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Author Topic:   What do you think of Heaven?
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 16 of 34 (380698)
01-28-2007 1:14 PM
Reply to: Message 11 by jar
01-28-2007 8:46 AM


Re: Streets of Gold
I disagree, jar. I think mentioning the streets paved with gold is a way to appeal to the greedy nature of humans. If you don't like being good for its own sake, then by all means, be good at least so you can come to this place, where wealth is so plentiful we can pave the streets with gold!
Jar, your interpretation is nice in that it reconciles the appeal to greed, but I find it hard to accept that the writers were understanding the situation in the same way you claim to be.
J0N

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Replies to this message:
 Message 19 by jar, posted 01-28-2007 1:59 PM Jon has replied

  
nyenye
Inactive Member


Message 17 of 34 (380702)
01-28-2007 1:22 PM
Reply to: Message 14 by ringo
01-28-2007 1:04 PM


Re: Streets of Gold
Nothing really ever makes me happy... I wonder what my heaven would be like sometimes

This message is a reply to:
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ringo
Member (Idle past 412 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005


Message 18 of 34 (380709)
01-28-2007 1:35 PM
Reply to: Message 17 by nyenye
01-28-2007 1:22 PM


Re: Streets of Gold
Nyeusigrube writes:
Nothing really ever makes me happy...
Happiness is something you need to grow into.
In a way, that's what it means to be "born again". When you're a little kid, the box makes you just as happy as the toy. As you get older, you learn more about the world around you, your expectations increase and the likelihood of disappointment increases. The streets may be paved with gold, but your car won't start.
Being "born again" means learning to appreciate the box again. You don't need streets paved with gold. All you need is a box with headlights drawn on it.

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jar
Member (Idle past 394 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 19 of 34 (380714)
01-28-2007 1:59 PM
Reply to: Message 16 by Jon
01-28-2007 1:14 PM


Re: Streets of Gold
I disagree, jar. I think mentioning the streets paved with gold is a way to appeal to the greedy nature of humans. If you don't like being good for its own sake, then by all means, be good at least so you can come to this place, where wealth is so plentiful we can pave the streets with gold!
Stop and think about that Jon. If wealth is so plentiful that the streets can be paved with gold, gold will be as common as asphalt, and so worth about the same as asphalt.

Aslan is not a Tame Lion

This message is a reply to:
 Message 16 by Jon, posted 01-28-2007 1:14 PM Jon has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 20 by Jon, posted 01-28-2007 2:02 PM jar has replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 20 of 34 (380715)
01-28-2007 2:02 PM
Reply to: Message 19 by jar
01-28-2007 1:59 PM


Re: Streets of Gold
If you think about it, yes. But how many times does the Bible encourage its readers to actually think? The "streets paved with gold" phrase is clearly going for the shock value that is gotten when mentioning all that gold!
J0N
Edited by Jon, : typoe

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Replies to this message:
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jar
Member (Idle past 394 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 21 of 34 (380717)
01-28-2007 2:05 PM
Reply to: Message 20 by Jon
01-28-2007 2:02 PM


Re: Streets of Gold
Nowhere in the Bible does it tell folk to Check their Brains at the door.

Aslan is not a Tame Lion

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nyenye
Inactive Member


Message 22 of 34 (380735)
01-28-2007 4:35 PM
Reply to: Message 20 by Jon
01-28-2007 2:02 PM


Re: Streets of Gold
So in a way it's to catch our greed... so were back at the start *sigh*

This message is a reply to:
 Message 20 by Jon, posted 01-28-2007 2:02 PM Jon has not replied

  
tyler121515
Junior Member (Idle past 6043 days)
Posts: 11
Joined: 09-29-2006


Message 23 of 34 (380793)
01-28-2007 8:21 PM


Question for anyone who believes in an afterlife
What is heaven anyway? Is it a place where you can do anything you like, where anything is possible, and everything is perfect? I wonder if such a place like this exists just how long you can be there before you have literally done EVERYTHING, seen EVERY person many, many times over.. Heaven is supposed to be for eternity right? I certainly don't fancy the idea of this. How long can you honestly go for before you say to yourself, "Im bored now, Ive had enough, I've done it all, seen it all, I just want this to end".. Eternity is indeed a hell of a long time...well forever! So eventually there has to come a point when you have done absolutly EVERYTHING and just want to 'Switch off' and for there to be NOTHING.. especially as I doubt you would need sleep as you no longer host a body that needs it. To be conscious 24/7 forever in a place from which there is not escape sounds pretty scary even if it is Heaven. Im not saying that Hell would be preferable, but Heaven certainly sounds like a kind of hell in its own way if you know what I mean.

Replies to this message:
 Message 24 by Archer Opteryx, posted 01-29-2007 6:59 AM tyler121515 has not replied
 Message 25 by Jon, posted 01-29-2007 9:19 AM tyler121515 has not replied
 Message 26 by jar, posted 01-29-2007 10:55 AM tyler121515 has not replied
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Archer Opteryx
Member (Idle past 3598 days)
Posts: 1811
From: East Asia
Joined: 08-16-2006


Message 24 of 34 (380847)
01-29-2007 6:59 AM
Reply to: Message 23 by tyler121515
01-28-2007 8:21 PM


Re: Question for anyone who believes in an afterlife
I'm open on the whole idea of an afterlife, but I think I can field this one.
tyler:
So eventually there has to come a point when you have done absolutly EVERYTHING and just want to 'Switch off' and for there to be NOTHING.. especially as I doubt you would need sleep as you no longer host a body that needs it.
Carry the logic of this last statement forward and you can answer your own question.
Just as you would no longer need sleep in an afterlife, it could be that you would no longer need minute-by-minute stimulation, or even variety. You would be a creature fully adapted to your environment.
As it were.
___
Edited by Archer Opterix, : evolving prose.
Edited by Archer Opterix, : macroevolution.

Archer
All species are transitional.

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Jon
Inactive Member


Message 25 of 34 (380870)
01-29-2007 9:19 AM
Reply to: Message 23 by tyler121515
01-28-2007 8:21 PM


Re: Question for anyone who believes in an afterlife
This all holds true only if Heaven is finite in size. If there is an infinitely large Heaven, then even if you stayed their for eternity, you still would not be able to see EVERY place!
So, is Heaven a defined area: limited, small, confined!? Or is Heaven infinitely large: go on forever, endless exploration opportunities?
Hevean should be perfect, and I think the latter is "more perfect" than the former . Of course, like Danielle's said, if we have to just sit there and worship some stuck-up ignorant old man all day, then it doesn't really mater what the rest of it's like!
J0N

This message is a reply to:
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Replies to this message:
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 Message 33 by Rob, posted 02-03-2007 8:43 PM Jon has not replied

  
jar
Member (Idle past 394 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 26 of 34 (380888)
01-29-2007 10:55 AM
Reply to: Message 23 by tyler121515
01-28-2007 8:21 PM


Re: Question for anyone who believes in an afterlife
As long as there are still Answers to Question, why would you get bored?

Aslan is not a Tame Lion

This message is a reply to:
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nyenye
Inactive Member


Message 27 of 34 (380940)
01-29-2007 1:04 PM
Reply to: Message 25 by Jon
01-29-2007 9:19 AM


Re: Question for anyone who believes in an afterlife
It would be kind of like star wars, so many planets and things to see... I wonder if we'd be allowed to like go back in time or some crap.... I don't know, perhaps thats what heaven is when you travel to all the realms; there is a theory out there that dreams are really your heaven or hell.

This message is a reply to:
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nyenye
Inactive Member


Message 28 of 34 (380944)
01-29-2007 1:08 PM
Reply to: Message 23 by tyler121515
01-28-2007 8:21 PM


Re: Question for anyone who believes in an afterlife
I guess everyone has their own opinions on heaven, but yeah forever and ever, it would be like... well... blah I hate to imagine it it's too much for my brain to handle right now X.x... But yeah you'd think there would be some sort of end, some crashing sound and everything would go dark... and just rest. I often wonder, if someone is in love with the darkness and like cemeteries and the whole "goth" scene and they went to "heaven" what would it be like in the light for this person... hell? haha

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anastasia
Member (Idle past 5953 days)
Posts: 1857
From: Bucks County, PA
Joined: 11-05-2006


Message 29 of 34 (381143)
01-29-2007 11:49 PM
Reply to: Message 10 by nyenye
01-28-2007 2:35 AM


Re: Streets of Gold
Nyeusigrube writes:
I know the bible has it's romantic style writing, but I just feel it's a contradiction. We still look at the street, we walk on it... Does that mean it's there to serve us or just be below us... But we still look in wonder... Now I am confusing myself
You seem often confused.
I very much like jar's idea of the streets of gold. I do have my own. In heaven there will be NO streets of gold, but, since we value gold and find it beautiful, it is merely a way of showing that Heaven will be beautiful. Beyond this, the gold and jewels used in Revelations 21 are symbolic. The 12 precious stones are thought to be the 12 tribes and their descendants, the streets of gold I would imagine are the paths laid by the good souls who have gone before us. Of course, I can only guess about these meanings, but in keeping with the rest of Revelations, the golden streets are only symbols. I would not suggest getting your hopes up.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 10 by nyenye, posted 01-28-2007 2:35 AM nyenye has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 30 by nyenye, posted 01-29-2007 11:54 PM anastasia has replied

  
nyenye
Inactive Member


Message 30 of 34 (381147)
01-29-2007 11:54 PM
Reply to: Message 29 by anastasia
01-29-2007 11:49 PM


Re: Streets of Gold
Thats one way to look at it, nice analysis.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 29 by anastasia, posted 01-29-2007 11:49 PM anastasia has replied

Replies to this message:
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