Heaven and Hell

There might have been another thread on this topic, but I being new haven't really been able to read all. I'm just wondering what people's views on Heaven and Hell are, or whether you just don't believe in the afterlife at all.My view of Heaven is more of a rejoining of the collective that we are all a part of. Think of a sea (God) and we are each a wave -- fully connected and can never break away. With this view I see Heaven as the most beautiful thing we could ever experience. To feel complete for the first times in our lives and to truly live in Paradise.As for "Hell" I don't believe that if we turn away from God, God turns away from us. He is always there, he always loves, he always forgives...no matter what. If you would want to personify God (as others have, and even myself have done from time to time) then it would be similiar to if a child ran away from home never wanting to return. The parent would be upset, worried, and probably even angry. But if the child were to ever return, then there is no denying in the fact that the parent would have the same love toward that child...just as they did before the child left. I therefore don't belive in any type of punishment for our life. Does this make sense?

If you mean none for anyone, no, nor does the death of Jesus or the parable of the rich man and Lazarus as well as dozens of other scripture texts.

do you believe then a possibility for eternal life is damnation?

patio All hail the Borg! Resistence is futile!LOLSorry I just couldn't help myself.

Roflmao. Oh, my sides hurt.

yes i'm familiar with star trek...i didn't mean it fully in that way though. i meant as a collective of all things living in the universe.

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-Patio"Which is it: Is man one of God’s blunders or is God one of man’s?"
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Well to answer something like this well i think we gotta go to the source dont we..Lets see what we got..."And i saw the dead,small & great stand before God,and the books were opened,and another was open,which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things,which were written in the books,according to their works,And the sea gave up the dead which were in it,and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them,and they were judged according to their works,And death and hell were cast into hell into the lake of fire,This is the second death,And whosoever was not found written in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire" Revelations 20:12-15"Blessed are they that do thy commandments,that they may have a right to the tree of life,and may enter in through the gates into the city" Revelation 22:14

Care to tell us all why you have such a view?It's not that I'm trying to give you a hard time. It's that we can engage in a much better discussion if we could understand why you have such a view.

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The Laminator

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Hi Patio,
The concept of Heaven and Hell seems to stem from mans desire to reward goodness and punish evil . IMO If there was no difference between acting moral or immoral then why would anyone choose the harder path? It is far easier to be self serving and immoral. It is easier to steal than to earn. Easier to cheat than to study and earn the grade. It is easier to hate than to forgive. If all is equal and there is no difference one would wonder whats the point? The slippery slope into the abyss of nihlism awaits.
I think the thought of a all seeing benevolent creator who will reward mans goodness is a comforting thought and the thought of perishing in eternal flames a incentive to not sin. So it is no wonder the concept of Heaven and Hell are with us. St. Thomas Aquinas I think said it best when he said that the punishment for sin is the attachment to the sin, and Hell is where God is not. I do not believe in a literal Heaven nor Hell, and am keeping one foot out of the abyss for now.

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"One is punished most for ones virtues" Fredrick Neitzche