emotional

Yeah, Jesus.

Luke 19:27 "But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me."

If you really want a boink in heaven, Islam gives you 72 boinkmates to boink for eternity.

You can have sex on earth. What do you need it in heaven for? I thought the whole point of heaven was to have things that are impossible while on earth.

Rational BAC

Not saying that everything that Jesus is purported to have said was goodness and light. But in comparison to Muhammed, He was a saint.
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Since Christianity as revealed by the Bible does not reveal how many boinks you can get in heaven, then that is up to your imagination, isn't it? Could be 1000's of boinks. Maybe millions. Billions!!!!------after all you got a whole eternity here.

And probably sex with very horny 35 year old women.

By contrast Islam's 72 bad-in-bed virgins are seriously outlclassed by Christianity. ------What good is a virgin at sex anyway? This idea of an ideal virginal sex shows a definite sexual immaturity and lack of male confidence in their sexuality on Islam's part.

Fr.Andrew

(Fr Andrew): John Spong is the man you want to read, I think. He's a retired Episcopal Bishop, liberal to the core, and a foe of fundamentalism. I suppose that if "modern, liberal Christianity" has a spokesman, it's Spong.
His Why Christianity Must Change or Die or A New Christianity for a New World will answer most of your questions. He walks you through the creeds, explaining (in his view) what's necessary to call oneself a Christian in today's modern world and what's excess baggage.
He's pretty much whittled it down to a personal sense of resurrection...what he calls an "Easter Moment"...a realization that the meaning of Jesus' life lives within us all.

AJ113

What is your take on the unfortunate individuals who do not have this "gut feeling" that you speak of? Do you agree that your god is unfair because he has neglected to give me a gut feeling like yours, and as a consequence I do not believe in him, and so will go to hell?

Milton

Umm...yea, Hell is one of those 'ungutsy' feelings he has...i mean, he has no gut-feeling about it, so he does not accept it.

That means you are going to heaven!

Rational BAC

I believe that God will be quite fair as to who goes to heaven. I do not believe in a fire and brimstone hell. I would say if there is any hell at all, it would be non-existance (precisely what atheists would prefer anyway).

I think anyone who dies and has led a moral life will have a choice of heaven or non-existance. Those who have not led moral lives will have no choice. They will get non-existance.

Which bring up an interesting point. If at the pearly gates you atheists who have lived very moral lives are given a choice-------Would you choose your beloved non-existance or would you choose heaven?

JEST2ASK

Would there be a "Grace" period in which you could change your mind

Also this whole sex in heaven thing ... what other experiences / sensations would be available .... would there be .... food ... entertainment .... pets .... etc etc

(edited to add) Interesting thread ... However I have somewhat mixed feelings about who I feel is being more honest and who is more deluded Fundalmentalist vs Liberal

Basil

Hello, I'm new to this forum (just my second post.) I call myself a liberal Christian. I think the following site is useful to understand what it's all about


http://homepages.which.net/~radical.faith/index.htm

I do not believe in life after death, anymore than Ecclesiastes did (you see, universal annihilation is taught in the Bible. One of the liberal Christian's observations is that the Bible is full of contradictions, but still useful to people who find it useful.)

Still I find in Christianity my own spiritual path (where "spiritual" means something like "relating to the transcendent").

Rational BAC

Well, from a practical standpoint, I suppose if you chose heaven, you could change your mind at any time since you would still have a consciousness with which to do that. If you chose non-existence, how could you change your mind?

As for the second part---------sure--food, entertainment, pets, whatever your little heart desires, (assuming it was moral in God's eyes) We are talking heaven here.

Sabine Grant

bonjour Father Andrew..... I am presently reading John Shelby Spong's " rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism". I agree with you that he stands as a spokesman for " modern, liberal christianity". His focus is very appealing to me as a liberal christian as he redirects biblical messages to an application which transcends not intellectualism but positive behavior.
I would recommend reading his works to anyone who is seeking to understand the basics of liberal christianity.