i'm sorry i can never seem to make myself clear. i'm a little sleep deprived. you were talking about a place where God just ignores people who have no interest in his way of life (if logically He is present, then He must be making a conscious effort not to communicate with or help those people). this contradicts the Church's teaching of God not turning away from anyone.
You are right in the regard that God will draw near, to those who draw near to him.
That God loves each and everyone.
but it is not God that turns away from us, but rather we that turn away from him.
Isaiah 59:2 (New International Version)
2 But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
i mean, i always hear this from people..
'God never answered my prayers'..
i always think to myself.. errr.. because you kept sinning, and did not repent??'
one more point i would like to make is this..
it's in James 4:8 that it says (and this is where the church gets it's quote from)..
'draw near to God.. and he will draw near to you'
now that is a promise...
but many many churches, miss out on something that's within the same sentence. (verse)
it goes on to say.. "Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor."
right now in my christian walk,
i am trying to 'wash my hands' of sin.
to get the fear of the Lord.
because i was always into the 'God's grace will cover my sin'.. blah... you know?
but i've been enlightened on the necessity for the fear of the Lord.
and if you have this neither happy nor miserable place away from any entity's interest, then what about the Devil? he is supposed to be in charge of hell, making people attone for their sins. if there is no attonement, then the Devil becomes redundant.
wooahhh.. okay stop right there.
you seem to understand the devil as being the 'ruler of hell'.
he is NOT the ruler of hell.. just like those who rejected God, satan will be sent to hell.
currently, Satan is still on earth, and has been since he was cast down from heaven ( Isaiah 14:12)
it is in the last days, (the great tribulation, rapture, judgement, that satan after the 1000 reign of Christ, then the final battle, that satan is sent to hell.. not to 'rule over it' but to " be thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Revelation 20:7-10
I think this is one of satan's greatest 'deceivements' so to speak.
he's made people (and popular culture) to believe that he's the 'ruler of hell'..
the bible talks about him being the deceiver,
the thief who's come to steal, kill and destory.
Judgement becomes unnecessary, and so Jesus' role as judge on humanity's final day is redundant as well (as spelt out in the Nicene Creed: "He will come again to judge the living and the dead.")
how is it that judgment is unnecessary?
I'm sorry to say this, and please understand that i am not being callous,
but the teachings of your church don't seem to be scripture based..