Thread:JayZX535/@comment-26094355-20160425230258/@comment-27170788-20160427195335

Maltalidenta Kwuitidherali wrote:

JayZX535 wrote:

I find it interesting that you mention that, because isn't that what you're doing too? Only you're doing the reverse-- saying I can't prove that there is an eternal component, just as you can't prove that there ''isn't. ''Or am I incorrect in proposing this?

Not exactly. I was interacting with the basic concept of an afterlife that you suggested, and how it's not just watching everyone else die. My belief in the afterlife is a little more complicated than that.

I believe in Heaven and Hell, and that what you believe dictates where you go. Jesus said that "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through me." This verse makes it very clear that only those who believe in Jesus will be allowed to enter Heaven. Now, if your proposal on the afterlife is true, then yes, you're right-- what we believe would have no significance. We'd just pass on to another state of being that was different from the first. But if I'm correct, then what you believe has paramount eternal significance. What you believe could condemn you to an eternity of punishment. What I'm doing is pointing out the lack of evidence, which I do indeed have evidence for - the sheer lack of anything meaningful itself. However, what I'm not doing is having no evidence for what I'm saying. I really don't know anything, so my beliefs are based upon what is universally almost certainly true.

Well, of course anything is more complicated. But my view of an afterlife was merely pointing out that it isn't all happiness.

Well, I honestly believe that the idea of Hell is never once mentioned in the Bible outside of revelation and the place that they burn the bodies in Jerusalem gets a passing reference. In my mind, and so far as I know, it's a fabrication by the Catholic Church that has passed down through different religions until it was held to be fact - and all it does is really scare people into believing. The strain of Christianity I come from believes that it is merely some form of sleep, or nothingness, and the only way of not going back to it after being judged is by believing. Similar, but without the eternal punishment. So, how do you have evidence for lack of evidence? So far, what I've seen you propose as evidence is personal belief-- just as you undoubtedly see what I've proposed.

Again, this depends on your view of the afterlife, but even by my view, you're right. If you get sent to Hell, that won't be happiness...

Actually, Hell is mentioned throughout the Bible, and not just in Revelation. Matthew 25:41 states that "...he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.", and just a few verses later, in Matthew 25:46 we hear that "...these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.". In addition, Luke says in Luke 12:5 "But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!", and even the Psalms speak of hell, saying "The wicked shall return to Sheol [Hell], all the nations that forget God.". And while fear of eternal punishment may be a motivator to lead people to salvation, it is a valid one. If your house was on fire, would you rather I tell you about it or not say a thing until there was no way out? That's how I see Hell. It is very real, and very dangerous, and I wish to alert people to the danger so they do not face eternal judgement and condemnation!