XPost: alt.bible.religion.christian   
   From: usenet@christrose.news   
      
   Yes, if you die without relying on Christ as your Savior, you will   
   suffer just, conscious, eternal torment in the lake of fire. There will   
   be no second chances, and no annihilation or cessation of conscious   
   existence.   
      
   Here are the Bible truths which expose Watchtower "comforting" LIES   
   about eternal judgment. Everyone who rejects God's justice, mercy, and   
   grace in offering Christ as Savior, WILL suffer eternal, conscious torment:   
      
   Matthew 5:22   
      
   “Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the fire of *hell   
   [Gehenna]*.” (5:22, ESV)   
      
   Matthew 5:29   
      
   “It is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole   
   body be thrown into *hell [Gehenna]*.” (5:29, ESV)   
      
   Matthew 5:30   
      
   “It is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole   
   body go into *hell [Gehenna]*.” (5:30, ESV)   
      
   Matthew 10:28   
      
   “Fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in *hell [Gehenna]*.”   
   (10:28, ESV)   
      
   Matthew 18:9   
      
   “To be thrown into the *hell [Gehenna]* of fire.” (18:9, ESV)   
      
   Matthew 23:33   
      
   “How are you to escape being sentenced to *hell [Gehenna]*?” (23:33, ESV)   
      
   Mark 9:43   
      
   “To go to *hell [Gehenna]*, to the unquenchable fire.” (9:43, ESV)   
      
   Mark 9:45   
      
   “To be thrown into *hell [Gehenna]*.” (9:45, ESV)   
      
   Mark 9:47–48   
      
   “To be thrown into *hell [Gehenna]*, ‘where their worm does not die and   
   the fire is not quenched.’” (9:47–48, ESV)   
      
   Luke 12:5   
      
   “Fear Him who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into *hell   
   [Gehenna]*.” (12:5, ESV)   
      
   James 3:6   
      
   “Set on fire by *hell [Gehenna]*.” (3:6, ESV)   
      
   FIRE + CONSCIOUS TORMENT   
      
   Matthew 13:42   
      
   “And throw them into the fiery furnace [kaminos tou pyros]. In that   
   place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (13:42, ESV)   
      
   Matthew 13:50   
      
   “And throw them into the fiery furnace [kaminos tou pyros]. In that   
   place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (13:50, ESV)   
      
   Matthew 25:30   
      
   “Throw the worthless servant into the outer darkness [to skotos to   
   exoteron]. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”   
   (25:30, ESV)   
      
   Matthew 25:41   
      
   “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire [to pyr to aionion]   
   prepared for the devil and his angels.” (25:41, ESV)   
      
   ETERNAL DURATION (NOT EXTINCTION)   
      
   Matthew 25:46   
      
   “These will go away into eternal punishment [kolasin aionion], but the   
   righteous into eternal life.” (25:46, ESV)   
      
   2 Thessalonians 1:9   
      
   “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction [olethron   
   aionion], away from the presence of the Lord.” (1:9, ESV)   
      
   “Destruction” here describes ruin and exclusion, not cessation, since it   
   is eternal and experienced “away from” someone.   
      
   REVELATION’S EXPLICIT INTERPRETATION   
      
   Revelation 14:11   
      
   “The smoke of their torment [basanismou] goes up forever and ever [eis   
   aionas aionon], and they have no rest, day or night.” (14:11, ESV)   
      
   Revelation 20:10   
      
   “They will be tormented [basanisthesontai] day and night forever and   
   ever [eis tous aionas ton aionon].” (20:10, ESV)   
      
   Revelation 20:15   
      
   “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was   
   thrown into the lake of fire [limne tou pyros].” (20:15, ESV)   
      
   Revelation 21:8   
      
   “Their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur   
   [limne ten kaiomene pyri kai theio], which is the second death [ho   
   thanatos ho deuteros].” (21:8, ESV)   
      
   LIES REFUTED DIRECTLY FROM SCRIPTURE   
      
   1. “Fire means total destruction”   
      
   Refuted by weeping, gnashing, torment [basanismos], no rest, day and night.   
      
   2. “Lake of fire is symbolic, so punishment isn’t real”   
      
   Symbols communicate truth consistent with their imagery, not the   
   opposite. Revelation explicitly defines the experience as torment   
   [basanizo] forever.   
      
   3. “Death removes sin automatically”   
      
   Romans 6:7 speaks of union with Christ’s death, not physical death.   
      
   Hebrews 9:27: “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes   
   judgment [krisis].” (9:27, ESV)   
      
   4. “Resurrected unbelievers are sinless”   
      
   John 5:29: “Those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment   
   [anastasin kriseos].” (5:29, ESV)   
      
   5. “God would never punish eternally”   
      
   Jesus says eternal fire [to pyr to aionion] was prepared by God Himself   
   (Matthew 25:41, ESV).   
      
         • Jesus said it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for   
           Sodom and Gomorrah than for the cities that rejected Him   
           (Matthew 10:15; 11:22-24). Degrees of tolerability require   
           conscious awareness. Nonexistence does not vary by degree.   
      
         • Jesus also said of Judas, “It would have been better for that   
           man if he had not been born” (Mark 14:21, ESV). That cannot be   
           true if Judas simply ceased to exist. Nonexistence is not worse   
           than existence unless post-death punishment consciously occurs.   
      
         • Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot   
           kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28, ESV). This shows the soul   
           continues beyond the death of the body.   
      
         • Paul said, “We would rather be away from the body and at home   
           with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8, ESV). This means the   
           believer’s soul goes to be with Christ after death.   
      
         • Jesus told of Lazarus who, after death, was comforted, while   
           the rich man was in torment and flame, conscious enough to   
           speak, remember, and feel regret (Luke 16:22–25). Parables and   
           symbols do not teach the opposite of what they mean. They   
           convey truth. So simply saying "parable" or "symbol" doesn't   
           disprove or automatically dismiss the stated fact of conscious   
           existence in comfort or torment after physical death. Further,   
           this account names actual people by name, which parables never   
           do.   
      
         • John wrote, “The smoke of their torment goes up forever and   
           ever, and they have no rest, day or night” (Revelation 14:11,   
           ESV). This cannot describe unconscious nonexistence.   
      
         • Jesus said, “It is better for you to enter life crippled than   
           with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire” (Mark   
           9:43, ESV). The fire is unquenchable, not momentary. An eternal   
           fire serves no purpose unless what it burns endures.   
      
         • Revelation 20:10 says the devil, the beast, and the false   
           prophet “will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” It   
           does not say they will cease to exist.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)