excreationist

long winded fool:
That sounds pretty reasonable, although I think it doesn't reflect the Bible's verses about hell very well.
BTW, what if a person was about 1 year old when they died? Which afterlife would they go to? And what if they were an adult but had never had heard of the Christian God in their lifetime?

Sabine Grant

My reply to Ronin has a lot to do with previous exchanges we have had. We have a history of "butting minds"but always with a touch of

Sabine Grant

It is mindwarming to see you back by the way..... I believe I have explored that theme while exchanging thoughts with Buffman in the thread " believing in God". I hate to repeat myself.

long winded fool

Romans 2:14-15 Gentiles being equivalent to all non-jews or non-christians. This whole chapter is one big slap in the face to most religious fundamentalists. The "Law that is made known to all" is separate from the laws of the prophets and scriptures. You never even need to read a single word of the Bible or have ever even heard of the man called Jesus of Nazareth to be saved. All anyone needs is already "written on their heart." I interpret this to mean 'follow your conscience and you're following God's will.' Maybe this doesn't reflect modern Christianity very well, but it is right there in the Bible. Chrsitians ought to look at their own holy book more closely.

I agree that the Bible depicts Hell as a place of eternal torment and of "weeping and gnashing of teeth." When I started reading the Bible, I immediately noticed how ridiculous and contradictory it was to take it literally. Since it is overflowing with obvious and not-so-obvious allegory, I tried, for better or for worse, to piece the puzzle together accounting for symbolism and allegory. Since the only place I know of where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth is Earth, and since you leave your teeth behind when you die, maybe Hell is just right here? A recurring message in the Bible is to abandon earthly pleasures and seek spirituality and grace. If your entire life is occupied solely with the pursuit of physical pleasure, how could your soul know anything different upon death? Why would you want to leave the only form of pleasure you ever knew? Wouldn't an eternity of addiction to physical pleasure without a body to experience it with truly be eternal torment? Could the hauntings and ghosts people sometimes claim to see be souls in Hell, searching in vain for physical pleasure? Perhaps God's divine plan is for us to rise above our instincts and use our gifts of reason? We all have the ability. It's whether we choose to use it or not that determines where we'll end up. If we know of spirituality and non-physical pleasure, we'll gladly go to heaven when we die. If we only know instincts and the physical world, we would never want to go anywhere there can be no physical pleasure.

In this scenario, Hell is just the option to do what you desire. If people don't want to believe that they can't take their bodies with them when they die, they will worship their instincts and their temporary passions while on Earth, and when they die, they'll stay here on Earth where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth knowing nothing but the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain; two things they'll never again experience.

Ronin

Yeah...right!



ROFLMFAO!

Rousseau_CHN

Why God-fearing?

Religion and government were one during those dark time. It is the time where the priest and ruler of the country are one. As you know by now, it is not easy to govern people with kind and soft words. You should threaten them to make them follow your every edict. And the best method of threatening people is threatening them with the unknown.

Besides God-fearing, another beloved virtue of the past is obedience, which in turn makes freedom and knowledge a beloved vice. The story of the Tree of knowledge in Genesis should corraborate my point.