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Plus centuries have passed, cultures are different, languages cause difficulties, human motivations and hopes vary.

Hey whatever makes us feel better and gives us hope and guidance I suppose

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No wonder you don't seem to know what you think about Matthew 25. If I believed your quote above, I'd just throw my Bible away. I'm not interested in feeling better. I'm interested in following Christ.

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Words on a page. I ask again, what is there beyond their words?

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God's words. Did you even bother to read those scriptures? You say you studied theology. Man I'm glad I didn't go to the school you went to.

JL - you're avoiding the question - Does a Buddhist go to hell because he has never heard of Jesus and does not believe in him.

Your first answer didn't directly answer.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

No wonder you don't seem to know what you think about Matthew 25. If I believed your quote above, I'd just throw my Bible away. I'm not interested in feeling better. I'm interested in following Christ.

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You joined up my quote with someone else's. Not fair!

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God's words. Did you even bother to read those scriptures? You say you studied theology. Man I'm glad I didn't go to the school you went to.

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God's words that have been translated over and over again and misinterpreted far too many times. Which translation am I supposed to use?

(If you are interested in following Christ, please stop with the putdowns.)

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You joined up my quote with someone else's. Not fair!

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I don't like it either. This program doesn't seem to give me an option. I can type what is a separate message and it just joins it to the previous one.

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God's words that have been translated over and over again and misinterpreted far too many times. Which translation am I supposed to use?

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There are many translations but that's not a problem. 98% to 99% of the text of the NT is not in question, and even that small part that is does not present problems. And here we are in America with plenty of money to buy all of the translations we want, and then we can go to any one of many websites and toggle between translations. We can even go to school and learn Greek, so I'm not sure why you are asking that question. We are in an ocean of good translations. I like the NASB and ESV. I sometimes read the NIV. I use the Amplified version and the Living Bible as sort of commentaries. Take a pick and start.

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(If you are interested in following Christ, please stop with the putdowns.)

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If you don't think that Jesus could be confrontational and speak in a direct manner, then you haven't read the NT. He was frequently kind and gentle, but not always. You say you've been to Bible classes. Well then, you should know some things.

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JL - you're avoiding the question - Does a Buddhist go to hell because he has never heard of Jesus and does not believe in him.

Your first answer didn't directly answer.

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I answered the question clearly. Now try being honest and take a position.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

I don't like it either. This program doesn't seem to give me an option. I can type what is a separate message and it just joins it to the previous one.

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WHAT???? You and I need to have a private tutoring session about quoting another poster.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

There are many translations but that's not a problem. 98% to 99% of the text of the NT is not in question, and even that small part that is does not present problems. And here we are in America with plenty of money to buy all of the translations we want, and then we can go to any one of many websites and toggle between translations. We can even go to school and learn Greek, so I'm not sure why you are asking that question. We are in an ocean of good translations. I like the NASB and ESV. I sometimes read the NIV. I use the Amplified version and the Living Bible as sort of commentaries. Take a pick and start.

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I have already. I was just fishing to find out if you are a KJV fan.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

If you don't think that Jesus could be confrontational and speak in a direct manner, then you haven't read the NT. He was frequently kind and gentle, but not always. You say you've been to Bible classes. Well then, you should know some things.

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I know LOTS of things. Jesus even used a whip to drive moneylenders out of the temple. But He didn't use putdowns.

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WHAT???? You and I need to have a private tutoring session about quoting another poster.

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I know how to quote. That's not what I'm talking about. I mean that I respond to one person, and get a separate text box and respond to a second person, but then it just joins the second one to the first one.

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But He didn't use putdowns.

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Have you read this? "17Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied. 20“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” 21He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

You call it a putdown. I call what I do simply challenging people, like you, to think. For instance, if you wanted to know if I am a KJV only guy, then why not just ask? Why make reference to the Bible as though it is just the words of men? You have to know better than that.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

I know how to quote. That's not what I'm talking about. I mean that I respond to one person, and get a separate text box and respond to a second person, but then it just joins the second one to the first one.

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You have to use (minus spaces) [ quote ] at the beginning of a quote and [ /quote ] at the end of a quote.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Have you read this? "17Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied. 20“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” 21He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

You call it a putdown. I call what I do simply challenging people, like you, to think. For instance, if you wanted to know if I am a KJV only guy, then why not just ask? Why make reference to the Bible as though it is just the words of men? You have to know better than that.

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Okay. I'll take all your putdowns as challenges from here on.

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You have to use (minus spaces) [ quote ] at the beginning of a quote and [ /quote ] at the end of a quote.

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Huh?? Why are you still talking about quotes? Can you see from my posts I know how to indicate a quote? The problem is when one text box is fused into another.

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Okay. I'll take all your putdowns as challenges from here on.

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Better yet, understand from the get-go that they are not putdowns.

I'm glad we have that settled.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Huh?? Why are you still talking about quotes? Can you see from my posts I know how to indicate a quote? The problem is when one text box is fused into another.

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They fuse to each other when you don't differentiate between them, that one is by e.g., tal and one by me. If you quote more than one person, the quotes end up in the same speech box. If you don't differentiate, they look like they're from the same person.

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Better yet, understand from the get-go that they are not putdowns.

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Okey dokey.

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I'm glad we have that settled.

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Me too.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

I answered the question clearly. Now try being honest and take a position.

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Now who's being honest? You have NOT answered the question clearly.

My original question ----- "What happens to the Buddhist who lived before Christ and never heard of him. DOES THE BUDDHIST GO TO HELL FOR ETERNITY BECAUSE HE NEVER HEARD OR BELIEVED IN CHRIST"?

Note the underlining.

Your side-stepping answer ------ "They will be judged for their sins like you, me, and everyone else".

Last chance, JL, answer the question.

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Now who's being honest? You have NOT answered the question clearly.

My original question ----- "What happens to the Buddhist who lived before Christ and never heard of him. DOES THE BUDDHIST GO TO HELL FOR ETERNITY BECAUSE HE NEVER HEARD OR BELIEVED IN CHRIST"?

Note the underlining.

Your side-stepping answer ------ "They will be judged for their sins like you, me, and everyone else".

Last chance, JL, answer the question.

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OK. One more time for the first grade students. The question is, ""What happens to the Buddhist who lived before Christ and never heard of him. DOES THE BUDDHIST GO TO HELL FOR ETERNITY BECAUSE HE NEVER HEARD OR BELIEVED IN CHRIST?"

The answer is this. No, the Buddhist does not go to hell for eternity because he never heard or believed in Christ. He will be judged for his sins just like everyone else. Gosh. That answer is like the other three I have posted.

Now, having answered your question four times now, let's see if you will answer my question. If you don't then everyone will see you for what you are Athos, a scared person too afraid to do what you said you would do. Oh well. Remember Matthew 25???

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Everyone sees you for what you are Athos, a scared person, too afraid to do what you said you would do. Oh well. Remember Matthew 25???

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No, JL, the fear is all yours. Afraid to answer a simple question.

That tells me you are thinking that maybe you had it wrong - at least partially, and you don't want to go on record with a direct answer to - Do unbelievers go to hell for eternal punishment because they don't believe.

I think you're finally realizing that your position is absurd for many reasons. That's good.

Your next step is to analyze where that belief comes from. No, it's not your Bible, JL. That idea has been debunked many times even tho you refuse to see it.

Like Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God is within you", so your belief about hell is within you.

That was your last chance to know my position - I certainly gave you enough chances - now you will say you don't care. But we both know differently, don't we, JL?

Good luck to you.

Look above. Against my better judgement, I answered for the fourth time now.

Your turn!!

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Look above. It's answered for the fourth time now.

Your turn!!

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Ah, I didn't see your answer. Very good. I'll make an exception since the posts probably coincided.

I'm heartened by your answer. To wit: UNBELIEVERS DO NOT GO TO HELL FOR ETERNAL PUNISHMENT BECAUSE THEY ARE UNBELIEVERS.

Congratulations, JL. It took a man to say that.

As promised, I do not believe in hell defined as a place of eternal punishment.

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I'm heartened by your answer. To wit: UNBELIEVERS DO NOT GO TO HELL FOR ETERNAL PUNISHMENT BECAUSE THEY ARE UNBELIEVERS.

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Correct, which has been my view from the beginning. Thankfully you finally caught on the fourth time. The problem has been your inability to see the difference between saying, "Unbelievers go to hell," versus saying, "People are sent to hell for their unbelief". It's the same difference as saying, "People from New York are sent to hell," versus saying, "People are sent to hell for being from New York." Hopefully you see that now.

Thank goodness for your stated position which was arrived at with more effort than pulling a tooth, but at least it is here. " I do not believe in hell defined as a place of eternal punishment." We can now await your long promised analysis of the words of Christ concerning an eternal hell in Matthew 25.

what is all this condemnation stuff? it is really easy to understand if you are listening and not carrying-on about your own beliefs.

Start in John; '"God so loved the world that he sent his son" Jesus.

Now, why did he send Jesus if any old belief was ok? Because everyone had fallen short, gone their own way.

So Jesus said; "I am the way, the truth and the life"

He also said this is my body broken for you, Symbolism?, Yes, but the following day his body was broken

Once again, why did this need to happen? Because noone can cover their own sin, it took the blood of some one pure, and that someone is Jesus, so belive in him

Good luck, Clete. If you say all of that about ten times, it might begin to have some impact.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Good luck, Clete. If you say all of that about ten times, it might begin to have some impact.

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You and I both know you either get it or reject it. faith is a gift, and without it, the message is lost

Well there is at least one unbeliever among us, but we all need to move on, but in my defence, I am not the only one who has been doing that