"Heaven" and "Hell"

[tj2k7]

.. an oddball of a philosophical question, but..

How do you interpret the words "Heaven" and "Hell?"


I don't want to get into creationism vs evolution and all that jazz, but I guess this all depends on your particular belief system, whether you are conventionally religious, spiritual, atheist, agnostic, scientific, whatever.

I would classify myself as agnostic. To me, "Heaven" or "Hell" refer to a personal experience prior to death: the very last conscious mental capabilities and emotions a person experiences as they "walk towards the light." A life-flashback of sorts, reflecting on the course of ones actions over the duration of their lifetime.

For instance, if someone has led a peaceful, fruitful, positive, productive, content existence, etc., they may experience this flashback knowing they have done the best they could, remembering their loved ones, etc. and be in a state of mental well-being (bliss?) because of it. As these people fade out, they are in "Heaven."

Versus someone who may have led an unproductive, miserable, violent, evil, etc existence. Their reflections upon their actions during life do nothing but stir up all those same bad emotions, which in a sense would be the demons tormenting them in "Hell." This assumes, of course, that they are capable of remorse.

I suppose my view may be a bit simplistic in the sense that it seems to boil down to the amount of guilt or guiltlessness the dying person may carry, either consciously or unconsciously.

So what's your philosophy "Heaven" and "Hell?"

[LvDevilsFan]

Hell to me is being at work, having to serve the customers that cant pump gas, use a debt/credit card machine, constantly threaten my life by not turning off their vehicles, and when told to turn off their carriages, complain im being rude... and not having internet while at work..

Heaven is simple... a nice clean sheet of ice and about 15 others to play along with.

[Gino]

tjk27 are you saying that if one has been scarred with the horrors of war and death with no fault of their own, that they will have a more hellish thought in the afterworld? That they are doomed because of their experience from a politcians decision? Which means our fathers and forefathers who have fought in past wars are scarred by the the uglies of khaos in battle.

I like your opened mindedness and have had similar thoughts to yours, but I don't bother with that, because I truly believe God will decide all of that at the end.

Great topic for discussion and debate, very interesting!!!

[Zabka]

I am always torn between the empirical and faith when it comes to philosophical issues such as this. These are not easy questions.

At the end of the day, I think I do believe in heaven and hell--in a relatively conventional sense. This may have to do with a human need to feel that injustice in this life needs to balanced out somewhere and that the afterlife is the only way to do that. However, to the degree that people believe that heaven is pleasure and peace and hell is pain and torment, I think that humans are incapable of grasping what heaven and hell are likely to be, so we use our own material world concepts for them. Just as my faith would tell me that the reasons and proof for the existence of God are beyond my comprehension, I also believe that heaven and hell probably are also.

[CHRIST]

...the game in that south park episode with Kenny and his PSP

[Deslock]

Wow, a tough one. Good question though. As a somewhat self fashioned biblical scholar, That is a tricky question.

The bible that you buy in the store now is not the same bible that you used to be able to get. In this following statement I truly mean no offense to anyone, it is just my personal opinion.:

The King James version is the most innaccurate version printed, in comparison to others that I have read.

Some believe that there is a "real" Hell, a place of Hellfire, torment, and eternal damnation. My best friend is descended from the Jewish faith, and they don't believe that since God is merciful, and forgiving, there is no way he could create such a place that no human could ever find God's forgiveness after endless torment.

Muslims believe that Hell does exist, but like a jail sentence, you serve time for your sins, and through your suffering, you will eventually earn God's forgiveness, and be released to join him in Heaven.

Ancient Jewish texts talk about a place called "Sheol", a place that actually existed, where they dumped the bodies of convicted killed prisoners. And to keep the smell away from the rotting flesh, they constantly had fires burning of treacle, So the place always smelled of sulfer, and death. So ancient mothers would warn their children that if they didn't behave, they'd end up in "Sheol", and that was eventually over time shortened to "Hell", Like how "All Hallow's Eve" was shortened to "Halloween".

Some believe it became commonplace in literature after the Vikings were converted to Christianity. They had an Old Goddess named "Hel" that punished wrongdoers.

For some the belief in Hell is absolute, that if you do not truly repent of your sins to God, and beg his forgiveness and accept Jesus Christ as his son and savior of us all, You will suffer eternal agony for refusing God's supreme gift of a "Get out of Hell" free card for your arrogance.

So some also say that since God knows everything, since before you were born, and long after you're dead, that God all ready knew everything that you were going to do, good or bad, and that invalidates the thought that God would punish you for sins that you did, since he allready knew that you were going to do them before you were ever created, and since he knew what you were going to do in your entire life before you were born, for him to judge you in such a matter would be supremely unfair, and goes against God's nature of mercy and forgiveness.

It's a tricky question. Eternal punishment? Hmmm... An odd fact that as much as it is said, there is absolutely no mention in the Bible of people having an "immortal" soul. It does mention people's soul, but no where does it say Human's souls are "immortal" and endless.

When King James Revised the Bible, many books were removed, and some things were added. From some old Bibles I've read, some do mentioned Adam's first wife "Lillith" his wife before Eve, which was removed, due to the fact King James thought to common people that since Adam's first wife was expelled from Eden before Eve was created, made it look like God had made a "mistake", something that God simply could not do. God doesn't make mistakes.

Hence the phrase "7th Heaven" Because ancient texts refer to the fact that there are seven levels to Heaven, the 7th level being the closeset to God, and the 7th level of Hell is the furthest of God you could be, the worst layer of Hell you could be sentenced to.

The Idea that God could create such a place of misery and suffering is beyond his nature. But on the other hand, in Human terms, the idea that there is such a place of eternal suffering and agony for truly evil people has it's appeal. That those that create such hate, misery and suffering during their life, that like Jeffery Dahmer, should be eternally damned to endless agony.

Who knows. When we all die and meet Anubis or Odin, we're all going to be screwed...lol:D