Only the 'saved' will get into heaven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Muffled]

In order to up my chances of getting into any Heaven - which I don't believe in, but hey, why take the risk (observing Pascal's advice) - I have decided to split off the troublesome, possibly nasty, often naughty, downright evil perhaps, side of myself and we won't be talking as one any more. I will not refer to 'it' subsequently and I won't discuss anything about 'it'. ('It' obviously was responsible for all the bad). 'It' has (wisely) decided to remain mute for eternity.

Will this work? And will 'it' get all my (perhaps deserved) punishments?

I believe a spirit can't be split but a soul can be. If you mind is good but you spirit is evil the good will go to ashes and your spirit will still face punishment if not repentant. If the mind is bad and the spirit is good, the bad will go to dust and the spirit will be rewarded.

 

[Muffled]

That's extreme? Or "more extreme?" They typically and rarely are violent at the level of believing basic tenants of their religion.​

I believe Goldwater might have had a point. It isn't wrong to be extremely good.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I believe Goldwater might have had a point. It isn't wrong to be extremely good.

Being Christian doesn't make someone "extremely good."

 

[Muffled]

Being Christian doesn't make someone "extremely good."

I believe it is as close as anyone will ever get.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I believe it is as close as anyone will ever get.

I see no evidence to support that claim. Christians are still human, and a good number of them are crappy people. Actually just pointed out recently in another thread that just because someine is christian doesnt mean you can assume any sort of good morals or character, and in my experience, the more adamant or louder they are about being Christian, the harder of a time they're going to give me.

 

[danieldemol]

And yet, concerning the Bible, Bahá'u'lláh states, "Reflect: the words of the verses themselves eloquently testify to the truth that they are of God.'' -Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 84, 1:91 (Emphasis mine.)

It seems you dispute Bahá'u'lláh and believe God a liar.

I am a liberal. There is no orthodoxy in liberalism.

I do not consider God to be a liar, but I do consider the hearsay of men to be hearsay.

 

[1213]

If god create everything as the Bible suggests, it created evil too.

I think He didn’t create evil directly. Evil seems to be a result of that God has been rejected. After all, when God had created, everything was good, according to the Bible.

 

[Aupmanyav]

But Kali Ma represents dominance? Her story does not end in peaceful balance?

Mother Kali got frenzied in the act of eradicating a particular demon whose every drop of blood falling to the ground will create his replica, Raktabeeja (Every drop of blood reaching the ground will be a seed, that was the boon given to him). So, Mother Kali collected the blood in a skull and did not let even a single drop of blood to fall to the ground and drank it (so goes the myth). That is why Shiva placed himself on the ground where she was dancing. Kali came to senses as soon as her feet touched Shiva's chest. Her form changed to that of Mother Durga at that time. She is not possessive (speaking here as a theist).

Mother Durga - East India (Bengal), South India (Tamilnadu)

 

[Aupmanyav]

And yet, concerning the Bible, Bahá'u'lláh states, "Reflect: the words of the verses themselves eloquently testify to the truth that they are of God.'' -Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 84, 1:91 (Emphasis mine.)
It seems you dispute Bahá'u'lláh and believe God a liar.

God does not exist. Don't know about Bahaullah. Self-proclaimed teachers may have been suffering from NPD. Furthermore, this is 'CIRCULAR REASONING'.
"Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder with a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, excessive need for admiration, and a lack of empathy."

I believe it is not crazy to expect sinners to repent their sins and receive righteousness.Otherwise the person is insisting that sin is OK and that isn't going to be accepted by God.

Sin or merit, they do not go anywhere except to the grave with the person.

 

[Milton Platt]

The more extreme Christians who espouse the unpleasant, you must be 'saved' dogma, believe that if you ask the long dead Jesus to come into you heart you will get into heaven, and everyone else, however good or decent, will end up in the fires of hell. So in theory someone as evil as Hitler could make a deathbed conversion and go to heaven. Whereas a person who has spent there life helping others, but is not 'saved', will go to hell. CRAZY OR WHAT? A god who insists on that is a complete psychopath.

It's a matter of cherry picking what you like because if fits what you want to believe. The Bible also says "faith without works is dead".

 

[Trailblazer]

In order to up my chances of getting into any Heaven - which I don't believe in, but hey, why take the risk (observing Pascal's advice) - I have decided to split off the troublesome, possibly nasty, often naughty, downright evil perhaps, side of myself and we won't be talking as one any more. I will not refer to 'it' subsequently and I won't discuss anything about 'it'. ('It' obviously was responsible for all the bad). 'It' has (wisely) decided to remain mute for eternity.

Will this work? And will 'it' get all my (perhaps deserved) punishments?

Hi again dear friend... I hope you are doing better and your ankles are healed....

Nobody really knows what is on the other side, in the spiritual world, but I got mad that more had not been revealed I scriptures so I did a little digging... As it so happens what I found was eerily similar to what is in the Baha’i Writings, as much as has been revealed, which is very little.....

To make a long story short, I think there are three states we can wind up in, heaven, hell, or points in between.... In between is the World of Spirits, which is kind of a receiving room, a waiting room, where souls gets sorted out. Nobody stays there indefinitely; from there, souls go to either heaven or hell, and it depends on if they are teachable whether they go to heaven or not...Some souls will never love God and Truth but rather they love only self and the world, and those souls will go to hell because heaven would be very uncomfortable for them since they would hate the Light of God that is in heaven.

Moreover, there are three levels of heaven. Only angels live in heaven, and there are different kinds of angels who go to the different heavens, depending upon how close they are to God and Truth...

That is it in a nutshell, but I can tell you more if you are interested.

I have read more than one book on this subject, but the one with the most detail is entitled Heaven and Hell.

I suggest everyone read that book, because the afterlife is really no laughing matter.

I am not saying that everything in the book is exactly what we will experience, but I think that the general lay of the land is fairly accurate.

 

[Trailblazer]

Yeah but that's just your opinion of what you think will happen just like it's the Christian guy's opinion above about who will get into heaven or not.

No, it is not MY opinion, it is the opinion of Swedenborg, who wrote that book entitled Heaven and Hell.

That book is not authoritative scripture from my religion so I do not necessarily believe everything that is in it is exactly what will happen in the afterlife, but in many ways it correlates to my religious beliefs so I think it could be a true representation of what awaits us. The part I do not believe is that Jesus Christ is the ruler of heaven, but since the book was written in 1758, it is understandable that the author might have believed that.

 

[Trailblazer]

And yet, concerning the Bible, Bahá'u'lláh states, "Reflect: the words of the verses themselves eloquently testify to the truth that they are of God.'' -Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 84, 1:91 (Emphasis mine.)

It seems you dispute Bahá'u'lláh and believe God a liar.

That passage is in the Kitab-i-Iqan, not the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.

“Were they to be questioned concerning those signs that must needs herald the revelation and rise of the sun of the Muḥammadan Dispensation, to which We have already referred, none of which have been literally fulfilled, and were it to be said to them: “Wherefore have ye rejected the claims advanced by Christians and the peoples of other faiths and regard them as infidels,” knowing not what answer to give, they will reply: “These Books have been corrupted and are not, and never have been, of God.” Reflect: the words of the verses themselves eloquently testify to the truth that they are of God. A similar verse hath been also revealed in the Qur’án, were ye of them that comprehend. Verily I say, throughout all this period they have utterly failed to comprehend what is meant by corrupting the text.” The Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 83-84

“of God” can mean many different things. As a Baha’i, I believe that the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit, but that can also mean many things...

“of God” certainly does not require that everything in the Bible is historical facts.

The Heart of the Gospel is a book that was written by a Christian clergyman who resigned his orders after 40 years to become a Baha’i. It explains how the Bible fits into history.

I. The Bible as Universal History

II. History as Spiritual Evolution

 

[JJ50]

It's a matter of cherry picking what you like because if fits what you want to believe. The Bible also says "faith without works is dead".

Well in that case a lot of Christian's faith is dead! They don't do anything worthwhile, forcing their faith down the throats of others certainly isn't a good thing.

 

[Maximilian]

God does not exist.

This is an argumentum assertio fallacy.

Try again.

 

[JJ50]

I think He didn’t create evil directly. Evil seems to be a result of that God has been rejected. After all, when God had created, everything was good, according to the Bible.

According to the Bible, god created everything therefore if that is the case it created evil and is responsible for everything that is bad in this world. Of course I don't actually believe god exists, the Bible is a very human creation with no input from any god.

 

[Maximilian]

Well in that case a lot of Christian's faith is dead! They don't do anything worthwhile, forcing their faith down the throats of others certainly isn't a good thing.

That's Catholicism, not Christianity.

 

[Aupmanyav]

This is an argumentum assertio fallacy. Try again.

What is there to try? The universe did not start as the religions say. Humans did not appear in the way religions say. That the prophets/sons/messengers/manifestations/mahdis were sent by God has no proof. That there is a heaven or hell or judgement or eternal life, there is no proof. What have you got to support that there is a God?

 

[Maximilian]

“Were they to be questioned concerning those signs that must needs herald the revelation and rise of the sun of the Muḥammadan Dispensation, to which We have already referred, none of which have been literally fulfilled, and were it to be said to them: “Wherefore have ye rejected the claims advanced by Christians and the peoples of other faiths and regard them as infidels,” knowing not what answer to give, they will reply: “These Books have been corrupted and are not, and never have been, of God.” Reflect: the words of the verses themselves eloquently testify to the truth that they are of God. A similar verse hath been also revealed in the Qur’án, were ye of them that comprehend. Verily I say, throughout all this period they have utterly failed to comprehend what is meant by corrupting the text.” The Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 83-84

By continuing to dispute biblical history, sans any concrete evidence, mind you, you seem to be insisting that God is a liar.

 

[Maximilian]

I do not consider God to be a liar.

If God is not a liar but you insist on disputing biblical historicity then it seems you're suggesting Bahá'u'lláh is the liar.