thought provoking conversation.



why not give your two cents?

 

Dollhouse had an episode that dealt with the "eternal life" question in season one.

Aeon Flux also touched on it.

It's a rather tense thing to think about, since we as a whole are so afraid of our mortality.

 

According to The Bible:



If you believe in what it says, specifically about Jesus paying your penalty on the cross - AND - if you believe it applies to you: you go to Heaven

If you don't, you're damned.

No exceptions. Everyone will have an adequate chance to believe at some point. Most will reject belief. There are varying degrees of reward and punishment. There is no purgatory.

 

I personally believe very strongly in a life after death. There's too much evidence in the world and in space pointing at some sort of creater, some higher being. That higher power is clearly and personally revealed in the Bible, which very convincinly speaks of a life after death. Whether that's a second death, or life eternal depends on who you believe - our feeble minds, or God's power. Without a doubt, I put no reliance on little me.



Here's a couple things to think about:



1. There's really the two views - life after death, and worm food. If you believe the worm food idea and don't do anything about your salvation; if you just happen to be wrong, what then? Is eternal hell really worth that risk? On the other hand, if you live a Christian life and acknowledge God as your savior; if you just happen to be wrong and you end up as worm food, how could you be any worse off? I'd rather err on the safe side and live a Christian life rather than risk being wrong about the worm food idea.



2. Do a google search for NDE stories (Near Death Experiences). There are way too many stories, way too many people who have been there and back, way too much evidence for me to believe that there's nothing after death. Spend a few minutes (first time I looked it up, I was stuck for a couple hours reading those stories - way too interesting!) reading some of those stories. How can ALL those people be completely wrong?



3. Look at your Hyundai. Did it spontaneously come into being? Surely you know better. Of course it didn't! Now look in the mirror. Look at your spouse. Did it (you) spontaneously come into being? Again, surely you know better. Of course you didn't! How can we definitively say that your Hyundai didn't come into being independently, but a more complex object (you) did? Surely there has to be something that made you, this world, the stars, the sun, and everything, no?

 

Spam! nom nom nom nom

 

I'm leaning more towards the worm food side of things.







I just look at all the times I could have died doing something dumb. I didn't feel an ethereal hand guiding me, nor did I have life flashing before my eyes, just a pretty big rush of adrenaline and shaky hands afterwards. Did I miss that power pole by a foot because that's just where I was driving? Or was it all in God's plan for the power pole to be placed there by manipulating the optimum cable layout when it was built? If it was His plan for me to live, why make (or allow...) me drive like an idiot in the first place? My mind can go on and on and not really find an answer.



Anyway. Hoardes of people die every day, and it doesn't seem to matter whether or not they are righteous or evil. Most of them probably died in shitty circumstances too. I don't think it is fair and loving for any living creature to burn to death, or die slowly over many years due to brain cancer...





A few things that have interested me but I haven't been able to ask:



-If somebody is considered evil, (lets say Muammar Gaddafi - I know he's a muslim but just pretend he is christian for now) do they get a chance to redeem themselves before God? What if somebody initiates a crusade, for example? If they believe they are acting under God's will, but are actually committing a huge evil, what happens? Are they admitted into heaven? Back to Muammar, he committed some terrible atrocities, but I doubt he thought he was evil inside his own head. Would he be able to gain redemption and enter heaven?



-What of people who are completely insane, mentally retarded, or are in a coma? If somebody is born with downs syndrome, will their soul also have downs syndrome? Or has their soul simply entered a shitty body... are they being punished/reincarnated? What about somebody who is a severe autist? Does that comprise their actual soul, or is there a good soul in there trying to function? Are they then to be held accountable for their actions before God?



-If somebody is a devout... Muslim, for example, and genuinely believe in the Qu'ran and Allah and the whole thing, are they even eligble to enter heaven? Considering that they would technically be worshipping a false god, but in their mind they are legit. Damnation for them?







I hope that makes sense, especially the questions. I've been genuinely puzzled by that for ages.

 

But.... what is Heaven? What is damned? Varying degrees of reward?? I think this is where I read it differently.

 

To address a few of wheel_of_steel's thoughts and my own personal beliefs...



I don't find God to be unreasonable or quick to damn people. For people who are mentally ill, insane, or otherwise unable to act on their own, I find them to be innocent as a young child would. To what extent can you hold a 2 year old accountable for their actions, and not their parents? Likewise, a tribe of people in an African wilderness won't know the name "Jesus" or "God" apart from anything else. Are they "eternally damned" (whatever that means) for not having a Bible or not knowing who Jesus is?



Micah 6:8

8 He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the LORD require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?

 

to worm food. Dont believe in all the religious mumbo jumbo