THe subject of Hell and the afterlife

I recent read an article on another website about a guy who died and went to hell and tells his story about it.

This got me thinking about the afterlife. I have always been of the opinion that testimonies of experiences in the afterlife should be accepted with extreme caution. Paul wrote that the things he saw in the 3rd heaven were unlawful for him to put into words. Yet the only thing we hear in the NT about any after life is Abrahams bosom.

I have also read 'A divine revelation of hell' which I don't believe at all. So, what this guy spoke about I don't believe it either. When the subject of hell is brough up and the stories show human souls being tortured by demons-we have a problem.

How do you judge testimonies of the afterlife by those who say they have come back?

It would do us well to consider Hell via a more biblical understanding. I do not profess to have any great revelation of it outside of scripture but there does seem to be that which is necessary to a greater understanding of it's intensity and harshness. It shares a common foundation with that which provides us glimpses and awe of the Heavenly as well as the horrors that await the rebellious. That common ground from the consideration of God Himself. The greater our God the greater both Heaven and Hell. Any consideration of hell that is in anyway less than the worst it could possibly be would be no less than heresy and no greater than blasphemy.

In addition the attributes of our God and Savior serve to provide us with much greater detail the more we seek to understand Him through who He is. To contemplate perfection and make application of it even to Hell itself, which was also create as good in His eyes, is to gain a much greater understanding of it's perfection in creation. It was spoken into it's exact condition and measure and it will be kept through eternity without end by He who has created it. To attribute the wrath poured out upon those who occupy it to another would be a violation of scripture. The cause will be God and the measure received will be unfathomable.

One should consider all the senses will suffer the greatest of impoverishments. The smell, the feel, the vision, and the sounds. No taste, just a burning thirst that can have no reprieve. The mental anguish will be that which is exponential to the greatest grief and truama any of us have ever suffered. Our contemplations will never come close to the horrors of it's reality.

He is a great and mighty God and He will be glorified in His righteousness, as sad a reality as that will be for the majority of men. May we love and be light to this dying world.

This was Ezra's testimony upon consideration of the sins among the Israelites in Jerusalem after the suffering of the seventy years of Babylonian Captivity...

...our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserved...(Ezra 9:13)

As I reason, their sufferings could have been greater and so could ours. We ought not to presume upon the conditions in the future based upon the conditions in the present.

The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy... (Psalm 119:64)

Prayer: Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Praise and thanksgiving for redemption and salvation: O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endures for ever. (Psalms 136:26)

So true. It makes Acts 17:30 that much more relevant as we read that God passed over such times of ignorance and now He has commanded men everywhere to repent for He has set a day to judge the world in Righteousness by His Son who has created it. What wrath was poured out upon the Son! What mercy then will there be given to the unmerciful (James 2:13)? Do you think scripture speaks to merciful people bearing eternal punishment? There shall be degrees of punishment in Hell but even the least of these waves a contemptible fist in gesture that tells the Lord how hated He truly is. To grant the slightest relief to one of these in hell, if it were possible, as one might suspend a single drop of water upon their finger, is to show our Lord the very same contempt. It is hard to accept In our lesser understanding that such a great sentence is handed down, but is that not the point?

I've watched 23mn in Hell by Bill Wiese, and I really took in heart all of his warnings
- that God sent him there to give testimony of its existence and its duration (eternal)
- that Jesus will come back soon

I do understand that we are to be cautious and not swallow everything but those testimony (if genuine) ultimately put first things first and make us focus on 'eternity' again instead of our daily stuff...

In fact, I read another thread out there (on SI) that some do not believe that Hell is eternal... I just cannot understand why they believe that

I love to read testimonies of people who saw a glimpse of heaven. Some, obviously, are a product of an over-active imagination while others are genuine. How to discern the difference?

I have concluded that if the person who saw it comes back with an heartfelt concern for the lost, then it must be genuine. Some people's 'visions' are so absurd - you can easily find those on the web - but not all are. Some are very dramatic and others are not. When you read their accounts and pick up their attitude towards life, sin it becomes painfully obvious that someone is lying.

Hope this helps...