I agree that all of God’s judgments are remedial. I’m going to start changing my terminology to use the word “correction” instead of “punishment”. Old habits die hard, so it will undoubtedly be a case of two steps forward, one step back. But I’ll get there!
I would like to point out how important I Clement is. This is a letter written by St. Clement of Rome (cf. Philippians 4:3) to the church in Corinth. The only question is whether he wrote it around A. D. 95 or around A. D. 70. In either case, it is definitely a 1st-century writing. St. John the Apostle was still breathing upon this earth when it was written. The letter even found its way into some lists of canonical scripture. My point is that one cannot airily dismiss the document as the product of an ignoramus.
St. Clement wrote in 19:3: “Let us see Him in our mind, and let us look with the eyes of the soul on His patient will. Let us note how free from anger He is toward all His creation.”
God, then, is not angry even at Satan himself! How much more is this the case with little ol’ you. He loves you with heart-breaking intensity and therefore corrects you so you will be as holy as God Himself and consequently utterly joyful.
But anger? Not a whiff of it. 
Didn’t I say that love does the correcting in my post? In no way did I suggest that torment does the correction.
"
Thank you Geoffrey for this excellent quote!
Clement was Paul’s fellow labourer (Philippians 4:3). His letter to the Corinthians (shortly after Paul and Peter’s death) was read in the churches of the second century along with the letters of Peter and Paul. It is regrettable that this letter is almost totally ignored by the bulk of Christendom today—I guess just because it didn’t happen to be chosen as part of the “canon.”
I addressed this matter of the “vengeance” of God in another forum. I invite you to read it by clicking on the link below. Please go to page 2, and find the relevant post near the end.
theos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=5532
[tag]St. Michael[/tag]
This video (link - youtube.com/watch?v=FyMtBtnLxuY) quotes a lot of scriptures saying that it is (not just 1 John 2:15-17), I would watch it again and post the scriptures here but I don’t want to make my anxiety worse.
And what must I do to do that, is asking God to take away what is not of him enough? like I already do.
True, but I study 5 days a week, doesn’t make it impossible though, the thing about studying 5 days a week is though that I tend to see homeless people on the way home.
And even then, the homeless is what I see but the people truly in need are the children starving in Africa, a situation where only money would be the solution, can’t volunteer there sadly.
Please everyone, pray for this children starving in Africa.
I did that and I’m sure many would say ‘that’s easy believism’, The Lord Jesus Christ did say this:
LUKE 6:46:
-46: And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
And of course I want to the thing things which He said, but I don’t feel that I can, for one, Jesus told people not to worry about tomorrow:
MATTHEW 6:34:
-34: Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
And this is right after Matthew 6:33 which says:
MATTHEW 6:33:
-33: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Which parallels with Luke 12:31-34:
LUKE 12:31-34:
-31: But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
-32: Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
-33: Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
-34: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
As I mentioned, I have officially been diagnosed with anxeity and OCD disorders, so I can’t see myself being able to do these things, although I pray that I can,
and if possible, can others please pray that I can do these things Jesus commands, and also the salvation of all of course.
[tag]Cindy Skillman[/tag]
Good point, thanks,
interesting thing actually talking about paganism,
this one Christian Facebook page put up a picture saying that Halloween is pagan, and I responded with something like the following (I can’t remember the exact words):
‘Halloween is pagan, Christmas is too, but did you also know that Hell is pagan:
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hel_(being)
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hel_(location)
I obvioutly believe in the coming judgement and the wrath of God but the traditional view of hell is a pagan concept.’
I made the comment about 2-3 times on various photographs uploaded by the page, including one picture of people in Hell, anyway the 2-3 times may have been what done it rather than truth that could not be handeled, I was blocked from commenting on their photos, and unless facebook forgot to notify me, I never received a response.
I like to believe that blocked me because I was posting truth they could not respond to - but that is the problem, I like to believe that, and this goes back the the thing about “itching ears” and not being able to “endure sound doctrine”.
I hope you are not saying here that God was revealing things to people of other religions:
JOHN 14:6:
-6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
2 CORINTHIANS 6:16:
-16: And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
[tag]qaz[/tag]
That’s a good way of reading things, but remember:
MATTHEW 5:17-20:
-17: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
-18: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
-19: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
-20: For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Good point about the Psalms thanks, but what about Proverbs 1:25-33:
PROVERBS 1:25-33:
-25: But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
-26: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
-27: When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
-28: Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
-29: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:
-30: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
-31: Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
-32: For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
-33: But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
And the Psalms have a reason for being in the Bible:
2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17:
-16: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
-17: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
What scripture is this?
And will things change when:
2 THESSALONIANS 1:8-9:
-8: In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
-9: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
[tag]Geoffrey[/tag]
PSALM 7:11:
-11: God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
Has anyone heard about this:
And there was another case where a scuba diver heard screaming coming from below the seabed.
You are probably thinking ‘you don’t actually believe these don’t you?’, well when exploring a theology that completely changes who God is, you need to take into account every single pillar supporting the theology you are trying to move away from.
I don’t know if there are any flat-earthers on this forum, but I thought I would share this:
GENESIS 26:4:
-4: And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
ROUND EARTH THEORY: Innumerable stars (universal salvation), hot place in the centre of the earth (no universal salvation)
FLAT EARTH THEORY: Limited stars (no universal salvation), no hot place in the centre of the earth (not necessarily universal salvation or annihilationism)
God Bless
Christ Be With You All
STT,
Yes, God reveals Himself to ALL people. Read Romans 2 (Which by the way, is in context a warning to the Jews not to think too highly of themselves just because they have the law–though they don’t obey it any more than the heathen obey the truth revealed to them in creation.) I think this revelation goes through all human history. God has revealed Himself most openly to the Jews and subsequently to the church through Christ, but the glimmers of His glory find their way into all sorts of unexpected places. Think of the many stories you’ve read of heroes sacrificing themselves to save their beloved. Isn’t that a faded echo of Jesus giving His life for the church? The story of Christ is everywhere told–it’s embedded in the human psyche. If a person has this story as part of his cultural heritage and as a part of what some call “the book of nature,” it’s that much easier for him/her to embrace the full truth in Jesus Christ when they hear it.
STT
All I can say is hang in there. They diagnosed me as schizoaffective and I don’t have these problems anymore. Keep on seeking. I will pray for you.
[tag]qaz[/tag]
It doesn’t, but it’s important to remember Jesus did not change the law.
Didn’t say you didn’t.
Thanks, I wonder if that will apply to judgement though, and others would call annihilationism an act of mercy though, and others don’t even see annihilationism as punishment at all (link - evangelicaloutreach.org/images/eternal-torment-not-annihilation.jpg).
Mercy and love are put of God’s nature, but so are judgement, wrath, and most importantly, his holiness.
Impossible, it’s talking about end times and the Antichrist:
2 THESSALONIANS 2:3-4:
-3: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
-4: Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
[tag]Cindy Skillman[/tag]
Yes, but he reveals the truth to all people, but he reveals the full truth, he wouldn’t reveal universal salvation to some people without mentioning Jesus.
True, but one must be careful with things like this since we have some people believing Christians and Muslims worship the same god - a serious heresy.
[tag]St. Michael[/tag]
That’s good.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
God Bless
Christ Be With You All
STT, according to St Paul, what may be known of God is revealed to them through the creation. Since God is love and God is light, and the nature of this love and light is holy (among other things), then according to Paul, this nature of God is what God reveals to all. I’m not saying everyone listens. Indeed, few do listen. Nevertheless, I think scripture is clear that God does reveal Himself to cultures foreign to Judaism. Look at Melchizedek. He wasn’t Jewish–after all, to be Jewish, you have to be a son of Abraham, but Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, thus demonstrating the superiority of the priesthood of Melchizedek over that of Aaron (who was born to Abraham as a great-great-etc. grandson) many years later. God revealed Himself independently to Melchizedek (and to Abraham, for that matter) before Judaism was even a thing. And don’t forget Balaam who was called (and was) a prophet though he wasn’t Jewish nor even a righteous man. Still, God used him to reveal truth. God does as He pleases, irrespective of our manmade rules.
[tag]Cindy Skillman[/tag]
Yes, but God reveals all truth, The Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t fit into Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism.
What would you refine as ‘our manmade rules’.
ACTS 4:10-12:
-10: Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
-11: This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
-12: Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
No Jesus = No Salvation
Sorry if I am misreading your posts.
[tag]qaz[/tag]
Jesus didn’t change the moral law, i.e: The 10 commandments.
Heaven and earth have no passed away yet though, which means the law hasn’t changed.
I don’t know
Proverbs doesn’t seem to say so.
It’s possible for God to not exercise wrath?
ROMANS 9:22-23:
-22: What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
-23: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
The purpose of God’s punishment is either one of the following:
-Vengeful (2 Thessalonians 1:8 does talk about vengeance)
-Destructive (2 Thessalonians 1:9 does talk about destruction, after vengeance, so there is not much difference between the first two possibilities)
-Restorative (Isaiah 26:9 does talk about this, but Isaiah 66:24 talks about carcases of the wicked)
ISAIAH 26:9:
-9: With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
ISAIAH 66:24:
-24: And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
As for holiness, it’s seperation from sin, sin can’t be in the presence of God, so it must be punished because God is holy.
LEVITICUS 20:26:
-26: And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
1 PETER 1:16:
-16: Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
There is the spirit of antichrist, seen in 1 John 4:2 which you quoted, and then there is THE Antichrist, the man of sin, yet to be revealed:
2 THESSALONIANS 2:3:
-3: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
God Bless
Christ Be With You All
Acts 2:16-17: ‘But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.”’
Peter clearly said that it was already the last days back in A. D. 30.
I believe that Christ’s Second Coming could occur at any second–perhaps before you take your next breath. Christ is not waiting in line to come back. I feel bad for those laboring under the idea that some figure of horror (call it whatsoever you will: the Antichrist, the Beast, the Man of Sin, the Man of Lawlessness, the Little Horn, etc.) must come and do all sorts of bad things before Christ can return. On this point it turns the Good News into Bad News. Instead of “Christ is coming!” 
it devolves into “Antichrist is coming!” 
It looks like even some contemporary protestant churches - agree with you, Geoffrey. See: 
Nope, I expressly said I didn’t get it from remedial punishment Patristic, nor do I think most Protestants get it from there (based on what I hear from them when talking about how they got to remedial post-mortem punishment – and not even purgatorial universalism sometimes).
One could of course try to argue that I inherited it from a belief matrix originally informed, at several steps’ removal, from the interpretation of Patristic authorities going back pretty much as far as any surviving post-apostolic authors have written on the topic, thus explaining why I have an unconscious habit of interpreting the scriptural testimony that way which, on this theory, I’m far too uncritical a thinker to realize is substantially explaining my beliefs. But that would be a version of Lewis’ Bulverism charge. It is also a theory that doesn’t fit well with the facts of my actual practice, since I am so self-critical I was willing to ante up my beliefs about trinitarian theism or supernaturalistic theism or theism at all (rather more fundamentally important to my worldview than a belief that God actively punishes impenitent sinners, not only heals them, after death) and start over from absolute scratch (as far as possible, tabling my beliefs for sake of evaluation) in solidarity with someone I personally love who is barely even agnostic. I had no idea what Nyssus or any other post-apostolic Christian in antiquity believed about the matter, and wouldn’t have much cared if I did know. (Higher Protestants respect the Patristics and keep them somewhat in mind, and some lower Protestant Calvinists think they like Augustine a lot in a Marcionistic sort of way, cutting out all his Catholicism , but I come from a Baptist tradition that, while I was growing up, basically spat at the Patristics, regarding them at best with wary suspicion. I think I can say I wasn’t hostile to the Fathers, but I know I can say I didn’t give much of a hoot about what they ever thought on any topic.)
Speaking actually as a Protestant who believed in one type of post-mortem inconvenience for impenitent sinners, I can fully and absolutely testify I did not have to take two steps to arrive at a different type of post-mortem inconvenience for impenitent. I only needed one step. And in some ways not even a very large step. I cannot, at the moment, imagine why an Orthodox believer in one kind of post-mortem inconvenience for impenitent sinners would need to first drop all belief in any kind of post-mortem inconvenience for impenitent sinners, and then take a second step of coming to believe again in some kind of post-mortem inconvenience for impenitent sinners. But maybe there is some point of Orthodox theology per se that I don’t know about which would require this for an Orthodox believer as an Orthodox believer per se. I am admittedly not entirely familiar with all shades of Protestant systems either, but I don’t know of anything about Protest against certain Roman Catholic insistences (and some other Catholic insistences more broadly) which would require this of us.
Thank you for your post, Jason. I was simply mistaken in thinking you had been influenced by St.Gregory of Nyssa back in the day.
I am having a hard time understanding your last paragraph. The church I used to sporadically attend as a youngster was a Southern Baptist church. I vividly remember their soteriology:
- Everyone is defaulted to being Hell-bound. Hell means never-ending torments that begin immediately after death.
- Those who accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior will instantly snap cease being Hell-bound and become Heaven-bound. Heaven means that immediately after death one rejoices with Christ for all eternity.
- There are therefore two kinds of people: the “saved” who die and instantly go to Heaven, and the “unsaved” who die and instantly go to Hell.
The concept of some sort of post-mortem process is alien to the above scheme.
It seems to me that the shortest road to universalism for someone who accepted the above scheme would be, “Hey! There are more people instantly going to Heaven when they die than I thought. In fact, it’s going to be all of us!” Instead of two possible destinations, there is only one. Whosoever dies instantly goes to Heaven. Bang. Done. Simple as that.
It seems an added complication to suppose that there is some sort of post-mortem process. You’d have to explain to your fellow Southern Baptist believers:
-
No one goes to Hell, unless you wanted to use the term “Hell” in a very different way than most Southern Baptists use it. Instead of being never-ending torment, “Hell” would be a limited process ending in Heaven.
-
Not all of the “saved” (or perhaps not any?) go immediately to Heaven upon death. Instead, they too go through a process that ends in Heaven. Perhaps one could say that the process is not as long and/or as unpleasant for the saved?
-
Not a few of your fellow Southern Baptist believers would undoubtedly say, “Sounds like Purgatory. You turning Catholic?” Then you’d have to explain the distinctions between your beliefs and Purgatory.
In short, I think it would be a LOT easier to explain to a Southern Baptist the belief that everybody who dies immediately goes to Heaven. I think they would grasp the concept in less than a minute. On the other hand, I think it would take several minutes to get a Southern Baptist to grasp the belief of universalism coupled with a post-mortem process.
Interesting. Both my mother and I were premillenialists and dispensationalists. We believed that Antichrist’s coming is future, but that Christ would come first and snatch up his own in “the rapture.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). But later, I saw in Paul’s teachings and that of 2nd century Christians, that Christ’s second coming will take place AFTER Antichrist comes. This position is known as “historic premillenialism.” When I told my mother about my new position, she responded, “I am looking for the coming of Christ; you are looking for the coming of Antichrist.”
[tag]qaz[/tag]
The Lord Jesus Christ said “Think not that I am come to destroy the law”, and we know in the Bible that God never changes
MALACHI 3:6:
-6: For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
I believe Heaven and earth passing by is current Heaven and current earth being destroyed and replaced with New Heaven and New Earth:
REVELATION 21:1:
-1: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Would be nice, but we still have Proverbs 1:25-33 to deal with:
PROVERBS 1:25-33:
-25: But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
-26: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
-27: When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
-28: Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
-29: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:
-30: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
-31: Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
-32: For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
-33: But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
I don’t believe it’s referring to individual election, Calvinism is one of the worst doctrines out there, I was citing Romans 9:22-33 to talk about how God is willing to show is wrath.
Interesting verses, I will present an interpretation that I hope is not true:
As we know, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess:
PHILIPPIANS 2:10-11:
-10: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
-11: And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Some people interpret this ‘bowing’ as being hit in the knees with the divine 2x4, however, one interpretation I have heard appears as though the bowing and confession as voluntary (after being in torment for at least 1000 years), but that will not make them saved at this point, this interpretation shows this happening at the second resurrection, the resurrection of damnation, which is talked about later in John 5:
JOHN 5:29:
-29: And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
So it is possible for people to honor the Son, bow and confess, and yet not be saved.
Once again, I hope this is not true, but I am putting it out there.
Possibly, however, it would also make sense for God to annihilate them out of existence.
It doesn’t make much sense with Eternal Conscious Torment however (ECT) however, because it leaves room for people to ask for mercy, not receive it, and then blaspheme God, as some of these so called ‘visions of hell’ talk about.
Last days could equal last age of this earth, which would be the Church Age, the age between The Lord Jesus Christ ascending to Heaven and when Heaven and earth pass away.
The Book of Revelation talks about the Mark of the Beast, something that has never happened before, the technology for it didn’t exist back then, but it does now, and that is why we are moving towards a cashless society:
REVELATION 13:16-17:
-16: And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
-17: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
[tag]Geoffrey[/tag]
This begs the question of what do Universalists and Annihilationists do with these so called ‘visions of Hell’, even when I believed in ECT, I thought some of these were bogus, but still, when exploring a theology that completely changes who God is, you need to take into account every single pillar supporting the theology you are trying to move away from.
Other people have experiences that could be seen as genuine, such as this:
The ‘hell’ (for the lack of a better word) here appears to be compatible with universalism, but sadly also ECT, and some people look at experiences like this and say things like ‘they went to Hell and they were saved’, HOWEVER, even when the person who had said experience was saved, they describe seeing other people in helpless eternal punishment.
Which raises another interesting question. Are these "visions of Hell’, Hades, etc. - literal or metaphorical 
Actually, the metaphorical position is fully explored in Four Views on Hell. It’s a position I fully agree with - as a starting point. 
Here’s what one Amazon reviewer has shared:
In the article Is Hell Eternal Punishment, Eternal Death or Disciplinary Restoration?, the author talks about a holding place. A lower and an upper part of Hades. Before being thrown into the Lake of Fire (which he and I, view as the Eastern Orthodox position - being in the presence of God).
I like the part
", which is relevant to an Inclusivist.
And this is my favorite sentence:
The one thing visions have in common is that they all contradict each other. (To be precise, there is no vision not contradicted by other visions.)
I do not think any of these visions have epistemic value for mankind in general. For that, one must go to liturgy.
Otherwise one is confronted by visions of such terror that they obliterate any claim that the Gospel has of being “Good News”, but instead are the most dreadful tidings imaginable, such as:
Theodora’s vision of the toll-booths, in which virtually the entirety of the human race is consigned to never-ending Hell, and the merest sliver make it to Heaven after enduring 40 days of being terrorized by demons post-mortem. Basically, unless you are the type of person who will be considered a glorified saint by the Orthodox Church and painted in holy icons, you will go to Hell.
Or this one vision in which this Catholic girl (which is a disturbing trend that I notice, that visionaries tend to be female) was told that something like 117,000 people on earth died that very night. Of all of them, 116,997 went to never-ending Hell, 3 went to horrific torments in Purgatory, and 0 (zero) went to Heaven. Again, unless you are basically a Roman Catholic saint, you will go to Hell.
Etc.
This sort of puerile nonsense is obviously false even on its surface. Its like entering 7 x 18 into a calculator and getting 16,895,342. You know that either you mis-keyed or that the calculator is faulty. Similarly, when Jesus Christ supposedly says that it’s “Good News” that over 99.99% of people will go to Hell, and that fewer than 1 in 10,000 will go to Heaven, you know that someone has misinterpreted or that their data is faulty. With numbers like that, it is a virtual certainty that you, your wife, your children, your parents, all your family, all your friends, all your loved ones, and even all of the people you were casually acquainted with will all spend eternity in Hell. Good news! 
And any donkey who thinks he’s in the 0.01% of the holiest people on earth is suffering from a grave delusion.
If there were a Hell, then your goose would be cooked. We’d all be cooked. It’d be hopeless. One might as well think he was going to win the lottery as think he would escape Hell. Again, good news! 
Atheism would be better news than that.
“cashless society”… I always laugh at that one as history has been replete with people trading or bargaining in produce and wares apart from “cash”. Nothing new under the sun.