Is hell enough as punishment?

[_four seasons]

If the questions I ask here seems a bit confused, it is because I feel confused about what I am asking about.

As I understand the scriptures, God sometimes punishes some humans while they are living on earth. I was thinking about why God did that instead of (a) doing nothing and (b) after these individuals had died let them go to hell as punishment.
My answer to that question is that God punishes humans while they are still alive because he want as many humans as possible to start living righteously while on earth.
What do you think of that answer?
I was also thinking about this: Why would God want as many humans as possible to start living righteously on Earth? I was thinking that after they died they anyway got a chance to repent and avoid hell, so why intervene so early (while they still are on Earth)? Is that because there are benefits to repent on Earth and not wait until after death? Or does God want some degree of order on Earth?

I would be thankfull for answers.

[_just me]

Can you name a punishment God has given a human in this life?

[_four seasons]

No I can not. But in the old testament he punishes people.

[_just me]

The Old Testament has a lot of fables and myths and tall tales in it.

The truth is, there are no punishments or intervention from God. Just natural events and consequences. That's it. That is what we experience here on earth.

[_Tobin]

Hi four seasons,

Welcome to the forum. I think you'll find that many of the posters here are atheists or agnostics. They don't either believe in God or don't believe in a God that has any impact on human-beings or their development (a rather useless belief in total). As a result, they completely discount the scriptures and don't believe they have a basis in fact.

Now you may accept this view or not. I would recommend against it though. The scriptures may very well have a basis in fact. If that is so, it would seem that God has, in the past, had dealings and seemingly punished/rewarded humans. I tend to think of it this way, that bad things are always happening and if we'll listen to God, we can avoid or diminish the impacts of those events. However, if we ignore God (as many of the posters here advocate), we foolishly open ourselves up to these disasters and the consequences that follow. In my view, following the advice of someone who would ignore God and the lessons we can learn from the scriptures is folly for us personally and our species as a whole.

Tobin

[_SteelHead]

Tobin,
Which scriptures and which god?

[_ludwigm]

I would be thankfull for answers.

1. There is no hell.
2. Don't believe pandas...


.
(((3.))) and write thankful with simple L !

[_LittleNipper]

Tobin,
Which scriptures and which god?

By Tim Burns

The Christian Bible is a history book and many other history books exist. The Bible comments on a belief system which promises the practitioner peace and a better life. From Confucius to Mohammed, Tony Robbins to L. Ron Hubbard, myriads of books set forth similar claims. So what sets the Bible apart from this mountain of literature? Can I be sure that this book is different than the rest?

One aspect differentiating the Bible from other religious, historical or inspirational works is this: throughout the Bible, future events are predicted with verifiable accuracy. If the Bible predicted the future to the extent that it cannot be dismissed as mere coincidence, then the source of this book can only be an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God who chose to speak his word through individuals for his purposes and design. Let’s consider the evidence.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote to the Israelites at the time Israel was conquered by the Babylonian empire. His writings, recorded between approximately 629 BC and the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, record geo-political events that we can verify via secular historical works. However, in the 25th chapter of (Jeremiah, he foretells that the Israelites will be held captive in Babylonian lands for 70 years, at the end of which they would be released when Babylon was in turn conquered by another nation. Can we verify this prediction?

Nearly a century later, a captive Israelite named Daniel is serving as a mid-level manager in the Medes kingdom of Ahasuerus. As recorded in Daniel’s own book, chapter 9, he reads the words penned by Jeremiah. His prayers ask his God to keep his promise, and release the Israelites to return home. Just like the chiming of an eternal clock, these events occur as prophesied by Jeremiah. These events are all included in the Bible, and are verifiable through secular history as well.

The more you investigate the historical record within the Bible, the more you can find events such as these. Occurring repeatedly, the only way for writers to accurately predict the future is with the input of the One outside these space time events.

At the Bible’s epicenter is Jesus Christ, who fulfills more prophetic proclamations than any other person. During his lifetime, Jesus fulfilled close to 300 prophetic forecasts, many of which were written hundreds of years before his birth. Mathematically, this is a statistical impossibility.

What does this have to do with the Bible being the only word of God? Do other religious works include the same prophetic content? The answer is no. The writings from the Far East, the teachings of Confucius, Buddhism and Hinduism do not even make a claim to be God’s word. They present to their followers a path to a simpler, more satisfactory life. The Muslim Koran makes no claims to being words from Allah. Rather it is the writing of Mohammed, a religious leader, his record of history as well as his desire for the future. But has any prophecy in the Koran come to pass? Only the Christian Bible claims to be God’s very word to man and only the Bible contains the verifiable track record of prophetic fulfillment as evidence of its claims. Biblical prophecies are batting 1000. No other religious group or religious writings can make the same claim.

[_moksha]

My answer to that question is that God punishes humans while they are still alive because he want as many humans as possible to start living righteously while on earth.

I would be thankful for answers.

A tidal wave would make me homeless, hungry and cold. It would not provide me any assistance in living righteously.
Crap happens outside the providence of God.

[_SteelHead]

Right nipper.... You know there are no pre captivity copies of Jeremiah, and that it is very easy to write prophetically after the fact?