Is the concept of an eternal hell for non-believers Not contrary to God’s merciful nature?

If there is an eternal Heaven, why should there not be an eternal hell? and to answer your headline question, God is giving you a lifetime, however long or short that may be for you, to accept His grace and come into a relationship with Him - that's pretty merciful

I certainly would not try and defined the the JW's interpretation of a few verses of scripture, an interpretation which is not consistent with the rest of scripture

It's not a question of age of responsibility for one's own salvation, or indeed of personal responsibility for one's own salvation at any age.

In Christian theology, salvation isn't something you do; it's something Christ does. You can reject the salvation offered by Christ, though. One possible answer to the "at what age?" question — if you want to analyse it in those terms, which isn't the Christian tradition — is that a child lacks the maturity, and so the capacity, to reject salvation.

A second point is that we have to think about the hoary old question of "salvation by faith" versus "salvation by works". This is a point of theological difference between the Protestant and Catholic traditions and, like a lot of such points, it became quite confrontational, with each tradition tending to misunderstand the other's position, and then to frame it's own position in a polemical way, in opposition to that slightly misunderstood position. It doesn't always make for a healthy discourse.

Both sides can "mine" scripture for quotes in support of their position. There are passages which link salvation to belief (e.g. "He who believes in me will never die") and numerous others which link salvation to virtue, sometimes even to virtue without (explicit) belief (e.g. "“Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’.)

I think we reconcile these by recognising that the "belief" spoken of here is not just formal profession of the creed, but faith - a belief in which we place our trust, a belief that shapes how we live. So, visiting the imprisoned, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, etc are acts of love, and people who do these things have faith in the importance and validity of love, and in the need for love to shape our lives. These people might, hypothetically, be atheists, but if the nature of God is love then they are among those who know god without knowing his name.

If Hitler had repented at the end, would he be saved? Yes, if he had repented. But repentance involves a fundamental reshaping of heart and mind; it's not normally an instantaneous event but an extended process. So Hitler repenting between the moment he shot himself and bit down on the cyanide capsule and the time of his death is a fairly improbably scenario.

Would Gandhi be sent to hell? Some Christians would say yes but most, I think, would say that there is no reason think so.

The thought of an eternity spent anywhere is terrifying, I'll take option 3 please and thank you.

Although hell, damnation and similar concepts don't get much airplay in the Old Testament. Indeed, the afterlife is barely mentioned at all, so there's not very much about heaven or salvation either. Christian theology on this subject mostly draws on the NT scriptures.

Non believer here, raised RC. God, merciful? I would suggest a good read of the Old Testament for anyone who thinks that!

I haven't said that we can't comprehend the afterlife; just that, if we can't comprehend something, that does not logically suggest that it cannot be real.

As it happens, we clearly can comprehend the afterlife to at least some extent, because here we are having a meaningful discussion about it. We couldn't do that if we didn't have a shared comprehension of what the word "afterlife" refers to.

But, granted, much about (our notion of) the afterlife remains speculative, or unknown, or difficult to picture, and the Christian tradition acknowledges this. (St. Paul makes this very point.) So your question is not without merit. Why would God offer us an afterlife that we can only party or hazily understand, and then invite us to make a once-and-for-all choice about it?

In the mainstream Christian tradition, God doesn't really ask us to make that choice. It's a modern, non-Christian and, dare I say it, basically capitalist caricature of the Christian faith to see it as a market transaction in which you must decide whether to pay a fixed price goods of uncertain quality and utility, that you don't really know what they are.

As already pointed out, the Old Testament has virtually nothing to say about the afterlife, one way or another. There is no promise of salvation or threat of damnation and, whatever reasons there might be for obeying the commandments, a bargain in which you get eternal bliss in the afterlife is not one of them. Such a thing is never suggested. Nor is there any threat of eternal fire, etc, if you don't obey. The fundamental reason for obeying the commandments is — that's the right and good way for you to live (if you're a Jew, obviously). If you live this way there is an expectation that good things will flow from that, but they are good things in this world - fulfilment, happiness, long life, the esteem of the community, etc. The best that you are ever promised for after your death is numerous descendants and a reputation that outlasts you. And none of this is presented as the reason why you should live that way; they are just consequences expected to result when people live in alignment with the natural and moral order, rather than in opposition to it.

Right. Christianity develops this in a couple of directions. First, it takes on board the notion of an afterlife (which was coming into Jewish thinking at the time) and really runs with it. It does this because of the centrality it assigns to its belief in the resurrection of Christ, and its associated belief in general resurrection. Death is not the end! Eternal life is a real thing! Secondly, it takes the Jewish notion that living in harmony with the natural and moral order will be good for you in this life and applies it to eternal life. It's only in eternal life that you can fully become the most perfect version of the creature that God created you to be. So you can't know true happiness, true fulfilment, etc in this life; only in the next. Right now you can only experience pale shadows of such things.

But, again, this is not a bargain, a swap — eternal bliss in return for your faith (or your works). Rather, believing and living in accordance with God's plan is the way in which you become the person that God planned you to be. Because you have free will you don't have to become that person. And, if you choose not to, then you won't — not as a punishment, but as the working out of your choice. The choice you're invited to make is not "Do I want a prime spot in heaven?" but "How do I want to live? What truth, what values, do I want to devote myself to, do I want my life to illustrate?" It's obvious that the choice you make about questions like that is going to affect the person you become, the life you experience, etc. And, if you believe in an afterlife, why wouldn't it affect the person you are, or the life you lead, in that afterlife? Being free to make the choice necessarily involves the freedom to make the choice which harms you or limits you.

Right. If you're a Christian that choice is wholly wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ. The choice to follow Jesus is the choice to accept the truths and values that he taught - faith in God; a rejection of power and wealth as the centre of your life in favour of a life of love; an embrace of vulnerability; a commitment to justice and to service of others; etc, etc - you can read the gospels for yourself. If you profess to be a Christian but in fact place your faith in power, wealth, oppression, selfishness, etc - well, the choice you make is reflected in your deeds as much as , or more than, in your words.

If you're not a Christian you don't see the choice in those terms of Jesus Christ, obviously, but you still get to make the choice — it's part of the human condition. Just as it's not difficult to find examples of apparent Christians who put their faith in power, wealth, etc so it's not difficult to find non-Christians who make the opposite choice. The Christian tradition would say of those non-Christians that, by making those choices they are, unbeknownst to themselves, in search of the God they do not yet know, and that God will respond to them. Which you might think is a little bit patronising, but it's an answer to the objection that the Christian concept of God and the salvation he offers is cruel or arbitrary.

Merciful? Love me or burn for eternity. Remember, you have until the moment you die to be in my good books, and I ain't telling you when that is.

you step forward believing that still no cars coming. 

And you could be wrong. If you don't keep looking and paying attention there could easily be a car. Belief doesn't cut it, knowledge is what matters.

I don't understand your second paragraph, I think I get the gist of what you are saying, that is not sufficient to understand it. Maybe you could re-phrase it?

Think about the second paragph, you will see.

That entirely fails to be an argument; I thought about it when I wrote my first response and concluded that it is not even coherent English, I was trying to be polite about it.

Similarly I would not dream of using your syndrome name as, without explanation, it is meaningless.

Actually our church is very well heated 😊

Worship is about saying thanks, its definitely not about feeding God's ego (cant imagine he has one!)

I don't see the value in having faith in the existence of something

Sometimes we have to put our faith in people, that they will honour their promises to us, but if faith is required just to believe they exist then its something I cannot be convinced by

An omnipotent God could easily prove his existence beyond a reasonable doubt, we would still need to have faith in his character, but at least we'd know he's real