God and death............ Can you please answer these question without just telling me that God is great....?

Question

1) In reality and religiously, is there something like "untimely death". If so, what consttutes it?

2) If I am sent to war (e.g. Iraq - and please note that no offence is intended) and I have no control over the situation there and i never wanted to go there in the first place. I got killed there before I could "repent"; will God still punish me and sending me to the place Christians call "hell"?

3) It is a fact that parents have influence over their children. Now what would happen if the cops chase a ten year old boy who had just stolen an MP3 from a store, shot and kill him. It is later found that his parents, though Atheists, had never taught or encourage him to steal. In fact they were doing the opposite. Obviously he doesn't give a hoot about God (but he is till a child). How will God judge him?

Answer 1

Heh, I know how you feel soemtimes, so I'll do my best ^_~

1) Assuming you're talking about if our lives have a predefined length and can be cut short. Perosnally, I don't believe so. This is because of the fact we have free will, meaning our world is infinately variable and therefore cannot be "predestined". Sure we can die without having done something we should have, but beyond that I don't think so.

P.S. If my previous answer made no sense, it's because I read "untimely" "ultimate".

2) This one may seem cruel to some people but, tough luck, you had your chance to choose and you'll have to live with it. Granted, I'd never want a friend of mine to die without choosing God, but that's just how it works, they have their chance.

3) If you're asking how God will judge the child for stealing, my answer is that he'd go to Heaven because he hadn't reached the age of accountability, though I suppose what age that is exactly can be debated. Personally I believe 12.
[Thanks to Rick for saying that, I couldn't think of it >_<]

Basically, because he's a child he'll get to go to Heaven. Other wise any babies that die at birth would never get a chance.

I hope that decently answers your questions!

Answer 2

Untimely is a word that we as humans understand. Time is something that we can relate too- God is beyond time. What I mean to say is, yes, there are deaths that seem like it was too soon, like the ones that you mention. A small child, before the age of accountability, which I am not sure what that is, but an infant for sure, would go to heaven. If you went to war, and was killed , and you did not turn to the Lord "in Time" then yes you would go to hell. Let me share something with you that may not seem as harsh- yes dying in Iraq or any war is horrible. But dying without Christ is even more horrible. The way you say you were killed before you could repent tells me you must realize that repentance is necessarily for forgiveness and entrance into heaven after death. If you did not believe there was a God or that repentance was necessary then you would not even ask this question. So I am believing that God is seeking you and desires for you to come to Him. None of us know how long we have on this earth. UNTIMELY could be anything, dont you think. Even an older person dying of "natural" causes could be considered untimely for the family that is left behind.

Answer 3

1. The first one is hard for me to answer as a Christian because I believe that whenever one dies is the "right time"...i.e. God is ready for that person to die and therefore takes him/her in whatever way He sees fit. I think secularly, it often refers to someone dying young, or having some unforseen event happen after which he/she dies. Again, though, this is a hard one for me to answer.

2. This one is an interesting question - I'm Catholic, so obviously I believe that when you die, there are three choices: heaven, hell, or purgatory. If your soul is not 'right' with God or if you have not had a chance to repent, I believe your soul will stay in purgatory, or limbo, until that happens. I do believe, though, that if your deepest intent is never to repent, and your soul is in defiance of God, even at the end, you will go to hell.

3. I agree with the poster above - I can't see how the police would shoot a 10 year old for stealing an MP3 player. However, I also can't venture a guess as to how God would deal with him or judge him. I would assume since the conventional wisdom is that God is a loving and forgiving entity, he would be patient and kind with the child and most likely wouldn't send him to hell.

Just my two cents...really, though, it is very hard to even fathom what might or might not happen. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see!

Answer 4

These are hard questions that I'm sure nobody could answer correctly. All I know is God judges each person depending on how they were raised, their heart, their circumstances and what not. He completely understands what we all go through and he is quick to forgive people. If someone ends up in a place of punishment God is still as forgiving to that person as if they were alive. The Bible doesn't ever say that there is a moment when it is too late. You can always call on Jesus in this life or the next and he will be there.

Answer 5

1. Yes to a point. God has so many years you are to live on this planet, say it is appointed for you to live for 60 years and then your life will be taken from you to be simplistic about it. Now say at age 45 you are feeling really bad and lost and decide to take your life by killing yourself. That is an untimely death as you were not to be dead yet but to have another 15 years to live but you cut it short.

2. God says in many places that we are to do what our leaders tell us to unless it goes against what God says, which will come. He also says and has sent many to war for definite reasons so just going to war, any war, is not necessarily a sin in and of itself so no need to repent of anything as you did nothing wrong in going and doing what you were told to do and that you really believed was the right thing to do when you set out for it. So no, God is not going to send you to Hell for doing what you are supposed to do to defend your country or those of another country that you are sent to defend.

3. Obviously the child is a bit young for a cop to be shooting at but to take your example the child is not of age to make right decisions yet or know right from wrong totally. Even if he does know what is right from wrong, it is not for us to say what God would do as we do not have all the facts. God takes what is in our heart to judge if we really do know what is right and He sees the end from the beginning so knows what the child would have done if he had known better so would judge him on many more things than we would even think of. In truth, nobody could really say how God would judge him as only God knows all the facts but we do not. Whatever was done would be fair and good. Of that we can be sure.

Answer 6

1) For God no death is untimely. He exists outside time. For the human any death other than extreme old age is untimely. But, we Christians believe that God judges the hearts of man as they are accountable. Children get a free pass. Those older no matter when death occurs we believe God gave them a chance to come to him.

2) If you are sent to any war you have an obligation to do right. You can repent anywhere in the world. We believe God hears all sinners prayers. Again, God will condemn those that had a chance and rejected him. If you truly believe the war is unjust refuse to fight and go to jail with pride knowing you did what God wants and not what man wants. But, if you have not repented, yes God will send you to hell.

3) Again, God will judge according to the persons knowledge of him. An Atheist would have many more talks against God than a Christian family for God (shocking but true) So the 10 year old would have heard and considering your scenario decided to go to the logical extreme "if there is no God then right and wrong is what we make of it." He is a true Atheist and a full son of Hell. But, that is how I see it and lucky for us all Man will not sit in judgment of man, but an all knowing all seeing all mighty God.

Answer 7

To me the same answer applies to all three questions. Every person will have heard at least once before leaving this earth about the gift of salvation through Gods only begotten Son. There will be NO excuse in an after life for anyone who has rejected Jesus when they come to the great white throne judgment. I do not believe however that an infant, or child who has not learned right from wrong is held accountable; they go directly to be with God when they leave earth.

Answer 8

It seems you had all the chances in the world to repent before you went to war. You sound like a very intelligent person and you had obviously thought about this for some time. You had no control over what happened in the war but you had all the control in the world over the way you lived your life before you were sent to war.I personally believe that we are not judged on the fact that we repent before we die but more important on how we lived our whole life before we die.
There are millions of people who die before getting a chance to repent and that's why its so important to live believing in God and following his teachings.
As for the child for example who gets shot before he really knows or hears about God you have to ask yourself what of all the children all over the world in war torn countries and in places where they have never heard of our God. Our God is a good God and I'm sure he would not leave them out.
I hope this helps some.

Answer 9

First of all....Jesus said: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.” (John 13:35) Such love reaches across racial, social, and national boundaries, drawing people together in genuine brotherhood. So strong is this love that it sets them apart as being truly different. When the nations go to war, who have enough love for their Christian brothers in other lands that they refuse to take up arms and kill them? That is what early Christians did.
Second, about hell....The word “hell” is found in many Bible translations. In the same verses other translations read “the grave,” “the world of the dead,” and so forth. Other Bibles simply transliterate the original-language words that are sometimes rendered “hell”; that is, they express them with the letters of our alphabet but leave the words untranslated. What are those words? The Hebrew she’ohl′ and its Greek equivalent hai′des, which refer, not to an individual burial place, but to the common grave of dead mankind; also the Greek ge′en‧na, which is used as a symbol of eternal destruction. However, both in Christendom and in many non-Christian religions it is taught that hell is a place inhabited by demons and where the wicked, after death, are punished (and some believe that this is with torment).
Third, Romans 6:23 For the wages sin pays is death, but the gift God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord. If the boy dies then his sin is paid for just like you if you die in battle and you will be resurected and judged by your deeds after you come back to life.
John 5:28, 29: “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice [the voice of Jesus] and come out.” (The Greek word translated “memorial tombs” is not the plural form of ta′phos [grave, an individual burial place] or hai′des [gravedom, the common grave of dead mankind] but is the plural dative form of mne‧mei′on [remembrance, memorial tomb]. It lays stress on preserving memory of the deceased person. Not those whose memory was blotted out in Gehenna because of unforgivable sins but persons remembered by God will be resurrected with the opportunity to live forever.—Matt. 10:28; Mark 3:29; Heb. 10:26; Mal. 3:16.)

Answer 10

1) Untimely death usually refers when someone dies before reaching old age at which we are expected to die. Reality is that we are predestined to die according to our karma or past activities. So there is no such thing as untimely death.
2) It is not like you must repent at the last second before you die, you must live e life of righteousness starting NOW and God will allow you to think of Him whenever death comes.
3) Whatever influences surround us at any given time during our lifetime are granted according to our own karma. We are solely responsible for whatever happens to us including taking birth with loving, exemplary and caring parents or the other way around.