hi, i'm not christian and i have some questions

That's interesting The hell I saw described in an earlier post came largely from fiction, more specifically, Dante's Inferno from The Divine Comedy, and William Blake paintings. Nothing like that is described in the Bible. In 1824, British landscape painter John Linell commissioned the poet and artist William Blake to illustrate the Divine Comedy, a fourteenth-century epic poem by Dante Alighieri. Though they were painted five centuries after the poem was written, Blake’s one hundred and two water color illustrations resonated well with Dante’s secular and spiritual ideas of a subsiding society and a soul’s journey through hell. source

One reason I find your response interesting is because many Christians believe death is nothing to fear even though Scripture identifies fear of death as the reason for man's bondage to sin. Some also say that if atheists/agnostics/non-believers simply cease to exist (as I believe is exactly what the second death entails for those whose name are not found in the Book of Life following the resurrection and judgment of all at the end of this age), then they are getting what they want. Aside from the fact that this is a poor reason to argue against the conditional immortality of the soul, again, it is an idea that contradicts what is plainly stated in Scripture. Some even say the soul of man is immortal. Hmmm. Guess what? That is another idea that Scripture plainly speaks against, for God alone is immortal.

As creator of the universe and all that is, Jesus holds the keys to life and death. As God, He is immortal, and those who by grace through faith are found in Him at the end of this age are clothed in HIS robes of righteousness and put on HIS immortality. We attain to life ever after only by grace through faith. The non-believer is not covered by grace, having no faith in God's plan of redemption through the shed righteous blood of Jesus Christ. They are judged under the law and condemned under the law.

Our God is a Consuming Fire

Actually, Lucifer/Satan is not in hell yet. Here is one excerpt from many sites on this 'At the moment, Satan is not in hell. Rather, Satan roams the earth, seeking people to tempt into sin and thus separate from God. First Peter 5:8 states, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour". In John 14:30, Jesus called Satan the "prince of this world". Bill Weise in his book also gives Scriptures for everything he experienced but I don't recall if he mentioned what you describe, it's been a while since I read or saw his testimony.

I converted to Christianity in my early 20's.. After a friend at work gave me a Bible to read, and i read it all..

There human beings.. Like all of us faulty human beings.. They need the forgiveness of God that can be had by believing Jesus and trusting in the Atonement Jesus secured by His sacrafical death on the cross..

There human beings.. Like all of us faulty human beings.. They need the forgiveness of God that can be had by believing Jesus and trusting in the Atonement Jesus secured by His sacrificial death on the cross..

My Faith ( trust ) in God / Jesus i have never questioned.. But Bible scripture and teachings i have asked questions to God about many things recorded in the Bible and many teachings delivered in the Bible..

For me, Nope.. But for impressionable or naive or uninformed people it can be dangerous.. Harry potter which is about witchcraft can motivate such people to pursue witchcraft and become a wiccan.. This can lead to them suffering greatly and even to their destruction..

sorry, i've heard stories of people not being allowed to watch these because they include depictions of magic and evolution (which is actually just metamorphosis, not evolution but the games call it that so oh well). these were just the two i heard listed most often, sorry i can't really come up with any more examples

1--How did I convert?

Growing up.. I had an understanding that there was a God.. from very early on.. but it wasn't a personal thing. Just a being in the sky. At around 13 or 14 I understood I was flawed and in need of a Saviour. I called out to Jesus for salvation and He delivered me from hell. I didn't do any rituals to convert, I didn't have to be a 'good person' to convert.

That is impossible.. because every single person is not perfect.. and you can't mix a perfect God with imperfect people.. so God had to come as Jesus and bridge the gap.. pay for our flaws so we can have a personal faith with Him.

2--On the LGBTQ community.. the bible doesn't support having same sex relations. It also doesn't support changing sex. They are both things that change what God had originally made and planned. But.. someone may be converted and still be having issues, being in the LGBTQ community. They don't suddenly just immediately stop being gay, lesbian etc.. if they convert (although some may have).

But the key thing is the bible itself does call it as sin.. as against God to practice this.

3-- On atheists--

People who don't believe in God are in need of a Saviour thru Jesus Christ. They are seperated from God and would be headed for a place called hell.. but if they believe in Him, they are no longer seperated and have eternal life in heaven.

4-- have I ever questioned?

Yes. Doubts and fears are part and parcel of being human and part of faith in Jesus as things we can overcome/face. A christian is allowed to have doubts and fears. Most of the people in the bible did have doubts and fears.


5--- in regards to Media--- it can be very problematic depending on the source. A peeve at the moment I have is with this 'woke' thing going on. It has very little basis in real facts and real logic. It's all subjectivism.. post-modernism taken to extremes. People's rights are the new religion.. they have taken the place of the 10 commandments it seems.

In movies.. you get superheroes who have hardly gone through anything to earn their place or powers. The women, behaving like men, instead of being women and being alongside men as equals. Women should be womanly.. not manly

So there's my opinions.. although going from the bible itself.. that isn't just opinion.. that objective truth.

the two examples you gave were testimonials of two individuals, i was hoping for a study or something since the part i had a problem with was you assuming most atheists believe in a hell, how can you say that with no evidence? sure some atheists still fear hell, but you can't say that most do until you ask a large quantity of atheists.

ha, i used it for a game account first. i really liked the hydra, a three headed dragon of sorts, and axolotls so i put them together.

yes, i'd rather eternal torment over nothingness, i'm more afraid of not existing, losing all memories and senses and the ability to think than torture.

ok, you had me in the first half.

to make my question more specific i will instead ask what your reaction would be if a family member came out as trans gay or bi and if your reaction would be any different between those.

and yes, i used to be fully atheist, i used to think all religion was bs without thinking about it, i eventually did think about it, and at the end of the day, i don't know how this universe was created, so who am i to say any religion can't be true.

trans people actually have brain structure that aligns with their preferred gender rather than their birth gender. might i recommend
this video by forrest valkai that touches on the differences between genders and how those differences aren't all that substantial, from a biology standpoint.

I like your response As for the family member or friend... I had a friend "come out" as homosexual back in 1990. My friendship with him has persisted. The acceptance of one another as friends, with our differences of belief, was not impacted.

I might look at the full video later but right off the bat this guy saying people are not special or privileged in this world is completely ignoring the fact that humans can reflect and consider and comment on what they experience. The existence of the soul in humans separates them from the rest of the animal kingdom.

We are not on the same level as apes. They don't have a conscious.

The other thing is tik tok videos are a very thin/unreliable source of information. Good for personal opinion and entertainment, that's about it.

Anyway, I'm being blunt I know, but it's because I'm frustrated with people completely throwing out ages past of real objective truths and facts, in favor of political ideology and personal preference

That's cool. I've had some good conversations with dragon keepers. Some had Bearded Dragons which make good pets for many. Then there were some keepers/ directors of zoos who had Komodo Dragons.
One spent time with a research team at Komodo Island. It wasn't like Jurassic Park and they didn't see any three headed 😉 morphs, but there have been others teams that didn't all go back home together. The guy on one hung back. He didn't show up at their cabin so they went back to look for him at the nesting site. All they found were his shoes. They don't make good pets, and some say the same of the axolotls. At least they won't eat you.
😄

Anyhow

It is all about an individuals interpretation. As another mentioned the Wizard of OZ being the most antichristian movie ever made. Well guess what? Some pastors have thought otherwise and even used the movie in sermons. From my research of the movie everything seems to have some relationship to scripture.

Now me personally I believe that in ancient history "Gods" walked the earth with humans. Demi-gods were birthed. Etc... Were they capable of what we describe magic? Absolutely. Let us not forget that the bibles states if you fully 100% believed in God you could literally move mountains... Everyone is going to have their own opinion on this type of stuff. So you will get endless answers that differ. One of my favorite collections of movies was Hell Raiser. That was before I became more aligned with divinity. Would I still watch it today? Yes, I would.

Did someone say Trans?

Family used to have one of these in Red with Black stripes and duel carbs. The hood scoop was so high you couldn't see across the hood.

Tell that to the animals that have been in my life. They clearly demonstrate a consciousness.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/do-animals-have-souls-what-the-bible-says/

@Hydraxolotl ,

Welcome to CC.
I hope you are finding solid answers to your questions, and not confusion.
Perhaps I will take a try at answering some later, but right now I'm on a break and short on time.

I noticed that you have asked your questions here, and started another thread specifically in the Bible Discussion Forum (aka BDF) that is the exact same thread without the introduction. Just an fyi for future use, when you start a new thread it takes time before being posted publicly. The moderators of the site review before making new threads seen publicly. So if you try to start a thread and don't see it right away, it is likely due to the fact that the mods haven't reviewed it yet. Since we're all on different time zones and schedules, it's usually a good idea to give it a half- full day (though it's usually not even that long) before attempting to post another identical thread.

Enjoy your time here.