re: What do people get out of going to church on Easter once a year?

quote:

---

The bible actually says God is glorified by those who are burning in hell and is an active participant in their punishment.

---

Yes, God receives glory for everything that happens. That's why the Westminster shorter and larger catechisms start by describing the "chief end of man" (what we were created for) as giving glory to God. We were created for that reason. All things, good and bad, happen for God's glory.

quote:

---

Most christians either have this false idea of what the bible says about God, or for some reason Ill never understand actually enjoy worshipping the God that the bible actually describes.

---

I agree that many Christians and non-Christians (who think they know what the Bible teaches) have the wrong view of God. Usually what it boils down to, though, is that we have too high a view of ourselves (humanity) or too low of a view of God.

If you understand why Christians (who know the truth about God) still enjoy worshiping Him, you would probably be a believer, yourself. It takes a conversion by God, though, so it's not something someone can explain to you or anyone else and then have you believe it.

quote:

---

You can say all you want about mercy and love and Heaven, but any God who willfully uses the eternal torment of his creation to glorify himself (again, the bible says this not me) is a sadist. Period. He creates people knowing they will go to hell and then actively uses tat punishment to reveal his power and glory. That is the worst kind of evil imaginable, and the bible describes it in vivid detail.

---

A sadist is someone who actually enjoys the torments of others. God does not delight in the destruction of the wicked (Eze 33:11). Getting glory and getting amusement aren't the same thing.

The problem you and others who share that view have is that you assume humans are good and deserve good things and deserve Heaven (if there is such a thing), but that's not the case. If you compare one human to another, you might think one is better than the other or more deserving than the other, but the issue isn't how we compare to each other, but how we compare to a perfect and holy God. God, being perfect and holy, cannot exist with us sinners in Heaven without cleansing us of our sin.

Instead of saying that it is unfair (or that God is unjust) that God condemns people to Hell, perhaps we should start viewing it as God is unfair to allow some to go to Heaven. We all deserve Hell. No one deserves Heaven (based on God's standard). Humans are totally depraved.