A topic that would be really helpful to cover are the alleged bible prophecies happening right now. A lot of Christian’s tend to talk about the Euphrates river drying up, Mormon crickets, earthquakes etc. every now then then I’ll see a Christian short warning about “this prophecy is happening. Repent.” It’s a very powerful fear tactic that needs to stop.
there is no fear in love ... if a preacher is teaching fear then do he have love? ... 1John 4:18 (KJV) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. as for jesus saving us ... let examine what is hell and what did jesus actually came for ... hell is most likely where we live or at least it feel that way ... he came to save us from the wrath of god ... jesus message was to turn people away from their sins into righteousness ... if you turn away from your sin into righteousness then you are believing that the holy ghost who is the father has sent his first creation into this world to save mankind from the wrath of god ... churches don't teach salvation ... for they themselves are not save or at least most of them because they teach false doctrine ... everyone will be judge ... those who know how to love will be saved because it is someone actions and words that determine who they are
btw doing justice and being are 2 different things ... example if you had a child and someone hurt your child then you will want to revenge your child from the evil that is done to him/her ... that is how god feel about his children ... there is tares and wheat in the scriptures ... anything that make god look bad is from the children of the evil one that are in religion ... changing the words of god
Another great video, Brandon. The fear of Hell is definitely an insidious control mechanism. It keeps you in the religion and keeps you kind of indoctrinated into oppressive regimes because you have the whole torments of hell as a stick (along with the carrot of going to heaven). Not a good "Fruit of the Spirit" for Christian doctrine.
It was actually my first step in completely unintentional deconstruction. I started learning about literature and art history and religious history out of just curiosity and started questioning Hell’s existence before I began truly questioning much else of the belief system that I was raised in. Losing fear of Hell is the BEST feeling, so freeing.
I'm a 40 yo atheist. I remember my Sunday School teacher telling me when I was about 7 or 8 that hell is not only the constant torture of flames, but also the constant feeling of falling in an unending pit. I think this is akin to child abuse.
@@Brian-Ahavahonly if rattlesnakes were demonstrably fake. It would be more akin to telling your kids Jason is in their closet and will come kill them with a machete if they act “bad” (read: be a little sassy towards mom)
'akin' is charitable, it was straight up child abuse. Emotional, psychological abuse of a child and they probably didn't mean it to be but that's just what it's called.
Maybe so. Some things kids aren't ready for. Like telling them about STDs. They're real, and the consequences are horrendous, but there's a certain age you need to be before you can hear about it.
I am a believer and I think that you are right. Kids are more sensitive and impressionable and the concept of hell can wait until they are older or can be dealt with much more gently if the topic comes up. Moreover, your teacher was wrong about the constant feeling of falling into an unending pit. That is nowhere in the Bible. Yet, he or she was right about the constant torture. In fact, people are being tortured around the world as you are reading this. For example, there was a teenage girl in Japan who was kidnapped and mercilessly tortured for about six weeks. She was sadistically abused in every way possible, finally begging to die. Know that if you reject God, you embrace human depravity. You will live forever, but if you do not go with God, remember that Jesus said that there are torturers in hell. God is the author of justice and without Him, you have everyone making their own rules - as you are doing now! Is torture 'wrong'? Without God, you do not have good nor evil, just your own rules! You cannot say that I did not warn you: if you die in your amorality, you will be tormented by amoral people for all eternity. Yet, Christ died on a Cross so that you may know Him. Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
Personally, the fear of Hades is not daunting to me in the most minuscule sense of the term. If the Abrahamic God doesn't exist, then his Hell is fictitious. It's that simplistic. Even if there's a hellish alterdimension, I refuse to fear such a hypothetical scenario as long as there's no concrete evidence for its petrifying existence ❤
Agnostic here and can confirm fear of Hell is the last thing to go. I recognize how implausible it sounds; the idea that a loving Creator would send his own children to burn, but......what if I'm wrong? It's a thought I struggle with the older I get.
The creator doesn't need to send them. They walk into it willingly. They fall for temptation, even knowing that it leads to pain. We start all these programs like DARE and HIV awareness, and yet we still get people sleeping around and doing drugs, falling for the temptations even when they're told that there are real consequences for those bad choices. If you LOVE sin, you will NOT love heaven. Sadly some people love to sin. They don't have to be cast to hell because they walk right into it knowing at least they can sin there. Hell is ONLY painful because it's a place where sin runs rampant. That's the only reason.
@@theboombody still an infinite punishment for finite crimes. Does spending an eternity in un fathomable suffering sound like a good punishment for someone who lied a couple of times?
I think I’ll never escape my hell trauma. I’m so scared of dying that most of the time I wish I’d never been born. In my head I understand why I shouldn’t be worried but I can’t seem to wrap my head around it.
I feel exactly the same it's a nightmare every day I wake up again it seems like we created our own personal hell for ourselves you can tell one logical argument after another but at the end the possibility of hell being real is never at 0% and if it is real no believe matters anymore the imagination of burning eternally is so horrifying constant eternal death seems like the greatest mercy ever I just don't want to exist
i feel you but honestly i stopped being so afraid of dying in general, probably because ive faced the fear of dying so much in such a little span of time that it doesnt phase me anymore. ig you could say ive grown numb to the idea of death and hell just kind of isnt a fear for me anymore
@@Ephesians-yn8ux I can't believe that was only 3 months ago... I recovered pretty well there are only some intrusive thoughts sometimes but they don't scare me at all because of people like Brandon Matt Dillahunty Forrest Valkai AXP in general and many more now im pretty well educated became an anti theist and yeah that's the update you haven't asked for hahah
It’s been about a year for me now. A year ago I was waking up from night terrors, shaking and pale, running to the bathroom to slump over the sink and hyperventilate with extremely vivid images of flames and torture playing over and over in my head. That was YEARS after I started to acknowledge my lack of belief in the Bible. This fear manifested in a unique way for me and it really was the start of the real process of laying all the Christian junk I was quasi holding onto for years. What a horrible process. I thought I would have to quit my job and move into my parents house because I was afraid my fear of hell would render me incapable of functioning anymore. I felt so trapped, thinking how I just wanted to kill myself and end the experience, but knowing that might lead to an infinity of a worse experience. However, somehow, someway, I got through it. Never quit my job, never fell apart. It’s resources online, like the content that you create, that provided JUST ENOUGH space to allow me take a breath and keep moving forward enough to deal with it. Thank you for taking this seriously, knowing what so many people have been through because you have been there yourself, and taking action to provide content that is compassionate, sympathetic and helpful. The journey still sucks but it has improved immensely in the last year.
Oh man. I hate that for you. I hate what religion does to the mind. I am so happy to hear how much better its gotten. Keep going, it only all becomes even more clear
This is a really powerful (pardon me) testimony. What a thing to overcome. Even sharing a comment like this is doing the good work, you show others they’re not crazy and not the only one going through it. Thank you
I have studied topics like ‘hell’ ‘who wrote the gospels’ ‘can Noah’s ark be true?’ ‘Does prayer work?’ For years and years. And still, after all these years it still haunts me from time to time. When I hear you talking, I’m close to 100% convinced you are right, but there still is that imaginary voice which has been indoctrinated in my head since my earliest youth that tells me ‘what if this is a demon-inspired man’? That’s the main reason I’m against teaching religion to young kids. Everyone has the right to think what he wants, that’s really OK. But those poor children, I know what they’re going through and I find it horrible. Thanks for speaking out.
Well explained. It lasted a couple years for me. Finally i got to a point where i said. If after all my sincere seeking and trying god is going to allow a demon to rob my free will and send me to hell then the game is utterly rigged and i cant do anything about it anyways.
@@heavenbound7-7-7-7 Secular humanism teaches tolerance for all (unlike the judgmentalism of christianity). It teaches goodness without god. Secular humanism is not woke. I am against indoctrinating kids with lies - christian, secular, other religions.
fake@MindShiftSkeptic. "Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you." Acts 8:22
@@heavenbound7-7-7-7 let’s say there are three individuals who plead their case for their divine being, a Muslim, a Hindu and you. What is your reason that I should believe you and not the others of neither of the three of you?
Thank you for this perspective. Add this belief system to crippling OCD and it becomes the perfect storm for living a life of true terror, and it makes my every thought to be viewed through this 'hellish' lens. Please keep doing what you do!
There are 149 verses in the bible about hell. Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late. Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and a relationship. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there and realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is pour out your heart to God, and ask Him into your life. Simple as that. He will take away all that fear and replace it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
I have religious OCD, and always entertained doubts while I wanted to believe. I used to ask god why he gave me an inquisitive, scientific mind that would put me at odds with religion. Intellectually my mind tells me one thing while OCD keeps me afraid. True story, one of my first doubts arose out of watching the “Ten Commandments” every easter and at the parts where god continues to punish pharaoh after “ hardening his heart”, and then finding that is how it’s laid out in the ot, god making him do his will and then punishing him anyway. Then there is the only god coming from a pantheon well before there was a Hebrew people and monotheism. Yes the bible is man made, has been changed, especially the commissioned by King James version that everyone says is the direct word of god.
For so long I've simply identified as atheist and not put much thought into my religious experiences as a child. Creators like you and Kristi Burke have really been inspiring me to reflect more and realize that even though it happened long ago, I did go on a deconstruction journey. I just lacked the terminology and the community to understand what I was going through and your videos are really helping me come to understand myself better and work through these feelings that still sit beneath the surface that I have a hard time getting to sometimes. Thank you so much. I've been moved by every video
You are so welcome, friend and thank you for taking the time to share and let me know. BTW, Kristi and I just connected and are going to do a vid together, cant wait for that. And yes, so much of this is being able to identify a thought or feeling or concept that needs addressing. Its like its own form of trauma healing, even though none of it was real. Thanks again!
Kristi Burke is very lost not some one to take seriously John 14:27 Peace I (Jesus) leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Yep, that's a fear like no other, and one I've known before. Hell was probably the #1 thing that made me reconsider my faith. Despite the fear, I came to feel that I could not reconcile myself to the worship of a god who would even make such a place. The actual message of Christianity is basically, "Love me or else!" Its extortive, and violates every precept of justice that anyone can see if they're not indoctrinated to the point where they won't question what's so obviously unjustifiable. Good video.
Ahh great point. Even though fear of hell held me in longer than i would have otherwise it was this problem of evil and hell that first got my mind really thinking differently in the first place.
Then you have missed the whole meaning and purpose of the cross of The Lord Jesus Christ. Those who have a fear of Hell have never known the wonderful Savior Jesus and what He has done for them by suffering, shedding His blood, dying, and rising from the dead three days later.
@@christophergibson7155 That's not even close to being true. I was saved/"came to know the Lord" at a young age and constantly read the Bible and prayed--that doesn't make a person not afraid of hell. You just have a weak imagination and easily put away uncomfortable thoughts.
@@abesapien9930 Then there must have something really missing in your "born again" experience. And I have noticed many who have no assurance of their salvation in Jesus Christ being known to be afraid of Hell. Those only who are not in Christ, when they hear the moral law of God and that they are sinners and are under the condemnation and wrath of God should have a fear of Hell and the Lake of Fire if they reject Jesus and were to die in their sins. Those who are wonderfully saved, forgiven and cleansed from sin by The Lord Jesus Christ should have no fear of Hell ever again. For the scripture says, that perfect love casts out fear."(1Jn.4:18
@@christophergibson7155 Ah, the old "if you don't believe or experience things exactly as I do, then you were never a Christian." I was a deeply devout Christian, had a sincere "relationship" with God, and my imagination still from time to time feared a literal hell. That's a perfectly sane response from being told from a young age that the only thing between you and being tormented eternally is whether you said the "Sinner's Prayer" genuinely and truly believed it.
Even as someone who wasn’t raised in a "hell-fire" environment, I still had the fear of hell as a child and as an adult. I can only imagine how much worse this fear must be in those who had this monstrous notion drilled into them as a child.
Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late. Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and a relationship. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there and realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is simply, humble your heart and pray with faith, I repent of my sins, and I turn to You. You said in Your word that if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus,, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved. I ask You Father to forgive me of all my sins, and ask You to fill me with the Holy Spirit, and take control of my life. it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
@@christophergibson7155 So, according to "you", Nazis who put Jews into ovens get to go to heaven if they decide to "accept Jesus" on their deathbeds, while their Jewish victims are tortured forever in "eternal ovens". That is as *sick* and *unjust* as it gets! Btw, you do know that many Muslims believe that "they" are saved, and that all others, including Christians like "you", are destined for torture in the afterlife, right? Thank whatever God may or may not exist, there is absolutely NO evidence whatsoever that Christian hell, Muslim hell, pagan hells or any other type of religion-based hells exist. The "bad" and "good" NDEs that have been reported don't correlate to religious or non-religious beliefs at all.
It is child abuse from the questioning mind, though I imagine the utmost love from indoctrinated people. What empathetic parent would risk their child to their culture's version of eternal ppsthumous torture, after all? Fortunately that mind disease appears to be receeding with the zeitgeist.
Thank you for this great work, Brandon! I think death anxiety is the cornerstone of all religions. Fear of hell and fear in general is difficult and essential to deconstruction of Christianity. For me it was followed by the pain of analyzing and letting go of the notion of heaven and getting to see lost loved ones again (i.e. grieving). Then followed by years of existential anxiety to accept my own mortality, make the most of my time and the gifts and talents those loved ones, humanity, and life has afforded me. I think each of these stages deserves attention and I’d love your takes on them. My best wishes for you and yours.
I think too we don’t need to entirely give up the hope that the loves and connections we have in this life will transcend it in some way. We shouldn’t let Christianity have a monopoly on that hope, but we should dash to pieces all that is so clearly man-made in it, the good and the bad.
"death anxiety is the cornerstone of all religions" ----- Quite the opposite. Death anxiety is the cornerstone of our inability to love completely. How much of your life would you have to give up to love completely?
There are 149 verses in the bible about hell. Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late. Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and a relationship. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there and realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is pour out your heart to God, and ask Him into your life. Simple as that. He will take away all that fear and replace it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
Thank you for this video. I'm old enough to be your grandmother but I still struggle with that fear of hell. It usually 'hits me" at times when I least expect it and I'm always SURPRISED that the fear is stilllurking deep within me!
There are 149 verses in the bible about hell. Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late. Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and a relationship. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there and realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is pour out your heart to God, and ask Him into your life. Simple as that. He will take away all that fear and replace it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late. Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, its free, and its worth it! Why take any chances? The Gospel is good news, why would you be against it? God sent Jesus to save us because God loves each one of us (see John 3:16-17). Jesus prayed for His followers, including us, to be protected from evil and to be one with Him and Heavenly Father. This life is short. Its temporary. You never know when your time is up. Its not about religion, or going to church. Its just between you and God. One on one relationship, through the Holy Spirit, who is given to you upon salvation. The Holy Spirit is the difference. You wont regret it, and you will peace in your heart, and mind, knowing you have assurance of where you will go once your time is up. So please think about it. Its never too late until your life is over, then there is no turning back. So today is the day for salvation. Dont wait! Be blessed!!
@@Tiffanylouisekellyit helps to know that hell is a twisted and different concept to what it was based on. Hel was a mythological Norse goddess who cared for the dead in a paradise like setting. It was changed by two influential people in the 1200s CE. It is a complete human invention. Based on mythology.
Thank you! And very cool. Should make our collab wonderful. Would love to just put something amazing together. Ill be curious what topic/s you’d like to cover.
I absolutely love your deconstructing Mrs. Jezebels...I follow Brandon and yourself "religiously" and your facial expressions on your recent take on Sodom and Gomorrah had me laughing soooo hard in a long time. I feel very fortunate to have both you and Brandon in this very lonely time in my life where I literally took things to far and had to wind up at psychiatric hospital for 2 weeks. Just a month ago I didn't even know the word "deconstructing" existed and EVERYONE in my family are Bible believers so I literally had no one to come to ... PLEASE KEEP UP WITH BOTH YOUR WORK. ❤️
@@MindShift-Brandon Yes 💯You both would be incredible! With Brandon's long drawn out eye rolls and with Kristi's 'bitch please' close ups.... it's set to win a Nobel Prize 🏆
I hope you know how important your channel is. In a very short time it has risen to the very top of my favorite atheist channels! I look so forward to every video you put out and I want to say, “Thank you! Thank you so much, for all the hard work that you obviously put into it!”
@@MindShift-Brandon hell seems like a far better ✝️ then gawd put himself on for creating us sinful by creation. Gawd seems like a better evil Roman guy however you spell his name.
This is so hard. My fear has gone full circle and came back. I've been an atheist for many years now and the hell fear is back again. I'm getting old and insecure after my little sis died. Now the fear is so irrational I'm almost wanting to convert back again. I know how I sound. But coming here and listening to your insights has bought me some respite. I am taking your advice and giving myself time to really have a critical look at the concept of hell from a objective view.
I am so sorry to hear what a grip this has on you. I know you know how you sound but also consider just how ridiculous a god would be create something that had you so terrified that youd consider trying to worship what you dont even believe in. Thats love? Thats gods great plan? The think that helps the most is truly understanding why the bible is so invalid as a source of truth. Keep learning!
Here's what I do: Consider that Hinduism says anyone who has killed a spider or a mosquito will go to a Hell called Andhakupa. Then ask any Christian if they're scared of going there.
I understand you so. I would suggest you read the other comments to see other people's fears and how most overcame them. I don't fear hell anymore because it is an invention. When I understood that hell was ETERNAL TORMENT IN A LAKE OF FIRE I began to understand that it could not possibly be true under any circumstance. That was when the house of cards began to fall. Good luck my friend.
@@mildredmartinez8843 Thankyou for taking your time to reply. The rational me knows you are so right. So I do listen and I think I'm stuck in an endless loop of 'Pascal's wager.' But I do try to understand the non sequiturs. Try Pascal's Wager versus Voltaire's deathbed's priest asking him if he renounces Satan. Voltaire's reply, "Now, now my good man, this is no time to be making enemies." 🤣🤣
Once I saw the man behind the curtain, I wasn’t worried about hell. That was immediate. The problem I had was my apathy toward religion was so bad that it became unhealthy. I was angry for a long time because I felt lied to, deceived, and manipulated. I had to grapple with all of that. I even went to counseling for it.
I don't think we understand yet how important and healing your message is. I really believe you are building the "cornerstone" to those who have transcended. Your work needs to also be documented in a book. Your work and sweat will be refferenced for many many years to come. I know this because i come back to your videos over and over and I come out understanding something I didn't before.❤
@@MindShift-Brandon I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Although I can appreciate your sense of humility, you should be proud of yourself for being an obvious intellectual who consumes books and Knowledge at a above average way. I was Valedictorian to my class 🌼and spirituality, psychology and philosophy has always been part of my personal interests. You make me think. ❤️
I was one of the fortunate ones, having discovered the book The Fire that Consumes while still a Christian. That book not only introduced me to annihilationism, but was one of the factors that opened my eyes to the variety of beliefs that are all based on the Bible. So when I did deconvert, hell wasn't a major issue.
There are 149 verses in the bible about hell. Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late. Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and a relationship. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there and realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is pour out your heart to God, and ask Him into your life. Simple as that. He will take away all that fear and replace it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
@@Outsider4JC The Bible clearly portrays at least 2 versions of the afterlife: heaven and hell, or heaven and annihilation. To claim otherwise is just ludicrous. I know, you've chosen which version you prefer, and you're going to make everything fit your view.. But that's just apologetics 101 level BS.
I remember my parents telling me about Hell when I was a kid. I sobbed, worried that one of us wouldn't make it to Heaven. People may think that "warning" children about Hell doesn't have negative psychological effects, but I can confidently say that's completely wrong. Even now as an adult Atheist, that fear is still branded in me, even though logical and historical evidence jars against it. Hell is a tool that mankind created in order to keep people from leaving religion. It certainly worked on me. Thank you so much for your videos, Mindshift. They're amazing and insightful.
Great video. Teaching the HELL dogma is downright child abuse to me. Yess, FEAR is a great motivator made up by man. So manipulative. It took years as a preacher's daughter (Southern Baptist) to escape the terror. I'm now free. The chains of hell have been broken. New subscriber. 👏 👏👏👏
Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late. Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and having a relationship with Jesus. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there, then realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is pour out your heart to God, and ask Him into your life. Simple as that. He will take away all that fear and replace it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
@wanderer44 // do some research, and you'll find in the original transcripts found... There was NOT 1 word about HELL. Besides that, the Bible has been mistranslsted so many times purposely for the purpose of keeping you in fear. Also, some transcripts found weren't included. You'd learn a lot just by doing a deep dive into the Bible and how it was put together. The when, whys, and how words were changed. If our Creator created a place called hell for the devil and his angels (first), God is all-knowing, and he already knew what you'd do (everyone), before you were born, so that's a contradiction. That would mean God created evil. Start with Gehenna. Then, learn about Sheol. Those were the original words. Let me edit and add the word Hades. If you share your email with me, I could send you some interesting material to start with. We can delete it after you send it, or I'll give you mine.
I've seen loved ones scared to die out of fear. If there is no afterlife, it's sad that all these people are so fearful in their last moments. The worry and anxiety people go through over hell is so bad sometimes I think that animals are better off than us because they are not as intelligent and have shorter memories.
I needed this. Im crying as Im taking notes lol. My conditioning, since I was a baby was that the main goal in my life is going to heaven and avoid hell. I have panic attacks thinking of it. Thank you so much for this video❤
Imagine worrying about something all your life, and then finding out at the end that it was never real, and was simply a man made concept by people who wanted others to follow their rules or fear the consequences. I do not believe in God, but i accept i could be wrong, and i believe if he is real, i will go to Heaven. If he isn’t real, i will simply cease to exist. But at no point in my life, EVER, have i, and nor will i, believe in Hell…..I will not let others put a fear like that in me. A loving God simply would not keep loving families apart like that. If God is good, there is NOTHING to fear. 🙂
@@janetgillespie6590 Hell is definitely in the bible tho. Matthew 25:46 - The wicked will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. Psalm 9:17 - The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 - The wicked will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. If your reason to deny hell, is that it is so awful no all loving God would ever create hell or send people to it. Specially for something as absurd as unbelief. Then you might start questioning whether you believe in the right religion because your own conscience shows how evil and terrible a God that created Hell would be.
This is so helpful…I’ll think I’ve gotten through this and then look at my kids and doubt myself. I just know that if they grow up without fearing every flicker of electricity being a rapture… running to make sure my sister was in her bed… that I’m one step ahead.
Am still also dealing with this fear ,still trynnaa over it,but yeah,your advice of considering other versions of hell and how unreal they seem to me is the best way to circumvent it.
I have been an atheist since August of this year 2023. I have watched several videos about getting over the fear of hell. I will admit that I was a skeptic agnostic for a while. What prevented me from becoming an atheist was the fear of "what if I'm wrong and hell does exist"? I've finally accepted as of August 2023 that hell isn't real and I am now a full atheist. The point I'd like to make in this commment is that this is the best video on how to overcome your fear of hell that I have ever seen. I discovered your channel today and I will gladly subscribe to your amazing content.
I had it when I was younger. Now that I'm older I don't have it anymore. Whatever happens, God's going to make it right, and it will make sense to us at that time, no matter how farfetched or illogical it might seem now. I've seen too many things rise up from the ashes too often to think that it won't eventually happen in an ultimate way.
You hit the nail on the head with your comment about reading the Bible with intellectual honesty (starts around 19:11). As a young adult, I was as sincere as I knew how to be in my efforts to be a faithful disciple and learn the Bible from cover to cover, but ironically it was reading the Bible that opened my eyes to the truth that this could only be a man-made religion. Deprogramming myself was the most difficult and agonizing process I have been through, but logic won out over fear. That was years ago and I have never once doubted that was the right decision. Watching videos from you, Hitchens, and Harris have only reinforced this conviction.
My brother is terminal, he’s been an atheist much longer than I have. I’m sending him this because he’s scared (understandably so). I think it will do him a lot of good to hear this from someone else, too. Thank, Brandon!
Just discovered this video 10 months after it was released. Let me tell you that you have saved my life with the creation of this video, quite literally. At the moment I identify as a Christian but have been exploring other possibilities. To be honest, I am a Christian because I am scared to go to hell. That’s it. What a miserable life to live. The fear of hell has been so engrained in me that it has consumed every second of my life. I didn’t even know Paschal’s Wager was a thing. I thought it was just a theory I made up before I heard of it. This video opened my eyes that hell isn’t real. THANK YOU. I would love to do a video with you exploring more of this topic. Bless you my friend.
This was a wonderful video; thank you! I feel so fortunate that when I read the Bible and concluded in a state of revulsion, bafflement, and betrayal, that I was no longer be a Christian, I seemed to also lose my fear in hell. My visceral incredulity, anger, and disgust at what I’d read, overpowered any time or headspace to be afraid. That so many people are still haunted by it, breaks my heart. To manipulate and poison humans this way, is the worst offense.
@@theboombody you mean where it says basic rules like don’t steal, kill, or lie that all cultures figure out, and “righteous” biblical characters constantly break? Or the part where it lists your wife as part of your property?
@@theboombodythe fact that there’s a commandment about not boiling a goat in its mother’s milk but there are no commandments about SA or slavery is pretty gross to me actually, yeah
After arriving in hell, I fully accepted my fate of eternal torture. It seemed there was no other choice but to endure this endless agony. But something remarkable happened when I released my desperate struggle and accepted my circumstances. Hell, as I knew it, ceased to exist. In that moment of surrender, a profound shift occurred within me. The overwhelming torment transformed into something unrecognizable. It's as if the very essence of hell evaporated into thin air. I share this experience to offer a glimmer of hope to those who may find themselves in despair. Sometimes, when we stop resisting our circumstances and accept what we cannot change, a profound transformation can take place. Though it may seem impossible to escape the grip of eternal suffering, finding acceptance can shift our perception and free us from the torment. It's a powerful realization that even in the darkest depths, there is potential for change.
i have had numerous mental health breakdowns about going to hell and loved ones going to hell, the reason i was converted is at 7 and i was scaerd of hell when the preacher preached 'hell fire' with a loud and scary voice
Thank you so much for this video. I was a "born again Christian" my entire life but always had doubts that I would suppress - like confirmation bias, as you mentioned in another video. I'm very thankful I met someone three years back who helped me get out of this horrible manipulative religion, so I am a few years into my deconversion. But I still struggle sometimes with the fear of hell, which was one of the main things that kept me stuck in christianity for so long. But this video is the best one I have seen on the topic and I think back to it whenever that fear of "What if" hits me again, and it has helped so much. Thank you.
I've recently started my deconstruction journey, and this is definitely my biggest concern. In a religion that says you're damned if you question, and if you're queer, specifically, and myself being / doing both, it's a pervasive worry, so thank you for the well-thought-out points. I caught myself trying to refute them still, out of the fear from point 6, so I have more work to do. I'll come back to this video when I need extra assurance.
There was a video by darkmatter deconstructing the fear of hell that spoke about how we feel pain. Scientifically a mind (or a 'soul') without a body could not feel pain because pain is our bodies way (through nerves) of telling the mind that 'we are taking damage' and the brains response of 'yeah ouch'.
A very important video, of all the bad ideas to come from Religion I think hell is the worst and most harmful of all. So indoctrinated the fear of hell is to so many people that they can`t logically think through it. Thanks for making this video to help people think their way out of it Mindshift!
I haven’t really ever feared hell since I deconverted some years ago, now did I have panic attacks in my bed at the age of 10 thinking about hell, yes.
Thank you so much for making this video, and for your others. Growing up in a family of devout Christians made me feel alone in my doubts and trauma, and I nearly cried reading the comment section and seeing how many others feel the same way I have all these years. The other day I thought of hell, and was just afraid instead of sick to my stomach with terror. I would never have imagined that was possible a year ago! Healing is hard, and there's a lot I have to work through still, but for the first time I'm feeling real tangible hope that someday I won't have to live my life in fear. Thank you for helping me find that hope!
why would you argue whether hell is real or not? Why not just be safe and accept what Jesus did for you on the cross? Its a wonderful message of salvation, and eternal life in paradise. Whats not to like? Is living in defiance of God really worth it?Is your life so great, you have no need for God? Is it because you dont want someone else to control you and allow Him to give you the life that is best for you? He is not some horrible God that just wants to torture you in hell. He is a loving, Holy God, and does not wish for you to be separated from Him. When you receive Him, you will realize how awesome He truly is. He will fill will with peace, love, and joy that you have never experienced before. Its not a one way road, his way or the highway, because He also helps you in everything that you do in life. Helps you make the right decisions in life, the right relationships you should be in, to just fellowshipping with you. He wants a relationship with you, and to let you know you are special to Him. If you would only give Him a chance, you would understand how amazing He truly is. Not to mention the assurance of salvation when your time is up. That peace of mind is worth it. So i dont understand why you would all just sit and do whatever it takes to believe in something that is only going to eventually cause you separation from God for eternity. We will all stand before God one day, no matter what you decide to believe. And we are not guaranteed another day. This life is temporary, get on the narrow road before its too late. He changed my life, i know He will do it for you.
@wanderer44-xr5si hello, friend. I'm going to assume that you have good, kind intentions and just don't understand how what you're saying comes across, so let's have an honest and friendly conversation about this if you're amenable. =) what I've shared in the initial comment is a deeply vulnerable gratitude. I've opened up just a little about a deep pain and trauma that this religion has caused me, and how new and hopeful it is to not be paralyzed with terror in my everyday life because of it. Your response- and again, I am assuming that you have the kindest of intentions and genuinely want a conversation about something that has helped you and that you believe will help me- was to imply, perhaps unintentionally, that I have simply not tried hard enough. You have asked me to open my heart, as if the reason I have struggled is not because of the harm that has been done to me or the harm I have done to myself in the name of the Christian god, but because I simply haven't tried hard enough to be a good christian. Again, this is just the way your words come across and not necessarily what you meant, but it strikes me as deeply unsympathetic to look at someone who is suffering and tell them that they should just do better. I don't want to get too personal, but I think an anecdote might help you understand where I'm coming from when I say these things. When I was a child, my father told me I deserved to die. I realized years later that he was trying to explain god's grace, but what a way he chose to go about it. Would you tell a child that they deserve death? What kind of mental and emotional scarring do you think that leaves on someone so young? And this is only one example. I don't feel comfortable sharing more, so I hope it illustrates my point. What I'm trying to say is that in my life, christianity and god and Jesus have only ever been used to hurt me, to belittle me, to make me hate myself so badly that I was actively suicidal at thirteen. You asked if the reason I turn away from the christian god is because my life has been too easy, and so I've never needed him. It's the opposite, really. I grew up seeking him desperately, hoping that if only I loved him fiercely enough and prayed desperately enough he would save me, make me whole and well, make me feel safe the way you describe. you also asked what's not to like about this message. about christianity, and this god. i hope i've given enough detail for you to understand my perspective there; I'm too tired to dig up more pain. All this to say.... is it truly that surprising that I would let go of something that has only ever hurt me? Is it unbelievable that I'm tired of living in pain and self-hatred, that I am so very exhausted of living terrified of the world and reaching for someone who has never reached back? If christianity is good for you, that's wonderful. I'm happy that you've found meaning and community, I mean that from the bottom of my heart! But something that works for one person, that gives them peace and purpose, won't always work for every other person. All that I'm asking is that you listen to what I've said, and really genuinely consider the possibility that Christianity won't automatically make every person's life better. Thank you for the good intentions! (Again, I'm assuming that's what's happening here.) It's kind of you to want to help me in the way you're familiar with, but unfortunately circumstances mean that attempts to share Christianity with me will do more harm than good. I hope that explaining my perspective a bit more has answered some of your questions and helped you understand where I'm coming from with all this. =)
@@patrickreed996 Thank you for your kind response. I am sorry for what you have been through, and I didnt mean to come across insensitive. I was only trying to explain with love how much God cares for you. But I want you to know that following Jesus isn’t about trying harder to be a Christian or meeting some impossible standard. It’s about letting Him meet you where you are, as you are. It’s easy to believe that God expects us to fix ourselves, to be perfect before we can come to Him. But the truth is, Jesus came because we can’t do it on our own. He doesn’t ask us to be good enough, to work harder, or to prove anything. Instead, He offers us His grace - freely, without condition. Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us of this incredible truth: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." This means that your worth, your salvation, and your relationship with God aren’t based on how hard you try or how perfect you are. They are based on what Jesus has already done for you on the cross. He loves you just as you are, right now, with all the mess and hurt, with every doubt and fear. And He doesn’t love you any less because of what you’ve been through or how you feel. Jesus invites us into a relationship with Him that’s built on love, not performance. He said: "Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) Notice He didn’t say, “Come to me once you’ve got it all figured out” or “Come to me when you’ve tried hard enough.” He simply says, come. As you are, with your pain, your struggles, your questions - He wants to give you rest, peace, and the kind of love that doesn’t depend on your efforts. The real difference between just practicing religion and having a genuine relationship with God is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will radically transform your heart and mind. He is the seal of God, and fills you with all the fruits of the Spirit, such as peace, love, joy in the Lord. He is the key. The 3rd person of the triniy. Also fully God. He is God living within us, guiding, comforting, and transforming us from the inside out. Jesus promised this to His followers: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." (John 14:16-17) He truly changed me, and I know He wants to do it for you. Please think about it. Because once you ask Jesus into your life, He will send the Holy Spirit. He will take control, and guide you. Its truly amazing. All you have to do is ask Him to take control ,and to put your faith and trust in Him. He will then send the Holy Spirit to live inside you. You will never be the same after that. He will do the rest. I will keep you in my prayers. Be blessed
When I look at my 3 year old daughter, and feel the love I have for her, and I imagine teaching her that Hell is real, it makes me physically ill. How can we do this to our children?
This video is precious. Your advice is spot on. It is non judgemental. It is supportive. Informative. I would suggest that anyone tormented by hell, start by reading the comments in this video. Sincere people going through the agony of dealing witb hell.
@@Benjamin-ml3qy I've made a lot of progress, I'll say that there's nothing you can do to reassure yourself that something is or isn't real, it takes a deep level of acceptance over time and you'll start to feel better, the OCD Recovery UA-cam channel by Robert bray will put you on the right path, good luck 😌
Great piece Brandon👏 Still following and enjoying the work you're doing. No.10 liberates me completely. As I grew up, I never understood the war stories in the old testament. Really confused me,...but I couldn't voice my questions. Fast forward.... Freedom is here🥳
Never in my life would I think I would actually listen to an Athiest. Thank you for being here and sharing your experience in a pragmatic, nonjudgmental way. It’s a confusing time.
Thank you for this channel!! I have been deconverting for almost a year and this channel has been so good in the final steps of letting it go. Keep up the good work! Sending love from Sweden❤❤
I am glad I found this channel, you are extremely rational and able to articulate things I have thought so well, when you talk about the release of DMT on near death experiences, that is something I always thought but never seen someone mention it.
Thanks for this. I really appreciate your content. I grew up with fundamentalist parents in the south. We were Southern Baptist, so not as far out as some. In college I got involved with Bill Gothard. That stuff was even too much for my parents. After much pain and suffering, I ended up as a pastor in a "liberal" church. My skepticism has grown exponentially since Covid. You help clarify my thinking. So again, Thanks
Best arguement against hell is, if God requires it to make people love him, meaning, pretending to love out of fear, then heaven must be hell of a place.
Yes, I'm christian, but I think like you. I believe only in that what Jesus spoke, not what other gods speak. And Jesus comes to save us with his love and to encourage us to be only good if we love good, not fear hell.
@@knopsik_2in8 Thanks for sharing that, personally I would even go one step further, because many people believe in what Jesus said, and yet still disagree.. But Jesus thaught that we are to discern truth from deception, without any doubt, by its fruits, and so its interesting to ponder on what these fruits could be.. Because as I see it, whatsoever brings forth these fruits is of God, and has to be linked to truth, since God equals truth.. But on the other side that means that once we use that discernment, we may also find errors and mistakes in the Bible, and from my perspective, thats even a good thing, mainly because making the Bible an idle, making it better than it is doesnt really serve truth, which equals God.. And thats actually why I love Mindshift, he is doing a great job asking sincere and good questions, often times giving awesome answers to it..
idk what to say other than thank you. even though I am lucky enough to not really having a fear of hell anymore I know that there are quite a lot of people who deal with it and that this video helped them get out of that and/or is actively helping them so again, thank you
I think this video will really help a lot of people. It's sad to see the extent of this abusive teaching and the trauma it's produced. I can't help thinking that a belief system that features - perhaps relies on - instilling this sort of fear cannot be true. If it were, it wouldn't require coercion and threats. I joined the church at age 25 and left at age 48. I didn't even 'deconvert' so much as I just gradually drifted away for awhile, and then with the Covid lockdowns I of course stopped going and simply never went back. Luckily the hell thing wasn't a big issue. VERY glad I wasn't indoctrinated with it since early childhood. That would be very difficult to handle, as shown in many of these comments. I truly hope people can overcome this fear and heal from the damage it has done.
Excellent video, as usual. 73-year-old ex-Catholic agnostic atheist here. Like most people, I guess, I struggled with the fear of hell when I was in the process of deconverting. Something that gave me very long pause was a series of events that occurred in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. In a nutshell, three shepherd children (the oldest was 10) claimed to have seen apparitions (visions) of Mary, the mother of Jesus. In one of them, she let them see hell, which absolutely terrified them. All of these visions were approved by the Catholic Church in 1930 by Pope Pius XI as being “worthy of belief." My belief in these visions was buttressed by the fact that she also performed what’s come to be known as “the Miracle of the Sun,” which was witnessed by tens of thousands, an estimation beyond dispute. Clearly, something extraordinary happened, but I came to deny the supernatural character of these events when I finally realized that the Gospels were not “God-breathed” and that Jesus was not God incarnate. (On the contrary, he was a failed apocalypticist.) What in fact happened in Portugal in 1917 I don't know, but I'm not losing a wink of sleep over it. Now, whenever the thought of the possibility of hell comes to mind, which seldom happens, I just shoo it away. I am so over it. I mean, the thought of an all-loving God casting untold billions into hell to be tormented uninterruptibly FOREVER AND EVER is sickening and despicable. There's no religious doctrine cooked up by men more unbelievable than the doctrine of eternal punishment. As Christian-turned-agnostic Charles Darwin put it, that doctrine is itself "damnable."
I want to thank you for all of your videos. Your calm and logical arguments are better than therapy. Religion and the thought of what happens when you die has honestly been one the biggest struggles of my life, especially considering my association with the lgbt community and the repercussions of that in today's society. I was so distraught over it that I landed in the hospital a few months ago with dangerously high blood pressure and anxiety issues. It was even insinuated I was being punished because of my behavior and all I needed to do was conform and believe and change my lifestyle. "it doesn't have to be this way" I think even believers should watch your videos because it will challenge their notions and preconceptions about what they're reading in a thoughtful and non-confrontational manner and using scripture itself to make assertions. I'm still struggling, but hearing an intelligent and skeptical counter-argument to all of the contradictory religious noise out there is strangely reassuring that i'm not alone in the world with my doubts....even though it frequently feels like it.
After reading and studying multiple philosophical theories about what god is I think I’ve come to conclude that the god of Benedict de Spinoza is the most reasonable to exist. This created a conflict in my beliefs on the Christian God since I was raised Catholic. But after watching videos like yours and Kristie’s I’m filled with peace and more understanding on the guilt and fear that I felt due to my programming done by religion. Wisdom is freedom. Thank you for your work.!
Thanks Brandon for this. A lot of people need this kind of help to get them totaly away from the poison that they follow. The one thing that helped me was to understand that the only weapon any religion has is "fear". As long as they can teach it and put it into your brain, people are going to come back to church because they might be thinking, "what if I'm wrong?" I started watching videos like yours and others none stop to get my brain rewired to think more critically and start asking questions. But the most important thing to do is research and learn the history like you said. Also, the two videos that really helped me was; Christian Dilemmas and Caesar's Messiah. Both are great videos.
When you're raised in a religious culture it can take a lifetime to unlearn the false things you've been indoctrinated with. I'm 73, have been trying to unlearn Christianity for half a century, and there's still plenty of junk in my head. I continue to make progress though.
Really enjoyed your breakdown of this subject. One of the first things I admitted to not believing in, and still have hangover anxiety about on occasion.
This channel is one of the best in terms of helping me deconstruct. I still struggle with the idea of hell and have seen the video on the screen.but would like to know how to fact check this stuff just for peace of mind.
Glad to hear it and yes do all the research you can. Go read about other hells. Look into the neuroscience of NDEs etc. the internet and library have more than enough
god is so feeble that you can do anything in life, but not believing in him is the greatest crime of all, so he will torture some ethereal version of you with internal fire...that must be some funky fire to burn immaterial things. god just cant take it someone not believing in him, but fails to show up ever. once you realise what filth priests are, to install such a fear of hell into you, when they have no idea themselves such thing exists...there's some anger to get over...but you come out the other side stronger. hell becomes the impotent scary tale that it is. what is heaven like? eternal bliss? doing what? surely eternity of anything would be a proverbial hell. the terminal nature of life is much preferrable than eternity of anything. afterlife wasnt such a great idea (of men) after all. use critical thinking to work thru any thoughts you have about heaven/hell, as these fictional concepts dont stand up to good scrutiny. once these more rational thoughts on it take hold, the fear will melt away. religious leaders and religion will no longer have a hold on you, no matter their pathetic fear mongering. millions of people have ditched the false idea of hell instilled in them. you can too.
How do you fact check nonsense?? The only reason people believe in the christian hell (or any other) is because they were brought up to. There is no reason at all to think that the scribblers of the bible texts had access to knowledge that we do not have. Christians borrowed the idea of a hell from the Jews who had spent time in captivity in Babylon, who borrowed the idea from the Zoroastrians who held them captive. So unless you are going to accept that the followers of Ahura Mazda had access to this knowledge, you really shouldn't waste time thinking about it, and go forth and live your life.
Funny story, I once had an 'ego death' experience on LSD, two years ago. It was wild. I had this profound feeling that led me to explore Taoism and Hinduism, free from dogmatic mind control. I simply experienced their vision of humanity, the universe, and reality. The funny part is, I was raised Christian and was fully committed to it until I was 27. I had never even heard of these Eastern religions. After the experience, I almost became an atheist, but now I identify as agnostic. I've had a glimpse of what happens after death and what reality is, but it doesn't seem to matter. No one will be sent to hell, no one will be punished in the afterlife. There's no god demanding our actions, except for the god 'nature' with her rules, such as sleep, eat, and drink... Everything we do as a society, we do without a greater divine plan. We are humans, and all our societal rules should be based on what we believe is good for ourselves, not on what a god wants. Because, in reality, what this god wants, he already has: relationships and experiences.
God is light. Our souls is what connects us to God. I lost my soul because I commited an evil deed. Satan came to claim me. No joke. I wish it wasn't true. When you lose your soul you are forever disconnected from Source
This fear of Hell concept is totally alien to me. When I was an atheist I had no reason to believe that such a place existed When i became a Christian, I knew that the sacrifice of Christ had totally freed me from condemnation, therefore whatever the nature of Hell I was saved from it, so again no cause for fear.
I remember hearing from someone I knew when they got suspicious of me missing church: They said I “better believe that hell is a real place”, “Eternal life is eternal”, and how “missing mass is a sin”. This was after I started to think that hell might not be a real place. I wasn’t fond of mass attendance growing up, and felt pressured(occasionally forced) to go under the implication of “You better go to mass, or else you will be thrown into hell for thinking that you can skip mass and still live a normal life, and you will be deemed a less holy person by us”. I thought it was for the purpose of getting brownie points in God’s eyes, i.e. the payment of my time in order to be spared from hell. Indeed, the fear of hell had a tight grasp on my psyche growing up. Videos like this are a reminder of how horrific and ridiculous the story of hell can be once you think deeper about it. Thank you for your work, keep it up!
Fear of Hell is what brought me to Christianity, realizing how absurd hell is took me away from Christianity. I left Christianity in 2007, but the fear of Hell still tries to aggravate me. Giving people the fear of Hell is spiritually abusive. The whole time I was a Christian, I was tormented by the idea of non-Christians who I deeply care about ending up in Hell. I would beg people to accept Jesus as their savior because I believed in the false concept of hell.
I'm in the same situation even if you are "saved" what about people you love and care about imagine being in heaven and knowing that while you worship god in heaven your mother burns in hell to death the 1.000.000.000 time and again and again and again and even after a number of years I can't even write in my lifetime there are infinite times this time more... This is the most horrifying thing ever and that's a fact
I feel so understood here, I could genuinely not bring myself to love the abrahamic god for all the reasons you said, and the only reason I would ever turn to religion is for self-preservation, and I would not be doing it passionately
@@jasonbeck1340If it wasn't "made" for humans then God wouldn't *put* humans there. Such a bizarre ideology. Do you believe God is incompetent? Or just plain evil? If there is a God, I doubt he acts like a human psychopath the way we see in the Biblical texts. He at least owes it to himself to be consistent in his attributes.
It is also a gaslighting tactic. They all say that we make the choice to go to hell. Uh, no. I'm choosing to not believe in something that is clearly false. That doesn't mean I'm choosing to be tortured by an evil god.
You are clearly more developed and smarter than I as a young child in a fundamentalist Church. I didn't start questiong it unti later Were you raised in a religious environment? if so, what type?
@@Cuffsmaster I’m Dutch. Religion in the Netherlands is virtually nonexistent, so I never grew up taking the Bible as gospel (pun somewhat intended). That being said, when I was 10 and had compulsory Bible classes I found the biblical stories specious at the best of times and cunningly cultish and manipulative the majority of the time.
My personal opinion is that we are in hell at present, existance on earth is hell at times.. Especially when we go through the pain of loosing your close loved ones when they die. We only truly free once we leave this earth and no longer exist.. Nothing to worry about nor pain and suffering!
Thanks for the tools. My mom had a book called Dantes Inferno. Talk about scary stuff. Once I dropped religion, I only needed one tip....Hell doesn't exist. It worked then and it works now. Good luck folks.
For me images of hell was one of my first memories. I was about 5 years old and in Sunday school and the teacher was showing us a picture of chard burnt steak and telling us that's what hell is and that's what will happen to our bodies forever in hell. I still remember the glaring fear in her eyes as she stared down on all of us. 5 year old kids.. Imagine. Hell was a BIG fear for most of my life. I must have thought about it at some point almost every day. After I deconverted the fear stuck around for about 6 years, then it faded. It would come up every now and again in flash fears as if old patterns in my brain were reigniting momentarily, until eventually it just faded and faded and then stopped altogether. Now I can't remember the last time I feared hell. It does go away, it just takes time, but it will fade.
Jesus loves you deeply, more than you can even comprehend, and He doesn’t want you to live in fear of what’s to come. The Bible tells us in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That’s how much He loves you-He gave everything so you wouldn’t have to face fear, darkness, or separation from Him. What you experienced may feel overwhelming, but let me encourage you: you don’t have to live with that fear. Jesus offers a free gift of peace, forgiveness, and assurance of eternal life with Him. It’s not about earning it or being “good enough”-it’s about humbling your heart, coming to Him, and asking Him to be your Savior. He promises in Romans 10:13, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” That means you. Why worry about hell when Jesus has already made a way for you to have eternal peace and joy? You can rest in the assurance that, by trusting Him, your eternity is secure in His love. Jesus says in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” So if you feel ready, just talk to Him. You can say something as simple as, “Jesus, I need You. I don’t want to live in fear. I believe You love me and died for me. I want You to be my Savior. Please come into my life and give me peace.” He’s waiting for you with open arms, and He’ll meet you right where you are. God bless
@wanderer44-xr5si I don't worry about hell. You didn't actually read my comment did you? I don't live in fear of what's to come because I don't believe in that.
@@FrogknightAk47 You're right, I can't be 100% certain of your personal beliefs, but I do know that none of us can be 100% certain about what happens after death. That's exactly why having assurance matters. It’s not about living in fear-it’s about having peace and hope for the future, no matter what comes. Why take the chance when you can be sure? God’s love for you is so great that He made a way for you to spend eternity with Him. It’s not about religion or fear-it’s about a relationship with Jesus, who offers you peace, joy, and eternal life as a free gift. You don’t have to "believe" in hell to understand the importance of considering eternity. Why not receive that assurance and live with the confidence that your future is secure? After all, what’s to lose?
@@wanderer44-xr5si What you probably don't assume about me is that I use to be a born again Christian, I was a youth pastor studying to be a minister one day. Trust me when I say there is nothing you're going to say that will be "light" to my eyes. I've not only heard it all before 10 fold, I myself have preached it all before and even now I regularly engage with Christians for talks like these. Not believing anymore wasn't a choice I made it was a slow realization that took many years and I fought it, I fought it hard to try to reconcile my faith, but eventually I realized that my effort wasn't a virtue, it was a denial of honesty. I read books like The Case for Christ and Cold Case Christianity and they all had the same dishonest points that I was using to try to reconcile my faith. Now I'm not going to list out the hundreds of factors that I looked into when examining my faith. But I will address this one thing you said. Now what you're proposing is Pascals Wager. Unless you're living under a rock, you must have heard about it. Unless theological discourse is very new to you. Might as well believe right? For one, no one chooses their beliefs, so as hard as I might try I cannot choose to believe something I simply don't. Try to believe in Krishna or Santa right now. Notice that no matter how hard you try you cannot choose or even trick yourself to believe it. Two, if a Muslim or someone for another religion with a hell afterlife said this same thing to you, how seriously would you take it? Why don't they sway you to consider their proposition? Three, this Wager only seems reasonable and on an even playing field because you're tied to your religion's notion of an afterlife and that happens to be the one central to your world. If a Muslim were proposing the same argument, and they do, they would say might as well believe Islam. As you said we don't know for certain what happens after death, so why aren't you believing in Islam just Incase that's the truth? It's the second largest religion in the world and if you divide Catholics from protestants, Islam even with its sects has the largest agreement based religion in the world. So if you didn't count Catholics as Christians based on their doctrinal differences, Islam is the world's largest faith. Maybe they have it right. So even if I had to choose to just believe to play it safe for something I don't fear, why should I choose Christianity and not Islam or Hinduism? If we're going by playing it safe, then shouldn't I believe and devote myself to what can save me from the worst hell? This proposal falls apart in many ways. Further, we're sacrificing the truth. What is a world where a billion people are all believing what turns out to be a lie because they just want to play it safe because someone told someone else a place exists that will hurt them after they die. And at the end, despite what you say it is, it really is based on fear. I mean look at what you yourself said. "Play it safe". You play it safe when you're afraid of something. This whole argument falls apart on so many levels. I know in the deepest part of your heart you know and feel your right, but the Christian belief is an illusion held up by many many interworking variables. If you ever start seeing the patterns let me know. Now given everything I've said, what is your insight on Pascals Wager?
@@wanderer44-xr5si What you probably don't assume about me is that I use to be a born again Christian, I was a youth pastor studying to be a minister one day. Trust me when I say there is nothing you're going to say that will be "light" to my eyes. I've not only heard it all before 10 fold, I myself have preached it all before and even now I regularly engage with Christians for talks like these. Not believing anymore wasn't a choice I made it was a slow realization that took many years and I fought it, I fought it hard to try to reconcile my faith, but eventually I realized that my effort wasn't a virtue, it was a denial of honesty. I read books like The Case for Christ and Cold Case Christianity and they all had the same dishonest points that I was using to try to reconcile my faith. Now I'm not going to list out the hundreds of factors that I looked into when examining my faith. But I will address this one thing you said. What you're proposing is Pascals Wager. Unless you're living under a rock, you must have heard about it. Unless theological discourse is very new to you. Might as well believe right? For one, no one chooses their beliefs, so as hard as I might try I cannot choose to believe something I simply don't. Try to believe in Krishna or Santa right now. Notice that no matter how hard you try you cannot choose or even trick yourself to believe it. Two, if a Muslim or someone for another religion with a hell based afterlife said this same thing to you, how seriously would you take it? Why don't they sway you to consider their proposition? And given that you already don't believe them are you about to try to make yourself believe? Are you going to assimilate yourself in their culture, read all their books and expose yourself long enough and deep enough until your mind just starts to accept their doctrine as true. All so you can be secured just incase their religion happens to be real? Is this at all reasonable? Really think about this one and what this Wager is expecting from people. Three, this Wager only seems reasonable and on an even playing field because you're tied to your religion's notion of an afterlife and that happens to be the one central to your world. It doesn't consider the other options. If a Muslim were proposing the same argument, and they do, they would say might as well believe Islam. As you said we don't know for certain what happens after death, so why aren't you believing in Islam just Incase that's the truth? It's the second largest religion in the world and if you divide Catholics from protestants, Islam even with its sects has the largest agreement based religion in the world. So if you didn't count Catholics as Christians based on their doctrinal differences, Islam is the world's largest faith. Maybe they have it right. So even if I had to choose to just believe to play it safe for something I don't fear, why should I choose Christianity and not Islam or Hinduism? If we're going by playing it safe, then shouldn't I believe and devote myself to what can save me from the worst hell? This proposal falls apart in many ways. Further, we're sacrificing the truth. What is a world where a billion people are all believing what turns out to be a lie because they just want to play it safe because someone told someone else a place exists that will hurt them after they die. And at the end, despite what you say it is, it really is based on fear. I mean look at what you yourself said. "Play it safe", "secure yourself" just incase. You play it safe when you're afraid of something. This whole argument falls apart on so many levels. I know in the deepest part of your heart you know and feel your right, but the Christian belief is an illusion held up by many many interworking parts. If you ever start seeing the patterns let me know. Now given everything I've said, what is your insight on Pascals Wager, does it still make sense in light of new information?
I had a NDE and I was in a beautiful place. I didn’t see anyone I knew, or heard of. But there was someone with me from the very start of the car wreck. I was in the backseat. I heard the driver scream,” Oh no,” I saw her looking in the rear view mirror. I was going to turn around. To see what she was looking at. A voice said,”Don’t look back. Tug on your seatbelt. Make sure it’s fastened. Rest your head against the backrest in front of you”. I followed the instructions. Then wham! I felt my body being tossed around. After the wreck I was told the car flipped over twice. We were hit by a drunk driver going 70mph. We were going the speed limit of 45 mph. This voice, I called my guardian angel. We were laughing and I was so happy. Think of the most exciting event you’ve ever experienced. Your heart is beating so fast, you have butterflies in your stomach and your skin is tingling. What made me laugh was that I was reminded of how I had always been afraid of carnival rides. And the voice said,”Now you’re experiencing a real carnival ride”. I still get that happy feeling when I think about that time. And when I was tossing about in the car, I didn’t feel any pain. It was like I was wrapped in bubble wrap. I am not afraid of death anymore. What I learned from that experience was this. What we dwell on the most, What occupies your mind the most, is what you take with you. So try to focus on what is good. Don’t let revenge, anger or constant negativity be what you dwell on through out your day. ✌️ ❤
I was not raised in a Christian home, but learned the idea of hell from UA-cam. I started pressureasing myself and became terrified. I kept feeling bad when i didn't tell people about Jesus. I got to one point where i broke down in front of my parents, and they comforted me, saying i should not worry that much. As i'm reading al deze story's, i realise i am truly lucky to have such understanding parents
I remember watching an episode of "Twilight Zone." There were a group of people on the back of an army truck. They were on their way to hell. They started comparing notes about why they were there. They all did some bad things, stealing, murder, being cruel etc then they asked this grandmother like lady. She said that she was going to hell because she didn't go to church. The rest of the hell-goers were incredulous and believed that there must have been a mistake, but she accepted it because it was in the Bible. I don't remember how it ended.
I’ve found comfort focusing on the idea of “from void to void” or “from black to black”. Once I got comfortable with not fearing the void time after my life and the fact I simply wouldn’t be…. I found I feared nothing else.
You know the truth. All things that live has gods life force. When we die,that life force is gone from the flesh. The personality that is called you is over. But that spirit is god. God is alone in existence in reallity.
There are 149 verses in the bible about hell. Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late. Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and a relationship. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there and realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is pour out your heart to God, and ask Him into your life. Simple as that. He will take away all that fear and replace it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
Hell was the first thing to leave when I started doubting. If god is the maker of us he wouldn't make a oven to put us in. I always seen it as a later scare tactic that people somehow wrote into the bible.
Thank you for making this video. You made some really great points and even though I still feel scared, it did bring me some comfort and it opened my eyes a little. I don't know if I'm ever going to stop being afraid (and how long it's going to take) but at least now I'll be able to be more rational about the whole thing if my anxiety gets too bad. So thanks again and I hope you're having a nice day :)
Hey all, the fear of hell was the very last thing to leave for me in my deconversion. Hoping i can help a few others with this video.
A topic that would be really helpful to cover are the alleged bible prophecies happening right now. A lot of Christian’s tend to talk about the Euphrates river drying up, Mormon crickets, earthquakes etc. every now then then I’ll see a Christian short warning about “this prophecy is happening. Repent.” It’s a very powerful fear tactic that needs to stop.
there is no fear in love ... if a preacher is teaching fear then do he have love? ...
1John 4:18 (KJV)
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
as for jesus saving us ... let examine what is hell and what did jesus actually came for ... hell is most likely where we live or at least it feel that way ... he came to save us from the wrath of god ... jesus message was to turn people away from their sins into righteousness ... if you turn away from your sin into righteousness then you are believing that the holy ghost who is the father has sent his first creation into this world to save mankind from the wrath of god ... churches don't teach salvation ... for they themselves are not save or at least most of them because they teach false doctrine ... everyone will be judge ... those who know how to love will be saved because it is someone actions and words that determine who they are
btw doing justice and being are 2 different things ... example if you had a child and someone hurt your child then you will want to revenge your child from the evil that is done to him/her ... that is how god feel about his children ... there is tares and wheat in the scriptures ... anything that make god look bad is from the children of the evil one that are in religion ... changing the words of god
Another great video, Brandon. The fear of Hell is definitely an insidious control mechanism. It keeps you in the religion and keeps you kind of indoctrinated into oppressive regimes because you have the whole torments of hell as a stick (along with the carrot of going to heaven).
Not a good "Fruit of the Spirit" for Christian doctrine.
It was actually my first step in completely unintentional deconstruction. I started learning about literature and art history and religious history out of just curiosity and started questioning Hell’s existence before I began truly questioning much else of the belief system that I was raised in. Losing fear of Hell is the BEST feeling, so freeing.
I'm a 40 yo atheist. I remember my Sunday School teacher telling me when I was about 7 or 8 that hell is not only the constant torture of flames, but also the constant feeling of falling in an unending pit. I think this is akin to child abuse.
@@Brian-Ahavahonly if rattlesnakes were demonstrably fake. It would be more akin to telling your kids Jason is in their closet and will come kill them with a machete if they act “bad” (read: be a little sassy towards mom)
'akin' is charitable, it was straight up child abuse. Emotional, psychological abuse of a child and they probably didn't mean it to be but that's just what it's called.
Maybe so. Some things kids aren't ready for. Like telling them about STDs. They're real, and the consequences are horrendous, but there's a certain age you need to be before you can hear about it.
I am a believer and I think that you are right. Kids are more sensitive and impressionable and the concept of hell can wait until they are older or can be dealt with much more gently if the topic comes up. Moreover, your teacher was wrong about the constant feeling of falling into an unending pit. That is nowhere in the Bible.
Yet, he or she was right about the constant torture. In fact, people are being tortured around the world as you are reading this. For example, there was a teenage girl in Japan who was kidnapped and mercilessly tortured for about six weeks. She was sadistically abused in every way possible, finally begging to die.
Know that if you reject God, you embrace human depravity. You will live forever, but if you do not go with God, remember that Jesus said that there are torturers in hell. God is the author of justice and without Him, you have everyone making their own rules - as you are doing now! Is torture 'wrong'? Without God, you do not have good nor evil, just your own rules!
You cannot say that I did not warn you: if you die in your amorality, you will be tormented by amoral people for all eternity. Yet, Christ died on a Cross so that you may know Him. Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
Personally, the fear of Hades is not daunting to me in the most minuscule sense of the term. If the Abrahamic God doesn't exist, then his Hell is fictitious. It's that simplistic. Even if there's a hellish alterdimension, I refuse to fear such a hypothetical scenario as long as there's no concrete evidence for its petrifying existence ❤
Agnostic here and can confirm fear of Hell is the last thing to go.
I recognize how implausible it sounds; the idea that a loving Creator would send his own children to burn, but......what if I'm wrong?
It's a thought I struggle with the older I get.
Yes, its very hard to ever fully drop. I've made my peace with it best I can at this point. Thanks for watching.
The creator doesn't need to send them. They walk into it willingly. They fall for temptation, even knowing that it leads to pain. We start all these programs like DARE and HIV awareness, and yet we still get people sleeping around and doing drugs, falling for the temptations even when they're told that there are real consequences for those bad choices. If you LOVE sin, you will NOT love heaven. Sadly some people love to sin. They don't have to be cast to hell because they walk right into it knowing at least they can sin there. Hell is ONLY painful because it's a place where sin runs rampant. That's the only reason.
@@theboombody still an infinite punishment for finite crimes. Does spending an eternity in un fathomable suffering sound like a good punishment for someone who lied a couple of times?
@theboombody Since the Abrahamic god isn't real, sin doesn't exist, I'm afraid.
@@theboombody What does sin have to do with it? Christians are worse than atheists.
I think I’ll never escape my hell trauma. I’m so scared of dying that most of the time I wish I’d never been born. In my head I understand why I shouldn’t be worried but I can’t seem to wrap my head around it.
I feel exactly the same it's a nightmare every day I wake up again it seems like we created our own personal hell for ourselves you can tell one logical argument after another but at the end the possibility of hell being real is never at 0% and if it is real no believe matters anymore the imagination of burning eternally is so horrifying constant eternal death seems like the greatest mercy ever I just don't want to exist
i feel you but honestly i stopped being so afraid of dying in general, probably because ive faced the fear of dying so much in such a little span of time that it doesnt phase me anymore. ig you could say ive grown numb to the idea of death and hell just kind of isnt a fear for me anymore
@@Hyperion2077we don’t call it trauma for nothing. You aren’t alone.
@@Ephesians-yn8ux I can't believe that was only 3 months ago... I recovered pretty well there are only some intrusive thoughts sometimes but they don't scare me at all because of people like Brandon Matt Dillahunty Forrest Valkai AXP in general and many more now im pretty well educated became an anti theist and yeah that's the update you haven't asked for hahah
Me as well. I’ve often wished I’d been born in a family with no beliefs in religion of any kind.
It’s been about a year for me now. A year ago I was waking up from night terrors, shaking and pale, running to the bathroom to slump over the sink and hyperventilate with extremely vivid images of flames and torture playing over and over in my head. That was YEARS after I started to acknowledge my lack of belief in the Bible. This fear manifested in a unique way for me and it really was the start of the real process of laying all the Christian junk I was quasi holding onto for years. What a horrible process. I thought I would have to quit my job and move into my parents house because I was afraid my fear of hell would render me incapable of functioning anymore. I felt so trapped, thinking how I just wanted to kill myself and end the experience, but knowing that might lead to an infinity of a worse experience. However, somehow, someway, I got through it. Never quit my job, never fell apart. It’s resources online, like the content that you create, that provided JUST ENOUGH space to allow me take a breath and keep moving forward enough to deal with it. Thank you for taking this seriously, knowing what so many people have been through because you have been there yourself, and taking action to provide content that is compassionate, sympathetic and helpful. The journey still sucks but it has improved immensely in the last year.
Oh man. I hate that for you. I hate what religion does to the mind. I am so happy to hear how much better its gotten. Keep going, it only all becomes even more clear
@@MindShift-Brandon yay
Shit man that sucks..I’m going through that same thing but it’s never been that bad, I’m glad you pulled through though man
@@AlexxLovesNoodles pp
This is a really powerful (pardon me) testimony. What a thing to overcome. Even sharing a comment like this is doing the good work, you show others they’re not crazy and not the only one going through it. Thank you
I have studied topics like ‘hell’ ‘who wrote the gospels’ ‘can Noah’s ark be true?’ ‘Does prayer work?’ For years and years. And still, after all these years it still haunts me from time to time. When I hear you talking, I’m close to 100% convinced you are right, but there still is that imaginary voice which has been indoctrinated in my head since my earliest youth that tells me ‘what if this is a demon-inspired man’?
That’s the main reason I’m against teaching religion to young kids. Everyone has the right to think what he wants, that’s really OK. But those poor children, I know what they’re going through and I find it horrible.
Thanks for speaking out.
I'm agaist teaching secular humanism to young kids, all this gay and trans stuff they push on innocent children. 🤮
Well explained. It lasted a couple years for me. Finally i got to a point where i said. If after all my sincere seeking and trying god is going to allow a demon to rob my free will and send me to hell then the game is utterly rigged and i cant do anything about it anyways.
@@heavenbound7-7-7-7 Secular humanism teaches tolerance for all (unlike the judgmentalism of christianity). It teaches goodness without god. Secular humanism is not woke. I am against indoctrinating kids with lies - christian, secular, other religions.
fake@MindShiftSkeptic.
"Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you." Acts 8:22
@@heavenbound7-7-7-7 let’s say there are three individuals who plead their case for their divine being, a Muslim, a Hindu and you. What is your reason that I should believe you and not the others of neither of the three of you?
Thank you for this perspective. Add this belief system to crippling OCD and it becomes the perfect storm for living a life of true terror, and it makes my every thought to be viewed through this 'hellish' lens. Please keep doing what you do!
True terror indeed. I think many just don’t understand how real this all is to the believer. Thank you!
@@MindShift-Brandon well spoken!
You're not alone in feeling this way.
There are 149 verses in the bible about hell. Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late.
Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and a relationship. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there and realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is pour out your heart to God, and ask Him into your life. Simple as that. He will take away all that fear and replace it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
I have religious OCD, and always entertained doubts while I wanted to believe. I used to ask god why he gave me an inquisitive, scientific mind that would put me at odds with religion. Intellectually my mind tells me one thing while OCD keeps me afraid. True story, one of my first doubts arose out of watching the “Ten Commandments” every easter and at the parts where god continues to punish pharaoh after “ hardening his heart”, and then finding that is how it’s laid out in the ot, god making him do his will and then punishing him anyway. Then there is the only god coming from a pantheon well before there was a Hebrew people and monotheism. Yes the bible is man made, has been changed, especially the commissioned by King James version that everyone says is the direct word of god.
For so long I've simply identified as atheist and not put much thought into my religious experiences as a child. Creators like you and Kristi Burke have really been inspiring me to reflect more and realize that even though it happened long ago, I did go on a deconstruction journey. I just lacked the terminology and the community to understand what I was going through and your videos are really helping me come to understand myself better and work through these feelings that still sit beneath the surface that I have a hard time getting to sometimes. Thank you so much. I've been moved by every video
You are so welcome, friend and thank you for taking the time to share and let me know. BTW, Kristi and I just connected and are going to do a vid together, cant wait for that. And yes, so much of this is being able to identify a thought or feeling or concept that needs addressing. Its like its own form of trauma healing, even though none of it was real. Thanks again!
@@MindShift-Brandon Is there anything a random commenter can do to join you?
Like if we have 29 years of this shit behind us?
@CBraximus if you want to be on the show. Shoot me an email with your idea!
@@MindShift-Brandon if I want to hell egyptian sounds cool.
Kristi Burke is very lost not some one to take seriously
John 14:27 Peace I (Jesus) leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Yep, that's a fear like no other, and one I've known before. Hell was probably the #1 thing that made me reconsider my faith. Despite the fear, I came to feel that I could not reconcile myself to the worship of a god who would even make such a place. The actual message of Christianity is basically, "Love me or else!" Its extortive, and violates every precept of justice that anyone can see if they're not indoctrinated to the point where they won't question what's so obviously unjustifiable. Good video.
Ahh great point. Even though fear of hell held me in longer than i would have otherwise it was this problem of evil and hell that first got my mind really thinking differently in the first place.
Then you have missed the whole meaning and purpose of the cross of The Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who have a fear of Hell have never known the wonderful Savior Jesus and what He has done for them by suffering, shedding His blood, dying, and rising from the dead three days later.
@@christophergibson7155 That's not even close to being true. I was saved/"came to know the Lord" at a young age and constantly read the Bible and prayed--that doesn't make a person not afraid of hell. You just have a weak imagination and easily put away uncomfortable thoughts.
@@abesapien9930 Then there must have something really missing in your "born again" experience. And I have noticed many who have no assurance of their salvation in Jesus Christ being known to be afraid of Hell.
Those only who are not in Christ, when they hear the moral law of God and that they are sinners and are under the condemnation and wrath of God should have a fear of Hell and the Lake of Fire if they reject Jesus and were to die in their sins. Those who are wonderfully saved, forgiven and cleansed from sin by The Lord Jesus Christ should have no fear of Hell ever again. For the scripture says, that perfect love casts out fear."(1Jn.4:18
@@christophergibson7155 Ah, the old "if you don't believe or experience things exactly as I do, then you were never a Christian." I was a deeply devout Christian, had a sincere "relationship" with God, and my imagination still from time to time feared a literal hell. That's a perfectly sane response from being told from a young age that the only thing between you and being tormented eternally is whether you said the "Sinner's Prayer" genuinely and truly believed it.
Even as someone who wasn’t raised in a "hell-fire" environment, I still had the fear of hell as a child and as an adult. I can only imagine how much worse this fear must be in those who had this monstrous notion drilled into them as a child.
Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late.
Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and a relationship. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there and realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is simply, humble your heart and pray with faith, I repent of my sins, and I turn to You. You said in Your word that if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus,, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved. I ask You Father to forgive me of all my sins, and ask You to fill me with the Holy Spirit, and take control of my life. it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
If you are still in your sins, then YES you should have a Godly fear of Hell. Otherwise, those who are in Christ have absolutely no fear of Hell.
@@christophergibson7155
So, according to "you", Nazis who put Jews into ovens get to go to heaven if they decide to "accept Jesus" on their deathbeds, while their Jewish victims are tortured forever in "eternal ovens". That is as *sick* and *unjust* as it gets!
Btw, you do know that many Muslims believe that "they" are saved, and that all others, including Christians like "you", are destined for torture in the afterlife, right?
Thank whatever God may or may not exist, there is absolutely NO evidence whatsoever that Christian hell, Muslim hell, pagan hells or any other type of religion-based hells exist. The "bad" and "good" NDEs that have been reported don't correlate to religious or non-religious beliefs at all.
@@christophergibson7155One might not be faulted for thinking you failed to engage honestly with the arguments in video, though I shall not presume.
It is child abuse from the questioning mind, though I imagine the utmost love from indoctrinated people. What empathetic parent would risk their child to their culture's version of eternal ppsthumous torture, after all? Fortunately that mind disease appears to be receeding with the zeitgeist.
This is what I have been telling my friends and family, it’s not fear of death it’s fear of what happens afterwords
Thank you for this great work, Brandon! I think death anxiety is the cornerstone of all religions. Fear of hell and fear in general is difficult and essential to deconstruction of Christianity. For me it was followed by the pain of analyzing and letting go of the notion of heaven and getting to see lost loved ones again (i.e. grieving). Then followed by years of existential anxiety to accept my own mortality, make the most of my time and the gifts and talents those loved ones, humanity, and life has afforded me. I think each of these stages deserves attention and I’d love your takes on them. My best wishes for you and yours.
I love that breakdown! Thanks for the suggestions!
I think too we don’t need to entirely give up the hope that the loves and connections we have in this life will transcend it in some way. We shouldn’t let Christianity have a monopoly on that hope, but we should dash to pieces all that is so clearly man-made in it, the good and the bad.
"death anxiety is the cornerstone of all religions" -----
Quite the opposite. Death anxiety is the cornerstone of our inability to love completely. How much of your life would you have to give up to love completely?
There are 149 verses in the bible about hell. Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late.
Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and a relationship. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there and realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is pour out your heart to God, and ask Him into your life. Simple as that. He will take away all that fear and replace it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
@@Outsider4JC That makes so much sense. Thanks.
Thank you for this video. I'm old enough to be your grandmother but I still struggle with that fear of hell. It usually 'hits me" at times when I least expect it and I'm always SURPRISED that the fear is stilllurking deep within me!
It really is insane how deep down in our psyche that fear goes. I hope this helped a little
There are 149 verses in the bible about hell. Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late.
Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and a relationship. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there and realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is pour out your heart to God, and ask Him into your life. Simple as that. He will take away all that fear and replace it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
I’m so sorry to hear about this. I’m 32 and I still haven’t got over my fear.
Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late.
Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, its free, and its worth it! Why take any chances? The Gospel is good news, why would you be against it? God sent Jesus to save us because God loves each one of us (see John 3:16-17). Jesus prayed for His followers, including us, to be protected from evil and to be one with Him and Heavenly Father. This life is short. Its temporary. You never know when your time is up. Its not about religion, or going to church. Its just between you and God. One on one relationship, through the Holy Spirit, who is given to you upon salvation. The Holy Spirit is the difference. You wont regret it, and you will peace in your heart, and mind, knowing you have assurance of where you will go once your time is up. So please think about it. Its never too late until your life is over, then there is no turning back. So today is the day for salvation. Dont wait! Be blessed!!
@@Tiffanylouisekellyit helps to know that hell is a twisted and different concept to what it was based on. Hel was a mythological Norse goddess who cared for the dead in a paradise like setting. It was changed by two influential people in the 1200s CE. It is a complete human invention. Based on mythology.
oh wow! We are on the same wavelength. I'm working on a video about hell anxiety right now. This was super thorough. Great video!
Thank you! And very cool. Should make our collab wonderful. Would love to just put something amazing together. Ill be curious what topic/s you’d like to cover.
Kristi love your videos as well. We need people like you and Brandon telling your stories. More power to you. Both of you are doing great work.
I absolutely love your deconstructing Mrs. Jezebels...I follow Brandon and yourself "religiously" and your facial expressions on your recent take on Sodom and Gomorrah had me laughing soooo hard in a long time. I feel very fortunate to have both you and Brandon in this very lonely time in my life where I literally took things to far and had to wind up at psychiatric hospital for 2 weeks. Just a month ago I didn't even know the word "deconstructing" existed and EVERYONE in my family are Bible believers so I literally had no one to come to ... PLEASE KEEP UP WITH BOTH YOUR WORK. ❤️
@@MindShift-Brandon Yes 💯You both would be incredible! With Brandon's long drawn out eye rolls and with Kristi's 'bitch please' close ups.... it's set to win a Nobel Prize 🏆
kristi i like your videos. unfortunately, you have fallen into another religion: the religion of 64 billion genders. w0keness is a pestilence.
I hope you know how important your channel is. In a very short time it has risen to the very top of my favorite atheist channels! I look so forward to every video you put out and I want to say, “Thank you! Thank you so much, for all the hard work that you obviously put into it!”
You are always so so kind. I really value your feedback and encouragement!
@@MindShift-Brandon hell seems like a far better ✝️ then gawd put himself on for creating us sinful by creation. Gawd seems like a better evil Roman guy however you spell his name.
This is so hard. My fear has gone full circle and came back. I've been an atheist for many years now and the hell fear is back again. I'm getting old and insecure after my little sis died. Now the fear is so irrational I'm almost wanting to convert back again. I know how I sound. But coming here and listening to your insights has bought me some respite. I am taking your advice and giving myself time to really have a critical look at the concept of hell from a objective view.
I am so sorry to hear what a grip this has on you. I know you know how you sound but also consider just how ridiculous a god would be create something that had you so terrified that youd consider trying to worship what you dont even believe in. Thats love? Thats gods great plan? The think that helps the most is truly understanding why the bible is so invalid as a source of truth. Keep learning!
Thanks mate.
Here's what I do: Consider that Hinduism says anyone who has killed a spider or a mosquito will go to a Hell called Andhakupa. Then ask any Christian if they're scared of going there.
I understand you so. I would suggest you read the other comments to see other people's fears and how most overcame them. I don't fear hell anymore because it is an invention.
When I understood that hell was ETERNAL TORMENT IN A LAKE OF FIRE I began to understand that it could not possibly be true under any circumstance. That was when the house of cards began to fall. Good luck my friend.
@@mildredmartinez8843 Thankyou for taking your time to reply. The rational me knows you are so right. So I do listen and I think I'm stuck in an endless loop of 'Pascal's wager.' But I do try to understand the non sequiturs. Try Pascal's Wager versus Voltaire's deathbed's priest asking him if he renounces Satan. Voltaire's reply, "Now, now my good man, this is no time to be making enemies."
🤣🤣
Put together with thoroughness, professionalism and very great compassion.
You are a beautiful human, Brandon.
Thank you!
Thank you, Frank! appreciate that encouragement so much.
Once I saw the man behind the curtain, I wasn’t worried about hell. That was immediate. The problem I had was my apathy toward religion was so bad that it became unhealthy. I was angry for a long time because I felt lied to, deceived, and manipulated. I had to grapple with all of that. I even went to counseling for it.
I don't think we understand yet how important and healing your message is. I really believe you are building the "cornerstone" to those who have transcended. Your work needs to also be documented in a book. Your work and sweat will be refferenced for many many years to come. I know this because i come back to your videos over and over and I come out understanding something I didn't before.❤
Well you give me too much credit but i am glad to be of help to you.
@@MindShift-Brandon I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Although I can appreciate your sense of humility, you should be proud of yourself for being an obvious intellectual who consumes books and Knowledge at a above average way. I was Valedictorian to my class 🌼and spirituality, psychology and philosophy has always been part of my personal interests. You make me think. ❤️
Thank you sincerely!
I was one of the fortunate ones, having discovered the book The Fire that Consumes while still a Christian. That book not only introduced me to annihilationism, but was one of the factors that opened my eyes to the variety of beliefs that are all based on the Bible.
So when I did deconvert, hell wasn't a major issue.
Ahh lucky indeed. But glad for you!
Doesn't though, paster Fudge ,believe in conditional ism?
There are 149 verses in the bible about hell. Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late.
Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and a relationship. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there and realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is pour out your heart to God, and ask Him into your life. Simple as that. He will take away all that fear and replace it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
@@Outsider4JC The Bible clearly portrays at least 2 versions of the afterlife: heaven and hell, or heaven and annihilation. To claim otherwise is just ludicrous.
I know, you've chosen which version you prefer, and you're going to make everything fit your view.. But that's just apologetics 101 level BS.
@@Outsider4JCthere is not 149 verses on hell. The Old Testament has no hell
I remember my parents telling me about Hell when I was a kid. I sobbed, worried that one of us wouldn't make it to Heaven. People may think that "warning" children about Hell doesn't have negative psychological effects, but I can confidently say that's completely wrong. Even now as an adult Atheist, that fear is still branded in me, even though logical and historical evidence jars against it.
Hell is a tool that mankind created in order to keep people from leaving religion. It certainly worked on me.
Thank you so much for your videos, Mindshift. They're amazing and insightful.
Great video. Teaching the HELL dogma is downright child abuse to me.
Yess, FEAR is a great motivator made up by man. So manipulative. It took years as a preacher's daughter (Southern Baptist) to escape the terror. I'm now free. The chains of hell have been broken. New subscriber. 👏 👏👏👏
It is a terrible thing! Thank you so much for being here and so glad you made it out!
Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late.
Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and having a relationship with Jesus. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there, then realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is pour out your heart to God, and ask Him into your life. Simple as that. He will take away all that fear and replace it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
@wanderer44 // do some research, and you'll find in the original transcripts found... There was NOT 1 word about HELL. Besides that, the Bible has been mistranslsted so many times purposely for the purpose of keeping you in fear. Also, some transcripts found weren't included. You'd learn a lot just by doing a deep dive into the Bible and how it was put together. The when, whys, and how words were changed. If our Creator created a place called hell for the devil and his angels (first), God is all-knowing, and he already knew what you'd do (everyone), before you were born, so that's a contradiction. That would mean God created evil. Start with Gehenna. Then, learn about Sheol. Those were the original words. Let me edit and add the word Hades. If you share your email with me, I could send you some interesting material to start with. We can delete it after you send it, or I'll give you mine.
@@Outsider4JCgo preach in the streets of new york. maybe the homeless or the immigrants will listen to your nonsense.
@@war0nheaven Seems hard on the homeless and immigrants, their lives are tough enough as it is.
I have never feared something that was so blatantly at odds with the concept of a just god. For me, it was the first piece of my theology to go.
Its a great point!
I've seen loved ones scared to die out of fear. If there is no afterlife, it's sad that all these people are so fearful in their last moments. The worry and anxiety people go through over hell is so bad sometimes I think that animals are better off than us because they are not as intelligent and have shorter memories.
it is just a true unnecessary suffering!
I needed this. Im crying as Im taking notes lol.
My conditioning, since I was a baby was that the main goal in my life is going to heaven and avoid hell.
I have panic attacks thinking of it.
Thank you so much for this video❤
Imagine worrying about something all your life, and then finding out at the end that it was never real, and was simply a man made concept by people who wanted others to follow their rules or fear the consequences. I do not believe in God, but i accept i could be wrong, and i believe if he is real, i will go to Heaven. If he isn’t real, i will simply cease to exist. But at no point in my life, EVER, have i, and nor will i, believe in Hell…..I will not let others put a fear like that in me. A loving God simply would not keep loving families apart like that. If God is good, there is NOTHING to fear. 🙂
A way to escape it, is that every time hell comes to mind and how terrible it is... just remember George Carlin saying afterwards "but he loves you".
Ha, for sure
Hell is a church teaching not a Bible teaching.
@@janetgillespie6590 Hell is definitely in the bible tho.
Matthew 25:46 - The wicked will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
Psalm 9:17 - The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
2 Thessalonians 1:9 - The wicked will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power.
If your reason to deny hell, is that it is so awful no all loving God would ever create hell or send people to it. Specially for something as absurd as unbelief. Then you might start questioning whether you believe in the right religion because your own conscience shows how evil and terrible a God that created Hell would be.
@@janetgillespie6590Incorrect. It was a teaching Jesus most assuredly taught about as well as the early church fathers.
So how would you explain the scripture at Ecclesiastes 9 : 5
for instance?
This is so helpful…I’ll think I’ve gotten through this and then look at my kids and doubt myself. I just know that if they grow up without fearing every flicker of electricity being a rapture… running to make sure my sister was in her bed… that I’m one step ahead.
Thank you ,I've Been Free 4 Two Years Yippee Great Show keep the Truth Comeing
Am still also dealing with this fear ,still trynnaa over it,but yeah,your advice of considering other versions of hell and how unreal they seem to me is the best way to circumvent it.
I liked and subscribed. I had similar fears of hell that had me on my parents floor to long. Excellent presentation.
Thank you much! Hope that fear is in the rear view for you now.
I have been an atheist since August of this year 2023. I have watched several videos about getting over the fear of hell. I will admit that I was a skeptic agnostic for a while. What prevented me from becoming an atheist was the fear of "what if I'm wrong and hell does exist"? I've finally accepted as of August 2023 that hell isn't real and I am now a full atheist.
The point I'd like to make in this commment is that this is the best video on how to overcome your fear of hell that I have ever seen. I discovered your channel today and I will gladly subscribe to your amazing content.
I am so happy for you to be free of your fear! And thank you for this very kind and encouraging comment! Welcome.
Dude...This video is so epic. This video should take up all the commercial segments during the super bowl.
Never had this fear. It must be awful to feel it.
I had it when I was younger. Now that I'm older I don't have it anymore. Whatever happens, God's going to make it right, and it will make sense to us at that time, no matter how farfetched or illogical it might seem now. I've seen too many things rise up from the ashes too often to think that it won't eventually happen in an ultimate way.
You’re unbelievably lucky😔
@@strawberryfields9762 If I can do anything to help you overcome this fear I will. Don't worry about it! It's not real!!
Man if you asked me about 6 months ago I would be 😿
Every day is a horrifying nightmare you nearly never stop thinking about it you just want to not exist anymore
I haven't seen anyone else do this, but it seems worthwhile.
I don't need this, but I appreciate your service for others.
Thank you. Yes hopefully this video isnt needed by many but i hope the ones who are still stuck can hear it.
You hit the nail on the head with your comment about reading the Bible with intellectual honesty (starts around 19:11). As a young adult, I was as sincere as I knew how to be in my efforts to be a faithful disciple and learn the Bible from cover to cover, but ironically it was reading the Bible that opened my eyes to the truth that this could only be a man-made religion. Deprogramming myself was the most difficult and agonizing process I have been through, but logic won out over fear. That was years ago and I have never once doubted that was the right decision. Watching videos from you, Hitchens, and Harris have only reinforced this conviction.
Being mentioned in the same sentence ad Hitchens and Harris is the highlight of my day. Thanks so much for being here.
My brother is terminal, he’s been an atheist much longer than I have. I’m sending him this because he’s scared (understandably so). I think it will do him a lot of good to hear this from someone else, too. Thank, Brandon!
Just discovered this video 10 months after it was released.
Let me tell you that you have saved my life with the creation of this video, quite literally.
At the moment I identify as a Christian but have been exploring other possibilities. To be honest, I am a Christian because I am scared to go to hell. That’s it.
What a miserable life to live.
The fear of hell has been so engrained in me that it has consumed every second of my life. I didn’t even know Paschal’s Wager was a thing. I thought it was just a theory I made up before I heard of it. This video opened my eyes that hell isn’t real. THANK YOU.
I would love to do a video with you exploring more of this topic.
Bless you my friend.
I am so glad to have helped!
This was a wonderful video; thank you!
I feel so fortunate that when I read the Bible and concluded in a state of revulsion, bafflement, and betrayal, that I was no longer be a Christian, I seemed to also lose my fear in hell. My visceral incredulity, anger, and disgust at what I’d read, overpowered any time or headspace to be afraid.
That so many people are still haunted by it, breaks my heart. To manipulate and poison humans this way, is the worst offense.
Thank you very much for that!
Hopefully the last 5 commandments didn't give you that sense of revulsion. If so, I think you have a problem.
@@theboombody you mean where it says basic rules like don’t steal, kill, or lie that all cultures figure out, and “righteous” biblical characters constantly break? Or the part where it lists your wife as part of your property?
@@theboombodyyou played yourself.
@@theboombodythe fact that there’s a commandment about not boiling a goat in its mother’s milk but there are no commandments about SA or slavery is pretty gross to me actually, yeah
After arriving in hell, I fully accepted my fate of eternal torture. It seemed there was no other choice but to endure this endless agony. But something remarkable happened when I released my desperate struggle and accepted my circumstances. Hell, as I knew it, ceased to exist.
In that moment of surrender, a profound shift occurred within me. The overwhelming torment transformed into something unrecognizable. It's as if the very essence of hell evaporated into thin air.
I share this experience to offer a glimmer of hope to those who may find themselves in despair. Sometimes, when we stop resisting our circumstances and accept what we cannot change, a profound transformation can take place.
Though it may seem impossible to escape the grip of eternal suffering, finding acceptance can shift our perception and free us from the torment. It's a powerful realization that even in the darkest depths, there is potential for change.
You make some good points, but I’m alittle confused, are you implying that you’ve been to hell? 🤔 I guess the first sentence threw me off a bit
Thank you for this video. I have trauma with this and it is deep rooted. So this video helped a lot!
Glad to hear. Its a hard thing to shake
i have had numerous mental health breakdowns about going to hell and loved ones going to hell, the reason i was converted is at 7 and i was scaerd of hell when the preacher preached 'hell fire' with a loud and scary voice
Thank you so much for this video. I was a "born again Christian" my entire life but always had doubts that I would suppress - like confirmation bias, as you mentioned in another video. I'm very thankful I met someone three years back who helped me get out of this horrible manipulative religion, so I am a few years into my deconversion. But I still struggle sometimes with the fear of hell, which was one of the main things that kept me stuck in christianity for so long. But this video is the best one I have seen on the topic and I think back to it whenever that fear of "What if" hits me again, and it has helped so much. Thank you.
So glad to hear it!
I've recently started my deconstruction journey, and this is definitely my biggest concern. In a religion that says you're damned if you question, and if you're queer, specifically, and myself being / doing both, it's a pervasive worry, so thank you for the well-thought-out points. I caught myself trying to refute them still, out of the fear from point 6, so I have more work to do. I'll come back to this video when I need extra assurance.
I hope you get the certainty that is possible. Its so very manmade
There was a video by darkmatter deconstructing the fear of hell that spoke about how we feel pain.
Scientifically a mind (or a 'soul') without a body could not feel pain because pain is our bodies way (through nerves) of telling the mind that 'we are taking damage' and the brains response of 'yeah ouch'.
A very important video, of all the bad ideas to come from Religion I think hell is the worst and most harmful of all. So indoctrinated the fear of hell is to so many people that they can`t logically think through it. Thanks for making this video to help people think their way out of it Mindshift!
My pleasure and thank you much. And yes not being able to think is one of the biggest byproducts.
I haven’t really ever feared hell since I deconverted some years ago, now did I have panic attacks in my bed at the age of 10 thinking about hell, yes.
Thank you so much for making this video, and for your others. Growing up in a family of devout Christians made me feel alone in my doubts and trauma, and I nearly cried reading the comment section and seeing how many others feel the same way I have all these years.
The other day I thought of hell, and was just afraid instead of sick to my stomach with terror. I would never have imagined that was possible a year ago! Healing is hard, and there's a lot I have to work through still, but for the first time I'm feeling real tangible hope that someday I won't have to live my life in fear. Thank you for helping me find that hope!
why would you argue whether hell is real or not? Why not just be safe and accept what Jesus did for you on the cross? Its a wonderful message of salvation, and eternal life in paradise. Whats not to like? Is living in defiance of God really worth it?Is your life so great, you have no need for God? Is it because you dont want someone else to control you and allow Him to give you the life that is best for you? He is not some horrible God that just wants to torture you in hell. He is a loving, Holy God, and does not wish for you to be separated from Him. When you receive Him, you will realize how awesome He truly is. He will fill will with peace, love, and joy that you have never experienced before. Its not a one way road, his way or the highway, because He also helps you in everything that you do in life. Helps you make the right decisions in life, the right relationships you should be in, to just fellowshipping with you. He wants a relationship with you, and to let you know you are special to Him. If you would only give Him a chance, you would understand how amazing He truly is. Not to mention the assurance of salvation when your time is up. That peace of mind is worth it. So i dont understand why you would all just sit and do whatever it takes to believe in something that is only going to eventually cause you separation from God for eternity. We will all stand before God one day, no matter what you decide to believe. And we are not guaranteed another day. This life is temporary, get on the narrow road before its too late. He changed my life, i know He will do it for you.
@wanderer44-xr5si hello, friend. I'm going to assume that you have good, kind intentions and just don't understand how what you're saying comes across, so let's have an honest and friendly conversation about this if you're amenable. =)
what I've shared in the initial comment is a deeply vulnerable gratitude. I've opened up just a little about a deep pain and trauma that this religion has caused me, and how new and hopeful it is to not be paralyzed with terror in my everyday life because of it.
Your response- and again, I am assuming that you have the kindest of intentions and genuinely want a conversation about something that has helped you and that you believe will help me- was to imply, perhaps unintentionally, that I have simply not tried hard enough. You have asked me to open my heart, as if the reason I have struggled is not because of the harm that has been done to me or the harm I have done to myself in the name of the Christian god, but because I simply haven't tried hard enough to be a good christian. Again, this is just the way your words come across and not necessarily what you meant, but it strikes me as deeply unsympathetic to look at someone who is suffering and tell them that they should just do better.
I don't want to get too personal, but I think an anecdote might help you understand where I'm coming from when I say these things. When I was a child, my father told me I deserved to die. I realized years later that he was trying to explain god's grace, but what a way he chose to go about it. Would you tell a child that they deserve death? What kind of mental and emotional scarring do you think that leaves on someone so young? And this is only one example. I don't feel comfortable sharing more, so I hope it illustrates my point.
What I'm trying to say is that in my life, christianity and god and Jesus have only ever been used to hurt me, to belittle me, to make me hate myself so badly that I was actively suicidal at thirteen.
You asked if the reason I turn away from the christian god is because my life has been too easy, and so I've never needed him. It's the opposite, really. I grew up seeking him desperately, hoping that if only I loved him fiercely enough and prayed desperately enough he would save me, make me whole and well, make me feel safe the way you describe.
you also asked what's not to like about this message. about christianity, and this god. i hope i've given enough detail for you to understand my perspective there; I'm too tired to dig up more pain.
All this to say.... is it truly that surprising that I would let go of something that has only ever hurt me? Is it unbelievable that I'm tired of living in pain and self-hatred, that I am so very exhausted of living terrified of the world and reaching for someone who has never reached back?
If christianity is good for you, that's wonderful. I'm happy that you've found meaning and community, I mean that from the bottom of my heart! But something that works for one person, that gives them peace and purpose, won't always work for every other person. All that I'm asking is that you listen to what I've said, and really genuinely consider the possibility that Christianity won't automatically make every person's life better.
Thank you for the good intentions! (Again, I'm assuming that's what's happening here.) It's kind of you to want to help me in the way you're familiar with, but unfortunately circumstances mean that attempts to share Christianity with me will do more harm than good. I hope that explaining my perspective a bit more has answered some of your questions and helped you understand where I'm coming from with all this. =)
@@patrickreed996 Thank you for your kind response. I am sorry for what you have been through, and I didnt mean to come across insensitive. I was only trying to explain with love how much God cares for you.
But I want you to know that following Jesus isn’t about trying harder to be a Christian or meeting some impossible standard. It’s about letting Him meet you where you are, as you are. It’s easy to believe that God expects us to fix ourselves, to be perfect before we can come to Him. But the truth is, Jesus came because we can’t do it on our own. He doesn’t ask us to be good enough, to work harder, or to prove anything. Instead, He offers us His grace - freely, without condition.
Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us of this incredible truth:
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
This means that your worth, your salvation, and your relationship with God aren’t based on how hard you try or how perfect you are. They are based on what Jesus has already done for you on the cross. He loves you just as you are, right now, with all the mess and hurt, with every doubt and fear. And He doesn’t love you any less because of what you’ve been through or how you feel.
Jesus invites us into a relationship with Him that’s built on love, not performance. He said:
"Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)
Notice He didn’t say, “Come to me once you’ve got it all figured out” or “Come to me when you’ve tried hard enough.” He simply says, come. As you are, with your pain, your struggles, your questions - He wants to give you rest, peace, and the kind of love that doesn’t depend on your efforts.
The real difference between just practicing religion and having a genuine relationship with God is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will radically transform your heart and mind. He is the seal of God, and fills you with all the fruits of the Spirit, such as peace, love, joy in the Lord. He is the key. The 3rd person of the triniy. Also fully God. He is God living within us, guiding, comforting, and transforming us from the inside out. Jesus promised this to His followers:
"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." (John 14:16-17)
He truly changed me, and I know He wants to do it for you. Please think about it. Because once you ask Jesus into your life, He will send the Holy Spirit. He will take control, and guide you. Its truly amazing. All you have to do is ask Him to take control ,and to put your faith and trust in Him. He will then send the Holy Spirit to live inside you. You will never be the same after that. He will do the rest. I will keep you in my prayers. Be blessed
When I look at my 3 year old daughter, and feel the love I have for her, and I imagine teaching her that Hell is real, it makes me physically ill. How can we do this to our children?
This video is precious. Your advice is spot on. It is non judgemental. It is supportive. Informative. I would suggest that anyone tormented by hell, start by reading the comments in this video. Sincere people going through the agony of dealing witb hell.
Appreciate this very much!
Thank you, I struggle with this bad and on top of that I have OCD, so it's rough but I've made progress, again thank you for this
Glad to have helped at all
Im exactly the same
@@Benjamin-ml3qy I've made a lot of progress, I'll say that there's nothing you can do to reassure yourself that something is or isn't real, it takes a deep level of acceptance over time and you'll start to feel better, the OCD Recovery UA-cam channel by Robert bray will put you on the right path, good luck 😌
I hope you are doing this full-time. It’s exceptionally good & important work. 👏
Thank you.
Thank you so much for this support!
Thank you for this video, it provided a lot of relief from suffering in my mind
Im very glad to hear that
I just wanted to let ya know, I've started this channel because of you. Thank you for the inspiration. :)
Glad to hear that! I'll be excited to check in when you get some content up!
Great piece Brandon👏
Still following and enjoying the work you're doing. No.10 liberates me completely. As I grew up, I never understood the war stories in the old testament. Really confused me,...but I couldn't voice my questions.
Fast forward.... Freedom is here🥳
Freedom indeed! Thanks so much for being here and your support!
Your explanation with reasons is so natural, so relatable and so easy to understand.. Keep going mate.
Never in my life would I think I would actually listen to an Athiest. Thank you for being here and sharing your experience in a pragmatic, nonjudgmental way. It’s a confusing time.
Glad to be of any help. I get it 100%!
Thank you for this channel!! I have been deconverting for almost a year and this channel has been so good in the final steps of letting it go. Keep up the good work! Sending love from Sweden❤❤
Thats so lovely to hear. Thanks for being here. Im very glad to be helping.
I am glad I found this channel, you are extremely rational and able to articulate things I have thought so well, when you talk about the release of DMT on near death experiences, that is something I always thought but never seen someone mention it.
Thanks so much!
Thanks for this. I really appreciate your content. I grew up with fundamentalist parents in the south. We were Southern Baptist, so not as far out as some. In college I got involved with Bill Gothard. That stuff was even too much for my parents. After much pain and suffering, I ended up as a pastor in a "liberal" church. My skepticism has grown exponentially since Covid. You help clarify my thinking. So again, Thanks
Glad to be of any use. Thanks for letting me know.
My journey has brought me to the point where I consider implanting the concept of hell in a young mind is child abuse.
Couldn’t agree more!
It's the direct opposite...❤Y
I recommend Bart Ehrman's "Heaven and Hell" for anyone wanting to learn the history and evolution of hell. It does get easier. Stay strong fam💪
Yes. That book was very freeing for me
Best arguement against hell is, if God requires it to make people love him, meaning, pretending to love out of fear, then heaven must be hell of a place.
Yes, I'm christian, but I think like you. I believe only in that what Jesus spoke, not what other gods speak. And Jesus comes to save us with his love and to encourage us to be only good if we love good, not fear hell.
@@knopsik_2in8 Thanks for sharing that, personally I would even go one step further, because many people believe in what Jesus said, and yet still disagree..
But Jesus thaught that we are to discern truth from deception, without any doubt, by its fruits, and so its interesting to ponder on what these fruits could be..
Because as I see it, whatsoever brings forth these fruits is of God, and has to be linked to truth, since God equals truth..
But on the other side that means that once we use that discernment, we may also find errors and mistakes in the Bible, and from my perspective, thats even a good thing, mainly because making the Bible an idle, making it better than it is doesnt really serve truth, which equals God..
And thats actually why I love Mindshift, he is doing a great job asking sincere and good questions, often times giving awesome answers to it..
idk what to say other than thank you. even though I am lucky enough to not really having a fear of hell anymore I know that there are quite a lot of people who deal with it and that this video helped them get out of that and/or is actively helping them so again, thank you
I think this video will really help a lot of people. It's sad to see the extent of this abusive teaching and the trauma it's produced. I can't help thinking that a belief system that features - perhaps relies on - instilling this sort of fear cannot be true. If it were, it wouldn't require coercion and threats.
I joined the church at age 25 and left at age 48. I didn't even 'deconvert' so much as I just gradually drifted away for awhile, and then with the Covid lockdowns I of course stopped going and simply never went back. Luckily the hell thing wasn't a big issue. VERY glad I wasn't indoctrinated with it since early childhood. That would be very difficult to handle, as shown in many of these comments. I truly hope people can overcome this fear and heal from the damage it has done.
Thanks for this video. It has been and still is a very real fear that has been impossible to overcome.
Hope it helped! You can get over it. It just takes time.
Excellent video, as usual. 73-year-old ex-Catholic agnostic atheist here.
Like most people, I guess, I struggled with the fear of hell when I was in the process of deconverting. Something that gave me very long pause was a series of events that occurred in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. In a nutshell, three shepherd children (the oldest was 10) claimed to have seen apparitions (visions) of Mary, the mother of Jesus. In one of them, she let them see hell, which absolutely terrified them. All of these visions were approved by the Catholic Church in 1930 by Pope Pius XI as being “worthy of belief."
My belief in these visions was buttressed by the fact that she also performed what’s come to be known as “the Miracle of the Sun,” which was witnessed by tens of thousands, an estimation beyond dispute. Clearly, something extraordinary happened, but I came to deny the supernatural character of these events when I finally realized that the Gospels were not “God-breathed” and that Jesus was not God incarnate. (On the contrary, he was a failed apocalypticist.) What in fact happened in Portugal in 1917 I don't know, but I'm not losing a wink of sleep over it.
Now, whenever the thought of the possibility of hell comes to mind, which seldom happens, I just shoo it away. I am so over it. I mean, the thought of an all-loving God casting untold billions into hell to be tormented uninterruptibly FOREVER AND EVER is sickening and despicable. There's no religious doctrine cooked up by men more unbelievable than the doctrine of eternal punishment. As Christian-turned-agnostic Charles Darwin put it, that doctrine is itself "damnable."
We all know now, that is if we care to educate ourselves, that this whole "hell" thing was about CONTROL by the RC Church.
so essentially a 10 year old kid mightve had hallucinations and churches were like "yo lets take that to control whoever we can"
@notmydidea WhatEver. 23 years-plus an unbeliever here. 👍😊👍
I want to thank you for all of your videos. Your calm and logical arguments are better than therapy.
Religion and the thought of what happens when you die has honestly been one the biggest struggles of my life, especially considering my association with the lgbt community and the repercussions of that in today's society. I was so distraught over it that I landed in the hospital a few months ago with dangerously high blood pressure and anxiety issues. It was even insinuated I was being punished because of my behavior and all I needed to do was conform and believe and change my lifestyle. "it doesn't have to be this way"
I think even believers should watch your videos because it will challenge their notions and preconceptions about what they're reading in a thoughtful and non-confrontational manner and using scripture itself to make assertions.
I'm still struggling, but hearing an intelligent and skeptical counter-argument to all of the contradictory religious noise out there is strangely reassuring that i'm not alone in the world with my doubts....even though it frequently feels like it.
After reading and studying multiple philosophical theories about what god is I think I’ve come to conclude that the god of Benedict de Spinoza is the most reasonable to exist. This created a conflict in my beliefs on the Christian God since I was raised Catholic. But after watching videos like yours and Kristie’s I’m filled with peace and more understanding on the guilt and fear that I felt due to my programming done by religion. Wisdom is freedom. Thank you for your work.!
Thanks Brandon for this. A lot of people need this kind of help to get them totaly away from the poison that they follow. The one thing that helped me was to understand that the only weapon any religion has is "fear". As long as they can teach it and put it into your brain, people are going to come back to church because they might be thinking, "what if I'm wrong?" I started watching videos like yours and others none stop to get my brain rewired to think more critically and start asking questions. But the most important thing to do is research and learn the history like you said. Also, the two videos that really helped me was; Christian Dilemmas and Caesar's Messiah. Both are great videos.
When you're raised in a religious culture it can take a lifetime to unlearn the false things you've been indoctrinated with. I'm 73, have been trying to unlearn Christianity for half a century, and there's still plenty of junk in my head. I continue to make progress though.
I hope you find peace in your lifetime.
Same. I’m 65
Really enjoyed your breakdown of this subject. One of the first things I admitted to not believing in, and still have hangover anxiety about on occasion.
yes its hard to ever fully fully escape, but mine has gotten so much better over time.
Thanks for this important video. I like #10 the best.
Thanks for watching!
Thanks!
Thanks so much, Mark!
This channel is one of the best in terms of helping me deconstruct. I still struggle with the idea of hell and have seen the video on the screen.but would like to know how to fact check this stuff just for peace of mind.
Glad to hear it and yes do all the research you can. Go read about other hells. Look into the neuroscience of NDEs etc. the internet and library have more than enough
god is so feeble that you can do anything in life, but not believing in him is the greatest crime of all, so he will torture some ethereal version of you with internal fire...that must be some funky fire to burn immaterial things. god just cant take it someone not believing in him, but fails to show up ever.
once you realise what filth priests are, to install such a fear of hell into you, when they have no idea themselves such thing exists...there's some anger to get over...but you come out the other side stronger. hell becomes the impotent scary tale that it is.
what is heaven like? eternal bliss? doing what? surely eternity of anything would be a proverbial hell. the terminal nature of life is much preferrable than eternity of anything. afterlife wasnt such a great idea (of men) after all.
use critical thinking to work thru any thoughts you have about heaven/hell, as these fictional concepts dont stand up to good scrutiny. once these more rational thoughts on it take hold, the fear will melt away.
religious leaders and religion will no longer have a hold on you, no matter their pathetic fear mongering.
millions of people have ditched the false idea of hell instilled in them. you can too.
I wish it had been around in the 1960's and 1970's when I was dealing with this "hell mess" But I'm happy you are here now for others. Good work
How do you fact check nonsense?? The only reason people believe in the christian hell (or any other) is because they were brought up to. There is no reason at all to think that the scribblers of the bible texts had access to knowledge that we do not have. Christians borrowed the idea of a hell from the Jews who had spent time in captivity in Babylon, who borrowed the idea from the Zoroastrians who held them captive. So unless you are going to accept that the followers of Ahura Mazda had access to this knowledge, you really shouldn't waste time thinking about it, and go forth and live your life.
Thank you! I needed to hear this. ☮
I am very glad to be of help! Thanks for being here.
Funny story, I once had an 'ego death' experience on LSD, two years ago. It was wild. I had this profound feeling that led me to explore Taoism and Hinduism, free from dogmatic mind control. I simply experienced their vision of humanity, the universe, and reality. The funny part is, I was raised Christian and was fully committed to it until I was 27. I had never even heard of these Eastern religions. After the experience, I almost became an atheist, but now I identify as agnostic. I've had a glimpse of what happens after death and what reality is, but it doesn't seem to matter. No one will be sent to hell, no one will be punished in the afterlife. There's no god demanding our actions, except for the god 'nature' with her rules, such as sleep, eat, and drink... Everything we do as a society, we do without a greater divine plan. We are humans, and all our societal rules should be based on what we believe is good for ourselves, not on what a god wants. Because, in reality, what this god wants, he already has: relationships and experiences.
God is light. Our souls is what connects us to God. I lost my soul because I commited an evil deed. Satan came to claim me. No joke. I wish it wasn't true. When you lose your soul you are forever disconnected from Source
The best video I’ve seen to date on this topic. Thanks Brandon!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the compliment
This fear of Hell concept is totally alien to me. When I was an atheist I had no reason to believe that such a place existed When i became a Christian, I knew that the sacrifice of Christ had totally freed me from condemnation, therefore whatever the nature of Hell I was saved from it, so again no cause for fear.
"When I was an atheist" is the red flag signifying that anything this person says is nonsense.
I remember hearing from someone I knew when they got suspicious of me missing church: They said I “better believe that hell is a real place”, “Eternal life is eternal”, and how “missing mass is a sin”. This was after I started to think that hell might not be a real place. I wasn’t fond of mass attendance growing up, and felt pressured(occasionally forced) to go under the implication of “You better go to mass, or else you will be thrown into hell for thinking that you can skip mass and still live a normal life, and you will be deemed a less holy person by us”. I thought it was for the purpose of getting brownie points in God’s eyes, i.e. the payment of my time in order to be spared from hell. Indeed, the fear of hell had a tight grasp on my psyche growing up. Videos like this are a reminder of how horrific and ridiculous the story of hell can be once you think deeper about it. Thank you for your work, keep it up!
@MindShift Speaking of which, what do you think of the topic of mass attendance as a future video idea?
I actually covered it a bit in the video that came out today and in the video i point to a past video where i covered it even more
Such a needed video.
Thank you!
thanks for this, i really needed it :) i've been really enjoying your content, keep up the awesome work!!
So glad to hear. Thank you!
This channel has the highest content output I've ever seen. Make sure you're getting sleep my guy
Ha thank you. It wont always be 4 per week. Ill settle around 2-3 im sure. Appreciation the lookout.
Fear of Hell is what brought me to Christianity, realizing how absurd hell is took me away from Christianity. I left Christianity in 2007, but the fear of Hell still tries to aggravate me. Giving people the fear of Hell is spiritually abusive. The whole time I was a Christian, I was tormented by the idea of non-Christians who I deeply care about ending up in Hell. I would beg people to accept Jesus as their savior because I believed in the false concept of hell.
I'm in the same situation even if you are "saved" what about people you love and care about imagine being in heaven and knowing that while you worship god in heaven your mother burns in hell to death the 1.000.000.000 time and again and again and again and even after a number of years I can't even write in my lifetime there are infinite times this time more... This is the most horrifying thing ever and that's a fact
I feel so understood here, I could genuinely not bring myself to love the abrahamic god for all the reasons you said, and the only reason I would ever turn to religion is for self-preservation, and I would not be doing it passionately
Remember Xtians, god loves you so much, he created hell, just in case you don't love him back.
.
LOL
People think God owes them something for some reason. Hell wasn't made for humans.
@@jasonbeck1340 We don't think your "god" exists. You make sh 1t up by reading an old old book.
LOLZ
@@jasonbeck1340If it wasn't "made" for humans then God wouldn't *put* humans there. Such a bizarre ideology. Do you believe God is incompetent? Or just plain evil? If there is a God, I doubt he acts like a human psychopath the way we see in the Biblical texts. He at least owes it to himself to be consistent in his attributes.
Great lecture!! I hope this helps others the way it has helped me. Thanks Brandon!
Thank you kindly!
As far back as I can remember I have offhand dismissed hell as the pathetic blatant scare tactic that it is.
Lucky you man. Jealous i was not this aware for so long.
It is also a gaslighting tactic. They all say that we make the choice to go to hell. Uh, no. I'm choosing to not believe in something that is clearly false. That doesn't mean I'm choosing to be tortured by an evil god.
How lucky for you. I was not as lucky
You are clearly more developed and smarter than I as a young child in a fundamentalist Church. I didn't start questiong it unti later
Were you raised in a religious environment? if so, what type?
@@Cuffsmaster I’m Dutch. Religion in the Netherlands is virtually nonexistent, so I never grew up taking the Bible as gospel (pun somewhat intended).
That being said, when I was 10 and had compulsory Bible classes I found the biblical stories specious at the best of times and cunningly cultish and manipulative the majority of the time.
Brandon hits another one out of the park. 👏🏻 Great vid.
Thanks so much, friend.
My personal opinion is that we are in hell at present, existance on earth is hell at times.. Especially when we go through the pain of loosing your close loved ones when they die. We only truly free once we leave this earth and no longer exist.. Nothing to worry about nor pain and suffering!
this video actually gave me comfort, thank u!!
Of course pretending hell isn't real well give you comfort duh lol
@@jasonbeck1340look another Christian who has faith just because they got taught hell existed as a child!
Thanks for the tools. My mom had a book called Dantes Inferno. Talk about scary stuff. Once I dropped religion, I only needed one tip....Hell doesn't exist. It worked then and it works now. Good luck folks.
❤❤❤❤
For me images of hell was one of my first memories. I was about 5 years old and in Sunday school and the teacher was showing us a picture of chard burnt steak and telling us that's what hell is and that's what will happen to our bodies forever in hell. I still remember the glaring fear in her eyes as she stared down on all of us.
5 year old kids.. Imagine.
Hell was a BIG fear for most of my life. I must have thought about it at some point almost every day. After I deconverted the fear stuck around for about 6 years, then it faded. It would come up every now and again in flash fears as if old patterns in my brain were reigniting momentarily, until eventually it just faded and faded and then stopped altogether. Now I can't remember the last time I feared hell.
It does go away, it just takes time, but it will fade.
Jesus loves you deeply, more than you can even comprehend, and He doesn’t want you to live in fear of what’s to come. The Bible tells us in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That’s how much He loves you-He gave everything so you wouldn’t have to face fear, darkness, or separation from Him.
What you experienced may feel overwhelming, but let me encourage you: you don’t have to live with that fear. Jesus offers a free gift of peace, forgiveness, and assurance of eternal life with Him. It’s not about earning it or being “good enough”-it’s about humbling your heart, coming to Him, and asking Him to be your Savior. He promises in Romans 10:13, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” That means you.
Why worry about hell when Jesus has already made a way for you to have eternal peace and joy? You can rest in the assurance that, by trusting Him, your eternity is secure in His love. Jesus says in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
So if you feel ready, just talk to Him. You can say something as simple as, “Jesus, I need You. I don’t want to live in fear. I believe You love me and died for me. I want You to be my Savior. Please come into my life and give me peace.” He’s waiting for you with open arms, and He’ll meet you right where you are. God bless
@wanderer44-xr5si I don't worry about hell. You didn't actually read my comment did you?
I don't live in fear of what's to come because I don't believe in that.
@@FrogknightAk47 You're right, I can't be 100% certain of your personal beliefs, but I do know that none of us can be 100% certain about what happens after death. That's exactly why having assurance matters. It’s not about living in fear-it’s about having peace and hope for the future, no matter what comes.
Why take the chance when you can be sure? God’s love for you is so great that He made a way for you to spend eternity with Him. It’s not about religion or fear-it’s about a relationship with Jesus, who offers you peace, joy, and eternal life as a free gift. You don’t have to "believe" in hell to understand the importance of considering eternity. Why not receive that assurance and live with the confidence that your future is secure? After all, what’s to lose?
@@wanderer44-xr5si What you probably don't assume about me is that I use to be a born again Christian, I was a youth pastor studying to be a minister one day. Trust me when I say there is nothing you're going to say that will be "light" to my eyes. I've not only heard it all before 10 fold, I myself have preached it all before and even now I regularly engage with Christians for talks like these.
Not believing anymore wasn't a choice I made it was a slow realization that took many years and I fought it, I fought it hard to try to reconcile my faith, but eventually I realized that my effort wasn't a virtue, it was a denial of honesty.
I read books like The Case for Christ and Cold Case Christianity and they all had the same dishonest points that I was using to try to reconcile my faith.
Now I'm not going to list out the hundreds of factors that I looked into when examining my faith.
But I will address this one thing you said.
Now what you're proposing is Pascals Wager. Unless you're living under a rock, you must have heard about it. Unless theological discourse is very new to you.
Might as well believe right?
For one, no one chooses their beliefs, so as hard as I might try I cannot choose to believe something I simply don't. Try to believe in Krishna or Santa right now. Notice that no matter how hard you try you cannot choose or even trick yourself to believe it.
Two, if a Muslim or someone for another religion with a hell afterlife said this same thing to you, how seriously would you take it? Why don't they sway you to consider their proposition?
Three, this Wager only seems reasonable and on an even playing field because you're tied to your religion's notion of an afterlife and that happens to be the one central to your world.
If a Muslim were proposing the same argument, and they do, they would say might as well believe Islam.
As you said we don't know for certain what happens after death, so why aren't you believing in Islam just Incase that's the truth? It's the second largest religion in the world and if you divide Catholics from protestants, Islam even with its sects has the largest agreement based religion in the world. So if you didn't count Catholics as Christians based on their doctrinal differences, Islam is the world's largest faith.
Maybe they have it right.
So even if I had to choose to just believe to play it safe for something I don't fear, why should I choose Christianity and not Islam or Hinduism?
If we're going by playing it safe, then shouldn't I believe and devote myself to what can save me from the worst hell?
This proposal falls apart in many ways.
Further, we're sacrificing the truth.
What is a world where a billion people are all believing what turns out to be a lie because they just want to play it safe because someone told someone else a place exists that will hurt them after they die.
And at the end, despite what you say it is, it really is based on fear. I mean look at what you yourself said. "Play it safe". You play it safe when you're afraid of something. This whole argument falls apart on so many levels.
I know in the deepest part of your heart you know and feel your right, but the Christian belief is an illusion held up by many many interworking variables. If you ever start seeing the patterns let me know.
Now given everything I've said, what is your insight on Pascals Wager?
@@wanderer44-xr5si What you probably don't assume about me is that I use to be a born again Christian, I was a youth pastor studying to be a minister one day. Trust me when I say there is nothing you're going to say that will be "light" to my eyes. I've not only heard it all before 10 fold, I myself have preached it all before and even now I regularly engage with Christians for talks like these.
Not believing anymore wasn't a choice I made it was a slow realization that took many years and I fought it, I fought it hard to try to reconcile my faith, but eventually I realized that my effort wasn't a virtue, it was a denial of honesty.
I read books like The Case for Christ and Cold Case Christianity and they all had the same dishonest points that I was using to try to reconcile my faith.
Now I'm not going to list out the hundreds of factors that I looked into when examining my faith.
But I will address this one thing you said.
What you're proposing is Pascals Wager. Unless you're living under a rock, you must have heard about it. Unless theological discourse is very new to you.
Might as well believe right?
For one, no one chooses their beliefs, so as hard as I might try I cannot choose to believe something I simply don't. Try to believe in Krishna or Santa right now. Notice that no matter how hard you try you cannot choose or even trick yourself to believe it.
Two, if a Muslim or someone for another religion with a hell based afterlife said this same thing to you, how seriously would you take it? Why don't they sway you to consider their proposition? And given that you already don't believe them are you about to try to make yourself believe? Are you going to assimilate yourself in their culture, read all their books and expose yourself long enough and deep enough until your mind just starts to accept their doctrine as true. All so you can be secured just incase their religion happens to be real? Is this at all reasonable?
Really think about this one and what this Wager is expecting from people.
Three, this Wager only seems reasonable and on an even playing field because you're tied to your religion's notion of an afterlife and that happens to be the one central to your world. It doesn't consider the other options.
If a Muslim were proposing the same argument, and they do, they would say might as well believe Islam.
As you said we don't know for certain what happens after death, so why aren't you believing in Islam just Incase that's the truth? It's the second largest religion in the world and if you divide Catholics from protestants, Islam even with its sects has the largest agreement based religion in the world. So if you didn't count Catholics as Christians based on their doctrinal differences, Islam is the world's largest faith.
Maybe they have it right.
So even if I had to choose to just believe to play it safe for something I don't fear, why should I choose Christianity and not Islam or Hinduism?
If we're going by playing it safe, then shouldn't I believe and devote myself to what can save me from the worst hell?
This proposal falls apart in many ways.
Further, we're sacrificing the truth.
What is a world where a billion people are all believing what turns out to be a lie because they just want to play it safe because someone told someone else a place exists that will hurt them after they die.
And at the end, despite what you say it is, it really is based on fear. I mean look at what you yourself said. "Play it safe", "secure yourself" just incase. You play it safe when you're afraid of something.
This whole argument falls apart on so many levels.
I know in the deepest part of your heart you know and feel your right, but the Christian belief is an illusion held up by many many interworking parts. If you ever start seeing the patterns let me know.
Now given everything I've said, what is your insight on Pascals Wager, does it still make sense in light of new information?
I had a NDE and I was in a beautiful place. I didn’t see anyone I knew, or heard of. But there was someone with me from the very start of the car wreck. I was in the backseat. I heard the driver scream,” Oh no,” I saw her looking in the rear view mirror. I was going to turn around. To see what she was looking at. A voice said,”Don’t look back. Tug on your seatbelt. Make sure it’s fastened. Rest your head against the backrest in front of you”. I followed the instructions. Then wham! I felt my body being tossed around. After the wreck I was told the car flipped over twice. We were hit by a drunk driver going 70mph. We were going the speed limit of 45 mph. This voice, I called my guardian angel. We were laughing and I was so happy. Think of the most exciting event you’ve ever experienced. Your heart is beating so fast, you have butterflies in your stomach and your skin is tingling. What made me laugh was that I was reminded of how I had always been afraid of carnival rides. And the voice said,”Now you’re experiencing a real carnival ride”. I still get that happy feeling when I think about that time. And when I was tossing about in the car, I didn’t feel any pain. It was like I was wrapped in bubble wrap. I am not afraid of death anymore. What I learned from that experience was this. What we dwell on the most, What occupies your mind the most, is what you take with you. So try to focus on what is good. Don’t let revenge, anger or constant negativity be what you dwell on through out your day. ✌️ ❤
I was not raised in a Christian home, but learned the idea of hell from UA-cam. I started pressureasing myself and became terrified. I kept feeling bad when i didn't tell people about Jesus. I got to one point where i broke down in front of my parents, and they comforted me, saying i should not worry that much. As i'm reading al deze story's, i realise i am truly lucky to have such understanding parents
I remember watching an episode of "Twilight Zone." There were a group of people on the back of an army truck. They were on their way to hell. They started comparing notes about why they were there. They all did some bad things, stealing, murder, being cruel etc then they asked this grandmother like lady. She said that she was going to hell because she didn't go to church. The rest of the hell-goers were incredulous and believed that there must have been a mistake, but she accepted it because it was in the Bible. I don't remember how it ended.
Amazing work! Excellent video. Keep up the amazing work my friend 🙂
how kind, thanks for the encouragement!
I’ve found comfort focusing on the idea of “from void to void” or “from black to black”. Once I got comfortable with not fearing the void time after my life and the fact I simply wouldn’t be…. I found I feared nothing else.
You know the truth. All things that live has gods life force. When we die,that life force is gone from the flesh. The personality that is called you is over. But that spirit is god. God is alone in existence in reallity.
@@JewettConnerall things? There are tardigrades in heaven? 😂
When I first watched this video I was skeptical and still feared hell, but this video planted a seed in me to seek the truth. Thanks
Glad to hear it!
There are 149 verses in the bible about hell. Hell is real, and you dont want to go there. Only Jesus provides the way to be right with God and to be assured of going to Heaven. Hell was not originally prepared for man. It was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). Jude 6 states that fallen angels are placed in chains awaiting judgment. Yet, when men and women join the devil in his work and live in servitude to him, they must suffer the same fate that will befall Satan. If a person ends up in hell, he is lost by his own free choice, not God's arbitrary decision. Such a person has no one to blame but himself. Many see no need to be interested in spiritual things and are indifferent to the pleas of the gospel. Others refuse to obey the gospel or submit to the will of God. Some refuse to believe. Others just love sin more than righteousness. Some, though once obedient, have become unfaithful in service. Many put off obeying until it is too late.
Hell is real. The suffering of it is waiting for the sinful. You can escape the torments found there by giving obedience to Christ now. He will wash away the guilt of your sins and grant you hope of a life of eternal bliss in His presence. All you need to do is humble your heart, ask for forgiveness, and trust in Him, and You dont have to go to hell. Its easy, and its worth it! Its a relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, not a religion. Has nothing to do with church. Its between you and God. Religion will only disappoint. All you need to do is repent, which means to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus, by asking Him to take control, and live for Him. Its easy. And when you do that, He sends His Holy Spirit to come live on the inside of you, and transforms your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit is the Key and the difference between religion, and a relationship. It changed my life for the better. The Holy Spirit is Gods seal of salvation, and your evidence you have been truly changed, and are going to heaven. All its takes is faith. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Trust me, hell is very real, and you do not want to end up there and realize you were wrong, and its too late. Look around you, Jesus is real. You may try and convince yourself hell is not real, but deep inside, your heart tells you the truth. Jesus loves you, and wants to give you eternal life in heaven. We are only here on earth for a short time, but eternity is forever. Please re-think about it, and give Jesus a chance. Humble your heart before its too late. We are not guaranteed another day. All you need to do is pour out your heart to God, and ask Him into your life. Simple as that. He will take away all that fear and replace it with peace and joy like you never had before, as well as eternal assurance in heaven when your time is up. God bless
Hell was the first thing to leave when I started doubting. If god is the maker of us he wouldn't make a oven to put us in. I always seen it as a later scare tactic that people somehow wrote into the bible.
Thank you for making this video. You made some really great points and even though I still feel scared, it did bring me some comfort and it opened my eyes a little. I don't know if I'm ever going to stop being afraid (and how long it's going to take) but at least now I'll be able to be more rational about the whole thing if my anxiety gets too bad. So thanks again and I hope you're having a nice day :)
Glad it helped a bit!
I'm only listening to this video today, but thank you. THANK YOU for this video!
You are so welcome!