Any Christians willing to answer some questions?

[DrJones]

Are there any people out there who are fairly religious and open to answering some honest questions?

I'm not that religious, but have thought of some questions based on what I have seen/heard. Not being a Christian myself, I can't really answer those questions.

Note: This isn't a thing to try and get people to question their beliefs, nor is it me questioning my faith and looking for 'answers.' It's just me having some thoughts that have been sitting in my mind a while that I'd like answers to in an academic kind of way.

[-=[Juztin]=-]

From my ghost hunting experiences over the years, I sure as hell believe in Heaven and Hell, and becaues of that I also believe in God. That's about as academic as I need.

[kevino002]

There are no answers when it comes to religion, just questions.

[Brandon]

From what I can see there aren't any questions to be answered.

[Dave_L]

I grew up going to church buy have fallen by the way side as of lately. I still have my beliefs. I dont believe everything about Christianity but I believe the main points. Jesus came, died for our sins, etc. I just don't know about all the "rules".

[kevino002]

From what I can see there aren't any questions to be answered.

my point exactly!! You always find yourself asking the same questions over and over again, cuz everyone has a diffrent answer for every question.

[Brandon]

my point exactly!! You always find yourself asking the same questions over and over again, cuz everyone has a diffrent answer for every question.

LOL I meant in this thread, sorry. ;)

[Brandon]

I grew up going to church buy have fallen by the way side as of lately. I still have my beliefs. I dont believe everything about Christianity but I believe the main points. Jesus came, died for our sins, etc. I just don't know about all the "rules".


Look on the bright side.

"going to church makes you no more religious than sitting in a garage makes you a car"

[STIBungy]

DrJones, Weston will chime in and give you all the answers you need.

[DrJones]

Well, if anyone is serious and comes across it, here is one of my questions.

First off, it could very well be that just my basic understanding of things is wrong, so the situations I build based on them are flawed. If that's the case, let me know.

Now then, first off, I'm going off the assumption that heaven and hell are the following, as was once described to me.

Basically, if you take the best possible feeling you've ever or could ever have then multiply it, then have that feeling from now until eternity. ie you are really really happy.

Then hell would be the opposite, you wouldn't be happy at all.

Ok, so assuming that, here's the situation.

There is a father and a son (no other family to make things simple). The father really really loves his son, and is willing to make all kinds of sacrifices for him. The situation isn't great, so the father steals and gambles to provide for his son. This goes on until the son is old enough to go to school or whatever and make a life for himself. The father knows the consequences, but chooses to do this because he values his son's future more than his.

The father then dies, and because he has sinned he goes to hell. The son lives a good life, has kids and what not, and lives a good life. The son then goes to heaven.

So, the thing is, the father has so much love for his son, that knowing his son is ok gives him a happy feeling. What's happening to him isn't really that important as long as he knows his son is ok.

His son also has a lot of love for his father. Knowing that his father is unhappy, makes him unhappy.

So, what happens now?

If the father is in hell, he isn't supposed to be happy. However, knowing that his son had a good life and is living blissfully in heaven, gives him some sort of comfort.

The son is in heaven, and should be happy, but it really pains him knowing that his father is in hell and suffering.

Thus, you have a situation where someone is in hell, and feeling happiness, and someone is in heaven and sad. Is that possible?

The only explanation I can think of that would make this not the case (since it isn't supposed to be) is that God basically gives each person their own copy of heaven and hell. God makes the son believe his dad is in heaven with him, so that the son is then happy as he should be. Then, God makes the father believe his son is in hell with him, so his father suffers as he should. However, this is kind of like God lieing, which I don't think would happen.

I also don't think God can just make exceptions, and move one of them so the other feels the right way in their place. He could also just kind of remove that part of their conscious, so they don't really have part of their feeling tied to the situation of the other person, but again, that kind of seems like cheating.

Can any Christians here describe what would happen in the situation as the religion would teach?

My instinct is that I am missing something somewhere and basing this off incomplete knowledge.

[Dave_L]

If the father truely believed in God and was sincerely sorry for what he had done, God would forgive him and let him into heaven. Sin is part of life, thats why heaven and hell were created. Its if you ask for forgiveness and truely mean it, then you will be forgiven.

[Weston-work]

I grew up going to church buy have fallen by the way side as of lately. I still have my beliefs. I dont believe everything about Christianity but I believe the main points. Jesus came, died for our sins, etc. I just don't know about all the "rules".

Not everyone sees them as "rules"... If you're open to suggestions, I would suggest that you at least consider it as wise advice and try to understand why it says not to do certain things. I really didn't have faith in the Bible, and saw it as just a bunch of rules for an impossible-to-please God, until it proved me wrong on some things, and I began to understand the point of it. God doesn't hate us, and we shouldn't fear him... the Bible is telling us how to live a good, and enjoyable, life. That's not to say that it will be without difficulty at times, but it works out for the better. A friend of mine once called the Bible, "A Helm's Manual for Life", which is a pretty good description of it, IMO.

I find that if I'm honest with myself and open enough to try following what it says, it works and I'm happier than I would be if I had done the thing it told me to avoid. Yes, there's obviously pleasure in doing things that are considered to be bad, but what most people don't realize is that there's also pleasure in doing things that are good, and it lasts a lot longer, and doesn't come with negative consequences. You just can't see that if you aren't willing to really be open to it and try it. Many things will try to discourage you from that, especially people who can't wrap their heads around it (or aren't willing to even try), but if you have faith in it, things will work out for the better.

DrJones, Weston will chime in and give you all the answers you need.

:rolleyes: I don't represent Christians or any particular group. I seem to relate to them more than others, but I have my own beliefs based on my experiences and what has worked for me.

[Dave_L]

The idea of good deeds comes from if you really have God in your heart, it will show through how you act. It's not doing the things because its the "right" thing to do. It should be a pleasure to do the good deeds.

[kevino002]

before he dies all he has to do is ask for forgiveness and all will be good!! SIN all your life, just make sure to ask for forgiveness right before you die, and make sure you believe in god your whole life or it will not work... For real thought, "what we do in life echoes in eternity" I believe in that strongly!!

[DrJones]

Ok, how about this slightly modified situation.

A father really loves his son, and lives a good life. When the son is young, lets say around 12, the father dies and goes to heaven. The son lost his only parrent and is put into a foster situation. The son gets on the wrong track, and a bad situation leads him into a life of doing bad things. He's impressionable, and doesn't really regret or not want to do anything he does, he just does it because it's what he knows. The son then dies and goes to hell.

Now, the does the father know his son went to hell? If he does, does that take away from his happiness, because he loved him so much?

Really the question I have, is that if you really care for someone, who for some reason ends up somewhere you don't (i'm sure it can happen in some situation) does that affect you in the opposite place?

[Dave_L]

Maybe I should have called them other than "rules". I dont like the organization that goes along with church. The whole "this is how you have to act/look". I prefer to make my own assessments about religion. I have my firm beliefs in the basics of God but I modify the rest to how I see it. The best churches I have ever gone to are in the inner city. All types of people come in and even homeless people. Everyone is treated the same and those are the places that you will truely see God at work. I've also been to Juarez, Mexico a couple times and built houses with churches. Those are also enlightening experiences. Too many people go to the typical church and get turned off bc they get looked down upon. Thats not what God is about. Jesus hung out with the sinners.

[HONDA GHANDI]

Really the question I have, is that if you really care for someone, who for some reason ends up somewhere you don't (I'm sure it can happen in some situation) does that affect you in the opposite place?

When it comes down to it, each person is responsible for his/her own actions as well as his/her own repentance. There is nothing to say that the father can live a good life and still wont end up in Hell. We (Christians) believe that the only true way to heaven is to accept that Jesus was sent here to die for our sins so that we would not have to suffer in Hell. Its as simple as that. Now if you truly accept this and even remotely try to live a good life your reservation in heaven is held no matter what your past holds. This is where Evangelism comes from. The movement to spread the word of Jesus so that good people wont end up in Hell for lack of hearing the news.

As far as people being hurt or bothered by what goes on in the afterlife I don't know that I can answer that accurately.

Jesus hung out with the sinners.

Because thats who needs him the most. Its called knowing your market.

[Dave_L]

Because thats who needs him the most. Its called knowing your market.

I know. I'm just saying that most churches today seem to have forgotten that.

[myshtern]

Paul, Christians are a wide array of people and beliefs. What was written here is by protestants, staunch catholics would probably say something quite different. Mormons (not really christians but claim to be) would say something else. At this point, you can just decide on what you believe and call it your own thing.

[HONDA GHANDI]

I know. I'm just saying that most churches today seem to have forgotten that.

:werd: Before we found our current church it seemed that most of them were tied up with "Man law" more than God's law. Our current church is very open and honest about what they are there to do.

[DrJones]

Paul, Christians are a wide array of people and beliefs. What was written here is by protestants, staunch catholics would probably say something quite different. Mormons (not really christians but claim to be) would say something else. At this point, you can just decide on what you believe and call it your own thing.

I know. That's why I'm kind of interested in this. It's be way more interesting to hear answers from different kinds of Christians than it would be just to hear answers.

[Weston-work]

Maybe I should have called them other than "rules". I dont like the organization that goes along with church. The whole "this is how you have to act/look". I prefer to make my own assessments about religion. I have my firm beliefs in the basics of God but I modify the rest to how I see it. The best churches I have ever gone to are in the inner city. All types of people come in and even homeless people. Everyone is treated the same and those are the places that you will truely see God at work. I've also been to Juarez, Mexico a couple times and built houses with churches. Those are also enlightening experiences. Too many people go to the typical church and get turned off bc they get looked down upon. Thats not what God is about. Jesus hung out with the sinners.

:werd:

[Zach]

i think that there is only one way to really answer your "situations".

if either party believes in Jesus christ as their personal savior, (i.e. accepting that he died for their sins) then they go to heaven. if not, then they go to hell (which many believe not to be a physical place, but more like a state in which there is a total absence of God).

on a personal note id like to say that i believe that the worst thing to happen to christianity since its birth, is the "church". it has lost sight of what christianity is all about, and has gotten too political.

[Weston]

Well, if anyone is serious and comes across it, here is one of my questions.

First off, it could very well be that just my basic understanding of things is wrong, so the situations I build based on them are flawed. If that's the case, let me know.

Now then, first off, I'm going off the assumption that heaven and hell are the following, as was once described to me.

Basically, if you take the best possible feeling you've ever or could ever have then multiply it, then have that feeling from now until eternity. ie you are really really happy.

Then hell would be the opposite, you wouldn't be happy at all.

Ok, so assuming that, here's the situation.

There is a father and a son (no other family to make things simple). The father really really loves his son, and is willing to make all kinds of sacrifices for him. The situation isn't great, so the father steals and gambles to provide for his son. This goes on until the son is old enough to go to school or whatever and make a life for himself. The father knows the consequences, but chooses to do this because he values his son's future more than his.

The father then dies, and because he has sinned he goes to hell. The son lives a good life, has kids and what not, and lives a good life. The son then goes to heaven.

So, the thing is, the father has so much love for his son, that knowing his son is ok gives him a happy feeling. What's happening to him isn't really that important as long as he knows his son is ok.

His son also has a lot of love for his father. Knowing that his father is unhappy, makes him unhappy.

So, what happens now?

If the father is in hell, he isn't supposed to be happy. However, knowing that his son had a good life and is living blissfully in heaven, gives him some sort of comfort.

The son is in heaven, and should be happy, but it really pains him knowing that his father is in hell and suffering.

Thus, you have a situation where someone is in hell, and feeling happiness, and someone is in heaven and sad. Is that possible?

The only explanation I can think of that would make this not the case (since it isn't supposed to be) is that God basically gives each person their own copy of heaven and hell. God makes the son believe his dad is in heaven with him, so that the son is then happy as he should be. Then, God makes the father believe his son is in hell with him, so his father suffers as he should. However, this is kind of like God lieing, which I don't think would happen.

I also don't think God can just make exceptions, and move one of them so the other feels the right way in their place. He could also just kind of remove that part of their conscious, so they don't really have part of their feeling tied to the situation of the other person, but again, that kind of seems like cheating.

Can any Christians here describe what would happen in the situation as the religion would teach?

My instinct is that I am missing something somewhere and basing this off incomplete knowledge.

Not everyone has the same concept of heaven and hell. Even within the same religion, you'll find different interpretations from person to person. Some people also believe that there is no hell, and I believe that they're half right... Consider the possibility that we all go to the same place when we die, but it's our own perception (based on how we lived our life) that determines if it's heaven or hell for us. We're all with God and his infinite love and there is no sin... there will be no greed, lust, hate, violence, or arguments... some will be eternally happy, while others will be miserable because they're without the things that they enjoyed in life.

[Bedlam]

My view on the matter is somewhat interesting..there certainly is no right or wrong answers to your questions DrJones, which I suppose is why you asked them. Depending on which religion you follow, or even which branch of Christianity..the outcome of these situations may be different entirely. Here is some food for thought however.

- There are over 162 references in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) which warn of Hell.

- Over 70 of these references are attributed to Jesus.

- According to the gospels, Jesus spoke more on Hell than on any other subject. However, many skeptics and religious liberals suggest that the frequency with which Hell appears in individual gospels may reflect the beliefs of their authors or of the authors' faith group more than that of Jesus.

Myself, earlier in life I had far less faith than I do now. I'm certainly not some bible thumping "fanatic" or anything, but I've been quite close to death numerous times in the last few years, I really decided it was time to make peace with myself and become a better person. Maybe all the "popular" religious concepts of heaven and hell are wrong, and its something different entirely. Its one of those things you just dont really know for sure untill you die. Maybe you dont even know then.

[slo_poke18]

I was raised in many variations of religion and thought I had figured it out through studying them. I hated Christians because they acted so opposite from what they beleived. I have never been a fanatic of anything, always live and let live. I was very set in my ways and unswayable until someone showed me the light. I'm still not a fanatic and I'm far from perfect but I do love God and our relationship. Although I have only been a Christian for a few years this is what my studies have shown me. The bible states it clearly that on the day of judgment '' there will be weeping and knashing of teeth'' as those that do not possess the purity of Godly love are cast into the lake of fire for eternity. Because God is truely just He cannot permit those without it (or with twisted visions of it) to enter heaven because the impurity in their heart would again polute the purity of heaven with selfishness. The pain of hell is utter separation from the love of God and his light. While there will be pain and sadness on the day of judgement it will be washed away as the fruit from the tree of life is eaten. Those that are cast into darkness will mourn as they realize that what mattered most in life before even their spouse or children was the relationship they should have had with Jesus. The ash and screams will wash away memory of all things good and only dispair will remain. There are similarities in all religions because satan cannot change the truth but only distort it into looking appealing (like a mirage) he created the others with the sole purpose of hurting God. Satan knows he is going to be thrown into the lake of fire and wants to take as many of Gods pecious family with him. The sole differance in Christianity IS the relatonship you have with Christ and that God does love us no matter who we were how we dress or what you did to others. He wants us to see the errors and fix them so that we might be a light to guide others home to him. As hypocritical ppl are a poor witness and often cause others (like myself) to hate Christians and the church. Everyone does have sin its what they do with it that matters.
Seems I got off on a bit of a rabbit trail but to clairfy I believe the purity of heaven will wash away the sadness as the horridness of hell will devour and pervert any happy thoughts into torment and hatred of God.

[Seved]

DrJones, I went to a private christian school my entire life until now in college. I will not say that I practice it perfectly, cause i have not been strong in my belief over the last couple years. However, i did learn a lot about the Bible. So I will give you MY answer, because to each is his own.


God gives every human being a free will. Based on this, the person has the free will to follow or deny god. Through the Christian perspective, there is only one way to get to heaven, and that is excepting Jesus Christ into your heart, be your savior, know he died for your, etc. As long as this is true, and you believe, you will be delieverd from heaven.

Where your whole logic in my view is flawed is what i just said. You could be the best person on earth, live a nearly perfect life (No one is perfect), but this does not give your the right to heaven. Heaven isn't a place for people who were just good on earth. Jesus is that key, and the only key. No actions will get you into heaven.

I asked my highschool teacher back in school, if my grandfather isn't in heaven, will i miss him, when I get there.

The answer i recieved is this. There is no sorrow, sadness, or unholyness in heaven. There is no Sin in heaven, therefore none of the feelings that we experience in life, due to free will. Accordinging to Christians, heaven is a place where people praise god and wait until, Jesus comes again (Rapture) and then defeats Satan, in which he will create a new world, in which christians will be (A jist of Revalations).

Hope this answered your question. If not, I can try better.

[stu]

I think of religion as a highly specialized method of teaching people morality and moral behavior that is both desired, and beneficial to living in a society. Once you are old enough to realize the over all benefit of (and fully accept the responsibility) of acting as a responsible adult, you may choose to opt out of the church life and still function as any other God fearing/loving adult would. Many people choose to stay in for various reasons (all of them good) such as they like the reminder or the social aspects of the church life. Practice to remain sharp etc.

Anyway, I find that if you view religion in this way, you have far less theoretical questions that come from theoretical situations like this. Just my two cents.

So basically, to answer your own question, you would have to look at the desired model behavior of each specific religious belief. Every different religion's answer will be different based on how strictly they expect one to act.

[Deceptakhan]

I think of religion as a highly specialized method of teaching people morality and moral behavior that is both desired, and beneficial to living in a society

Fuckin werd Stu. I don't believe, my family does. I'm buddhist.

[chris_venturini]

history ruined religion for me

[twistedimage]

DrJones, I went to a private christian school my entire life until now in college. I will not say that I practice it perfectly, cause i have not been strong in my belief over the last couple years. However, i did learn a lot about the Bible. So I will give you MY answer, because to each is his own.


God gives every human being a free will. Based on this, the person has the free will to follow or deny god. Through the Christian perspective, there is only one way to get to heaven, and that is excepting Jesus Christ into your heart, be your savior, know he died for your, etc. As long as this is true, and you believe, you will be delieverd from heaven.

Where your whole logic in my view is flawed is what i just said. You could be the best person on earth, live a nearly perfect life (No one is perfect), but this does not give your the right to heaven. Heaven isn't a place for people who were just good on earth. Jesus is that key, and the only key. No actions will get you into heaven.

I asked my highschool teacher back in school, if my grandfather isn't in heaven, will i miss him, when I get there.

The answer i recieved is this. There is no sorrow, sadness, or unholyness in heaven. There is no Sin in heaven, therefore none of the feelings that we experience in life, due to free will. Accordinging to Christians, heaven is a place where people praise god and wait until, Jesus comes again (Rapture) and then defeats Satan, in which he will create a new world, in which christians will be (A jist of Revalations).

Hope this answered your question. If not, I can try better.



i agree i go to church avery week and sometimes twice a week. also i find it hard to belive that other "belivers" look down on you at gods house (church).
those are the people that are not saved. you do not have to go thru life doing right. but the bible does tell us that we speak for god, by the way we act. so therfore we should show kidness, love mercie, and so on to our neighbor. after all this is one of the comandments. love your neighbor as your self. so we are told to show love to everyone the way god has shown love to use. and you need to have a testomonie (sp) to show everyone why you have the hooly ghost. this is how you show the love you have been givin by our saviour jesus. because with out jesus we are all dumed to eternal damnation. but dont think for a minute god did not know we were gonna sin.
look at adam and eve, god know they were gonna sin. and when we were damned god created a man in is image (jesus) to come and teach us of gods true love. he sent him to be perfect and die for us so that thru his death and resuraction we can be saved. jesus never sined and was tempted by satin in the mountians after he had fasted for 40 days. and he did not sin.
and he was on the cross for no reason except to die for us. they killed him only becuse the people wanted him to die, when they had him in court the kiing had found him to do no wrong but the people insisted he die.

now pertaning heven and hell. heven is are eternal life with the lord. with no sin, which means no stealing no adultry no killing no sin period.

hell is where you will be aternally damned where sin will run wild.

and doing good will not get you into heaven thats what the mormans think , its no the works that a man does that gets him into hevan its the work of one man born of a virgin that died for us that gets into heaven.

so whe you belive you do the right thing because thats our testominy,.

[Ferret]

Its one of those things you just dont really know for sure untill you die. Maybe you dont even know then.

There's how I feel about it.

[stu]

I've had lots of conversations with myself about how I feel about religion. I like how Chris said that history has ruined religion for him. It used to be that way for me, but I decided that because a ton of people have abused something with no power of its own, doesn't make it bad.

I think that over all, religion, is a positive force. Hating religion just because of how some people use it, is like hating guns for how some people use them. I'm not terribly religious myself, but it's a great foundation and I plan to marry someone who is more religious than myself, so she can use it to teach my kids. :)

[DrJones]

Here is another question.

From what I understand, God basically knows and controls everything. You always hear that God loves everyone, after all, he did send his only son to die for us.

If he loves us, he would also wants what's best for us right? Meaning, he would want us all to go to Heaven. However, if he basically controls everything, he also defines what is moral, what is immoral, and what the rules for getting into heaven are. Thus, why would he even make it so people have a chance of not ending up there?

If he knows and can do anything, why does he need to create us? It doesn't seem like there would be any motivation. We do things to satisfy some urge of something we are missing. If you know and can do anything, then there isn't really anything you need is there?

Is there an answer to this? Is that answer that no one really knows, because his decisions are based on a thought process that is beyond us?

[Weston-work]

The problem I have with many religious types is the thinking that their religion is the only way to heaven, and that you'll be damned to hell if you don't follow them, no matter how good of a life you lead. That doesn't sound like a fair and loving God to me... it just sounds like a bunch of insecure humans that need people to join their club, and that mentality is what makes many people so anti-religious. That doesn't mean that the whole religion is bogus, but I just don't think it's hard to admit that religion always has had an element of corruption and insecurity in it.

In any case, I don't believe that religion or Jesus is the actual path to heaven, but rather that they show you the path. I think it's more of a mentality than anything... if you eliminate bad things (ie sin) from your life, then not only will your life here be better, but you'll also enjoy the pure and sin-free place that is heaven, while the sinners will hate it because it doesn't contain anything that they enjoy. There's no need for God to damn anyone to hell or to punish them, because we do it to ourselves.


I've had lots of conversations with myself about how I feel about religion. I like how Chris said that history has ruined religion for him. It used to be that way for me, but I decided that because a ton of people have abused something with no power of its own, doesn't make it bad.

I think that over all, religion, is a positive force. Hating religion just because of how some people use it, is like hating guns for how some people use them.
...

:werd:

[Weston-work]

Here is another question.

From what I understand, God basically knows and controls everything. You always hear that God loves everyone, after all, he did send his only son to die for us.

If he loves us, he would also wants what's best for us right? Meaning, he would want us all to go to Heaven. However, if he basically controls everything, he also defines what is moral, what is immoral, and what the rules for getting into heaven are. Thus, why would he even make it so people have a chance of not ending up there?

I would say that it's because he isn't going to change what he is. If God is light and Satan is darkness, God isn't going to install a dimmer switch so that he can lower the bar for people who aren't really ready to accept him. He gave us free will so that we could choose to accept him... I believe it's far more satisfying for a parent if their children do good things because they chose to do so, rather than because the parent forced it on them. I really don't think God wants a bunch of puppets.


If he knows and can do anything, why does he need to create us? It doesn't seem like there would be any motivation. We do things to satisfy some urge of something we are missing. If you know and can do anything, then there isn't really anything you need is there?

Is there an answer to this? Is that answer that no one really knows, because his decisions are based on a thought process that is beyond us?

I don't know that there's an answer to that. If you go down that path, you pretty quickly run into questions that humans can't wrap thier minds around. We can't comprehend it any more than an ant can comprehend a political debate.

[DrJones]

Couldn't God deal with Satan pretty easily if he can control everything?

[Ferret]

I think the whole point of religion is having faith, not a FAQ handbook.

[DrJones]

I think the whole point of religion is having faith, not a FAQ handbook.

Asking questions and questioning your environment is one of the core parts of being Human. Why would God create us that way if he didn't want us to do it?

[Ferret]

Asking questions and questioning your environment is one of the core parts of being Human. Why would God create us that way if he didn't want us to do it?

I wasn't speaking for myself, really ;)

[chris_venturini]

i think the whole point of religion is to change it to fit your needs

[Weston-work]

Couldn't God deal with Satan pretty easily if he can control everything?

Without evil, there is no choice or free will. In order for good to have value, you have to be able to choose it over evil.

[Ferret]

Without evil, there is no choice or free will. In order for good to have value, you have to be able to choose it over evil.

Constantine was kind of a neat movie

[yapann]

... some will be eternally happy, while others will be miserable because they're without the things that they enjoyed in life.
I always liked reading Weston's statements. as they are as wise as I wolud have said it :-)

And this one is definitely essential.

[STIBungy]

Heaven and hell are like yin and yang. As is God and his counterpart. There's a balance that must be maintained.

[fantasya98]

If he knows and can do anything, why does he need to create us? It doesn't seem like there would be any motivation. We do things to satisfy some urge of something we are missing. If you know and can do anything, then there isn't really anything you need is there?

Is there an answer to this? Is that answer that no one really knows, because his decisions are based on a thought process that is beyond us?

Im sure the answer to this from most Christians would be that God wanted to have a relationship with us, therefore he created us to be with him. He did not create us because he needed a relationship, but wanted to share his love.

[fantasya98]

Not everyone has the same concept of heaven and hell. Even within the same religion, you'll find different interpretations from person to person. Some people also believe that there is no hell, and I believe that they're half right... Consider the possibility that we all go to the same place when we die, but it's our own perception (based on how we lived our life) that determines if it's heaven or hell for us.


We're all with God and his infinite love and there is no sin... there will be no greed, lust, hate, violence, or arguments... some will be eternally happy, while others will be miserable because they're without the things that they enjoyed in life.

Im pretty sure ppl of the same religion have the same definition for hell and heaven, if they differ, than one of the parties is wrong. This is idea is as much a doctrine as Christ dying for the eternal life.

You are saying that everyone goes to the same place after death and your second quote basically states, since there are no temptations/opportunities to sin in heaven, ppl cannot sin and there will be eternal happiness.

First: This also implies no free will. Im pretty sure this is not the case. Heaven is where one can fully devote themselves to worshiping God, are eternally happy and therefore they do not sin.
Secondly: If one does not devote themselves to God they cannot enter Heaven. A lot of this confusion stems from the misconception of what Heaven and Hell is; which Seved I believe pointed out earlier.

[fantasya98]

In any case, I don't believe that religion or Jesus is the actual path to heaven, but rather that they show you the path. I think it's more of a mentality than anything... if you eliminate bad things (ie sin) from your life, then not only will your life here be better, but you'll also enjoy the pure and sin-free place that is heaven, while the sinners will hate it because it doesn't contain anything that they enjoy. There's no need for God to damn anyone to hell or to punish them, because we do it to ourselves.
:werd:

This basically says that one can earn their way into Heaven by good deeds, whether it is to do good or to refuse evil. From the Christian belief that I know, the only way into Heaven is what Seved said, accepting God.

If you start to compromise and take bits and pieces of different things, you've only made your own religion and what you think will get you into Heaven based on other religions. But you are not following an actual religion itself.

[fantasya98]

Couldn't God deal with Satan pretty easily if he can control everything?

Yes he could, but then no Satan->no temptations->no sin->no free will

^this is what I believe right now, I will have to research for the church states and give you a better answer later

[fantasya98]

on a personal note id like to say that i believe that the worst thing to happen to christianity since its birth, is the "church". it has lost sight of what christianity is all about, and has gotten too political.

The church is meant to compliment the Bible in your path towards God. I hear this kind of statement a lot and ppl tend to think that they get plenty from reading the Bible alone. But thats like saying, reading a textbook is enough and you dont need to go to lecture. Surely, no one can say that they have never misunderstand or misinterpret anything in there life before; that is why a church (a community) is there, to help you understand and grow.

Plus, if you're Catholic, it is part of your belief that the Pope was chosen by God to help guide us. He then appointed Bishops, and Priests to aid him on the task. Therefore, we must trust the church. Also, the Pope and Bishops cannot be wrong when interpreting the Bible; Pope for sure, not sure for Bishops, but I do think so too. This is part of the belief for Catholics.

Lastly, ppl will mention all the errors of the church in the past and the general answer to that will be: God works in mysterious ways. You might not like it, but it is the truth, you may want to know and understand everything but that cannot always be the case. Which is why we have the word faith that ties in religions, you just believe.

[fantasya98]

i think the whole point of religion is to change it to fit your needs

That could not be further from the truth. I hope you mean, the whole point of religion is to apply it to your life and especially the areas that you need "help" in. Like I said earlier if you compromise any part of a religion to fit your need, then you are making your own Christianity, Buddism or whatever.

The whole point of religion is to change to your life to fit the religion.