Confusion with Christian Afterlife

[Pegg]

Read the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. It was Jesus Who revealed Hell to us.

hmmm,

yep, i know the parable. But like many of Jesus parables, they are not to be taken literally. They are stories given to teach a lesson.

Even the The Jerusalem Bible, in a footnote, acknowledges that it is a “parable in story form without reference to any historical personage.”

So to take it literally seems a bit strange. Do you take all of Jesus parables literally?

 

[Sleeppy]

thats kind of funny because the hebrew word Sheol is translated as 'hell' and shoel means the 'grave'. The bible even says that Jesus was in hell.

Im not sure how it can be interpreted to mean something other then the grave

I guess its just a philosophical way of looking at it.

Matthew 16:16-19

And Simon Peter answering said, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus answering said to him, 'Happy art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal [it] to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens. And I also say to thee, that thou art a rock, and upon this rock I will build my assembly, and gates of Hades shall not prevail against it; and I will give to thee the keys of the reign of the heavens, and whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever thou mayest loose upon the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.'

Matthew 23:13-15

'Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut up the reign of the heavens before men, for ye do not go in, nor those going in do ye suffer to enter. Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye eat up the houses of the widows, and for a pretence make long prayers, because of this ye shall receive more abundant judgment. Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye go round the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and whenever it may happen -- ye make him a son of gehenna twofold more than yourselves.'

Hades and Gehenna are also translated as "Hell".. So, what is hell? It is not just physical death, as in the grave; it is also spiritual dying, and death.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

hmmm,

yep, i know the parable. But like many of Jesus parables, they are not to be taken literally. They are stories given to teach a lesson.

Even the The Jerusalem Bible, in a footnote, acknowledges that it is a “parable in story form without reference to any historical personage.”

So to take it literally seems a bit strange. Do you take all of Jesus parables literally?

What exactly would be the point of describing a vivid depiction of the afterlife if there is no afterlife? Yes, the parables are figurative, mostly in their use of language and use of metaphor to describe relationships, but they all point to facts about reality. Plus, you would have to throw out the teaching of the Harrowing of Hell, which causes a big theological problem as to the Atonement. In fact, not believing in the afterlife makes us wonder what the entire point of Christ's redemptive work was in the first place.

 

[Nohwey]

If hell is located on earth where is it? And what do you mean by the saying that hell and heaven exists within each of us? That is kind of impossible because these are places where people live, not just mental conditions (if I get you correctly).

Hell is basically the two thousand year old version of Silent Hill. It's on the other side of a portal in the Earth, far under the Earth. Hell is not "The Earth's Core", it's another world within our world, or rather, another dimension. If you go to Hell, you aren't just going to a place where you burn forever, it's a place with both figurative and literal torments, or fire and brimstone. Yes, your spirit will burn, but the fire is also symbolic of all your guilt, tearing you apart for all eternity, as if you are burning to death. It's sort of like someone killing their conscience against God, so when you die without having Jesus atone for your sins, your conscience basically comes back to life and torments you, like I said, figuratively, and literally, for ever and ever.

 

[Thana]

So what is this kingdom of God? Is it here on earth? What does the Bible mean by 'heaven' as promised to the righteous ones? For those who believe that kingdom of God is on earth, then where is hell located? Why can nobody see the Garden of Eden anymore? How come the Jews don't believe in an afterlife and the Christians do?

If I were you and I wanted answers I'd seek the bible and not Christians. You probably won't get much help from us since we all walk such different paths and have very different beliefs.