Is there a Heaven And Hell ? or the worlds greastest lie?

I lost my parents because of religion. My entire family are either church owners or are ministers in their faith. I grew-up in this environment. I grew-up in fear that if I did something wrong that would condemn me to an eternity of flames and torture. I eventually grew-up.
I am an adult now and I asked myself the question. The question being is: if I am going to grasp God and be so faithful and so devoted to that being, then I wanted to know what exactly I was doing.
So I searched and searched.....I kept on saying to myself that there HAD to be a true religion. What I found was the "Epic of Gilgamesh". It is the very first writing of human kind. That HAD to be the first, right? No...even that writing left a false taste in my mouth. So here I am...unsatisfied with the truth that I have found but hungry for the truth out there.
If anyone can help me, it would be gratifying for one to be without faith is one to float for an eternity.

Or a thread????

yeah some text would be nice!
Not really sure what youre getting at...

My answer is that the only heaven or hell that exists in anything close to the way the Bible describes them...is on earth, created by man.

Otherwise, no. They don't exist, other than as fables invented for controlling the masses.

My beliefs, take it or leave it.

I would say heaven and hell are reflected in the consequences of our actions through conscience and karma.

reply to post by HEATHERTHOMSON911


I say Heaven and Hell are man made myths that are made to control the masses. Be a good little sheep in life and end up in a nice peaceful place or be a bad little black sheep and end up in hell, fire and brimstone and eternal damnation await you there!! Whatever.

I believe this sums it up perfectly .. but there's other information out there, the concept of hell didn't exist in the original biblical texts.. it's the invention of man and it's all about control.. keeping the sheep in line

John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal bishop from Newark, N.J., interviewed by Keith Morrison on Dateline, NBC, 8-13-2006



Another video with John .. he's brilliant

Heather trust me, Heaven nd Hell are very real, but unfortunately people that don't believe find out AFTER they get to hell, and that's when it's too late to do anything about it, just read up on NDE's, there are some real ones, but there are also some fake ones.
Read the book Revealing Heaven to get a glimpse of what heaven is like. God does love us and if you knew what He had in store for people who loved him then you'd find that it's worth living for Him. Jesus died for people's sins so that we could be able to go there instead of hell. But please make your choice soon. Time is almost up!

Yes heaven and hell are real. It says so in the bible so it must be true.

If you are good and you kill all the enemies of god, all the males, females, children, animals, wipe them completely out of existence, then when you die you get to go to heaven.

If you are bad and you question how a loving god could make you kill your own son as a sacrifice or kill all those people or cause plagues that kill countless first-born children or creates a place of eternal torture if you question him, then you get to go to hell.

Heaven was created by man to make him feel good about the concept of death.

Hell was created by man to control other men who are too weak-minded to think for themselves.

Just my .02

Originally posted by WatcherMan
Heather trust me, Heaven nd Hell are very real, but unfortunately people that don't believe find out AFTER they get to hell, and that's when it's too late to do anything about it, just read up on NDE's, there are some real ones, but there are also some fake ones.

Then why didn't the concept of hell exist in the original texts? .. it's something men added over time.. it didn't exist in any form prior to man writing it in .. it just didn't.. it's just a conveniently scary form of keeping the flock in line with promises of reward or punishment

reply to post by mikelkhall


I'm interested to know why you think that God makes man do bad things to each other?

I'm not tryin to bash you or anything, just interested. Satan is the one that does this, not God. (respectfully disagreeing) but people blame God.

Check out this video. Noah's Ark is real. It's short

Originally posted by WatcherMan
reply to post by mikelkhall

 

I'm interested to know why you think that God makes man do bad things to each other?

I'm not tryin to bash you or anything, just interested. Satan is the one that does this, not God. (respectfully disagreeing) but people blame God.

People blame anyone but themselves.. People like to think God is helping them win a sporting event, people like to think the devil made them do it when they were unfaithful to their loved one .. We have free will and that gives us the freedom to screw up .. OWN UP TO IT .. This is where the man made concept of heaven and hell come into play.. Man invented heaven to sway the flock to stick to the rules, and the concept of hell as a way to scare them from even thinking about straying off that path.. but these concepts didn't exist in the old texts from which the bible was derived ... well then who added them? .. men ... men invented those concepts and added them in.. there's a lot of things man has added to the original texts..

reply to post by miniatus


Because, Satan's plan is to discredit christianity. So far that seems to be working out. Think about it, I'm not 100% on the facts but I'd say christianity is one of the most ignored religions out there. He wants to drag people to hell with him. I know it sounds like a fairytale, like most people say, but it is true. The sad part is people don't realize until it's too late, and they end up in hell...

reply to post by WatcherMan

Heather trust me, Heaven nd Hell are very real, but unfortunately people that don't believe find out AFTER they get to hell, and that's when it's too late to do anything about it, just read up on NDE's, there are some real ones, but there are also some fake ones.

And she is to "trust" you? People only find out AFTER they get to hell? How is it possible then that you know this information from beyond the grave that the rest of us don't? Oh yeah, NDE's. I died three times and was brought back each time (same accident) but before I had died I told my partner to tell my wife and daughter that I loved them. That was the only unfinished business I had to take care of. I had no NDE because my mind did not have to come up with a fight or flight response or chemical induced hallucination to make my passing easier. If you believe in religion then thats fantastic and I have no problems with that. I even applaud your faith just come up with a better answer than NDE's to prove the existence of life after death.

Originally posted by WatcherMan
reply to post by miniatus

 

Because, Satan's plan is to discredit christianity. So far that seems to be working out. Think about it, I'm not 100% on the facts but I'd say christianity is one of the most ignored religions out there. He wants to drag people to hell with him. I know it sounds like a fairytale, like most people say, but it is true. The sad part is people don't realize until it's too late, and they end up in hell...

Why not educate yourself on biblical history? .. if you do that then you'll know what I'm telling you is entirely true.. if anything, blind faith would be the preference of Satan because it allows people to act without thinking..

Do some research - you will realize that hell didn't exist until we scribbled it into existence... that is just a historical fact that you can go see for yourself...

Originally posted by WatcherMan
Heather trust me, Heaven nd Hell are very real, but unfortunately people that don't believe find out AFTER they get to hell, and that's when it's too late to do anything about it, just read up on NDE's, there are some real ones, but there are also some fake ones.
Read the book Revealing Heaven to get a glimpse of what heaven is like. God does love us and if you knew what He had in store for people who loved him then you'd find that it's worth living for Him. Jesus died for people's sins so that we could be able to go there instead of hell. But please make your choice soon. Time is almost up!

I myself live life being the best person I can be, I love helping people were I can and making them happy any way I can. I don't need a God/Gods or any of his "Prophets" to tell me how to live my life. I'm not scared of were I end up if my beliefs are wrong because if people just like myself end up there as well I think we'll all be alright. I don't need any scary texts of torture and damination to make me be a better person or fear of God as some religious people put it.

Hell was created for Satan, but the people who sin end up there as well because the bible says sin cannot coexist with God in heaven. The bible says so, that's how I know. NDE's are just proof of god's mercy, giving people second chances to come back and spread the word. That's why God manifested himself in his son Jesus and died on the cross, because he had to sacrifice someone pure because he didn't want to keep sending people to Hell.

reply to post by HEATHERTHOMSON911


Well there is a heaven. It may not be what is described in the likes of the bible but all you need to do is look up every once in a while to remind yourself. As for hell, it is possible as well. Things that were seen to the people in the past, we may never see so it is hard to understand at the best of times what they spoke about. Maybe even the history we have been told is a complete lie also.

Believe what you want, don't assume that any Religion is entirely correct or wrong. Somewhere down the track all the religions of today will be Myths while other people, in another time are putting up with the same crap with a different deity or God.

I believe history does repeat itself. An End always ushers in a new beginning and thats just the way it works. Whether it is divine intervention or simply a cycle that no-one can do anything about, I don't know. Maybe we are just being spoon fed BS as well and nothing will ever happen, but I assure you, you are not the only one questioning yourself.

Originally posted by WatcherMan


Hell was created for Satan, but the people who sin end up there as well because the bible says sin cannot coexist with God in heaven. The bible says so, that's how I know. NDE's are just proof of god's mercy, giving people second chances to come back and spread the word. That's why God manifested himself in his son Jesus and died on the cross, because he had to sacrifice someone pure because he didn't want to keep sending people to Hell.

You're making the same mistake most make in this day and age and you're taking the current version of the bible as a literal text .. you're forgetting it has been based on historical documents and those documents DO NOT HAVE A HELL .. The revisions, translations, additions and omissions have introduced the concept of hell .. Again.. I say learn the history of the holy bible.. you might be surprised and hopefully, illuminated.

reply to post by WatcherMan

I'm interested to know why you think that God makes man do bad things to each other? I'm not tryin to bash you or anything, just interested. Satan is the one that does this, not God. (respectfully disagreeing) but people blame God.

I understand that you are not bashing and I have no problem with someone questioning my belief or unbelief.

You do realize that it was God that told Abram to sacrifice his own son Issac right? You do realize that it was God that told Moses to kill his own people right?

Exodus 32:26-28 26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. 28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

Is it your contention now to say that this was not God but Satan that did this?