Heaven and Hell?

Question

I'm really not trying to start a religious argument here, just thinking out loud. Does anyone else have a problem with the idea that there is a heaven and a hell with no middle ground? Isn't that like saying there is nothing but freedom or the death penalty? "I'm sorry sir but we'll have to kill you for littering since there is no such thing as a fine or community service." It just doesn't sound like a plan that a loving God would come up with to me. A person can be born in a part of the world where they are not exposed to Christianity but still live a good life. According to my understanding of the Christian religion this person is still doomed to enternal torture just because they didn't accept Christ as their savior.

Answer 1

There is no suffering in "hell", or the grave. The bible teaches that sometime after Armageddon and the resurrection, death and "hell" will themselves be destroyed.
(Ecclesiastes 9:5) For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all
(Ecclesiastes 9:10) there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol ["hell"]
(Revelation 20:14) And death and Hades ["hell"] were hurled into the lake of fire

The vast majority of humans have an EARTHLY resurrection hope, the same hope given to Adam and Eve.
(Genesis 1:28) God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill THE EARTH and subdue it [caps added]
(Genesis 2:17) You must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die [so never eating from that tree means never dying]

Interestingly, the Scriptures are full of references to this earthly hope.
(Psalms 37:11) 'the meek will possess the earth'
(Proverbs 2:21) 'upright will reside in the earth'
(Isaiah 45:18) 'God formed the earth to be inhabited'
(Matthew 5:5) 'the mild will inherit the earth'
(Revelation 21:3) The tent of God is with mankind

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/20001001/article_02.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20001001/
http://watchtower.org/e/jt/

Answer 2

I only believe that there is a Heaven and a Hell. Some people believe that there are different degrees in Hell.

A " middle ground" scenerio doesn't sound right to me. Let's look at this like a game. There are rules in a game, not rules that can be manipulted so that there is no definite Loser.....

As far as people around the World who haven't heard about the Christian religion? I don't buy that either. Missionaries have been going all over the world for years and years. Not that they have reached everyone of these people, but the message will.

Only exceptions? Children will be in heaven no matter what.

Answer 3

There's just Heaven, this world, and Hell. Hell is for those who flat out deny Him. I'm not Catholic, so I definitely don't believe in Purgatory. I do believe that God will judge our hearts though. There are babies and people that aren't capable of understanding the concept of Jesus and Heaven. Those people certainly can't go to Hell. However, if anyone denies Jesus, they will go to Hell. No one can be sure of a person's last minute thoughts either. At the end, there's no way to be certain if they accepted Jesus or not. There are also people that died without ever having the chance to learn about God. I believe that God will judge whether or not they would have accepted Him. I hope you find your answer.

Answer 4

Concerning your question about a person not exposed to Christianity, the Bible says that every person will be able to look to creation and see. God has many attributes, but a few are Love and Justice. Personally, I don't believe it would be just to hold a person from an uncivilized tribe in Africa, who has never heard anything about Jesus, accountable to accepting Him... I think God will judge according to the amount of exposure they have had.

As far as heaven and hell, the only difference between a person who goes to either is whether or not they have accepted God's grace and then lived it out. Hell is usually made out as a place where a devil holds a pitchfork and tortures you with fire... but in reality, hell is complete and absolute separation from God, his love, justice, grace and provision that even the most God hating person has not experienced on this earth. I believe it is most likely being completely separated from God, with the full and complete understanding that you made that choice for yourself.

Answer 5

It's either white or black. It's in the bible. If you did good things and was a good person, then you go to heaven...and vice versa, if you were bad, then you'll go to hell. You should accept Christ as your Savior, coz he's the passport to going there/heaven. Whoever accepts the Father (God) must also accept the Son (Jesus). You could consider the world we are living in now as the middle-ground, coz whatever we do or say here will be the basis of judgement when we cross-over.

Answer 6

Hey, I agree with you. People, after death(if there is such a thing, God, heaven and hell business as according to Christians) who aren't Christians but live in other parts of the world, but are good people, should deserve to go to heaven(if it exists). And there should be a middle ground. Wouldn't standing in a fire pit for infinity get boring? But I am not an informed Christian or Catholic or any of that stuff, so don't rely on my opinions for a peace of mind!
Scott and Friends

Answer 7

We were taught as kids that there is a heaven and hell, and there is a middle purgatory, this place s where peoples soles stay 4 ever, those who didn't get to heaven an weren't bad enough to go to hell, people who were not christened or baptized couldn't o through the gates of heaven, my dad taught us this as kids, i now have 2 children who Ar not baptized my dad keeps on at me, but my beliefs have changed and why should i be a hypocrite because of his beliefs, we were brought up strict catholics, bt now i have a choice and with so much suffering and sadness in this world i now even don't know whether there is even a god up there, there Ar plenty of devils about though

Answer 8

What is heaven and hell? hell is the condition of separation from God and heaven is the condition of union with God. Specifically they are those conditions after a human being has left his body. The individual himself determines whether he will embrace God or reject God. God is goodness, comfort and life. Separation from him is torment and all that is the opposite of the good. This is the state called hell. Now hell is the result of rejecting God which is also the act of embracing the opposite of God. This is why there is no middle ground. God does not reject anyone. Now someone who has never heard the gospel (in a far away land) has never been given the chance to reject God and so he has not done it (he does not go to hell). You cannot reject what you have not been offered. God is a loving God which is exactly why he does not reject anyone or condemn anyone to hell. Hell is the manifestation of a human act of rejection.

Answer 9

Hades (Greek) and Sheol (Hebrew) are the same meaning for death. Where Gehenna is a city trash dump that was burning all the time. False Religion will teach that Gehenna is a hell where people suffer.

This is not a bible teaching:

Did Abraham die and went to a ever-burning hell? Surely idol worshippers would not be in heaven. Yet, Abraham was with his forefathers, Scripture says.
Joshua 24:2 - "Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor; and they served other deities," Genesis 15:15. "And you shall go to your fathers".

King David was a righteous king he must of gone to heaven? NO?
Acts 2:34 - For David did not ascend into the heavens.

When Lazarus died Jesus spoke to Martha that he was in Heaven? NO?
John 11:11 - Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

Besides Jesus there must of been some one righteous enough to go to heaven? NO?
John 3:13 - No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

When Jesus kingdom arrives he promised the good will go to heaven. NO?
Matthew 5:5 - Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Surely people who are holy as saints and priests will rule with Jesus in heaven? NO?
Revelation 5:10 - You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."

finally, the second death (from Rev 21:8) is a location for bad people to suffer in a fiery place. NO?
Rev 20:14 - And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

-The Second death is a "judgment" not a location. Jesus is promising that those who are not wicked will be resurrected and never die again. (Rev 20:15)

Verdict: Death is Hell. It's the grave where we are like in a sleep like state but have no conscience thought. Waiting to be brought back to life if we have followed Jesus teachings.

Answer 10

Uh, most religions consider just walking around living everyday to be the "middle ground" and heaven or hell is where you go when you die. That's sort of the whole point of having a heaven or hell.

On the other hand, lots of folks realize that hell is actually everyday life and heaven is that big conceptual mindf*ck that organized religion uses as bait to keep the unwashed masses under control. The "middle ground" are those few random moments when existence is actually tolerable.

Whatever. I guess it's an individual thing.

Answer 11

You pose an excellent question. The scriptural truth is that the concept that when we die we either go to heaven or hell is a church doctrine with no basis in the bible. Ecc 9 (read it on your own) explains that when we die we are conscious of nothing. how could that be if we have a soul that lives forever one way or the other. Ezekiel 18:4 says that "the soul that is sinning it itself will DIE," not that the sould that is sinning will burn in hellfire forever. At death we simply cease to exist and await the promise at John 5:28,29 that says that the our is coming when all those in the memorial tombs will hear Christ's voice and come out ... a resurrection to life on earth as originally intended. Until then we're simply in God's memory.