Yes sir. Atleast thats the answer i get from da bible.
I do not know the verses that refer to that but the Bible can be interpreted very differently by different people.
Yes, hell. Theres 2 kinds of hells mentioned in da bible. Theres hades, which is located in the spirit world. And theres the lake of fire, which is where the resurrected damned will go. That place is a place of annihilation. Its location i speculate is in the core of the earth. This annialation means they will cease to exist, soul and body destroyed.
I guess there must be some verses in the Bible that you interpret literally. I do not believe that the entire Bible was intended to be interpreted literally.
What is hell? According to my beliefs it is not a geographical location but rather a state of the soul that is distant from God and attached to self and desire. That is why a person might say “I am in hell” when they feel very bad, since they are distant from God for whatever reason.
Matthew 16:23-26 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
The way I interpret those verses is that Jesus was saying to deny our selfish desires, things we want that are not of God, and to follow in His Way. For whoever will live for self shall lose his eternal life, but whoever will sacrifice his life for the sake of Jesus and God shall gain eternal life. It is the soul that gets eternal life, not the body. So if we live for self and the worldly things we gain the world but we lose our soul in the sense that we lose eternal life.
Eternal life refers to a “quality” of life,
nearness to God, which according to Jesus comes from believing in Him. One can have eternal life in this earth world as well as in the spiritual world (afterlife). So losing eternal life is being distant from God or cut off from God, and that would be hell.
According to my beliefs, no soul is ever destroyed. That is why nobody has to rise from the grave, since only their body died, not their soul. All souls live on and there is no space issue in the spiritual world since space as we know it does not exist, nor does time as we measure it by the sun exist.
However, after they die physically and leave the material realm of existence, evil souls are far removed from good souls, so they can have no effect upon them like they do here.
Yes, very true, which i dont think it be a problem making it very big, given theres enough space to put it in. Theres planets now that are very big in our solar system, like Jupiter.
That’s true, there is a lot of space in the universe. I always thought Christians were referring to only this earth being remade into a Garden of Eden, not some other world.
Yea, but even heaven, would it not be some kind of planet in a dimension within the universe? Perhaps a piece of that space in the universe is located this heaven. Like another "galaxy" with different sets of laws within its nature.
Since all we can relate to are physical things we are familiar with in the material world we tend to want to understand heaven as another place like this, only better and without pain and sorrow. That is true that it is without pain and sorrw but the REASON it is without pain and sorrow is because it is not physical. Think about it. Maybe some physical things bring you joy, but more often than not it is the physical things in the material world taht bring sorrow. But the spiritual world brings only joy because there are no physical impediments like disease, car and house troubles, problems at work, etc. So if we have the right state of soul by living according to what Jesus taught then we can be truly happy with all the physical impediments removed.... That is why I have always wondered why Christians would want to have a physical body and live in a physical world for eternity... that would be hell for me. I have found much happiness in the spiritual graces and I no longer derive happiness from the things of the world, except my animals, I live my animals.
Here is the problem though, the spiritual world is largely an unknown and most people don’t like unknowns; they would rather have the familiar even if it is not as good as the unfamiliar. So what do we know about the afterlife? In my religion, we have passages such as this one for assurance:
“Know thou that every hearing ear, if kept pure and undefiled, must, at all times and from every direction, hearken to the voice that uttereth these holy words: “Verily, we are God’s, and to Him shall we return.” The mysteries of man’s physical death and of his return have not been divulged, and still remain unread. By the righteousness of God! Were they to be revealed, they would evoke such fear and sorrow that some would perish, while others would be so filled with gladness as to wish for death, and beseech, with unceasing longing, the one true God—exalted be His glory—to hasten their end.
Death proffereth unto every confident believer the cup that is life indeed. It bestoweth joy, and is the bearer of gladness. It conferreth the gift of everlasting life.
As to those that have tasted of the fruit of man’s earthly existence, which is the recognition of the one true God, exalted be His glory, their life hereafter is such as We are unable to describe. The knowledge thereof is with God, alone, the Lord of all worlds.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 345-346
I just noticed that passage says “the Lord of all worlds.” Of course that correlates with those other passages I posted, that there are many worlds besides this world.
That is interesting. Curious, when was those writings dated?
Those were written during the last half of the 19th century. Here are some more about worlds that were written during the same time period:
“If any man be told that which hath been ordained for such a soul in the worlds of God, the Lord of the throne on high and of earth below, his whole being will instantly blaze out in his great longing to attain that most exalted, that sanctified and resplendent station…. The nature of the soul after death can never be described, nor is it meet and permissible to reveal its whole character to the eyes of men.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 156
“The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother. When the soul attaineth the Presence of God, it will assume the form that best befitteth its immortality and is worthy of its celestial habitation.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 157
“O My servants! Sorrow not if, in these days and on this earthly plane, things contrary to your wishes have been ordained and manifested by God, for days of blissful joy, of heavenly delight, are assuredly in store for you. Worlds, holy and spiritually glorious, will be unveiled to your eyes. You are destined by Him, in this world and hereafter, to partake of their benefits, to share in their joys, and to obtain a portion of their sustaining grace. To each and every one of them you will, no doubt, attain.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 329
Ok, what about the growing experiences that were robbed of them in the earth realm? Should they not be reincarnated to be given a chance to experience that part of the journey?
It will not be necessary for them to experience the earth realm because god will compensate them for what they missed. They will not feel shortchanged in any way.
Question.—What is the condition of children who die before attaining the age of discretion or before the appointed time of birth?
Answer.—These infants are under the shadow of the favor of God; and as they have not committed any sin and are not soiled with the impurities of the world of nature, they are the centers of the manifestation of bounty, and the Eye of Compassion will be turned upon them. Some Answered Questions, p. 240
We tend to think that they will be missing something because all we know is this world and we do not know what is in the spiritual world yet, but if we only knew.... well, those passages above say what we would do. This work really is a dark and narrow place compared to the spiritual world.
So, what is the purpose of earth life in your view?
The purpose of this life is to prepare ourselves for the afterlife.
“The nature of the soul after death can never be described, nor is it meet and permissible to reveal its whole character to the eyes of men. The Prophets and Messengers of God have been sent down for the sole purpose of guiding mankind to the straight Path of Truth. The purpose underlying Their revelation hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 156-157
That does not mean we dote on it constantly but rather that we have it in our sights. In order to prepare, we have to acquire spiritual qualities, good character, and get close to God, in the sense of knowing and loving God.
I agree with this. A astral body if ya will.
Yes, the body we will have is a spiritual counterpart to the physical human
body that is said to exist on a different plane.