This has been tugging at my brain for so long time and please if you reply to this dont be biased just consider PLEASE thank you
Now what if everything we see around us is actually a test god gave us I mean why would the almighty make such an imperfect and sad world that everyone hates,kills,rapes, and generally hurt each other what if this isnt life but what comes after is I mean it makes sense generally we have absoultly no idea what happenes after we only are told to be good and we will be rewarded but that now a days is near impossible but we iin some religons are expected to This question isnt what is life im asking what basicly is heaven sure we have no idea but i want to know your opinons

No commas, periods, semicolons....ugh....

I believe in reincarnation.....so.....yea

>>2 No there are a few commas (without spaces after them...) I'd comment but the text block is making my eyes hurt.

Seems legit. I personally believe though that bad things happen for the sake of life being less boring. Imagine if you got everything you wanted and nothing bad happened. There would be no good, no true happiness and no sense of that good feeling relief when you come through strong out of a rut.

"death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not." - epicurus.

>>5 I think that is nice it seems simple but complex

>>2 there is no reincarnation, we die, we go to the father, he sends us to heven or hell based on how we lived our lives.

>>7 GHF's diversifying his span of hate-mongering. Well...at least he approves of diversity somewhere.

"why would the almighty make such an imperfect and sad world" he didn't when he made this world it was perfect and beautiful untel adam and eve disobayed God thats why the world is so crul.

>>9 So your intent is to be an agent of this cruelty? As a man hoping to fare the word of God to lost sheep you should know enough that filling peoples hearts with hatred doesn't bring them to the father, it frightens them away. Of course you wouldn't care much about the fate of others, more room for you in paradise right?

.....why can't we all act like Jesus here?

>>10 "filling peoples hearts with hatred doesn't bring them to the father" even if i dont fill hearts with hatred it wont matter thay are still going to hell becuse that wont repent and turn away from there sins.

>>12 So you believe in Predetermination? The idea that people are bound to where they are going regardless of what they do in their lives? Then what is your purpose for your words?

Preach the good news, not the atrocities of the ungodly world, for people will reflect such ideas on you as well. The christian church has done unforgivable things in it's history, things that Christ himself may only forgive. So long as you show spite, spite is all you will see in return, and spite is what you shall become.

>>13 if you dont live your life the way God wants you to you will end up in hell. a lot of ppl are going to go to hell mainly becouse thay live there lives with out god. when you die and meet the father he will review your life so yes i believe in Predetermination.

>>14 To live life instilling the wrath of God in God's children is a cruel life, and far worse than those who live in ignorance. You are unhappy because you still do not truly know God and his wonderful grace, and our bound by Lucifer's fear and hatred for your brothers and sisters. You have been overcome by wrath, and in your folly I shall pray for your betterment, lest the road you are bound on remain sinking to hell.

Look, basically in my opinion is that if not even in this website we are able to get along, you see isnt this websites purpose to make others feel better? I find that we need to be more positive get along, for example we need to stop asking things in exchange for others. a favor is a favor. we need to live in harmony, understand the world better, we cant live this way you are right, and probably we do go to a better world in the future....

>>15 wow.

This world is not a test created by a god, it is just a result of chances and actions being taken in the past...
I agree with >>4 saying this world is nothing than a mere test and that such a vauge world such as good is being refereed as an absolute meening is realy making this life a lot infeerior to what you think the other one is...
1st: of all the wolrd good has no actual meaning...is just an emety space where evryone puts in what he thinks
2nd: don't this this life as just an inferior test...THIS IS IT!!!!! you got nothing more waiting for you after that so enjoy it to the last bit...and don't haste to just say something you can and will never have the chance to prove rght...
3rd: to anser your question...heaven and hell are the happy and depresing moments in one-self's life...being with the one you love is heaven but losing her/him is hell...sooo heaven is earth and hell is earth...i think that covers it
4th: THERE IS NO GOOD WITHOUT EVIL!!! as there can't be something to name light if there was no darkness such is the case of good...(and still there are no right and wrongs for that matter...cause a right desisin 4 you cold be wrong for someone else...[breaking up and moving forward is right desision 4 you...but moving forward is bad 4 someone who is on the edge of cliff is surely a wrong desision...I know my example isn't the best but you got the picture])
5th: there is no 6th XD

>>18 are you saying that ther is no life after death? if so then you are wrong. you are also wrong about heaven and hell being on earth. hell is a dimension in the core of the earth. and heaven is way out there past the clouds its even farther then space. and the world good DOUSE have a actual meaning becouse you can't just have a word and not have a meaning for it.

Uh, I believe in energy.

You live, you die, your energy may or may not go into another person in the form of a "reincarnation" -type of thing.

You live, you die, your energy at any point may or may not be partially absorbed by the world to create what people call ghosts.

I don't really believe in Hell. However, if it existed, then I imagine it would be a solitary movie theatre where you have to watch all of your fuck-ups over and over again. You wouldn't be allowed to leave or reincarnate until it seemed like you learned your lesson.

I don't believe in Heaven at all. Instead of hoping for something better after death, make the life in front of you your HoE.

No, not hoes. Heaven-on-Earth.

BarabiSama your just stupid

good point

I believe heaven is wut you make it. To some heaven is a place you go when you die and to others were allready there. Your belief is wutl put you there. Now as far as wut heaven is like, who gets to go and how you get there I have my own personal feelings about it but theres no true answer. Anyone who could tell you is allready dead. In a way I believe in "personal heavens" for lack of a better definition and a "general heaven" that is the cross roads for your personal perfect one. Barabisamas' got the right idea about energy though

Also every encounter in your life IS a test. How you respond and what energy you put out there determines the next step in your life path. This being my opinion of course

OP. There's a thing called punctuation. Learn to use it.

well people thinks there is one heaven when there are 7 heavens but thay are not personal heavens and we know vary little about them.

>>19 Gargleflouse, its a word without meaning.

This shouldn't even be in main board.
I don't know what happens when we die, but personally, I believe the energy in our body transfers to Gaia (Mother Earth), and then she takes care of it, by implementing said energy in other living beings.

Personally I think there is a better place people after they die, I just dont believe in "Hell". I dont promises of eternal dammnation in order to keep faith in what I believe.

We were given a perfect world where everything was good. But we were also given free will, and our predecessors were lured into choosing to allow evil in the world. The horrible things in the world today are results of humanity's foolishness, both at the beginning of time and in the present.

its a test for everyone even the people who hate rape and kill their part is to stop doing that and turn their lives around. and God didnt make an evil world people and sin made the world the way it is today. basically heaven is forever perfection itself, your human body is imperfect no matter who you are so when those that are believers get to heaven that means they will have perfect bodies and will live in mansions and sing praises to God for eternity. we are supposed to be good but good works wont get us into heaven (sounds contradicting i know) however we should just be the example God wants us to be because he knows whats really right and whats actually wrong. God knows were not perfect and he makes that clear in the bible. I.E. : love the sinner Hate the sin. so yes we should be good as an example to get into heaven but the most we HAVE to do is believe in God and that he saved you from your sins (eternal damnation to hell) oh and on the hell subject god doesnt want anyone to go there he loves everybody equally (might sound a tad hippy-ish but its true) its just if you cant except his invitation then you wont be included in the party or the gifts that come afterwords.

That is all i have to say on the matter - Dances with wolves quote :D

I personally, agree with Leihra in the sense that this life is a test. However whether it is pass (heaven) or fail(hell) is completely out of the question. God chooses to be merciful to humans in the end. For example, He chose to save Noah by having him build the ark to escape the great flood. Hell is for humans that have sinned to see the error of thir ways in this life, and to repent in what ever way changes them to be rightful to go to heaven. That is my belief.

I don't believe in God at all, but I can totally see everyone in this world actually being in the test lab of scientists, experimenting on how a subspecies of human would react to various things in a different environment.

Without treading on toes, if it keeps you warm at night, believe in an afterlife. Believe in a God or multiple Gods and Goddesses, be them righteous or vengeful. Whatever floats your boat, believe in it. Don't let people take away your faith.
Personally I believe in reincarnation. I believe that people have lived other lives before. And that when we die an earthly death, we reincarnate as something else. That's just me.
Also, I find the idea of heaven boring. Eternally sitting on clouds in floaty white clothing may have had its appeal once upon a time but I find that boring now.

I don't believe in hell, because it goes against what I have been taught and what I believe. It sounds ridiculous to me that a supposedly good god, or a god of love would throw his children to a place called hell. How good is he?

A theory I've come across, however, states that we are living in purgatory, that earth is purgatory, and that in order to acscend we must be cleansed of our sins.

I forgot to add, heaven is boring. I'd rather think that when we die, we become "nonexistent" or in a state of emptiness, in which we become one with our god, or gods.

The only Heaven I believe in is the one we make for ourselves here on this realm of existence

Like all good things they need time to be made. A good book is written maybe many years. The world was created 7days( after the bible stuff which i think we can take in cause you talk about god creating the world) so imagine how the world would look if it would been made in 1 year or even longer. Or just read aboud Heisenberg´s theories he explains that hell and heaven are just another realm.

>36 the earth is not purgatory dumbass

>>29 This is a discussion. Why shouldn't it be in Main?

I do not believe in heaven I do not know the word, but I believe there is a second life after this one, but it is the spirit world, and to not be an outcast in that one, you have to pass this one. So I do think this is a test, but I don't think it's to get into heaven I think it's to get into society after death.

^

Bump.

@shiro...thats some deep stuff

Bump.

Bump.

another perspective is that Adam and Eve ate the apple on their own will because they were board in a perfect world. a perfect world that nothing can improve, nothing can change, since its perfect. and living for eternity in a never changing world eventually would get to anyone. maybe they did it on their own will to make a world where there the head of it and that they can shape in their own image. some people think that a world that has trouble and bad, that can improve and change is better then a never changing world that is perfect.

since the world is so cruel, what if we are already in hell and when we die, we just get reborn again, and merely being alive in this world is actually eternal punishment for crimes in a past life.

That's exactly what I always thought. Except I kind of also think this: If a soul were given the choice of Heaven or hell, of couse it would choose heaven. Yet, as we see, people on earth that are given time to think about it decide the don't care or simply don't believe. Like u said, a sorting proccess.

Ever seen Angel Beats?

Beats all human logic. Go watch it.

bump

I don't beleave in god, but if you're happy with your opinons, it's just fine. I don't care what anyone thinks, but I'm always really sad when I see someone who's embittered in his mind because he tried to solve the worlds mystery.

(I'm from germany and not very good in english, but I hope you see the point)

     
“Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be waiting for us in our graves - or whether it should be ours here and now and on this earth.” -Ayn Rand

I think that in all reality that there is no heaven, but more a place where you see what you've done, seen the people you've loved and seen, and those you hurt, and you see these things from their perspective. I don't believe that there is a heaven per-say, but I also don't believe that there isn't. I also think that with the multi-verse that there are infinite possibilities for every outcome ever, so a heaven and hell is redundant because everything is predetermined by the laws of nature. So is there some outside force from the multi-verse that will put our consciousness somewhere after we die, I hope so.

My oppinion is that if there were a heaven would you still be able to have emotions?
Can you do thinks that you used to do in the Physical world?
Or are there rules in heaven you can just do whatever you want there?
this is a Mystery that people were not able to solve for such a long time yet there are still many questions poping in my head....

hmm not to go off topic, but i think the main reason everything is messed up is because of the NWO

We have a giant bible that tells us that marriages mean nothing, everyone loves each other, and peace and happiness are eternal in heaven.

I'd rather find immortality if I had the chance. Otherwise, both heaven and hell make the concept of death a WHOLE lot scarier.

That wall of text is offensive, and until it is fixed..I refuse to answer.

It's what God wants us to do: explore life itself.

Heaven and hell exists now. Your life is ether happy or it sucks so your already living in it. This can change depending on your actions you take in your life; but no one is deciding for you, you just try to build your own heaven with the best of efforts. We don't know what will happen when we die yes; but rather wait and find out just have your heaven now then later. Personally I think that we all rot in the ground after we die; but life is beautiful none the less.

Ah, what a very interesting thread we got here.

The best way I can answer the question about heaven is to tell multiple short stories I shall post here. If you want to read the bottom line, look past the numbered lines. (For tldr :P)

1. I was born in the Philippines as a Catholic Christian in a neighborhood right next to Muslims.
2. As a kid, I always wondered how religious practices affected everyone's daily life (example is prayers and attending mass) when they don't seem to physically do anything.
3. As a Christian, I continue to follow some teachings such as the 10 Commandments just cuz they seem "right" to me. I also wondered about the heaven that I was taught should be like. What bothered me the most is that everytime I asked about what it is, death is almost always associated with it.
4. As a kid living in a rather diverse neighborhood, I used to love to play basketball so much that I go down the street where a Mosque is nearby and play with the kids there. There's a certain time in the late afternoon that the people there have to go in and everyone knows and respect the Islamic practice and leave the area. Knowing that there are other religions, I wondered what "heaven" is for them.
5.As I grew older, I became less and less religious. Some factors include but not limited to: not having concrete answers when it comes to asking adults about religion, learning that people used religion in wrong ways (such as learning about the history of my country about how the Spanish used Catholicism to take over), trying to read the Bible just to see it contradict itself on the very first chapters, growing interest in solid facts, etc.
6. As someone who grew up in a third world country, I experience d first hand how hell was. School from 7AM to 6PM, multiple crimes on the news on a daily basis (kidnapping in schools common), kids in poverty not going to school and eating food by searching in the trash, grown unemployed men being drunkards on the streets, wild/escaped dogs being beaten to death by those drunkards to turn them into drinking food (one of my family's dog died this way, but he managed to at least return to us in one piece before dying), women having multiple kids they can't support, breathing in city smog everyday, etc. That was what I witnessed daily until my family moved to the US when I was age 12.
7.Here in the US, my family managed to live a middle class life thanks to the support of relatives already living here and my hard-working parents. The weather in the north is something I've never experienced before and it was hell to me but the clean air and other niceties made it feel like I was in heaven.
8.Since I'm an immigrant, I'm mindful of people's behaviors. One of the things I noticed about living in the US is that some people complain about the tiniest of things such as being in sunlight and are wasteful when it comes to food. I never understood why. In fact, when I asked a friend of mine if he's done eating, he said something along the lines of "might as well be" and when I asked him what he's gonna do with his leftovers, he told me he was gonna throw it in the trash so I told him to give it to me and he responded by saying "you realize these aren't gonna taste good later right?" Man, how I wish I told him of how kids in my native country were. This is one of the points that make me wonder, is this what happens when you stay in heaven too long? (Can I say "first world problems" much?)
9.Few more years later, I'm in high school learning about more things in detail. This is also a point where I met a lot of new people each with their own developing ideas, especially the teachers. In fact, one of them made me have an interest to look back at everything I experienced by forcing me to write. Reading/Writing classes were my worst subjects. It was hell to me but at the same time the ideas I'm starting to form at that time was becoming clear to me. I was starting to get interested into things I used to dislike such as religion. I learned how to take things symbolically instead of literally.
10.Few more years and here I am in the present, studying to become an engineer learning that there are multiple ways to solve a problem, each with advantages and disadvantages and can cause conflicts when working in teams. As a side hobby, I practice a very non-violent martial art that has principles based on "going with the flow" by overcoming something stronger by looking for its weaknesses or just getting out of the way and letting incoming force continue where they want to go or redirect them by using circular movements.
11.Lately there has been news that a typhoon ravaged through my native country and killed hundreds of people. It doesn't feel well to hear something like that while I'm here and can't do much about it.
12.I've been reading online news almost everyday and like seeing people's comments, no matter how good/bad, sugarcoated/hateful, or whatever they are. It always interests me to see multiple sides of a story.

In my opinion, the bottom line is that heaven is what IS after going through hell, the opposite but equal (Thanks Newton!) can be said about hell. Each rely on each other and cannot exist without one another. (Thanks Taoism! :D)
For those who mention why "bad" things happen this might be the answer or this might be used as an excuse, so be careful.
For those who mention life after death, think more simply such as consuming food. What do you think happens to the life of plants/animals/bacteria/whatever life form you kill in order to live? What do you think happens when we die? Don't we just turn into energy for other living things as they have done for us? What about intangible things such as thoughts? Do we really die with them? What about the meaning of having children to carry on what we discover? Do we really have to take anything that we see or hear literally in order to explain things that we aren't sure of? How bout experience them firsthand and feel them yourself?

I apologize for the long (and maybe way off topic at times) rant but I have a very strong opinion about this topic. I apologize once again for this observation.
Since this BBS was popularized by the anime Durarara! I figured I wanted to reference something Izaya said that's related to this. He explains that:
"I don't believe in god. There's no proof he exists. In a world where there isn't even proof of the future, the past exists. Even if it's tainted with misunderstandings and delusions, if the people themselves believe in it, the past is the truth to them. And, if you base your actions or your life around it, in a way, it's a type of god itself." --Izaya Orihara
Well I just thought, in relation of what he said and another saying I've heard that goes "God is in everything," what if this "God" that most people are looking for is right in front of us? If a god is something that controls the future, aren't we all part of it?

As a Sinner saved by Grace, I can tell you this would be the wrong place to ask this question.
Some people think Pastors are would be irritated by somebody asking questions about Heaven and Hell and the like, but you can have hard conversations with them like nobodies business.

Trust me, just ask a leader at a local church. I'm not gonna tell you what religion to check out, or what denomination, but If you really want a good honest answer, ask someone with the credentials of the topic you're asking.

65 I couldnt agree with you more. also heaven isnt a theory i dont believe in any one god or ideology i think they are all right when you die you go to a wonderful place or a horrable place or we come back as someone else

Bump.

well nobody knows for sure it's just that the dead can't talk :P4

I don't believe in god or heaven. I also find the idea of heaven and hell a bit immoral. The fact that you can commit however many sins throughout life but then accept Jesus or god as your savior right before death and still be awarded eternal paradise is just kind of wrong to me.. Also, the alternative could be someone that works hard to be a productive person in society by donating or spending time helping the poor happened to be born in India so they accepted Hinduism as there religion, but just because she believes in the wrong god she is doomed for eternal punishment in hell.

I also feel that Jesus taking all the sins you've committed upon himself is immoral. That is freeing you of your responsibility to be a good person.

All in all, I don't believe in heaven or hell.

I don't believe in heaven or hell myself but I think your idea is interesting. I personally have no idea what is after death I think it is the next step of the journey and I am just wait for when I have to take it (but I want to enjoy life first as it is the first step)

This is what ive heard about the story of heaven and hell.

In the beginning, after God created stuff, Lucifer (The devil) became jealous of Gods power, and started spreading rumors among the angels that God was unjust. The devil gathered about a third of the angels in heaven and fought with god and the remaining angels. Needless to say, lucifer lost, and was cast down to earth, along with his angels(which you could then call demons).

Then the devil messed with adam and Eve, who then started sin among man. By making sin among man, the devil sort of "stole" Gods children (us) away from him and his righteousness. this put God in a hard spot.

Apparently, God had made other planets and worlds, far from earth, who still remained sinless. Yes God could strike down the devil, but that would prove to the other worlds and his angels that he was unjust, and that the devil was right.

So basically, now we are the middle men in the batle between God and the devil. When jesus comes back to earth, and takes the pure to heaven with him, the sinfull ones will be cast into a fire for a thousand years or something.

Yes, all humans are sinful, but those humans who truly love god will go with him to heaven forever. those who don't will burn for a thousand years, not eternity.

Not trying to infringe on anybodys religion here, this is just what i heard from an old Seventh Day Adventist.

the proof that the christian heaven and hell don`t exist is because christ don`t exist...

basically christians believe in a omnipotent God that didn`t kill Lucifer because he is love...
BUT HE IS FUCKING OMNIPOTENT!!
He could end evil instantaneity, but he don`t do that... the only explanation for that is that God like to see us suffering, but God is LOVE!!
so, we have a paradox here =)

>>72 The only thing I don't believe/disagree is hell because God IS love. Why would he send people to hell to suffer if he's LOVE?

>>73 Christians say that we have free wil, so we can choose accept Jesus sacrifice and love or not, not because Got wants

>>71 I`ve heard it from a 7th day adventist too =)

Okay so recently I was high on pain pills and I started to wonder if maybe all our lives were dreams and in reality were all doomed in like the matrix. Or we all never really existed. Something or other y'know? I mean there's a lot of crazy shit out there.We could all just be dreaming..you never know...

All that im trying to get across here is that if god did spontaneously kill the devil and not send the bad humans to hell, it would prove to the other worlds and his angels that the devil was right. So in order not to start an uproar, God decided us as the middle man, giving us the choice to accept or reject him. showing that he is just by giving us a choice. Our punishment is a thousand years in a pit of flame, which i guess you could call Hell. The devil will be there with the bad humans and angels. i can only imagine that the fire is meant to purify us before going to heaven

if we don't suffer for our sins, we don't learn, right?

this world is imperfect? i'd have to disagree. I ain't got no watch, ain't got no bling, ain't got no good in my teeth

please note this is my opinion nothing more.. I believe in a number of things.. im not exactly sure if jesus really did existed, the bible was written by a handful of ppl of what their veiw happend at the time of christ.. but i do believe in a higher being than us... mabe it was called a nmber of names.. zeus,budda,ala,Ra,the sun god.. whatever the name we humans gave it. god was the judge of us all. we live our lives however we see fit in our own minds hopeing our efforts are rewarded in the life after.. those who dont believe in that for whatever reason live in the now with liitle to no regrets.. good or bad, its their proof that they were "alive" during their existance. Believers in the after life are to be judged in their existance and are sentenced accordingly so they live in slight fear in their heads,making life decisions that are "moraly" right for the thought of a better after life... in my belief... you get a choice after you pass, you can stay in limbo (astro form, ghost, poltergiest, be judged (have god sentence you to eternal life in heven or hell), or be reincarnated.. when I say that I dont mean as butterfly or a cat. you comback as YOU... repeating your life from the year ou were born. you can make the same decisions as before or you can alter it and do something different. hence the word De-ja-vue. another form of reincarnate is you come back as someone different, in a different time. coud be the future or past.. and have vauge feelings of what your spirit once was.. your "past" life.. again.. this just my opinion.

>>78 Wat.

>>78 WOW, you just mixed up a lot of theories here...
So you believe that every religion/theory of the world are a little bit wrong and a little bit right, and when you die, it happens to you what you believe...
Well, it`s a kind of crazy theory, but i`m sure it`s not just you that believe on it.

^

^

>>80 >>78 I think #78's opinion stems from the multitude of creation stories and religions that people believe in. He probably thinks that one religion isn't necessarily the right one, so he believes that the one that one is condemned or granted to the afterlife according to one's own beliefs. I think it goes hand-in-hand with the 'do not judge others' line in the Bible. Why should people be condemned to a Hell according to one's own religion? Well, according to #78, your OWN beliefs will "save" you.

>>78 To be honest, I believed in this once.