Question For Religious People - Heaven/Hell

[*dilligaf*]

The way this forum has been recently I am scared to even post this for fear of what kind of replies I will get :unsure: :laugh:

Something was mentioned the other day that got me thinking.

First of I'll be honest, I hav NO idea if I believe in God / Heaven / Hell. I am still deciding that :laugh:

Okay so question for the people who DO believe in Heaven / Hell ...

What things would you have to have done in your life in order for you to go to hell?

Obviously there's the things like rape / murder - but I'm talking about littler things.

Would lying do it? Or swearing? Or only going to church near the end of your life? Or .... Urgh I don't know :laugh: What things DO stop you from getting in to Heaven?

 

[Shogun]

I believe in God, but I don't believe in religion.

Heaven/Hell is a manipulation story designed to control ordinary people into being good.

Not that I disagree with the concept, at least it keeps many people out of trouble, but I'm above all that. I don't need some childish tale of lakes of fire to convince me to stay on the right side of the law.

 

[TG123]

The way this forum has been recently I am scared to even post this for fear of what kind of replies I will get :unsure: :laugh:

Something was mentioned the other day that got me thinking.

First of I'll be honest, I hav NO idea if I believe in God / Heaven / Hell. I am still deciding that :laugh:

Okay so question for the people who DO believe in Heaven / Hell ...

What things would you have to have done in your life in order for you to go to hell?

Obviously there's the things like rape / murder - but I'm talking about littler things.

Would lying do it? Or swearing? Or only going to church near the end of your life? Or .... Urgh I don't know :laugh: What things DO stop you from getting in to Heaven?

Hi Hamster,

Great questions. You asked some very good questions about Hell. Let me first tell you about Heaven. John 3:16 explains that if you put your faith in Jesus Christ you will have everlasting life.

Jesus died on the cross for you and for all of us. He came down to live among us. Being God in human flesh, He walked among ordinary people like us. He ministered to the poor and to the hurting and to the rejected. He claimed that He is the Son of God and that by believing in Him we can be saved from Hell.

He was arrested. He was beaten up. He was crucified. After three days, He resurrected.

If you want to escape from Hell, put your faith in Jesus. He has been with me through the good times and really bad times in my life. He is my hope and source of strength. When I die I will spend eternity with Him.

He offers that to you and to everyone else as well. Believe He died on the cross for you. Accept Him as your Saviour and give your life to Him.

You will never have to fear Hell if you do that.

Any sin can and will land us in Hell if we do not put our faith in Jesus. We are all sinners, He is the only one who has never sinned. His forgiveness is the only thing that will allow us into Heaven.

 

[*dilligaf*]

Hmm
Thank you for your reply :smile:
This post wasn't about me - it was about someone who has already passed.
They believed in God. Near the end of their life they spent about an hour every day praying etc. But yes, they had sinned in their life.
Do you believe that the fact that they believed in God would have been enough to ensure they ended up in Heaven?

 

[TG123]

Hmm
Thank you for your reply :smile:
This post wasn't about me - it was about someone who has already passed.
They believed in God. Near the end of their life they spent about an hour every day praying etc. But yes, they had sinned in their life.
Do you believe that the fact that they believed in God would have been enough to ensure they ended up in Heaven?

Hamster,

I'm sorry to hear about that person, sounds like you knew him or her. It must have been very difficult watching that person die.

Only God knows for sure where this person is. It sounds though like he or she really loved Him and spent time praying to Him. If he or she died believing in Jesus, they are in Heaven. God is more powerful than sin.

This piece of Scripture has always been an encouragement to me:

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39

NOTHING can separate a person from God's love. A person may struggle with sin, but it doesn't mean that s/he is unloved by God. He loves every single person- He even loves me.

It sounds like the person you are writing about was aware of that. Jesus also wants you to spend eternity with Him. This sounds cliche, but believing in Him is the best choice you could ever possibly make.

 

[fromthatshow]

I don't believe that our actions determine our place in heaven and hell.
We create our own heaven and hell.

Heaven is really all that exists, because God loves us. Hell is an illusion that we have created and placed ourselves in. Symbolic of the "fall"

Anywayz my point is that I don't think it's our actions but our intentions. If all intentions are good with all negative results, I believe that person will go to Heaven, not as a reward, but because they chose it. The effects are not what matters, it's the intent. If you've got bad intentions, but come off as a really great guy and do a lot of great things in the world, you'd have created and chosen hell. And where your mind is at death, that is where you may go. I mean, I believe most people go straight to Heaven because death is such a big release. But maybe hell exists. I definitely do not believe it is a punishment. Each are chosen.

From the near death experiences I've read, mostly at http://near-death.com, they are almost all positive. There are very rarely negative near-death experiences, which makes me think where we are going next is better than where we are now.

 

[Aeterna]

I like what TG123 has said, but I'd like to clarify something.

First: For all intensive purposes, Hell is mistranslation of several words: Shoel, Hades, and Ghenna. As newer and newer translations come out, the word Hell is more and more often removed. The only translations I know that contain the word Hell are KJV*, NKJV, NIV, ASV, and NLV. I'm sure there are more, but I can't remember off hand what they are.

There is still eternal damnation, but there isn't "Hell, home of Satan."

There is only one sin that is unforgiveable: Dying without being repentent for your sins.

Otherwise, according to Christianity, as long as you are genuinely repentent of your sins, have faith in God, and accept Jesus Christ as your saviour, you will go to heaven.

*As a side note, if you're going to study the Bible, don't use KJV. It's over 400 years old, and there are far better translations.

 

[*dilligaf*]

Thanks y'all

Has got me thinking :smile:

 

[Terry]

Don't know if this helps Sam, but I once asked my parish priest if there was a hell. "of course there is" he replied "but you don't think anyone is down there do you?" :laugh:

 

[*dilligaf*]

:laugh: :laugh:

 

[hammockmonkey]

I want to go to hell. Just to justify why I killed myself. I couldn't take being happy anyways, I need my artifical pain.

 

[Aeterna]

Trust me hammockmonkey; no, you don't.

There's a very big difference between earthly pain and hell.

 

[Shogun]

Nothing could possibly be worse than Earthly pain.

I refuse to believe it.

 

[TG123]

Nothing could possibly be worse than Earthly pain.

I refuse to believe it.

Aeterna is correct. Earthly pain eventually ends. Torment in Hell lasts forever.

 

[Aeterna]

Nothing could possibly be worse than Earthly pain.

I refuse to believe it.

Alright, then imagine this.

The closest conception to Hell that the human mind can understand is that it is earthly pain, taken to the extreme, over every single nerve in your body, for the rest of eternity.

 

[*dilligaf*]

Amd this is why I didn't want to post this

:laugh:

Thanks to the people who answered my question :smile:

 

[Shogun]

Aeterna is correct. Earthly pain eventually ends. Torment in Hell lasts forever.

Alright, then imagine this.

The closest conception to Hell that the human mind can understand is that it is earthly pain, taken to the extreme, over every single nerve in your body, for the rest of eternity.

Yeah, I'm quaking in my boots.

 

[cult logic]

I don't believe in heaven/hell.

Illogical parts of religion aside, any religion that needs scare tactics to make people believe in it is not a strong one.

Besides, if I were to believe in god it would simply confirm that life is pointless for me.

 

[Esmeralda]

My understanding of Hell has always been that when you die, you come face to face with God and know true spiritual peace, acceptance and bliss for the first time. Then, because of the choices you made in your life, you are separated from God and the pain and void of that loss of bliss is what Hell really is. Oh, and you're on fire the whole time. (O.K., just kidding about that last part :laugh

 

[bhawk]

I believe in God, but I don't believe in religion.

Heaven/Hell is a manipulation story designed to control ordinary people into being good.

Not that I disagree with the concept, at least it keeps many people out of trouble, but I'm above all that. I don't need some childish tale of lakes of fire to convince me to stay on the right side of the law.

you dont disagree with the concept, i thought the thing that made us human was our ability to decide between being nice or being an arsehole, is it ethical to be bad? probably not, is it ethical to manipulate people into being good? definately not, does it allow for free choice....no. does it make us good......no (it makes us behave good but not BE good, there is a vast difference) it deprives the very thing that makes us human, for all the shit that entails i wouldnt change it!