a.

According to page 1 of The Concept of Hell, to put it briefly, the strong

view is that hell is real place of eternal punishment for an unforgivable sin
or ultimate wrong that has been created by God as an act of justice. I
definitely agree with this viewpoint. As a Christian, I strive to work myself to
be a better person every day in order to stay on the path of righteousness
towards the goal of eternal life with God. If I am to stray off the path and do
something unforgiveable, I can ultimately be sentenced to Hell at the end of
my life. While this is a scary thought, I do believe that the choices I make can
be forgiven as long as I do not go into the mistake with the mindset that it is
fine because God will forgive me. Sins can be forgiven and mistakes do not
mean you are going to hell. However, not asking for forgiveness or doing
something such as (for example) killing tons of children because a person
feels like it should mean that the person has to pay for what they did
somehow. There has to be something bigger out there that can control
peoples actions and the thought of going to Hell is it. I find it to be a real
place. On page 4 of the text it states, by a weaker view of hell, I mean
simply a view that accepts hell, but denies the truth of one or more of the
seven conditions of the strong view below. I would not consider myself to
be part of this weaker view because I do believe in all seven conditions. Once
in Hell, there is no way of getting out, it is severe, real, and ordained by god,
etc. All of these characteristics of Hell have to be real in my mind because
people should have a punishment for the acts they do that are not forgivable.
b. On page 6 of the text Augustine is backing up his point that Hell is real by
using scripture that I agree with. It states, Matthew 25:31-46, contains a
passage in which Jesus returns in glory for the last judgment. All the nations
gather before him to be separated into the sheep at his right hand and the
goats at his left. The former depart to eternal life, and the latter to eternal
punishment. The Bible is the base of my religion. Any point that I need to
prove should be backed up with scripture and not just my opinion alone.
While some people do not agree with the bible, I do and it states that Jesus
sent some people to eternal punishment which I would imagine to be Hell.
Augustines thoughts and ideas are similar to mine in that I also find his
seven concepts of Hell to be accurate. A part of the text that drew me away
from Socrates idea on Hell is where it states on page 8, I find the notion of
eternal punishment for behavior unjust, and eternal punishment for disbelief
(in Christ), unintelligible. If a person has not been following the ways of God
and has been worshipping other idols, that is considered a sin. If a person
does not have it in their heart to ask forgiveness for this act, then they should
not be able to live endlessly with a God they did not believe in. The idea of an
endless punishment should help in bringing peace and kindness in the world
because people have a scary idea of eternal fire to act against. All bad
behavior should be punished or otherwise, it would not be considered a bad
behavior and there would be violence and chaos in the world.
c. I do believe anyone deserves eternal damnation, but its based on the
choices they make. People make a choice every day when they go to act
upon something or to speak. The choices that a person makes can either
have a positive or negative end result. Negative actions can be as major as

killing someone and taking their life or as minor as lying. Now a sin is a sin,
and only God can decide what is minor and what isnt so I suppose I shouldnt
use that example, but by sinning I can be put in line for Hell without even
knowing it until I get there. On page 3 of the text it states, hell is just. It is
the punishment that corresponds to the offense. If a person believes in God
and tries to repent and fix their ways after sinning, God will not send you to
Hell, in my opinion. However, if a sin is made and there is no repentance or
sign of hurting for the act committed, then God can decide what is to happen
to you at the end of your life. While many people may disagree with this idea,
I do believe that everyday a person CAN deserve eternal damnation with
what they do throughout the day and how they feel in their heart and mind
about God.