Really sorry for the randomness of these, but they have got into my head and now they wont go away. So could do with some help.
I am not religious or anything, but lately, my psychotic episodes have been revolved around the devil.
My question is, if god supposedly forgives people for there wrong doings, then why does hell exist?
My other question - and I dont know why I am only thinking of it now is, well, erm, I dont know how to explain it.
Like how does your body get a psychiatric illness? Ive have been mentally unwell since I was a child. But is it your brain, or is it like something that, I dont even know, how do feelings and emotions happen etc. I mean it would be so much easier if you could see it.
Hey!
Sorry I'm not religious, but my guess for your first questions would be that hell exists for those who do not feel they have done wrong. People who do not feel guilt for their wrong-doings or compation for the victims of their actions. This is just a guess and my personal opinion basically and I appologies if it is wrong.
As for your second question (again, mainly talking from my common sense here rather than any formal training or knowledge) I believe that psychological illness is to do with your brain and also your personality and experiences. I believe there is great debate over whether psychological illnesses are either through genetics/physical problems (for example, hormonal imbalences in the brain) and behavioural/life experiences (for example, having a traumatic childhood.)
Personally, I believe it's a mixture of both.
It, I guess, is difficult to discuss because, as you say, feelings and emotions do not physically happen. Or in other words, they are subjective to the person. Two people, feeling the same way may describe that feeling differently. (person one may say: I am sad. Person two might say: I am miserable. Both generally mean the same, but imply different things.)
Ok, I'm going off on one without answering your questions DOH!
Generally psychiatric illnesses are unique to everyone and so are their causes. Even though you maybe have the same "label" with someone else, what you experience is unique to you and the reasons and causes of them are also unique to you. Does that make sense?
Hope I kinda helped there! Sorry if I didn't!
xxx
You see a mouse trap
I see free cheese
And a ****ing challenge
Thought I'd come answer as I'm religious as it comes :).
Quote:
My question is, if god supposedly forgives people for there wrong doings, then why does hell exist?
God doesn't forgive all. Mark 3:29 ...But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.".
Also, God only forgives if we ask him to, and have a good reason to be forgiven.
thank you, Lily, for saving mummy's life*.
You are my one and only, you can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight, and you'll be alright.
As an athiest I am going to say that hell only 'exists' to put the fear of god into believers, in the hope that people will lead good lives just to avoid it and to earn their shiny halo at the end. God forgives because once someone has sinned once and earnt their eternity in hell, there is no point in turning back to god, and so the sinner might aswell carry on murdering, stealing etc. If god forgives sinners then they have the chance to repent and go back to leading the lives that the church wishes them to live, thus once again earning their fluffy cloud in heaven. To me it's like saying 'be good and go to heaven, or oh dear you've been naughty, but if you behave yourself from now on you wont have to be sent to the firey pits of hell'
I hope I don't offend anyone, it's just my beliefs.
To the second question, as Multi-Snarf has said, there are many causes for psychiatric illness, some are genetic, some occur because of previous psychological trauma. From a biological point of view there is alot to do with chemicals in the brain which are usually carefully balanced, in the case of some psychological and neurological illnesses, these chemicals can become imbalanced or not work in the ways that they should, which will affect the way the brain works and the way you think. (I'm sure I could have explained that alot better but my head is frazzled with biology today)
Hold your breath, count to ten, fall apart, start again...
As an athiest I am going to say that hell only 'exists' to put the fear of god into believers, in the hope that people will lead good lives just to avoid it and to earn their shiny halo at the end. God forgives because once someone has sinned once and earnt their eternity in hell, there is no point in turning back to god, and so the sinner might aswell carry on murdering, stealing etc. If god forgives sinners then they have the chance to repent and go back to leading the lives that the church wishes them to live, thus once again earning their fluffy cloud in heaven. To me it's like saying 'be good and go to heaven, or oh dear you've been naughty, but if you behave yourself from now on you wont have to be sent to the firey pits of hell'
I hope I don't offend anyone, it's just my beliefs.
To the second question, as Multi-Snarf has said, there are many causes for psychiatric illness, some are genetic, some occur because of previous psychological trauma. From a biological point of view there is alot to do with chemicals in the brain which are usually carefully balanced, in the case of some psychological and neurological illnesses, these chemicals can become imbalanced or not work in the ways that they should, which will affect the way the brain works and the way you think. (I'm sure I could have explained that alot better but my head is frazzled with biology today)
^Although I'm not exactly atheist (I'm spiritual but do not believe in Western religion) I agree with this, also not everything that makes us 'mentally ill' could be biological/chemical. There are a lot of psychological/emotional factors at play and sadly, the psyche and emotions are concepts (like 'love') and though we feel and experience them we cannot see them or locate them at an exact point in our brain much less 'fix' them. That's why I believe psychiatry alone cannot work because the psychological and emotional factors need addressing and those can only be addressed through introspection and healing and personal growth which can be achieved through therapy or things like that...and could also include spiritual healing (of any kind). This is why psychiatric meds can only treat symptoms in hopes of reducing them and of helping people maintain a functional life but they don't cure anything because they can't, we cannot cure something we don't know exactly where it is or how it works, we can only contain it to a certain degree. This is also why sometimes some meds work and sometimes they don't and you need to keep trying to see which combinations work best to relieve symptoms, if it was an exact science there would only be one kind of meds for every illness and there wouldn't be any trials. A lot of doctors will say mental illness is like any other physical illness but it's not true, it can't be treated the same because other purely physical illnesses are thoroughly understood and can be found in the body or brain (a tumor for instance) whilst psychiatric and psychological ones are much more complicated to deal with and treat...and can even go misunderstood or misdiagnosed for a lifetime so it isn't anywhere near being the same.
Also, Hell is a concept...even the bible says so, so no matter what you believe it should be clear that it's not supposed to be a physical place. Some people even say this planet could be some kind of Hell. Others believe you could put yourself through Hell...like a state of mind, it could be here now...or anywhere else really. It is also a very complicated subject. I'm sorry that your questions don't really have easy or direct answers though.
"...that incremental suicide of turning your life into a dream, to make being awake as similar to sleep as possible. Drowsily, lazily, dry-mouth your way through the day's ceremonies, fumble your way back into the dew-bather you never really left, draped in brown, brown now all around, the haze!" - Russell Brand on drug addiction.
"Si ma êkh gûndo piyiamásko...ándo bírto barruno. Bírto, bírto barruno."
I'm atheist so I don't believe in a fire and brimstone sort of Hell, I think it's more a state of mind as opposed to a place.
I think Hell was/is used to scare people into behaving themselves, and used as a sort of control technique in that way. In Dante's epic poem The Divine Comedy he describes Hell as being quite ordered, having several 'circles'. Which circle you are assigned into is dependant upon the sins you have committed. Usually the punishment you are given is in keeping with the sin that you have committed. I think God will only forgive if asked to, if a sinner doesn't repent and ask for forgiveness then he won't be forgiven.
I think as humans and having consciousness and the complexities of feelings and emotions means there's a lot there that could potentially go wrong. I think the more complicated something is then there are more things that could potentially go wrong resulting in illness. Also, there are things like traumatic life events that would really negatively impact on your mental health making you more likely to develop mental illness.
I think it would be easier to treat if it was along the same lines as a broken leg. For almost everyone pain killers will minimise pain, and you don't have to go through many different kinds to find something that alleviates pain (unlike psychiatric medication). Again most people will heal perfectly well if they have a cast on their leg. Then hopefully most people won't have any further problems. But sadly it's not so easy for mental illness. I guess that's one of the drawbacks of being a more evolved being and having consciousness.
Okay. I've never tried explaining this before so it might not sound right.
But hell, whether it's a literal place somewhere out there, or a kind of spiritual place or concept, is for those who haven't accepted jesus christ as their personal saviour. It's not about being a "bad" person, everyone sins whether you think they are "good" or not. But basically, Jesus died for our sins so that we will not die but have eternal life (with him, in heaven, again whether that's a literal place or a metaphor.) Death, and sin, is a barrier to that eternal life with jesus. If you ask for god's forgiveness, and accept him as your saviour, then he will forgive you and accept you into his family. If you dont do that, then god still loves you and is waiting for you, but if you dont want anything to do with him then you wont go to heaven. If god saved everyone regardless then the concept of right and wrong would be a bit pointless.
I dont believe any of that stuff about levels or circles of hell. It's in the bible that no sin is worse than others. To god, all sin hurts him equally.
Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back, everything is different…
you once called your brain a hard drive, well say hello to the virus.
To the best of my knowledge you basically say a prayer. I was raised an Evangelical Christian and people said the Sinner's Prayer in a Church. I'm not sure how other branches of Christianity do it, I think it's something you can do at home just between you and God. Just by talking to him asking him to forgive your sins etc.
Then the next step is living the rest of your life being devoted to God and loving him more so than anyone/anything else on earth.
I found an example of a Sinner's Prayer;
"Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless.
I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus forgive me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend.
I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ."
Last edited by BridgesAndBalloons : 11-06-2011 at 09:30 AM.
Reason: Added Sinner's Prayer
The BIBLE says..."For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
Pretty much just pray. And praying is like chatting to god.
So you say something along the lines of "God, I'm sorry for the stuff I've done that's wrong, please forgive me. I belive that Jesus is your son and died for my sins and please will you come into my life. Amen."
I'd really recommend finding a church to join, though, as it's harder thinking about stuff like this on your own.
Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back, everything is different…
you once called your brain a hard drive, well say hello to the virus.
