I am confused about what CHRISTIANS consider ETERNAL LIFE?

Question

I asked a question about heaven and hell days ago, and several christians answered back that they would rather have eternal life in heaven, over an eternity in hell, but they don't call this eternity in hell "eternal life". Now mind you when they speak of heaven it is all in terms of eternal life. If these places did exist, and you have to spend an eternity in one, or the other, wouldn't this be eternal life in hell also? Now I know all you Christian hypocrits will bend the words of your sacred text to mean whatever you desire, but lets use our brains on this one. No quoting books of mythology, just simple logic, does an eternity in hell and an eternity in heaven both count as eternal life?

Answer 1

Christians ( by title) consider Eternal Life to be what ever ends their personal fairy tale in a
"Happily Ever After".....
also, most who profess to be Christian believe that they are the only one who gets to go to Heaven because they are keeping track of everyone else's "sins".
Logic---how could God, who is supposed to be loving, forgiving and merciful banish His "children" to "hell" forever?????
Logic---if fishing is "Heaven" to someone and
a library is to another, which one is really Heaven?
I wouldn't be in Heaven if I had to go fishing all the time.
Satan was created by man in order to give themselves some one to blame for any bad in this world because a "Christian" wouldn't dare
work their mouth up to blame God.....lightening might strike or something.

Answer 2

I don't believe that "hell" as a place where people are tortured for eternity for sins comitted in less than a century, exists. The Bible also does not support this theory of an eternal hell. You are right, living in hell forever would be a form of eternal life, but again, the Bible doesn't support this and in fact speaks of death as a state of "sleep" and non knowing. No wonder you have the question!

Answer 3

When Christians say eternal life in heaven they mean life eternally with God, Hell is also eternal life, but you want death or escape always, it would be better not to exist than to be in Hell, that why we dont call it eternal life, because you may around but you are not living an enjoyable existance.

Answer 4

eternal life whether Christians want to agree on this or not...is where they'll spend their lives after the judgement day based on their actions...and some will live eternally or their eternal life in Heaven and others in hell...now that said....1Corinthians 15:40-42 says there are degrees of heaven...Just because your body has perished doesn't mean that your soul dies...it lives on and goes on to Paradise or Spiritual Prison where the murderers and hard core sinners go..

40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

but yes...an eternity in hell and in heaven are both the same..the key word is "eternity"...is the adjective defining how long you'll stay....but to go to Hell...is something that is tougher than you think...Those who go to Hell(Outer Darkness) are those who know Christ's gospel and CHOOSE consciously to deny it. Most will go to the glory of the stars which is known as the Telestial Kingdom which is better than anything here on earth...but no where near as good as the Terrestrial Kingdom(Glory of the Moon) or the Celstial Kingdom(Glory of the Sun) in which you are actually living in God's presence.

Answer 5

Well the Bible says that going to heaven is eternal life, and going to hell is eternal death.

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Matthew 25:46

No matter what you do in this world your soul will live on forever. You are right in saying that, it's just a matter of where you spend it. If you have sinned only once, you can not go to heaven and will go to hell. Jesus Christ; however, paid the price for our sins and took the punishment so we can go to heaven. God loves us so much that He took the punishment for us. You can't do anything on your own accord to get into heaven.

Answer 6

Obviously, it doesn't matter what I say because you will believe what you want, but as long as you ask........
Eternity in heaven is eternal life. Eternity in hell is eternal death.
God is the source of life, so spending an eternity without Him is eternal death.

Answer 7

I'm not going to slam you, I just mean to explain your question, that's it, and you don't have to agree with the conclusions.

The Bible talks of "life" as more than just existing, but as a fullness of experience. Jesus says "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10). Everyone he was talking to was obviously already alive, so when he says "life", he means something more than that. So in the Bible's language, eternal life doesn't mean eternal existence, but eternal fullness of experience, fellowship with God. Therefore, eternal life begins when you become a Christian, not just when you die.

Christians would agree that eternity in hell is eternal existence, but would call it eternal death - like the word life in the Bible, death means something slightly different than just not existing - it means separation, namely from God.

In short, you would be right in saying it's illogical if eternal life only meant eternal existence, but that's not what it means. You don't have to agree with it, and that's fine, but that's what the Bible means when it talks about "life" and "death"; it's not defined solely in terms of existence. And that's why it's logically consistent. Heaven is eternal life. Hell is eternal death. Both are eternal existence.

Answer 8

Would any answer suit you? No.
You believe that you know the answer but you do not care to listen. Because we believe in a good and great god that wants only the best for us that makes us hypocrites? We believe that if you are good to your fellow man, ALL Man kind not just those that believe the same as I do. You will go to heaven. for ever. If you are bad you go to hell for ever. Do you prefer the words for ever to eternal life? Probably not But I have tried to open your eyes.

Answer 9

Well, if I have to be literal, in answer to your question then yes, it would.

However, (ha, ha, you didn't think I was just going to leave it at that did you??) I don't believe that physical places called heaven and hell exist, except as states of mind. You can experience hell if you believe in it, but you won't go there or get sent there. You send yourself there. It is a temporal state of mind.

Heaven is the expansion of our consciousness which occurs at the death of this physical incarnation. Eventually, we all get to this higher state of consciousness and return to the spiritual beings that we truly, eternally are.

Answer 10

Your use of "Christian hypocrits" just tells me that you don't really care about the answer. Just a little word game to amuse yourself. In any event, the opposite of eternal life is death. Jesus conquered sin and death so that we could have eternal life through and with Him. You view life and death only in earthly terms, breathing or not breathing for example, so that for you life continues while death is finite. That's why you don't understand "eternal death." If you're unfortunate enough to earn Hell, your soul will exist in death, evil, despair and darkness infinitely and for all eternity.

Answer 11

Yes, you can call eternal life in hell, cuz, christians believe that, when you die, you can go to hell or to heaven. In either places you'll live forever. You can live FOREVER in hell, burning and yelling, or FOREVER in heaven, happy and smiling, but, even though you're not happy in hell, you'll still be living (on a spiritual sense, of course), so you can call it eternal life, because it doesn't matter where you are, it matters that it'll be forever!!!!