Rainbow Mage
Lib Democrat/Agnostic/Epicurean-ish/Buddhist-ish
Do all Christians believe clearcut unquestioningly that there is a heaven and there is a hell, or do some have other views?
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Do all Christians ascribe to the traditional afterlife view?
- Thread starter Rainbow Mage
- Start date
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
There are other views. Quite a few actually.
Many Christians don't believe in hell, and there are all manner of ideas concerning heaven: it can be traditional, an earthly kingdom, the church itself, or no heaven at all.
Many Christians don't believe in hell, and there are all manner of ideas concerning heaven: it can be traditional, an earthly kingdom, the church itself, or no heaven at all.
ZooGirl02
Well-Known Member
I definitely believe in a Heaven. As far as who goes there, I don't know. Maybe everyone goes there or maybe it is everyone but the most evil like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Osama Bin Laden.
But if it is everyone but the most evil, that begs the question of what happens to those who are considered the most evil? Do they go to Hell? If so, for how long? What will Hell be like for them? Will it be different for each one of them? Will they go to Hell for a certain amount of time and then be released to go to Heaven? Or maybe Hell doesn't exist at all? To be honest with you, I have no idea which of those views I believe in, if any.
The afterlife is one of the parts of my belief system that I have a lot of trouble with. I definitely do not believe in an everlasting pit of fire and torment called Hell for anyone and everyone who doesn't accept Jesus as their Savior, etc. I don't believe that a loving and merciful God would allow such a thing.
One theory that I have enterained over the years is that of annihilationism. Annihilationism is the belief that those who are deserving of hell are not punished forever but that instead they are simply destroyed. Their body and soul would no longer exist. In my version of annihilationism, this process would be completely painless.
But yeah, I'm really not sure where I stand on the whole issue of the afterlife.
But if it is everyone but the most evil, that begs the question of what happens to those who are considered the most evil? Do they go to Hell? If so, for how long? What will Hell be like for them? Will it be different for each one of them? Will they go to Hell for a certain amount of time and then be released to go to Heaven? Or maybe Hell doesn't exist at all? To be honest with you, I have no idea which of those views I believe in, if any.
The afterlife is one of the parts of my belief system that I have a lot of trouble with. I definitely do not believe in an everlasting pit of fire and torment called Hell for anyone and everyone who doesn't accept Jesus as their Savior, etc. I don't believe that a loving and merciful God would allow such a thing.
One theory that I have enterained over the years is that of annihilationism. Annihilationism is the belief that those who are deserving of hell are not punished forever but that instead they are simply destroyed. Their body and soul would no longer exist. In my version of annihilationism, this process would be completely painless.
But yeah, I'm really not sure where I stand on the whole issue of the afterlife.
asketikos
renouncing this world
As angellous_evangellous has said, the afterlife varies depending on denominations, and personal interpretations
for example orthodox don't have purgatory, and catholics do
some scholars and theologians say that there's a tolling kind of purgatory before reaching heaven
it can get complex
for example orthodox don't have purgatory, and catholics do
some scholars and theologians say that there's a tolling kind of purgatory before reaching heaven
it can get complex
ZooGirl02
Well-Known Member
Hello Asketikos. What is a tolling kind of purgatory? If you could provide a brief description or a link, I'd appreciate it.
asketikos
renouncing this world
The orthodox monk Seraphim Rose wrote about it, here's about it from a Wiki article on him, i figure you can find all info about it from there:
Although many of Rose's works were well received within the Orthodox community, some proved to be controversial. The most notable of these was The Soul After Death, which purports to describe certain alleged "aerial toll houses" described by various Orthodox Church Fathers and saints. According to this theory, every human soul must pass through a series of these stations after death as part of their initial judgment by God, where they will be accused of specific sins and possibly condemned to hell. Orthodox theologians Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, Dr. Stanley Harakas and Dr. Alexander Kalomiros, among others, have claimed that certain ideas in Rose's book are heretical, and that many of the Church Fathers have been misinterpreted or misquoted to support it.[13] Archbishop Puhalo claims that the "toll-house theory" is specifically Gnostic in origin.[14]
Other contemporary Orthodox thinkers, however, such as St. John Maximovitch, Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Fr. Michael Pomazansky, and Bishop Jerome (Shaw) of Manhattan reject Puhalo's interpretation, and affirm the reality of the toll houses.[15] Rose alleged that numerous saints, such as Athanasius the Great, John Chrysostom, Macarius of Egypt, Theophan the Recluse, Seraphim of Sarov, Ignatius Brianchaninov and various other Orthodox church fathers, had acknowledged and accepted the Orthodoxy of the toll-houses.[16] He endeavored to answer his detractors in his "Answer to a Critic", published as an appendix to The Soul After Death.[17]
Although many of Rose's works were well received within the Orthodox community, some proved to be controversial. The most notable of these was The Soul After Death, which purports to describe certain alleged "aerial toll houses" described by various Orthodox Church Fathers and saints. According to this theory, every human soul must pass through a series of these stations after death as part of their initial judgment by God, where they will be accused of specific sins and possibly condemned to hell. Orthodox theologians Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, Dr. Stanley Harakas and Dr. Alexander Kalomiros, among others, have claimed that certain ideas in Rose's book are heretical, and that many of the Church Fathers have been misinterpreted or misquoted to support it.[13] Archbishop Puhalo claims that the "toll-house theory" is specifically Gnostic in origin.[14]
Other contemporary Orthodox thinkers, however, such as St. John Maximovitch, Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Fr. Michael Pomazansky, and Bishop Jerome (Shaw) of Manhattan reject Puhalo's interpretation, and affirm the reality of the toll houses.[15] Rose alleged that numerous saints, such as Athanasius the Great, John Chrysostom, Macarius of Egypt, Theophan the Recluse, Seraphim of Sarov, Ignatius Brianchaninov and various other Orthodox church fathers, had acknowledged and accepted the Orthodoxy of the toll-houses.[16] He endeavored to answer his detractors in his "Answer to a Critic", published as an appendix to The Soul After Death.[17]
strikeviperMKII
Well-Known Member
From my experience, there is a hell and there is a heaven. Telling the difference, and making the change from being in hell to being in heaven are not as clear cut as you might think.
Katzpur
Not your average Mormon
Mormons believe in Heaven, that is comprised of three "degrees of glory," and Outer Darkness. We believe that almost everyone who has ever lived will end up in Heaven. We also believe in an intermediate state where the spirits of both the righteous and the wicked will go immediately after death to await the resurrection. For the righteous, this state can be thought of as Paradise; for the wicked, it can be thought of as Prison/Hell. While in this state, it is possible for the spirit to continue to grow and make decisions that will impact the final destination within Heaven to which the resurrected person will be assigned.