Hell

[starofjacob]

I agree with you when it comes to the mansion idea Mr. Emu. I believe they will be different from others. I think a problem that we run into when we all talk about heaven and hell is that we think of it as a literal physical place, which it cannot be. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, but it also cannot go to hell. After a body leaves our atmosphere it would explode. We also know that our physical body can only live around 70 to 80 years (even up to 969 in the Old Testament). But forever is a long time for a physical body to endure. So I think everyone would agree that heaven and hell can't be places the way we think of places.

Even Jesus says its better to enter heaven with one hand, then going to hell with two. Kinda weird, since we can't take these bodies with us. Sometimes a phrase like that might not be literal, or at least literal in the way that we tend to percieve things.

Just remember this: Paul knew a man taken up to the third heaven. Does that mean there was a first and a second?
It also talks many times throughout the bible about the highest of heavens or "the heaven of heavens'. Heaven of Heavens? Sounds like more than I had bargained for. What are the consequences of many hells and many heavens. It might not be something that any of us have thoughts about, but with knowledge like this, we should not shut the door.

All of us have asked this question: Is there a Hell? The door has opened. Are we willing to go inside or are we content living in the room we have been in.

Don't bury your treasure!!!!

Keeping it real

 

[destined]

Whether or not Hell exists is not the real issue here, especially to those who have not recieved Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
The bible is clear when it says ," the man without God does not understand the things of God, neither can he know them, they are foolisness to him ,for they are spiritually discerned"

Roli my friend...

The real issue here "IS HELL" in fact that is the title of this thread

Anyone from any religious bias could come on this site and say..."well, unless you believe what i believe, you couldn't truly understand what hell is." Hold your freakn' horses...why even come into a debate if you already think that your way is the right way. I can guarantee you that your learning ability is, and will be, stiffeld as long as you carry around your certain assumptions about you and "your" belief system.

For instance, you quote a verse that says "the man without God..." well who is to say who is or is not with God??? we could all sit around all day long and say well you don't have God, and I do. I hope that you see this accomplishes nothing what-so-ever. Even Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour did not distinguish between those whom he called "brother"
Everyone who has a soul is his brother, our soul is our inheritance.

And to bring this topic back around...our inheritance is as "sons/daughters" the bible says, and the story of the prodical son in the bible is not a stranger who comes to a father... but a son who ran away and then came home. That place of running away is HELL!!! This is where we are now, the, as others have posted previously, place of "separation" (Gehenna, which is translated into the english word hell)

thanks.

 

[Hirohito18200]

This is kind of an extension of where you guys are going. Lets take the lowest level of heaven and the "least bad" level of hell. Lets say that all the really good non-Christians, Ghandi for instance, are there. And in the lowest level of hell, lets put all the death row convertees, Ted Bundy for example. Now, how much different are their eternal lives going to be, a non-violent patriot and a serial rapist/killer. Is there some kind of neutral on the scale, like water in the PH scale? seems kinda weird that Ted Bundy is gonna be living it up forever while Ghandi roasts... lol. no more judging by works anymore i suppose, shame. :'(

 

[destined]

we are not talking about the afterlife here, we are talking about now, not about people who die, but people who are what you might call the "walking dead" ....US....YOU & ME!!! We are in hell now, read the previous posts and read the Bible it is speaking of this time, earth time, now.

thanks.

 

[Scott1]

Hiya destined,

Do I understand you correctly that you believe the Earth is hell..... we are all in hell now..... is that it?

Thanks for your answers.
Scott

 

[Feathers in Hair]

Hmm... This would co-respond with the view of the Nac Mac Feegle in "The Wee Free Men." (A fictional pictish pixie group.) They believe that the world they're in is so wonderful (It has "Drinking, fighting and stealing!") that surely it must be the afterlife, since only people who had been greatly behaved in a previous life would deserve to be in such a paradise.

 

[seraphimfire]

So Mr. Emu. It looks as if you kinda believe that there are levels to hell, since you agreed that hell and the lake of Fire aren't the same place, yet each seems very damnable. Whats interesting is that there must be many types of hells. It talks about it in the Bible when David says "if I am in the lowest hell, you are there". Since you agree that there must be at least two places which we refer to as hell, is it possible that there are more?,,, and if there is, what are they?

Secondly, if there are levels of hell, would you concur that there might also be levels of heaven? I mean, as much as we have focused on the negative, lets focus on the positives of heaven/heavens. Besides, it tells us right in the bible that this is where we should put our minds, 'on heavenly things where Christ is seated.'

I'd love to hear some comments on this. Thanks

AND YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH (REALITY), AND THE REALITY SHALL MAKE YOU FREE"

KEEPING IN REAL

First off I must get out of this college library and let the students use this computer!! LOL! The answer I would give you about levels of Heaven and Hell
are a "Time" subject! We are in the eternal NOW and one can be either in Heaven or Hell(death state) right here!! Being filled with the Holy Spirit and walking in the "Rest of God" one can enter the "Bliss" of Heaven here! Being filled with the dead life of Adam and walking in the sin of the flesh one enters the tortures of Gehenna right here as their flesh nature is being burned off!
Yes there are different levels of these conditions! Chastening comes in many forms and degrees of pain! Man's ultimate corrections will lead him to maturity
in God. We were corrected by our natural parents so we would grow into responcible adults, why should we not recieve correction from our Father God??
I must leave here, sorry,Later
Peace

 

[cardero]

I think it is important that someone show proof of hell in order for me to believe it. If there is no proof, you can hold onto the belief that there is a hell but eventually you will get tired from holding it. A belief in hell is a very heavy belief.

 

[Ardhanariswar]

levels of heaven and hell? im sure there are varying degrees of happiness or suffering you feel after you die, but im not sure they are actual levels. looks like someones been reading too much dante.

 

[starofjacob]

I wasn't referring to Dante's inferno. I don't really believe much of that book. But I will side with you that there might not be levels of hell, but it is dumb for us to put sheol, hades, gahenna, tarturoo, and the lake of Fire all under the wording of hell. these are all different places or mindsets. I would like to hear what you all think Hell is really like, and what these 5 names I've just gave really mean? it would help me out immensely.

 

[Ardhanariswar]

i dont know. i think heaven and hell are states of the mind, not actual places.

 

[cardero]

Hell Is Neverland

 

[Feathers in Hair]

Hell Is Neverland

The J.M. Barrie version, the Disney version, or the Michael Jackson version?

 

[cardero]

Feathersinhair writes: The J.M. Barrie version, the Disney version, or the Michael Jackson version?

Yes, all of them are Lands Of Make Believe

 

[Doc]

Hell is mentioned several times in the Old and New Testament! Several times in the Gospel of Matthew!

 

[Green Gaia]

i dont know. i think heaven and hell are states of the mind, not actual places.

I know that Hinduism doesn't believe in a permanent Hell, but I thought there were temporary heavens and hells that souls go to according to their karma to repair between incarnations and our world is directly in the middle and can never move up or down. Maybe you can explain this better for me in the context of Hinduism.

 

[Ardhanariswar]

really? i dont know. my hindu youth group teacher told me that heaven and hell were not actually places, but states of mind to *humble* or *exalt* the mind due to the person's concequences due to karma. it can both happen between and during the next lifetime too.. i dont know. i dont concern myself with that too much, i concentrate on me right now and people, and how to make positive karma and be moral and sweet! lol. then what the hell am i doing on a religious forum? i have no idea.

 

[cardero]

Though I have seen many artisitc depictions of heaven and hell, I can't help but appreciate the many different visions different artists arrive at in their given talent.

 

[Ephesus662]

Yes, all of them are Lands Of Make Believe

So you think the same is true for heaven?... it is just a state of mind or a make-believe place? Where does your soul go when you die? Does it just float off and wander around earth?

 

[cardero]

Ephesus662 writes: So you think the same is true for heaven?... it is just a state of mind or a make-believe place? Where does your soul go when you die? Does it just float off and wander around earth?

Try not to view death as a vacation. It is not. When you go away to vacation, you usually go to "get away." In death, it is the opposite. Death is a way to "come back." When you go on vacation, you usually go to relax, to escape responsibility. Death, again, is just the opposite. In death, you don't escape responsibility; you "live up to it." When you die, you are already at peace, but still quite a bit must still BE accomplished.

Death is not heaven; it is not an eternal vacancy to GOD's kingdom. There are no chocolate rivers, golden gates, cloud beds, or peppermint trees like some have envisioned. When you arrive to this spiritual realm, K(NOW) that is as valid as any space in time or place you have ever occupied. Whether it is the physical, spiritual, dream state, or ethereal, K(NOW) that these places are for real. Nothing changes and that includes your intentions.

Also it helps to REMEMBER the 3 TRUTHs about death when dealing with the issue of HELL

• REMEMBER, everyONE has to die; everyONE has to go out of this world in some way.
• REMEMBER, there is no judgment in death, no right or wrong in death.
• REMEMBER, the physical existence you are living now is not your home.