Hell's New Arrivals

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Christianity is sometimes criticized as a license to steal because when people come
to faith in Christ, the file that God has been accumulating against them gets
demolished and from thence He does not begin compiling a new file.

● John 5:24 . . I assure you: those who listen to my message, and believe in God
who sent me, have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but
they have already passed from death into life.

● 2Cor 5:19 . . God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting
their trespasses against them

● Rom 4:8 . . Blessed is the man whose sin The Lord will never count against him.

The Greek word translated "counting" means to take an inventory; i.e. an
indictment.

Christians have quite an advantage because when there are no books on people,
then there is nothing on record with which to accuse them, i.e. it's as though
they've never been anything but 100% innocent.

This may seem like cooking the books, but God has a way to do it on the up and up
without obstructing justice.

UPDATE: 276 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 19,144,464 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
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● Luke 16:26a . . Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed

The barrier between Abraham's side of the netherworld and the rich man's is
curious. The Greek word is located nowhere else in the entire New Testament so we
can't compare it's application in other situations.

Chasm isn't necessarily a crevasse like a gorge or a canyon. It can also represent a
marked division, separation, or difference; for example there is a political chasm
between China's communist party and China's regular citizens.

A chasm then, can be likened to the contrast between good and evil, right and
wrong, wise and foolish, hate and love, the guilty and the innocent, the one true
God and the many tin Gods, the alive to God and the dead to God.

Anyway, this barrier in Luke's story isn't so expansive that people cannot recognize
familiar faces on the opposite side nor hear their voice. And if it's a literal gulf, then
I think it's reasonable to assume people have been trying to jump in to get away
from the flames.

The Bible says that God desires all men to be saved and that He derives no
pleasure from their misfortunes. However, once folks are lost in the netherworld,
God's attitude towards them takes quite a turn. Folks in Hell are dead to God, and
apparently He wants them to be dead to us too; even our loved ones and the BFF
for whom we care the most, i.e. personal contact with the other side for hugs and
kisses is not allowed.

● Luke 16:26b . .Those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone
cross over from there to us.

NOTE: Luke portrays only a small portion of the geography where Abraham and the
rich man conversed; suggesting that the two locations of the chasm where the men
stood are peninsulas or narrow cornices.

But I rather suspect that the rims of the chasm are straight and parallel like the
banks of a canal; plus extending sufficient distance in either direction to
accommodate hundreds, maybe even thousands, of friends and relatives seeking to
connect with their loved ones and BFF over on the other side.

UPDATE: 282 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 19,560,648 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
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I once heard a minister tell the story of a fictional busload of Hell's inmates who
were given a 30 day furlough for some R&R in Heaven. They all came back the first
night because God's world was such a bore.

There were no wild parties, no clothing-optional beaches, no bars, no night clubs,
no porn, no escort services, no pigging-out at buffets, no fights, no profanity, no
ribaldry, no free sex, no vulgar late-night comedy, no exotic dancers, no X-rated
movies, no junk food, no tobacco, no marijuana, no meth, no ecstasy, no LSD, no
hunting for sport, no fishing for sport, and no casino gambling.

And the hellsters didn't particularly care for the isolation. None of the good folk in
Heaven wanted to associate with them: they were ostracized, they were
segregated, and they were quarantined.

Heaven is a pleasant utopia. It's etiquette, its dress code, and its rules of conduct
and civility; were way too constraining for the hellsters. Especially suffocating is the
mandatory self control everyone has to exercise in their choice of words to avoid
hurting people's feelings.

Take for example Wall Street barracudas. Do you really think they'd be happy in
Heaven? Or sweat shop operators? Or influence peddlers? Or lobbyists? Or J
walking pedestrians? Or LGBTQ? Or greedy capitalists? Or unscrupulous social
networking moguls? Or cheap politicians? Or Communists? Or bookies? Or
hoarders? Or black marketeers? Or militant activists? Or Critical Race theorists? Or
1619 Project proponents? No. No. No. You see many of the interests that concern
Hell's people are unacceptable in Heaven; and in point of fact, none of Heaven's
people even want to hear about that stuff. For them that scene is over and they
don't want it back.

You know what else is lacking in Heaven? Religious tolerance. There is only one
religion up there. What's that tell you? Well; it tells me that the establishment
clause of the US Constitution's first amendment doesn't fly in Heaven. The
theocratic monarchy in Heaven insists upon dictating everyone's religious
preference.

All in all: Heaven's utopian society, coupled with its 24/7 Big Brother oversight,
universal surveillance, and strict morality, was just simply too much to ask in
exchange for some time off. Heaven, to the hellsters, was little more appealing
than a get-away in one of North Korea's prison camps.

UPDATE: 287 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 19,907,468 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
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If there is any good thing that can be said about the netherworld: it's the great
equalizer. Political bullies like Kim Jong-Un, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito
Mussolini, Xi Jinping, Fidel Castro, Mao Zedong, Idi Amin, Muammar Gaddafi,
Robert Mugabe, Pol Pot, and Saddam Hussein, et al are powerless down below;
they're just another face in the crowd.

● Isa 14:9-10 . . Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you
come. It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth. It
raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones. They will all respond and say
to you: Even you have been made weak as we. You have become like us.

Jesus once told a parable that advises folk it's wise to exercise kindness and
generosity on this side of life because people on the other side will doubtless
remember how you treated them here. The thing is: folks should expect to be
victims of a certain amount of cruelty on the wrong side of the netherworld because
down there what's the point in being civil? So it's wise to build up a following of folk
up here who owe you a favor so that when you arrive down there, you'll have some
friends instead of only foes looking to get even.

UPDATE: 292 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 20,254,288 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
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Not everyone is going to be judged on the basis of hearing + believing the gospel of
Christ. There are untold millions who never heard, nor will ever hear tell, of Jesus;
let alone his crucifixion for the sins of the world.

However, the beauties and complexities of nature: on earth and out in the void,
speak loudly and clearly enough that the cosmos-- all its forms of life, matter, and
energy --is the result of intelligent design. And the human conscience intuitively
knows that there is going to be a reckoning. This is what's known as the everlasting
gospel (Rev 14:6-7) and it has been preaching to men all over the globe from the
very beginning. (Ps 19:1-6, & Rom 1:18-20, & Rom 2:14-16)

According to Rom 10:18, nature itself is accounted as a gospel. This is pretty cool
because by nature's gospel, folks all over the globe-- those categorized as barbaric,
primitive, and uneducated --can qualify for God's good graces.

* Can you just imagine the indignation and outrage of an educated genius doomed
to the depths of Hell while an illiterate aboriginal with a bone in his nose is carried
aloft to the comforts of Heaven?

UPDATE: 297 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 20,601,108 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
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There's any number of ways the lost could be making their journey to the
netherworld. For example instead of being dragged underground by ghastly beings
such as those depicted in the movie 'GHOST", they may just fall down into the
ground like water through a sieve.

That's not a ridiculous idea seeing as deceased folk leave this world as disembodied
spirits. According to Luke 24:39 & John 4:24 spirit is immaterial, i.e. it has no mass
to speak of so its movement isn't impeded by solid materials like metal and dirt, or
wood and stone.

And spirit takes up no space. For example the feral man of Mark 5:1-13 was
possessed by a community of spirits who labeled themselves Legion, define by
Webster's as the principal unit of the Roman army comprising 3,000 to 6,000 foot
soldiers with cavalry. The legion of spirits that left that man went out and took up
residence in a herd of about 2,000 swine.

That's a pretty good example of how spirits take up no room in the physical world;
nor do they crowd each other. All 3,000 to 6,000 of those spirits managed to fit
inside the bodily cargo area of just that one guy. Just imagine the number of spirits
that could fit into the passenger area of an SUV.

NOTE: Those spirits slipped right out of that man. There was no need to cut him
open so they could evacuate.

UPDATE: 302 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 20,947,928 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_

 

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● Job 14:14 . . If a man dies, will he live again?

Back in ancient times; men like Job were attuned to nature. In point of fact, Job
was a very successful rancher; a guy who made his living working outdoors.
Every year he watched things die in the Fall and come back in the Spring. If only
human life were like that; but alas, when people die they typically don't regenerate
like the new leaves on a dormant maple tree.

● 1Pet 1:24 . . All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the
field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of The Lord stands
forever.

UPDATE: 307 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 21,294,748 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
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FAQ: Folks not found registered in the Lamb's book of life are sent to the second
death per Rev 20:11-15. Will they be consumed by the brimstone and gone
forever?

REPLY: The properties of natural materials can be adjusted to withstand fire. For
example the burning bush per Ex 3:1-3, the three Jewish lads in the furnace per
Dan 3:23-27, and the worms per Isa 66:23-24.

UPDATE: 312 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 21,641,568 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
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● Luke 16:27-29 . . I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have
five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of
torment.

The five brothers would more than likely recognize Lazarus because he was laid at
the rich man's gate; so that whenever they came over for a visit; there he'd be for
them to walk past.

I can well imagine that the men would be fascinated by Lazarus' tale but not
fascinated enough to make a difference because Abraham assured the rich man
that his brothers wouldn't believe Lazarus; and honestly: who in their right mind
would; especially a tale coming from a no-account indigent whose body covered
with sores very likely wasn't even given a decent burial but instead dumped without
ceremony in a landfill somewhere?

UPDATE: 318 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 22,057,752 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_

 

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The Lord wasn't looking for people's religion on Passover night, nor was he looking
for people's piety and/or their conduct . He was looking for just one thing, and one
thing only: the blood.

That being the case, then had a Jewish family failed to apply the blood in the proper
manner, their first-born son would've been slain. On the other hand; were an
Egyptian family careful to apply the blood in the proper manner, their son would've
been spared because the The Lord is neither biased nor prejudiced.

Along that same line; Jesus' blood will protect anybody and everybody who applies
it in the proper manner because he died for all; no exceptions regardless of age,
race, gender identity, and/or religious affiliation. But many won't be protected by his
blood, because they will neglect to apply it at all, let alone properly.

UPDATE: 323 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 22,404,572 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_

 

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Although church attendance is oftentimes thought of as worship, in reality it's not
quite.

● John 4:21 . . Jesus declared: Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will
worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

* Jerusalem is the Temple site-- the very hub of worship --yet Jesus ranks it below
something far more important.

● John 4:23 . . A time is coming, and has now come, when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father
seeks.

The human spirit is inadequate for the level of worship Jesus spoke of, so; it's
necessary to infuse folks with God's spirit in order to bring them up to speed, so to
speak.

● John 4:24 . . God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in
Spirit and in truth.

Actually Jesus didn't introduce something new. The prophet Ezekiel predicted that
very thing something like 500 years before Jesus was born.

"I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring
you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be
clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give
you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of
stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit in you and move you to
follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws". (Ezek 36:24-27)

UPDATE: 328 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 22,751,392 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_

 

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Well, since my baby left me,
I found a new place to dwell.
It's down at the end of Lonely Street at
Heartbreak Hotel.

Although it's always crowded,
You still can find some room
For broken-hearted lovers
To cry there in their gloom.

That song, by Elvis Presley back in 1956, was very popular; and useful for depicting
some of the conditions folks might expect in the netherworld should they end up on
the wrong side of things. For example: just as Elvis' hotel always has a vacancy, so
the netherworld too.

● Prov 30:15-16 . . There are three things that will not be satisfied-- four that will
not say, "Enough"

One of the four listed in that passage is Sheol, a.k.a. Hades which in Hellenistic
culture spoke of the netherworld: a place in which all the dead were warehoused:
both the good dead and the bad dead regardless of age, race, gender, or religious
preference.

And then there's "cry there in their gloom"

● Matt 13:40-42 . . As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so
shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and
they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do
iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth.

UPDATE: 333 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 23,098,212 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_

 

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● Heb 6:4-6 . . For it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who
have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted
the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall
away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying
the Son of God afresh and subjecting him to public disgrace.

We know that with God nothing is impossible. So, I think we have to acquiesce that
the impossibility spoken of here is so because God has made it His mission in life,
so to speak, to assure that folks blessed with the level of advantages spoken of
here are never to be given an opportunity to reconsider-- ever. The die is cast; e.g.
Judas Iscariot. (cf. Prov 1:20-33)

UPDATE: 338 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 23,445,032 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_

 

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● Matt 13:10 . . And the disciples came and said to him: Why do you speak to
them in parables?

● Matt 13:11 . . It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
Heaven, but to them it is not given.

Jesus answered their inquiry by referring to an incident in the 6th chapter of
Isaiah's prophecy wherein God had lost interest in numbers of His people because
they had lost interest in Him.

The Jews' spiritual condition was little different in Jesus' day, i.e. many were called
but few chosen, and that's because the many were indifferent; which is not the
appropriate response.

UPDATE: 343 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 23,791,852 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_

 

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I'd imagine the hardest part about Heaven is not getting there, but staying there.

Some years ago it occurred to me that it's very easy for me to live in this world, but
Heaven would require a level of piety and self control that I was pretty sure I
couldn't keep up forever. Sooner or later I'd mess up and get thrown out. But if it
were just as easy for me to live in Heaven as it is for me to live in this world, then
for sure I'd never get thrown out of Heaven.

In other words: if only thinking, feeling, and acting like God came just as natural to
me as thinking, feeling, and acting like a human; then that would be the cat's
meow.

UPDATE: 349 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 24,138,672 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_

 

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● Deut 34:5-6 . . Moses the servant of The Lord died there in the land of Moab,
according to the word of The Lord. And He buried him in the valley in the land of
Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day.

A very curious scene unfolded during Moses' burial. The Devil argued with Michael
the archangel about Moses' body. (Jude 9)

It's been suggested that the Devil objected to secrecy. In other words; it's possible
that he wanted Moses' body enshrined in a sort of Church of the Holy Sepulcher
where the Jews could be lured into idolatry by adoring Moses' remains as a sacred
relic. That's actually a very plausible suggestion. For example: there's a statue of
the apostle Peter in Rome whose big toe has been eroded over the years by the lips
of pilgrims kissing it. (cf. 2Kings 18:4)

Anyway; if the Devil would interfere with the burial of a holy man like Moses, then I
think we can safely assume he (or one of his minions) probably interferes with the
burials of ordinary folk too; and I should think the smartest way for him to interfere
is to ensure the minister comes out with nothing useful in his eulogy; but instead
with the usual mushy rhetoric by which nobody hearing it can be moved to consider
their afterlife prospects. (Just goes to show that the Devil is not above walking over
the bones of the dead to get what he wants.)

UPDATE: 354 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 24,554,456 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_

 

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God prohibits dishonesty.

● Lev 19:11 . . You shall not deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

I think it's probably safe to posit that more liars are now, and more liars will be, in
Hell than any other category simply because deceit, deception, fraud, hoax, fibs,
cover ups, slander, malicious gossip, propaganda, dissembling, cheating, false
impressions, pretense, scams, sophistry, double-speak, rumors, half truths, and
perjury are far more common.

● Rev 21:8 . . . All liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and
brimstone, which is the second death.

Living in a world of liars below shouldn't be much different than living in a world of
liars up here so that folks who end up down there should fit right in; requiring only
minimal adjustment.

UPDATE: 359 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 24,901,676 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_

 

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● Ps 73:3-17 . . I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the
wicked. Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

● Matt 16:26 . . For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses
his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

It's been my observation that many of the powerful folks controlling education,
finance, manufacturing, governance, entertainment, food production, health care,
pharmaceuticals, print media and broadcast news, etc, are quite lacking scruples,
and conduct their affairs as if they're autonomous sovereigns with no one to answer
to beyond the sphere of their existence; indifferent that the path of their success is
leading them down a road of no return.

UPDATE: 364 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 25,248,496 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_

 

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Gen 2:15-17 is a favorite among critics because Adam didn't drop dead within 24
hours of tasting the forbidden fruit. In point of fact, he continued to live outside the
garden of Eden for another 800 years after the birth of his son Seth. (Gen 5:4)

Some say Adam died a so-called "spiritual" death, and that's true, but not entirely
true, viz: the explanation isn't misinformation, rather, it's missing information. In
other words: human life came out of the box with perpetual youth, which Adam
lost when he tasted the forbidden fruit.

The aging process is a lingering death rather than sudden death, i.e. it's slow, but
very relentless. Mortality feels neither pain nor pity, nor remorse nor fear; it cannot
be reasoned with nor can it be bargained with, and it absolutely will not stop--
ever! --until our useless corpse is ready for burial.

● Eccl 7:2 . . It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of
mirth, for death is the destiny of every man: the living should take this seriously.
(cf. Luke 12:16-21)

NOTE: Superhuman bodies like Arnold Swarzenegger's look indestructible while
young, but their youth isn't permanent. Today Arnold is pushing 76 and taking on
the appearance of spoiling vegetables.

UPDATE: 369 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 25,595,316 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_

 

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● 1Cor 4:4 . . My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.

During former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's assassination back in 2011, he
was overheard to complain: Why are you doing this? I've done nothing wrong.

Former US President Richard Nixon once stated-- in so many words --that when a
President breaks the law, it's not a crime.

The USA prohibits discriminatory hiring practices based upon age, race, or sex; yet
when the opportunity came to replace one of the US Supreme Court justices,
President Biden ignored fair hiring practices and announced his intention to
nominate a black woman; thus effectively blocking all other candidates solely upon
the basis of their color and their gender.

Those three men serve to demonstrate just how unreliable the human conscience
can be at times.

Man was created with as near a perfect conscience as a creature can be given.

● Gen 1:27 . . God created Man in His own image, in the image of God created He
him.

But then came the forbidden fruit incident by which Man's near-divine conscience
underwent something that caused it to become that of a tin God.

● Gen 3:22 . . The Lord God said: The man has now become like one of us,
knowing good and evil.

Man was able to discern between good and evil before his fall, but that was by
means of a conscience influenced by its maker. The forbidden fruit incident altered
Man's conscience to become his own influence, i.e. Man became defensive, and he
rationalizes a lot too. (Rom 2:14-15)

I think the writer of 1Cor 4:4 was well aware of just how tricky Man's conscience
can be so he was reluctant to insist upon his innocence-- a little sophistry here and
a little rationalizing there, and even incorrigible monsters like Communist China's Xi
Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong-Un can be persuaded in their own minds to
believe themselves okay guys.

● Jer 17:9-10 . .The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick;
who can understand it? . . . I, The Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to
give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.

The upside is: Christ's crucifixion not only serves to rescue people from their sins,
but according to Heb 9:8-14 his death atones for their conscience too.

UPDATE: 374 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the OP's figures are in
the ball park, then something like 25,942,136 new arrivals have checked into the fiery
sector of Hades since July 04, 2023.
_