Can a Christian explain this to me

[Kurtz]

Matthew 22:37 "You must love God"
Matthew 10:28 "You must fear God"
John 4:18 "There is no fear in love"

If any Christian is willing to decipher this for me I WILL convert.

[Don in the North]

i reckon theyd have a better chance dividing by zero

[(s)AINT]

Talk about an authority complex LOL

[Carpathian Wolf]

Matthew 22:37 "You must love God"
Matthew 10:28 "You must fear God"
John 4:18 "There is no fear in love"

If any Christian is willing to decipher this for me I WILL convert.

It's the context of the translation. Fear in the 2nd verse is in the sense of reverence, awe, respect. Fear in the 3rd verse is like being afraid of harm or "something scary."

[Kurtz]

It's the context of the translation. Fear in the 2nd verse is in the sense of reverence, awe, respect. Fear in the 3rd verse is like being afraid of harm or "something scary."

Should we be scared that if we disobey God he will send us to a fiery hell for all eternity?

[Carpathian Wolf]

Should we be scared that if we disobey God he will send us to a fiery hell for all eternity?

No...cause God doesn't do that.


See that's the problem in the west, your notion of God is really messed up.

[Kurtz]

No...cause God doesn't do that.


See that's the problem in the west, your notion of God is really messed up.

Rev 21:8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part [will be] in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

tsk tsk, such a simple answer.
does it ever say you have to love/fear god ALL the time?
love Him in the morning, fear Him at night.
then all three statements hold true.

But if we don't love God an accept him then we have sinned, and will end up in hell. So if you die during the night then you will go to hell?

[Carpathian Wolf]

Rev 21:8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part [will be] in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Right, which you choose for yourself. One way to understand it is that Heaven and Hell are the same places, or that God is in both heaven and hell. Your perspective on God's love is what makes the place Heaven or Hell. His love can be a warm breeze or burning fire.

[Thema'zandaar]

Rev 21:8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part [will be] in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
But if we don't love God an accept him then we have sinned, and will end up in hell. So if you die during the night then you will go to hell?

Ok, that was a bit of a joke. But surely you can understand the difference between "fear" of disappointment as opposed to outright terror. Being terrified leaves no room for love. Being afraid of disappointing someone is a symptom of love.
Take a child who loves and fears his/her parents at the same time.
By contrast, a child who is terrified of his parents usually ends up killing them, or running away.

[PointOfViewGun]

Should we be scared that if we disobey God he will send us to a fiery hell for all eternity?

Did a Christian just used the argument of context to explain a passage from a holy book or am I just seeing things?

[Sadreddine]

Did a Christian just used the argument of context to explain a passage from a holy book or am I just seeing things?

As longer as not speaking about the Qur'an, they are apparently allowed to.

In any case, the New Testament is pretty clear about Hell. Modern revisionism is modern revisionism.

[Thema'zandaar]

tsk tsk, such a simple answer.
does it ever say you have to love/fear god ALL the time?
love Him in the morning, fear Him at night.
then all three statements hold true.

[SorelusImperion]

Matthew 22:37 "You must love God"
Matthew 10:28 "You must fear God"
John 4:18 "There is no fear in love"

Two different Evangelists (all of them emphasized different parts) plus it's merely a translation and not the original which for example might have use a word that could have meant "respect" instead of "fear".

[Heinz Guderian]

Matthew 22:37 "You must love God"
Matthew 10:28 "You must fear God"
John 4:18 "There is no fear in love"

If any Christian is willing to decipher this for me I WILL convert.

I believe Matthew to be a stronger Gospel than John. Out of all the Gospels, John is probably the weakest. I like Mark. Thats pretty solid. Even so, this is all highly unacademic to prove/disprove a theological text. Context, referalls, protagonists, different translations, time of writing/saying all have to investigated.

[basics]

Paul the Octopus,

I think you are twisting the Scripture here if only just a little because you insert " must " where it is not spoken. Nonetheless taking the flow and context in which the actual sayings were made is pretty much self explanatory.

It is written that man's most dreaded thing is death. He fears it. Jesus is saying how you die is inconsequential since what lies after has more relevance, meaning that God has the power to put you where you really don't want to go. So in effect prepare yourself before death by giving fear and respect to your Maker that you might never go through death in the manner above.

So what does that entail as the Law demands and the Prophets tell of? In the words of Jesus it means giving your all to God, heart, soul and mind. Small word " all " yet what is asked for by God but not just for Him, as important as that may be, because Jesus says that you are to do the same for your fellow man, that being as like the first in His opinion.

The point is that no man can do any of these things except by the power of God as Jesus pointed out to the disciples. Us men can seek and if the seeking is real the response can be more than that as testified by all the writers to the Scriptures and many more not mentioned. When we learn what actually happened at the cross and can feel the shame of it within ourselves that is when conversion may take place.

Then and only then do we begin to understand all the above and begin to understand that we can love our enemies of whatever nature knowing that whatever happens, standing on the name of Jesus, nothing can hurt us. What can man do to us that God couldn't do worse were that His nature? But it is not His nature to hurt those that He loves especially us knowing the price He paid to have us.

[CamilleBonparte]

Looks like Paul the Octopus has to convert to Christianity now.

Welcome aboard friend.

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

But if we don't love God an accept him then we have sinned, and will end up in hell. So if you die during the night then you will go to hell?

Hell is the illusion which dominates the wicked and sinners once they contemplate the Godhead.

The notion of fire has no literal meaning. This is particularly true for every ancient text. The idea of a created hellfire lying under the ground and distinct from God is a Catholic and Medieval invention.

And as for the annihilationist verse:

Rev 21:8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part [will be] in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

... And that is just as much an act of mercy as "Hell" is! Pigs cannot tolerate, or understand, the sight of a pearl, just as someone who lives in the darkness for too long gets burned and blinded by the Sun. As a matter of fact, the destruction of the sinner is just as much an act of kindness to him, as it is to the faithful.

[Kurtz]

Hell is the illusion which dominates the wicked and sinners once they contemplate the Godhead.

The notion of fire has no literal meaning. This is particularly true for every ancient text. The idea of a created hellfire lying under the ground and distinct from God is a Catholic and Medieval invention.


And as for the annihilationist verse:



... And that is just as much an act of mercy as "Hell" is! Pigs cannot tolerate, or understand, the sight of a pearl, just as someone who lives in the darkness for too long gets burned and blinded by the Sun. As a matter of fact, the destruction of the sinner is just as much an act of kindness to him, as it is to the faithful.

But Jesus himself referenced to the lake of fire.

Matt 5:29-5:30 : Jesus said, "And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 "And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to go into hell,"

Would Jesus lie?

[conon394]

OP wouls suggest you do the work yourself. The first rule of reading any translation is that its a translation. So get yourself the best original language versions that exist and than use the best resources for understanding what the words might be understood as in all contexts for the period when the text was written.

Example:

[What follows is a purely semantic point I really don't care one at all about a person's sexual orientation not my look out what anyone does in their bedroom between consenting adults]

'I hate gays' now said today I don't think anyone would doubt I was meaning to say I hate homosexuals... but said before the 20th century in the US and I think most people would be a bit perplexed as I seem to say I dislike happy people and thus might assume I was misanthrope but not a homophobe.

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

Would Jesus lie?

... Aaand the answer is!

http://orthodoxanswers.org/answer/21/

This is misunderstood and misleading expression. The King James Bible translated the Greek work 'Hades' by 'Hell' - and also translated Gehenna (the Lake of Fire) as 'Hell' which is very confusing. Christ descended in the common abode of the dead called 'Scheol' in Hebrew and 'Hades' in Greek were he was seen that those who were there (or in that state). Paradise was the place of the righteous in Hades which also had a place of darkness and bitter expectation of the final judgment (Luke 16). Hence, the power of Hades was crushed when the Light of Christ shone through its gloom and darkness. This is vividly commemorated in Saint John Chrysostom's Paschal homily.
In terms of absolute personal eschatology, it can be said that no one is in Hell (Gehenna / Lake of Fire) right now.

The "Lake of Fire" does not denote a permanent burning undergound "place", but an end in annihilation.