Where are you going?

[Jainarayan]

I see that according to the biblical scriptures, all people were created for the purpose of being in a relationship of love, unity, and oneness with God the Creator forever.

There's the rub. Not everyone believes in the Bible. I do not believe in it or that there is one creator God who rules the universe, or that I was born to obey and serve him. As for my own beliefs as to where I'll wind up after death, that is up for grabs. And that is because Heathens are not concerned with an afterlife, but rather with living this life as best we can. Heathenry is usually referred to as world-accepting, not world-rejecting. We do not believe in sin or the need for salvation, given that there is nothing to be saved from.

That said, many (most?) Heathens believe we go to a place where we're re-united with our families, friends and ancestors in a not unpleasant realm, not unlike this life but without the hardships. No, we don't go to Valhalla. That is what we pejoratively call a Brosatrú or Vikingtrú belief. At the very best, we'd go to the hall and realm of our personal deity. Afaik, not even that is attested to anywhere. It could very well be UPG ("unsubstantiated personal gnosis" - something you believe but can't prove) or MUS ("made up [stuff]", but "stuff is not the word usually used).

 

[InChrist]

So you don't have a religion, you just have a relationship with jesus christ your lord and savior.
Which is not the religion colloquially referred to as Christianity. Christianity is something else altogether.
And anyone that puts their faith in jesus, even if they don't convert to Christianity, well, they can be true Christians too.

It is true that when one places their faith in Jesus Christ and has a relationship with Him they are considered to be a part of a religion called Christianity. There are many groups and people who practice the religion of Christianity. The religious umbrella called Christianity seems to include a huge variation of practices which are called "Christian". Yet, under this umbrella there are those who have a living relationship with Jesus and those who don't, but are simply practicing the religion of "Christianity". I think there is an important distinction between relationship and religion.
I don't know if you are married, have children, close relatives, or friends, but I'm sure your interaction with them is relational, not religious. In the scriptures it is shown that God walked with Adam in the cool of the day, Abraham was a friend of God, and David was a man after God's own heart. There are other examples. Jesus constantly demonstrated this relational love/friendship with His Father and those who loved Him on earth. From my understanding of the scriptures sin has broken this friendship/relationship between God and humanity. For me, Jesus is the Personal Redeemer and Savior who brings reconciliation and connection to God through restored relationship, not simply the practice of religion.

 

[InChrist]

Speaking of trips, I'm leaving Thursday evening for a week in Belize and Mexico with my grandson. Eat your hearts out!

Hope you and your grandson have a wonderful and safe trip.

 

[InChrist]

Hell, where all the cool people are

Why do you say that?

 

[InChrist]

There's the rub. Not everyone believes in the Bible. I do not believe in it or that there is one creator God who rules the universe, or that I was born to obey and serve him. As for my own beliefs as to where I'll wind up after death, that is up for grabs. And that is because Heathens are not concerned with an afterlife, but rather with living this life as best we can. Heathenry is usually referred to as world-accepting, not world-rejecting. We do not believe in sin or the need for salvation, given that there is nothing to be saved from.

That said, many (most?) Heathens believe we go to a place where we're re-united with our families, friends and ancestors in a not unpleasant realm, not unlike this life but without the hardships. No, we don't go to Valhalla. That is what we pejoratively call a Brosatrú or Vikingtrú belief. At the very best, we'd go to the hall and realm of our personal deity. Afaik, not even that is attested to anywhere. It could very well be UPG ("unsubstantiated personal gnosis" - something you believe but can't prove) or MUS ("made up [stuff]", but "stuff is not the word usually used).

I understand that not everyone believes in the Bible, a Creator God, the effects of sin, or the need for salvation. etc. It seems that many don't. I've just found that the biblical scriptures and knowing Jesus make the most reasonable sense to me when it comes to the reality and conditions I see in this world and in regard to the issues of life, death, etc. Thanks for including your thoughts.

 

[InChrist]

I guess it rather depends on how much pity I can muster up. I might well be too busy to come and check on you. There simply has to be more to reality than our dreary little books pretend to know.

I suppose you are including the Bible in your list of deary little books. I can't imagine that anyone who has really read the biblical scriptures seeking insight for God would ever consider it as deary.

 

[Aquitaine]

I will not elaborate on fulfilled prophecy because that is an entirely different topic which could and probably has been a thread in itself. Besides, I think it has much more meaning for a person to look into this subject themselves and see the amazing way the Bible contains prophetic information which has been fulfilled later in history, rather than have me tell you.
I think the Bible accurately addresses the human condition because it does not hide the raw sinful reality of human nature, even of those who are main characters in the biblical accounts and the need of God to save us. The writings of other religions either don't address this in any realistic way or come across with instructions on "how to" fix oneself. No other religious writings contain prophetic information and fulfillment as the Bible does.

I'm pretty sure the other two Abrahamic faiths, not to mention countless others, could fulfil the same criteria.
For example, a Muslim will say the same about Islam, the Koran and the Sharia.

 

[1137]

If Satan initiates sin but God initiated/made/allowed for Satan, didn't God technically initiate/make/allow for sin? That's suspicious to me, too binary. I see manipulation and deceit behind that, so I do not believe these choices are accurate.

 

[metis]

Hope you and your grandson have a wonderful and safe trip.

Thanks you very much.

shalom

 

[InChrist]

I'm pretty sure the other two Abrahamic faiths, not to mention countless others, could fulfil the same criteria.
For example, a Muslim will say the same about Islam, the Koran and the Sharia.

A similar claim may be made about the Koran, but I don't think it can fulfill the same criteria. The Qur’an does not contain accurate history, it contradicts itself, and it does not contain prophetic information. I don't think any other religious writings contain the prophetic, historical, and accurate information concerning the state of humanity as does the Bible. Just my perspective.

http://www.gotquestions.org/why-should-I-believe-the-Bible.html

 

[InChrist]

If Satan initiates sin but God initiated/made/allowed for Satan, didn't God technically initiate/make/allow for sin? That's suspicious to me, too binary. I see manipulation and deceit behind that, so I do not believe these choices are accurate.

Well, since I believe God is the Creator, I do believe He made the angel who became Satan, but since I believe God also gave freedom of choice to be in relationship with Him I don't think God made Satan sin. Allowing refusal, rebellion, or sin is not the same as initiating such behavior on the part of the created being, in this case:Satan.
You don't have to believe that the two choices I presented are accurate, but that's the way I see it.

 

[Riverwolf]

Where do you plan on going?

I don't make such plans.

 

[InChrist]

I don't make such plans.

Why? Is it because you don't believe in any kind of life after death of the physical body or you don't care?

 

[Riverwolf]

Why? Is it because you don't believe in any kind of life after death of the physical body or you don't care?

The latter: I don't care.

Nobody can know such things for sure, so I regard it as pointless to fret about it.

 

[Ingledsva]

According to Scripture, Jesus had the idea about what happens after death.
Jesus taught the dead are in a sleep-like state - John 11:11-14
Jesus was well educated in the old Hebrew Scriptures which also teach sleep in death:
- Psalms 6:5; Psalms 13:3; Psalms 115:17; Psalms 146:4; Daniel 12:2; Daniel 12:13; Ecclesiastes 9:5

So, when the dead Jesus went to his death - Acts of the Apostles 2:27 - Jesus was in an unconscious sleep-like state until God resurrected Jesus out of the grave- Acts of the Apostles 3:15
While on earth all the people Jesus resurrected were brought back to healthy physical life on earth. That was a small preview, or coming attraction, of what Jesus will be doing on a grand global scale during his coming 1,000-year governmental rulership over earth.

Jesus said he was the awaited Messiah.

As you pointed out - he understood the Hebrew idea of "sleep" in Sheol.

Nowhere does Tanakh say anyone will bodily rise from the grave.

Those were later stories made up by people that misunderstood Tanakh and Sheol.

*

 

[sayak83]

Why do you say that?

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Buddha, Confucious, Gandhi, Einstein, Darwin, most modern scientists and philosophers and obviously all my family being non_christian are going to hell according to the Bible. Therefore...

 

[URAVIP2ME]

Jesus said he was the awaited Messiah.
As you pointed out - he understood the Hebrew idea of "sleep" in Sheol.
No where does Tanakh say anyone will bodily rise from the grave.
Those were later stories made up by people that misunderstood Tanakh and Sheol.
*

What is to misunderstand about Job 14:12-14; Job 33:24-25 ?

What is to misunderstand about Daniel 12:2; Daniel 12:13 ?

 

[URAVIP2ME]

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Buddha, Confucious, Gandhi, Einstein, Darwin, most modern scientists and philosophers and obviously all my family being non_christian are going to hell according to the Bible. Therefore...

To which hell are you referring ?_______________ The non-biblical permanent of forever burning, or the temporary biblical hell for the sleeping dead ?

Scripture teaches the day Jesus died that Jesus went to hell - Acts of the Apostles 2:27
Since Jesus taught sleep in death, then Jesus believed that while in the temporary ' Bible's hell ' he would be in a sleeping state - John 11:11-14
Jesus knew about sleep in death because the old Hebrew Scriptures teach sleep in death:
- Psalms 6:5; Psalms 13:3; Psalms 115:17; Psalms 146:4 ; Daniel 12:2; Daniel 12:13; Ecclesiastes 9:5

The religious-myth teaching of a forever burning hellfire is just that - a religious-myth teaching taught as Scripture but Not what the Scriptures really teach.
KJV translated the word Gehenna into English as hellfire. Gehenna was a garbage pit outside of Jerusalem where things were destroyed and Not kept burning forever.
Gehenna stands for destruction, Not forever burning. As in the wicked will be destroyed forever - Psalms 92:7
As far as the above mentioned names, they rest in God's hands and we can Not judge their final outcome.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

Because until credible evidence to the contrary arises, all religious scripture is the product of human imagination.
For the record, the scripture itself is not evidence of its own validity.
Please see above.

How does one explain that there are evils in abundance today which could Not be put down to a mere consequence of human sin ?

We are in the ' last days of badness on earth ' by the description found at 2 Timothy 3:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:4-5; 2 Timothy 3:13

Even the types of earthquakes happening today is described by the adjective ' great ' as mentioned at Luke 21:11

 

[URAVIP2ME]

Other than that, I dont see where you getting at? Other than biblical verses, what are you saying?
Edit: I dont know about others. For me, personally, Bible scriptures dont help with context unless there is commentary with it. Its also easier to read when just posting the verse chapter and numbers and let the reader click on it rather than the verses all in one post.
Also, quoting the Bible is quoting another person's point of view. A lot of times I ask for Joe's point of view, not Paul and John and not Christ. If each are separate people, Im sure even if you three agree, you all have different ways of expressing your faith.

What do you call my commentary on the verses I posted if Not commentary ?
What verses all in one post, I'm not following what is meant ?

Yes, quoting the Bible is quoting another person's point of view, and according to Scripture it is: God's point of view - 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Since the Bible has parallel or corresponding cross-reference verses and passages when compared they show the internal harmony among its many writers.