I didn’t provide an email address because the response area is where people should leave responses — just as you did. Thanks!

Regarding my first item, you missed my unstated (but cheeky) point. Looking in the Bible for evidence for God’s existence is a fool’s errand. It comes down to circular thinking, or a variant of “the Bible is true because the Bible says it’s true.” In other words, there is nothing in the Bible that serves as evidence for God’s existence. So I’ll admit that my first question was “insincere” only to the deadpan extent that by asking it I want believers to think long and hard about the question, to see if an understanding of the problem of circular thinking occurs to them.

Yes, the idea of a Hell as a celestial torture chamber is held only by certain believers, and I have to tell you that lots of Christians believe in Hell. It’s a wacky belief, isn’t it? Well, a belief in Heaven is equally wacky. Going further, let me say right here that all religious beliefs of whatever stripe that involve embracing a supernatural idea (key point) about existence are wacky, but you probably already figured out that I would say that.