is there really a heaven/hell?

Question

i believed in heaven/hell until a friend convinced me that there wasn't. he said that when you die its like your asleep without dreaming and that heaven/hell was created because people were scared of death and the end. what do you think?

Answer 1

yes there is a heaven.
hell is just a misused word for the Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek hades.
both words do not mean a place of consciousness or torment.

Answer 2

Yes there is a heaven but it is a myth that Some people are tormented after death in a fiery hell.

Many religions teach that the wicked will go to a fiery hell and be tormented forever. Is this teaching logical and Scriptural? The human life span is limited to 70 or 80 years. Even if someone was guilty of extreme wickedness all his life, would everlasting torment be a just punishment? No. It would be grossly unjust to torment a man forever for the sins that he committed in a short lifetime.

Only God can reveal what happens after people die, and he has done so in his written Word, the Bible. This is what the Bible says: "As the [beast] dies, so the [man] dies; and they all have but one spirit . . . All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust." (Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20) There is no mention here of a fiery hell. Humans return to dust—to nonexistence—when they die.

In order to be tormented, a person has to be conscious. Are the dead conscious? Once again, the Bible gives the answer: "The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten." (Ecclesiastes 9:5) It is impossible for the dead, who are "conscious of nothing at all," to experience agony anywhere.

For more answers to Clarify Myths about Death, and Heaven and Hell go to:

http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2002/6/1/article_02.htm

Answer 3

We all have it in us to believe something, that is an attribute God put within us. To understand about heaven/hell, we must consult some sort of written Word that God has designed to prepare us for the future, His kingdom, or the afterlife, in one or the other resurrections, either to heaven or to hell.

A resurrection makes evident that there is no current hell and that people don't go immediately to heaven upon dying either. There will be a hell, that is for those who have not put on the garment of righteousness, hell is not now though, it will be a place of punishment for those who didn't receive the promise of the hope that we have within us. Hell will be upon earth, this will be where the punishment takes place, then, that is it for the wicked of the earth, the burning does not last forever. After everyone has paid for their sins because they didn't let Jesus pay for them by His death on the cross, they will have burnt and that is the end of wicked. The righteous will at this point inherit the earth.

Answer 4

If someone, a so-called friend tried to convince me that there was no Heaven or Hell, I would reconsider who this person is and what they mean to me. God's word tells us about a Heaven, in great detail, and also warns us against a Hell, likewise in great detail. God promises that if we don't live right we will go to Hell and for those that remain faithful to the end there is a wonderful place called Heaven. In Is. 55:11 God says that his word shall not return unto him void (useless, vain, or no effect) and that it will accomplish what He set it forth to do.

Your urmm friend, won't be there with you when you stand in judgment but, if this friend doesn't change their way of thinking will join you in Hell.

If you live your life right and faithful and die and find no Heaven or Hell then you've lost nothing, but if you live your life with the reckless conception that there is no Heaven or Hell and then find that you are wrong...you will live in torment forever and ever in a fire that will burn forever and ever.

If your friend told you that he doesn't believe in a million dollars because he never seen a million dollars, would you also believe that a million dollars doesn't exist? If your so-called friend could convince you that a speeding freight train couldn't kill you would you lie on the tracks?

Where you place your faith...well, in someone who has no care for your being, or someone that took the time to create your very being..that will make the difference when you pass from this world. I pray you will make the right choice.

Answer 5

It's not that there shouldn't be a heaven/hell, its that there CAN'T be a heaven/hell. Think about it...

1. How can so many people fit into one place?
2. How will God have time to decide where each person goes (roughly, about 1 person dies per second)
3. What about animals? Do they also have to be placed in heaven/hell?
4. Why would god punish his creatures if he loved them "unconditionally"?!

To me, there's just a lot about it that doesn't make any sense.

Answer 6

Hell is mental illness or being tortured to death. I don't think that there is a heaven although there are certainly aliens in the sky. I think that people are just gone after they die -- for the most part. It's good to think about it though to work it out in your mind. I'm sure a computer could show images of people after they die or a person could telepath ideas about a dead person. But when you get right down to it, after people die, they aren't here anymore. I can feel Jesus, but can he feel me after his death?

Answer 7

Stairway to Heaven

Answer 8

Heaven and Hell are as real as you want to make them. Whatever you believe when you die determines what you will experience next. So if you believe in Heaven and Hell that will be part of your expereince after you have died.

If you believe you go to sleep forever wihout dreaming you will create an experience like that. Fortunately, if you are unable to awaken yourself from that state of existence there are trained intercessors who can help you to wake up and return to life.

Our beliefs always determine what happens to us next after we die, but we all wind up on the same path to resolve the things in our hearts we feel bad about so that we may forgive ourselves and all others for the painful things in our lives and move on.

Once we reach a state where we are free of any burden of pain or regret from our lives we have three choices, we can resurrect, we can reincarnate, or we can spend time in the spirit world with our soul mates before choosing to return to an incarnate life.

We live forever in one state or another in one form or another through infinite possible worlds and life forms. We explore the infinite and learn and grow and from time to time we experience returning to god and then we rediscover ourselves once more embarking on our eternal explorations of creation.

Over time we may learn that we are responsible for creating all of the experiences we have in our lives, and we may learn how to make our lives and experiences the best they can possibly be.

Death can be a very unpleasant experience because we feel ourselves torn apart from all the people in our life whom we love. It is particularly unpleasant because we feel all the pain of the people who love us and are losing us when we die. But, no matter how many times we die, we always survive our deaths and we will always have more opportunies to find people to love and nurture and cherish.

Answer 9

the bible says" after this the judgement" after you die the judgement of heaven or hell. how you live tells the story of the end of the chapter of your life.if you have been forgiven then you know that the blood cleanses you from all sin and unrighteousness.the bible clearly states there is a heaven and hell.the begger died and went to heaven and the rich man that denied him food or water died and went to hell and felt the pain of the flames of hell. he wanted water to cool his tongue and was denied because there is no relief in hell.i believe and know that the word of god is true.

Answer 10

I think that if you can so easily be convinced of things you or your friend don't have any first hand knowledge of, you should just not worry about it.
However, I will say that we can only know of things spiritual through spiritual events. We can not rely on friends who are smart or logic that seems wise. We can easily be confused. Whether you believe in God or not, unless you have first hand knowledge of Deity, or the lack thereof, you are only stating an uneducated guess.

Answer 11

I believe the heaven and hell everyone thinks there is, is really the heaven and hell we create for ourselves. We choose our own destination.