pinkpapaver
Bluelighter
well, according to a little muslim friend I'm going to hell because I'm a christian. I'll let you know in a few decades. What's in heaven anyway?
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Questions for Christians
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Graceotta
Greenlighter
i completely agree with your confusion and frustration with the disconnect between what we believe, what we do, and also what we "believe" as Christians. i hate the stigma that is very common where i live, that "if i'm christian i'm saved" so they can do all the sins in the world! I also don't appreciate that some people believe that all Christians are good. I mean, they say, "Damn the Muslims, for 9/11." I say, "What if Christian extremists from the Vatican were going to attack the U.S. the day after 9/11, and simply took pity on the damaged country." that sure shuts em up.
God's love and mercy for us is all encompassing - infinite - surely it is possible to enter heaven without ever going to church.
Millions if not billions of people, souls, have never heard the name of God or Jesus Christ. God would not condemn them for not knowing.
What really matters is what is your intent? Are you being a decently good human being, and to others?
I agree is there is much hypocrisy - I have problems with much of reformation Christianity because there's more potential for negative behavior that results when you start believing all you have to do is say "I believe God - Jesus - so therefore I will go to heaven no matter what I do," and people don't keep God's words or God's commandments any longer.
I don't completely believe hell is eternal yet in this present time before Judgement day. If Jesus walked through hell after he was crucified to save the sinners before him, and bring them to heaven, it makes me question that God's mercy and forgiveness is so powerful that if he willed he could do it again before the end of time. I think of hell right now as more of a punishment such as prison when you do something bad, but when you serve your time and have a changed heart you can be saved. God want's us more than we can ever possibly want God. Also I would say roughly half of Christians believe in purgatory, which is a one-way route to heaven.
God should be the only judge. We should not to say who is to going to heaven and who is to go to hell, we don't know what is in peoples heart's and what they have done, only God is all knowing of a persons soul.
A person who is an atheist/agnostic, yet has more morals and good deeds compared to a person who goes to Church every week and says "I believe in God and all my sins are forgiven, but continues to commit horrible and bad acts," I see the person with good deeds being more fit for heaven in my eyes.
God loves a repentant sinner, more than the ego inflated self-righteous.
Whomever praises himself will be humbled, and whomever humbles himself will be praised. - Christ
I very much look forward to my own death, being able to rest etc.
So for me, any sort of afterlife at all would be equivalent to hell.
I don't think it would matter too much what would be in heaven, as you are trapped there for literally eternity. Forever. Never able to escape. Its very concept is that of a celestial prison and I very much hope that when I die, it's final!
Wouldn't it be nice to just disappear back in to the void from which we came? Sounds morbid, but actually pragmatically, very positive.
Your own death isn't anything to be feared, that's for sure. The deaths you have to worry about are that of your loved ones - because you're very much alive to the pain that it causes.
What an uplifting post.
I am the Bluelight Resident Optimist.
naughtynicknails
Ex-Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2012
- Messages
- 318
^ lol
I agree %)
I agree %)
Of course.
Of course. Haven't you ever read the Bible? Throughout the prophetic books, God constantly laments the fact that those who call themselves followers are actually followers of the devil. He says that though his name might be on their lips, their hearts are far from him.
Not sure exactly what youre asking here. I will say though, that most people who truly have spiritual awareness, will recognize the truth in the Bible.
There is emphases on what you do. Ultimately though, no ones going to do it for you. Read your Bible and trust God and pray and all will be well. Why worry about perceived flaws in other Christians? Just be the best Christian you can be. That's all God asks from you.
^ Good post. I want to emphasize the importance of prayer and worship. Thank God everyday, and think of God with all the actions you take. Worship is just like meditation, and when done properly brings great peace and serenity. The above poster is right, do not worry so much as 'perceived flaws in other Christians' and I would say focus on yourself and what you are doing. Follow your conscious and do what you believe is truly right. God is surely most forgiving and most merciful. Sunday is not the only day nor hour to only praise God; everyday and every hour is deserving of God's praise.
Cruel Intentions
Ex-Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2013
- Messages
- 322
hahaha good one
Say afterlife - eternal life is the most profound euphoria, unimaginable bliss, happiness and comfort that extends forever, one can't even put in words the joy. You would really have nothingness over that? Since this is a drugs forum, imagine your most euphoric and and blissful experience that in that moment you wish would never fad, now imagine that Xinfinity and pure. You would really equate eternal euphoria and bliss to a 'prison' and 'hell' that you can never escape? I confess that eternal paradise is the only place one would want to be. True "from dust we were born, and to dust we shall return," but there's a soul and life within us that we will never understand without God.
Psyduck
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2008
- Messages
- 672
"What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love."
―Fyodor Dostoevsky
^ Sounds more Christian, to me, than all those speculative images Christianity has invented and institutionalized
It certainly sounds nice on the surface, I'll grant you. And you can sign me up for 10 years of that. Heck, you know what, sign me up for 1000 years. 10,000? Possibly. 100,000. Pushing it. 100,000,000,000 years? No thank you! Let alone eternity.
The other thing with it, is that so much about my neural networking would have to be changed to allow this constant Euphoria, that it wouldn't really be me at all. It would be some other person in my proposed 'celestial body.'
And I guess my final issue with it would be - what would be the point? Floating around in constant ecstasy for eternity. No chance of things ever changing. It would be essentially worthless. Nothing would be achieved, nothing would ever be accomplished, other than just feeling good. I've grown a lot as a person from the childish, spoilt teenager that signed up to this site a few years ago. There has been a lot of pain over these last few years, but I think it's helped me become a kinder, more understanding, more balanced person. So I guess my concept here is that I think; pain, whilst unpleasant, is a necessary precursor for growth.
Without the prospect of non-existence, existence itself seems somewhat less worthwhile to me. I think what makes those drug-induced blissful moments extra special for me is that I can consider my own mortality. Each moment unique, special, and rare. When depression can appear to be beautiful. I don't think those moments of bliss are possible for me without the heartache and tears in-between. But that being said, I also look forward to the end of those tears. Which is why I very much value the now, and even the next years of life I may have, but certainly wouldn't dare to wish to live forever.
That being said, if this eternal bliss does exist, and you would like to be there, then I truly hope you can go there when you pass away. I hope that I am lucky enough to just fade in to nothingness though!
Yeah agreed. That quote is rather vapid and seems to be one of those classic, pseudo poetic quotes.
Didn't Kurt Cobain kill himself because he felt too much love for everyone? Or at least so it's been claimed. I imagine being too far at either end of the spectrum would be unpleasant.
I always wonder what the would do in hell to stop your body adjusting to the conditions! Heck, I remember reading a New Scientist article once with an interview with an Iraqi Interrogator, who said that they had to get the information they wanted within about a week, because the body would adjust very rapidly to the high intensity of the pain, and by about two weeks their nerves had been too damaged to even transmit pain properly.
I also have experienced periods of my life where I felt no love, but found solace and freedom in the apathy. So I'm not sure why he was so concerned about that really!
Read up on some esoteric/gnostic/early Christianity. It gives a lot more information and doesn't put as much emphasis on external and ritual things. The philosopher Peter Deunov was a great teacher of Esoteric Christianity, although it doesn't resemble what you would associate with normal Christianity much.
O ha well who says heaven is the end of the road? For all known there could be everlasting growth of knowledge, wisdom, and exploring God's Infinite Kingdom forever. I imagine it to be the most beautiful paradise where you are constantly learning and leading closer to God, we can never surpass the infinite with our finite souls.
Thanks for your other comments and perspective. :D
Great ideas from the last poster. I believe the number of higher states of consciousness and planes you can reach is practically unlimitd so there is no such thing as boredom or stagnation of growth. However, there is lack in interest in growing in consciousness, but that is also someone's full right.
Yes thank you, those were the words I was looking for. You said it much better, I was tired and just got home from work.
True, no one will be forced to if they don't want to.
Being forced would take all meaning out of the whole objective. The point is for the impulse to arise within yourself until you start feeling a striving towards something higher/more and begin to act on it. This could be expressed in many different ways. Like, some might end up joining a convent, while for others it will suit them better to become some kind of artist and try to inspire humanity that way.
One way of explaining it to someone who doesn't understand is that we have multiple bodies aside from the physical. First, we have the etheric body, which primarily provides life-force to the physical body, and is physical in a sense just not visible (or in the higher octaves of the physical). Then there is the emotional (also called the Astral body) body, then the mental body of ideas and learning to think and express yourself indepenently of external influence.
Those are cosidered the "bodies" that make up the lower self , or personality, and after that comes the spiritual bodies. First, the soul-body, or higher self, which is more like an unique and individualised version of your spirit. Then at the top closest to God, is your spirit, which is harder to put into words as I have no direct experience of it, but is supposed to be the plane where we are all one, basically the same, and like pure emanations of the Creator.
There are also corresponding worlds or dimensions for each body or vehicle they can be experienced through, plus it's all connected to the energy centers, or chakra system in different ways. Or, that's as much as I've been able to gather.
Also, the higher planes can look down on us but we can't look up at them, as they are more subtle while we are more coarse. Either way, there is no lack of adventure or opportunity for growth - it seems to go on practically indifinitely.
One way of explaining it to someone who doesn't understand is that we have multiple bodies aside from the physical. First, we have the etheric body, which primarily provides life-force to the physical body, and is physical in a sense just not visible (or in the higher octaves of the physical). Then there is the emotional (also called the Astral body) body, then the mental body of ideas and learning to think and express yourself indepenently of external influence.
Those are cosidered the "bodies" that make up the lower self , or personality, and after that comes the spiritual bodies. First, the soul-body, or higher self, which is more like an unique and individualised version of your spirit. Then at the top closest to God, is your spirit, which is harder to put into words as I have no direct experience of it, but is supposed to be the plane where we are all one, basically the same, and like pure emanations of the Creator.
There are also corresponding worlds or dimensions for each body or vehicle they can be experienced through, plus it's all connected to the energy centers, or chakra system in different ways. Or, that's as much as I've been able to gather.
Also, the higher planes can look down on us but we can't look up at them, as they are more subtle while we are more coarse. Either way, there is no lack of adventure or opportunity for growth - it seems to go on practically indifinitely.
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