Except of course, the "Tortured for all eternity" thing is totally in-congruent with what is actually in the bible.
The actual verse in Revelations that gets abused for this, says that there is a fire, the smoke of which rises forever and ever. The actual end-result is eternal death, which is what atheists are already "Perfectly OK with."
(specifically, see Rev 14.)
The Proclamations of Three Angels
6Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— 7saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
8And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon[f] is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
9Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
12Here is the [g]patience of the saints; here[h] are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
13Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”
The real etymology of "Burning in hell forever", is a fusion of the old Roman idea of the underworld, fused with the nordic "dishonorable death" afterlife in Hel's frigid household, and then shoehorned into this Rev 14 verse.
The original semitic belief system has a kind of "Holding cell" system, where you have 3 distinct, and physically separated areas divided by an unpassable river, with an area each for the faithful dead, the unfaithful dead, and those that died in ignorance. The souls of the dead are held there until the final judgement, at which time they are judged, and either go on to eternal glory, or are committed to the final eternal death. The point of the resurrection was the decomissioning of this system, and this is the 'triumph of the grave' spoken of in the gospels. EG-- Christ went to the two 'bad' holding cells, and ministered to the dead, allowing them the chance to go with the dead in the good holding cell, to wait at the judgement seat of god. (which is where the dead go NOW-- This is a kind of temporal shortcut straight to the end of days, which is functionally the same as being 'asleep' until that time-- You are not available for comment, and from the persective of the dead, they take the shortcut straight there. This is what is meant when Christ says 'the dead know nothing'; they are totally oblivious to the goings on on Earth, while the timer runs out. It is also why the only way into heaven now, is through him. The old testament is no more.)
See for instance, Apocryphal book of Enoch where this holding system is described.
Pertinent citationHowever, the catholic dogma REALLY REALLY likes the idea of eternal torment and damnation, for reasons that can only be described as political.
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