‘Eternal suffering’ is nonsensical

Originally posted by @romans1009
<Yet, according to the gospel preached by Jesus during His ministry, being righteous is what makes one righteous.>

I’ve been using the Biblical definition of righteous - in right standing with God.

But your sentence, excerpted above, reminds me of another poster who said the definition of death was being dead.

That may be how you see it, but God saw things differently:

Ezekiel 18
21“But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22“All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. 23“Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?

24“But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die.

As did the author of 1 John;

1 John 3
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

But then, perhaps they were unfamiliar with the "Biblical definition of righteous"

Originally posted by @fmf
All of them on the subject of righteousness. Back since he started posting.

I quoted his exact words that completely contradict what you are saying he is saying. I think you already know that and now you just want to troll.

Originally posted by @dj2becker
I quoted his exact words that completely contradict what you are saying he is saying. I think you already know that and now you just want to troll.

If you don't agree with my reaction to what Romans1009 believes, then it's OK by me.

Originally posted by @thinkofone
That may be how you see it, but God saw things differently:

Ezekiel 18
21“But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22“All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because ...[text shortened]...

But then, perhaps they were unfamiliar with the "Biblical definition of righteous"

None of that contradicts the doctrine of righteousness by faith. True faith will cause you to turn from all your sins and cause you to observe all His statutes and practise justice and righteousness. We all agree that faith without repentance and good works is dead.

Originally posted by @dj2becker
None of that contradicts the doctrine of righteousness by faith. True faith will cause you to turn from all your sins and cause you to observe all His statutes and practise justice and righteousness. We all agree that faith without repentance and good works is dead.

Why are you underhandedly pretending that we were discussing "doctrine of righteousness by faith" when we were discussing what you called the "Biblical definition of righteous"?

It clearly contradicts what you called the "Biblical definition of righteous".

Originally posted by @jacob-verville
It is right in the gospels:

Matthew 25:46
"These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Hell is referenced but not as eternal in other places, too, such as
:
Matthew 5:29-30
"If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your ...[text shortened]... ll me. Dive, how is punishing the wicked not loving those who suffered through the wicked deeds?

What I asked I asked for was how you reconcile eternal torture in hell by your (and others) version of Jesus with scriptures such as John 3:16.

What I did not ask you for was a list of scriptures you have chosen to prop up your horrendous dogma an reinforce your mindset of religious vindictiveness.

Originally posted by @fmf
If you don't agree with my reaction to what Romans1009 believes, then it's OK by me.

I believe you have put words in his mouth and twisted what he has said. If you think this is not the case, then it's OK by me.

Originally posted by @jacob-verville
Tell me. Dive, how is punishing the wicked not loving those who suffered through the wicked deeds?

Your philosophy disgusts me. Your notion of love, justice and the gospel of Jesus Christ is so perverted I hardly know where to begin dismantling it.

Originally posted by @dj2becker
I believe you have put words in his mouth and twisted what he has said. If you think this is not the case, then it's OK by me.

Your disagreement with what I have said in my conversation with Romans1009 is noted.

Originally posted by @thinkofone
Why are you underhandedly pretending that we were discussing "doctrine of righteousness by faith" when we were discussing what you called the "Biblical definition of righteous"?

It clearly contradicts what you called the "Biblical definition of righteous".

It is not contradictory if the people in question had faith. If you are able to show me that the people turning from their sin and doing good works had no faith you may have a point. See Hebrews 11.

Originally posted by @jacob-verville
I am sorry if you found it immature but it just felt like there was no content at all -- just a single criticism without much reason.

Have you found the courage as you called it, to go back to that thread in debates and explain your racist comments, or are you going to just make more excuses about being picked on, about auto-mod deleting your post or maybe just send me more PMs appealing for understanding?

Originally posted by @dj2becker
It is not contradictory if the people in question had faith. If you are able to show me that the people turning from their sin and doing good works had no faith you may have a point. See Hebrews 11.

No amount of your weasling is going to change what they say. Deal with it.

1 John 3
7Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

It clearly defines the dividing line as to who are "children of God" and who are "children of the devil"

Originally posted by @thinkofone
lol. You really need everything spelled out for you don't you?

JV: "Oh no, it's true, I am not very smart. I just put my head down and try to deduce what I can."

ToO: "Well, I'm not going to argue the point. You'd know better than me. [b]I must have been mistaken."

I have to tell you. I really have my doubts as to whether or not this is spelled out enough for you, but it'll have to do.[/b]

Let's just focus on the theological discussion at hand and not let the conversation degenerate too much.

Originally posted by @divegeester
Have you found the courage as you called it, to go back to that thread in debates and explain your racist comments, or are you going to just make more excuses about being picked on, about auto-mod deleting your post or maybe just send me more PMs appealing for understanding?

Sure, I'll do that sometime. But not now.

I want it to be fresh at that point. It's quite stale and I think that thread is rightfully dying. You got to let these things breath.

Originally posted by @divegeester
What I asked I asked for was how you reconcile eternal torture in hell by your (and others) version of Jesus with scriptures such as John 3:16.

What I did not ask you for was a list of scriptures you have chosen to prop up your horrendous dogma an reinforce your mindset of petty religious vindictiveness.

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

... I can see how, in the great context here, it does not take too much for this to tie into the other Biblical passages that involve the notion of folks who love darkness and reject the light.

Look, I am not celebrating the fact that some people choose darkness. But certainly, it is not a dirty thing to say that it is just for the wicked to be punished.

Does not evil exist? Does not evil deserve punishment?

I can see how there are those who reject Christianity that reject the notion of evil. After all, they have no concept of immutable virtues and truths.

But would you like to tell us about your positions?

Or do you just want to hide behind the fact that, in another thread, I said something juicy? Let's stick to the debate at hand.

Or do you surrender the point because you cannot defend it using the Bible?