@rstrats You asked three very good questions:
1. Why would anyone's will be for torture 24/7 for eternity?
2. Would a person first have to believe in a supreme being? And if they do, what is the person to do since beliefs cannot be consciously chosen?
3. How can you choose to believe something if you already know it's real?
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1. Hell according to scripture is not torture 24/7.
Extreme clarity and honesty is required to resolve this question. No moving goal posts. No changing definitions and meaning. Torture can be placing someone in a brazen bull (10/10) or being forced to listen to an annoying teacher (1/10).
When someone accuses God of the bible of torturing the wicked for all eternity they quote fire, flesh burning, worms eating. screaming, weeping and gnashing of teeth for all eternity. IE All accusers and even many preachers envision 10/10 torture.
Torture at this level is PURE evil. There is no greater evil than 9-10/10 torture.
Many Christians fail at understanding this and completely and utterly misrepresent scripture on the topic.
Without going into too much detail. It is important for us to understand the following items for a more correct picture of hell.
A. People in hell will weep and gnash their teeth because of separation anxiety Luke 13:28.
B. The worm that eats is a personal worm, scripture says ''their worm'', suggesting not actual worms but more a conscience. Supporting this fact is scripture stating that they will not receive a new body. Scripture says we are mind, body and spirit. If those in hell do not receive a new body, then they will remain as only spirit and mind. Much like demons are right now.
C. Fire is the direct punishment for one's sins. It will be an unpleasant experience for your spirit. Scripture uses the word 'agonising' pain, but your spirit will deal with it much better than flesh. It is not correct to imagine flesh burning. Jesus makes this crystal clear in Luke 16:19-31. The rich man in the fire is able to hold a conversation and asks for a drop of water from Abraham's finger on his tongue. That is certainly not what someone in a brazen bull will request. It is a type of harsh and unpleasant punishment that we will all agree with.
D. Scripture is crystal clear that God is just Job 34:12 and that punishment will be according to your sin Rom 2:6. As such we can expect to see people spend sessions in fire according to their sin. You will need an eternal fire in hell as you will not have any repentant sinners. People will go on and on in sin.
E. God is
righteous in all His ways Psalm 145:17m with NO exceptions. We can expect many more things in hell than merely what scripture tells us. We see this with Adam and Eve when removed from Eden. Scripture mentions four curses, but yet earth has many niceties even with these curses.
Hell will be terrible, but that is because those there will be evil and they will be surrounded with other evil people, for all eternity. Is God evil for doing this? Keeping them alive? Every evil person would rather be alive than dead. Even in hell.
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2. Every person believes in a supreme being. Only trolls don't. But no, that is not a requirement.
The only requirement according to Jesus, Paul, David, Abraham, Moses and every scripture from verse 1 to verse 31,102 is
repentance of sin Luke 5:32, Psalm 51:17.
3. Christian faith, faith to believe
A. Jesus is Lord and
B. was raised from the dead Rom 10:9 is
gifted to those who truthfully repent 1 Cor 12:3, Rom 12:3.
We stay in a state of faith and believing, even though we know God is real, as
this is His will. You need to understand that
only the 'sight' block is unticked. Therefore our belief / faith in God is exactly the same as everyone's belief / faith in gravity.