him. Why should you pick and choose what you want to about God?

[b].... is it no wonder that so many reject God?
I actually know of nobody that has rejected God. Do you? Or do y ...[text shortened]... st the way it is.[/b]
So, as in the OP, you really have no answer to the thread title question.[/b]

Can you dance?

You can sure dance with words.

I quoted God's Word. You reject God's Word. You reject God.

I don't give a rip whether you believe me or not!

Just sayin'

Originally posted by josephw
Who cares how old rock is anyway?

Aren't formerly living things found fossilized in rock?

Originally posted by josephw
I believe the earth is old, but radiometric dating can't tell how long life has been on the earth. Only the age of rock.

If there are fossils in the rock, then clearly that life is at least as old as the rock.
But radiometric dating is not only used for rock, it is used directly on life as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating

Originally posted by josephw
Can you dance?

You can sure dance with words.

I quoted God's Word. You reject God's Word. You reject God.

Its you that is dancing with words, not I. You are not using the words with their standard English meanings.
But what is worse, is you inconsistent in your usage suggesting intent to deceive.

Originally posted by FMF
Start a thread on the Science Forum if you want to find out about how long humans have existed.

He will not get the correct answer there because all those people believe in the fairy tale of evolution and billions of years of made-up history.

Originally posted by josephw
I believe the earth is old, but radiometric dating can't tell how long life has been on the earth. Only the age of rock.

Even then it isn't that trustworthy. Who cares how old rock is anyway?

I have studied this. Radiometric dating does not work on rocks.

Originally posted by twhitehead
If there are fossils in the rock, then clearly that life is at least as old as the rock.
But radiometric dating is not only used for rock, it is used directly on life as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating

Radiocarbon dating only works if one can be sure the specimen has not been contaminated. Normally no one knows for sure, it is just assumed it is not contaminated. It is sort of like DNA which can also be contaminated, but with DNA it is much easier to determine contamination.

Originally posted by josephw
I believe the earth is old, but radiometric dating can't tell how long life has been on the earth. Only the age of rock.

Even then it isn't that trustworthy. Who cares how old rock is anyway?

It is trustworthy, the rock around the remains of a human fossil can be dated to give the age of the human.

The presence of feldspar crystals from a volcanic eruption inside pumice fragments is an indication that the crystals have not been contaminated. Such unadulterated crystals can be dated using a technique called potassium-argon dating. - national geographic.

Originally posted by josephw
I am inclined to agree with you that the Christ rejecting will simply burn up and cease to exist because it is incomprehensible that one would exist forever in such a place as a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

But, Jesus said, "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."

"Their worm" is that which is left after total degeneration. I ...[text shortened]... nal life to anyone who asks. But wrath and death to those who reject God.

Just the way it is.

Do you think that those listening to Jesus speak of the wicked burning in gehenna thought he meant they would burn forever? Of course not, because they knew that the garbage they took to the city dump did not continue to exist in the fire without being consumed. Rather, it burned up, and was gone. Jesus used the word gehenna to illustrate that the wicked were like the garbage, refuse worthy only of destruction. The only reason the fire continued to burn was because the whole city kept throwing their garbage there. Likewise, when it has done its job, the lake of fire will be no more.

If Revelation 20:10 is coming to your mind as an apparent contradiction to what you have read thus far, that’s great—it should. It speaks of the Devil and a couple of his henchman being thrown in the lake of fire and being “tormented day and night forever and ever.” However, the Bible was not written in English, and when we dig a bit deeper, we see that “forever and ever” in the Greek is more accurately “for ages unto ages.” In keeping with God’s decree in Genesis 3:15 that Jesus would eventually “crush the head” of the Devil (that is, destroy him), Ezekiel 28:18 declares that the Devil will be “brought to ashes.” Apparently, as a fitting recompense for his monstrous evil, this will take a long time.

Some Christians argue that annihilation is not a sufficient threat to stop people, and that the threat of burning forever is a more effective deterrent to sin. However, this is looking at Scripture the wrong way. God says that it is His “kindness” that leads people to repentance (Rom. 2:4), not His threats of death, although that might work, because it is programmed within mankind to do whatever it takes to stay alive. Apparently, the thought of not existing is more terrifying to most people than the thought of living even under horrible conditions. What God does do is set forth His great love in giving His Son, and encourage people to believe in him and have everlasting life.

If God were trying to use the threat of eternal torment as a deterrent to sin, John 3:16 might read: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not burn forever, but have everlasting life.” And God could have made that plain in many other verses as well. The fact that the Bible simply says “perish” indicates that the unsaved will die, and thus exist no more. What faces those who refuse God’s gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is annihilation. They will be terminated, gone—history. And the rest of us, because of the grace of God and the work of Jesus Christ, will live happily ever after.

Originally posted by RJHinds
Radiocarbon dating only works if one can be sure the specimen has not been contaminated. Normally no one knows for sure, it is just assumed it is not contaminated. It is sort of like DNA which can also be contaminated, but with DNA it is much easier to determine contamination.

Once a crystal has formed how is it going to become contaminated? Moreover, in the case of Zircon, where you could argue for remelting, how is it going to be contaminated with a decay product which the crystal expels from its structure?