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Wiki
...immediately after death, a person undergoes judgment in which the soul's eternal destiny is specified.[17] Some are eternally united with God in Heaven, often envisioned as a paradise of eternal joy. Conversely, others are destined for Hell, a state of eternal separation from God often envisioned as a fiery place of punishment.
reply to post by Titen-Sxull
Personally I never liked the idea of eternal life all that much, perhaps eternal life on Earth in a human body with free will like some sort of highlander would be nice but being stuck in Heaven bowing down all day with NO SADNESS would suck. Sadness is what gives life meaning, sorry but I don't want to be some zombie smiling and bowing for all eternity
if a culture doesn't perceive death or afterlife to be permanent then a lot of the questions become moot.
Q1: There is no risk of this. We are not forced to accept life its a choice we made before birth.
Q2: God does. Man is not made to be equal with each other.
Q3: The same thing that happens to everyone else, only faster.
Q4: No one 'makes it' to Heaven, Heaven isn't a place you hang out, its the place where the Angels and the Throne of God reside. When the final golden age comes we will have bought heaven to earth and only then will we ALL reside their.
Q5: He doesn't. There is no Hell other than the ones we put ourselves in, and through time (even aafter death) we can work our way out of them.
reply to post by Conspiracy Pianist
For me, instead of then considering that perhaps God doesn't exist, I consider that the scriptures and subsequent institutionalized religions aren't God's Word or God's Work.
Originally posted by Titen-Sxull
Nope. Doesn't work or make a lick of sense at all.
In my opinion this is a conspiracy bestowed upon the masses to get them to behave in a certain way out of fear for eternal damnation.
Ironically, even in the case of Reincarnation, some people believe in Karma, which is also often spoken of as if it is kind of a 'spiritual criminal record'.
Question 1: Why force this existence upon us if we risk eternal agony as a consequence?
None of us asked to be here, at least I'm sure I didn't. Why would an all loving God create us without our approval, even though it meant that suddenly there is the possibility I might go to an eternal Hell designed for torment and agony? If I were asked beforehand and knew about the 50:50 chance ratio, I would have chosen for non-existence, non-awareness; you can't miss what you never had.
Question 2: Who decides where we are born?
The place of birth, and family we are born in can have a great effect on our behaviour. If I were born as the child of Mother Theresa there'd been a much better chance that I would end up in Heaven than if I were born in the family of a notorious and murderous Ku Klux Klan leader.
I don't believe there is equal opportunity at birth at all, so how is the birthplace decided and do some people get compensation or extra leeway considering their disadvantage at birth?
Question 3: What happens to people who die before they are able to commit sins?
Question 4: What if your loved didn't make it to Heaven and you did?
Question 5: How can a forgiving God keep people in Hell forever?
How is that even possible? Imo it isn't, so either God isn't always forgiving or eternal damnation does not exist.
Conclusion
I do not fear my God, and therefore I do not fear the afterlife. I consider Eternal Heaven or Eternal Hell to be lies, and I believe all of us already possess Eternal Life; it is mostly up to us whether we spend it in Heaven or in Hell.
the soul that sins, it shall die
for he who has paid the penalty of death stands absolved from his sin.
Answer 1: We don't risk it. The absolute worst that can happen to us is that we will cease to exist for all eternity, with no hope of a resurrection either back to the earth or to heaven.
Answer 2: Our Parents.
Answer 3: Sin is a genetically inherited fatal flaw, all humans at the moment of conception have sin in their very DNA. This is why we grow old and die at the present. So the same thing happens to them as an 80 year old sinner that die's, they are awaiting a resurrection back to life, and are currently sleeping in a coma like state.
Answer 4: That is very unlikely from my perspective, however if one of them made it to heaven, they would be most blessed and I would be happy for them.
Answer 5: He won't! Hell as portrayed by Christendom does not exist! The Greek word Hades and the Hebrew word Sheol were mistranslated and mixed up with the word Gehenna, they are not the same. Most people that are dead are in Hades or Sheol, which means they will live again, but are from Jesus perspective just sleeping. Those in Gehenna aren't in a sleep like condition but are permanently gone. As God said from dust you are to dust you will return in death. It was Satan that said eat and you will live forever. Satan is still perpetuating the original lie that the soul lives forever. But the soul can and does die.
Ezekiel 18:4b the soul that sins, it shall die
Romans 6:7 for he who has paid the penalty of death stands absolved from his sin.
So from this we learn that the souls dies but the price of death is so high that it wipes out a lifetime of sin.
Originally posted by Conspiracy Pianist
reply to post by Blue_Jay33
Answer 1: We don't risk it. The absolute worst that can happen to us is that we will cease to exist for all eternity, with no hope of a resurrection either back to the earth or to heaven.
The question still stands then, albeit in different form:
What if one of my loved ones doesn't quite make it and ceases to exist forever while I will continue to exist and miss him/her? Why force that possibility upon us?
REPLY: But It's not eternal damnation. And God can and will take away all forms of mental and emotional pain in the future.
Answer 2: Our Parents.
Well it's true that the parents decide where a new baby will be born in most cases, but who decides which soul goes to which new baby body? The location and family of birth have a tremendous influence on how much temptation a person will find on their path... often even detrimental influence.
REPLY: I simply do not believe that a soul goes into a babies body, a new soul is created at conception, God made it so souls could be generated by human procreation. As to the second part of your statement, life is cruel and unfair at this time, we all have to deal with what comes our way the best we can.
Answer 3: Sin is a genetically inherited fatal flaw, all humans at the moment of conception have sin in their very DNA. This is why we grow old and die at the present. So the same thing happens to them as an 80 year old sinner that die's, they are awaiting a resurrection back to life, and are currently sleeping in a coma like state.
So Mother Theresa and Hitler will share the exact same fate regardless of their actions? It's all falling apart quite quick in my opinion...
REPLY: Well in the future when God brings people back to life people MUST change from what they used to be, it will be an easy transition for people that were good, but a more difficult one for those that were evil. If they don't change within the allotted time, they will die for good this time.
Answer 4: That is very unlikely from my perspective, however if one of them made it to heaven, they would be most blessed and I would be happy for them.
Regardless of how unlikely it is, the possibility exists. If there's a line in the sand, some will cross it big time, while others may have just crossed it by a hair.
REPLY: I am not worried about it, I know of some married couples that have different hopes for the future, one heaven bound, the other with a earthly destiny. Although both are judged righteous eventually they will be separated, but both live on.
Answer 5: He won't! Hell as portrayed by Christendom does not exist! The Greek word Hades and the Hebrew word Sheol were mistranslated and mixed up with the word Gehenna, they are not the same. Most people that are dead are in Hades or Sheol, which means they will live again, but are from Jesus perspective just sleeping. Those in Gehenna aren't in a sleep like condition but are permanently gone. As God said from dust you are to dust you will return in death. It was Satan that said eat and you will live forever. Satan is still perpetuating the original lie that the soul lives forever. But the soul can and does die.
How can we ascertain that it is indeed a lie that we already have eternal life?
This is a pretty big deal in my opinion, because if some people cease to exist while others life eternally in heaven... doesn't sound like a nice thing to do as a Creator in my opinion. On the contrary, giving everyone a guaranteed eternal life sounds much more like an act of Love for all his creations.
I cannot find it in my heart to believe that God wouldn't do such a thing.
REPLY: Why would an evil person be granted eternal life either in heaven or earth? They would just ruin things for the good people around them.
God is like a landlord of the planet, he owns it and can evict the bad tenants whenever he wants too. A forced eviction equals non-existence.
Ezekiel 18:4b the soul that sins, it shall die
Romans 6:7 for he who has paid the penalty of death stands absolved from his sin.
I'm sorry, with all due respect I have decided a long time ago that the scriptures cannot be the Word of God, so you might as well quote a fairytale but I will always use my heart, conscience and intellect to go with what I deem most likely and proceed with what I decide is the best way forward.
I believe that God has given us these tools and free will for exactly that reason.
REPLY: Sorry you feel that way, but the bible when properly understood is the code for truth, otherwise every human opinion has equal value and we see where that has gotten us in the last few thousand years.
1 Timothy 3: 16 & 17
16 All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.
So from this we learn that the souls dies but the price of death is so high that it wipes out a lifetime of sin.
This would only make sense to me if heavy sinners die slow painful deaths whereas innocent children die fast and pain free in their sleep.
REPLY: Then you do not understand God's method of justice, does a loving parent hold a disobedient child's hand on a stove element, to inflict pain? No.
The perfect man Jesus with no sin did not die a quick death, most humans will never experience such a horrific death. Yet that death redeemed all humanity past, present and future. God and his son Jesus have already paid the highest price in the universe for us to live.
We know this to not be true, so I can only conclude that there must be another explanation... Why would everything in life follow logic, and the laws of cause and effect, but when it comes to the core questions of our existence we find logical fallacies and contradictory explanations?
I believe Creation is perfect, so I look beyond the scriptures for truth, or at the very best what is most likely and most beneficial to live by.
REPLY: Creation WAS perfect, but God did not create robots, he created both angels and humans with free will, they could choose to sin. He told them of the consequences if they did exercise the ability to sin. Just as we have the the free choice to jump naked from an airplane, our free choice, but the consequences of that free choice would not be good. The law of gravity would contribute to our deaths. God has laws too, and there are consequences for ignoring them, just like if we ignore the law of gravity.
Thanks for posting, much appreciated!
God can and will take away all forms of mental and emotional pain in the future.
I simply do not believe that a soul goes into a babies body, a new soul is created at conception, God made it so souls could be generated by human procreation.
As to the second part of your statement, life is cruel and unfair at this time, we all have to deal with what comes our way the best we can.
Well in the future when God brings people back to life people MUST change from what they used to be, it will be an easy transition for people that were good, but a more difficult one for those that were evil. If they don't change within the allotted time, they will die for good this time.
I am not worried about it, I know of some married couples that have different hopes for the future, one heaven bound, the other with a earthly destiny. Although both are judged righteous eventually they will be separated, but both live on.
Why would an evil person be granted eternal life either in heaven or earth? They would just ruin things for the good people around them.
God is like a landlord of the planet, he owns it and can evict the bad tenants whenever he wants too. A forced eviction equals non-existence.
Sorry you feel that way, but the bible when properly understood is the code for truth, otherwise every human opinion has equal value and we see where that has gotten us in the last few thousand years.
Then you do not understand God's method of justice.
The perfect man Jesus with no sin did not die a quick death, most humans will never experience such a horrific death.
Yet that death redeemed all humanity past, present and future.
God has laws too, and there are consequences for ignoring them