THE BEST ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN THE BIBLE CONTRADICT THE DOCTRINE OF HELL

Test the imagined Gods by the Golden rule [ which may have started in Greek, Egyptian or Persian philosophy ] Do they act in accordance with it? cause if they don't then they are not worthy to be called Gods.

Like Isaac Asimov's "rules for robots " we could do with rules for gods : " The gods shall treat humans as they would wish to be treated if they were humans ", " The gods shall do no harm to humans, nor by inaction allow harm to befall humans ". " The gods shall not judge that they be not judged "

I think that Jesus is mostly fictional but how would Jesus have a judgment day if he said do not judge that you be not judged, he would judge himself & it would be completely hypocritical.

The N.T. runs two different ideas about it's gods. There is a skeleton of best internal principles Matt 7v12-golden rule and Romans 13v10- love does no harm, which you could say was the bones of a loving figure then there is the external story line which is a phantom of a Judgment day god like Osiris or Hades. The two ideas completely contradict and are incompatible but are mixed throughout the N.T.

Even taking the good rule of thumb , " Do not murder " and ask, " What is murder ? "- usually putting a nasty & violent end to someone. making them suffer, robbing them of the good they would have enjoyed. Maybe letting people go to an eternal torment would be worse than murder- making people die horribly forever. So anyway how could a caring God who was trying to prevent suffering by saying, " Do not murder " turn round and cause worse suffering than any human could cause. He would sin if he did so.

The storyline of the N.T. fiction has been written in a way which is not consistent with the Golden Rule. People just need to take the best bits of the bible and, like a mirror, shine them back at the imagined gods and they will disintegrate. The best ethical bits can dispel the fantasy of supernaturalism.

Or think of James 4v17 " Anyone who does not do the good he should, sins." So think of all the good a God could have done in the way of preventing crime of illness, even giving the technology to achieve this. Well it looks like God has sinned according to James 4v17

I agree with Victor J Stenger, " Cosmic God is a failed hypothesis "

I like the idea of wisdom commons- the focus on moral core - imagining best practice.

"Trusting doubt " by Valerie Tarico lists the mentions of Golden rule in each religi