ALTER2EGO -to- EVERYONE:
I am a Christian and have the deepest respect for God's inspired Word, the
Judeo-Christian Bible. I invite fellow Christians to participate in the
questions for discussion. Two of the most basic teachings in Christendom are as
follows:
1. THE TRINITY
The teaching that God is split up into three
individual persons that are combined into one "Godhead" (Father, Son,
and holy ghost/holy spirit). All three of these persons are said to be CO-EQUAL
(meaning they have the same power) and CO-ETERNAL (meaning they have
always existed at the same time and none of them can die).
2. HELLFIRE
The teaching that God will burn a person's soul in
everlasting hellfire for committing wicked deeds. In other words, God will
supposedly punish people forever in fiery flames of hell--despite the fact the
crimes the persons committed were only done during the persons' brief human
lifespan.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. Are there scriptures in the Bible to support the teachings of Trinity and
hellfire? If so, present the scriptures by giving Bible book, chapter, and
verse and also explain why you believe the scripture you present is talking
about Trinity or literal hellfire.
2. Why are these teachings found in pagan/false religions that never
worshipped the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible? For instance there were pagan
trinities at least 200 years before Jesus came to the earth as a human.
A. In the 2nd century B.C.E. (two centuries before Christ came
to the earth), Egypt
had a triad of gods consisting of (1) Horus, (2) Osiris, and (3)
Isis.
B. Likewise,
in the 2nd century B.C.E. (two centuries before Christ came to the earth),
Babylon had a triad of gods consisting of (1) Ishtar, (2) Sin,
and (3) Shamash.
C. In fact,
during the 1st century AD when Jesus was on earth, Palmyra,
which was an ancient city in Syria,
had a triune god which consisted of (1) moon god, (2) Lord of
Heavens, and (3) sun god.
3. If the
Trinity and hellfire are Bible teachings, why is it that Jesus and his apostles
who followed him around never taught anyone about the Trinity and literal
hellfire?
4. How is it that both the Trinity and hellfire teachings did not become
"Christian" teachings until the Roman Catholics copied both of them
from pagan/false religions--AFTER the resurrected Jesus Christ returned to
heaven?
5. If hell is a place of literal fiery torment, how is it that the Bible
says Jesus went to hell for the entire three days that he was dead?
"He seeing this before spake of the
resurrection of Christ, that HIS SOUL WAS NOT LEFT IN HELL, neither his
flesh did see corruption." (Acts
2:31--King James Version)
6. If hell is a place of literal torment, why is it that the word
"hell" also means "Sheol" and "Hades" and
"the grave"?
7. Does the Bible teach that humans have an immortal soul that survives
the death of the person so that the soul can then be burned in eternal flames?
If so, please present scriptures to this effect to prove it.
8. Are the words "Trinity" and "Godhead" in the
Bible? If so, were those words part of the original writings?