Quote:
Originally posted by bermuDa
the notion of satan and hell were created to try and scare people out of being 'evil', just as the notion of heaven is an incentive to encourage 'good' behavior...
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I would hardly agree with that statement, and this has nothing to do with my personal faith. Simply put, a careful study of scripture does not support that hypothesis. the notion of a ressurection of condemnation first surfaces in the book of Daniel, at very late addition to the jewish canon. This comes during the oppression of antichus epiphianes, when jews were being killed for practicing their faith. While not specifically our idea of "hell", this is the first step towards that idea. This was not intended to dissuade outsiders from being bad, but to reassure believers that God would still provide justice, a problem of theodicity. Similarly, heaven was not a carrot on a stick to lure in converts, but a reminder to believers who were facing death that they were the few who could remain faithful, even if it meant marytrdom. Quite simply, the cynical motives you ascribe don't fit the reality of a community fighting for its life.