Does the God of love really roast people forever? What happens when we die? Can someone watch over us from heaven? Can we be haunted? What has God done for us to make for eternal happiness?
2007-02-26 05:23:59 · 20 answers · asked by debbie2243 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Although this question plainly requested answers from the bible, the majority of the so-called "answers" above shamelessly ignore the bible's actual teachings.
Most of mankind's dead are simply in a sleep-like state of non-existence, awaiting resurrection after Armageddon.
(John 11:11,14,23-25) [Jesus] said to them: “Lazarus our friend has gone to rest, but I am journeying there to awaken him from sleep.” ...Jesus said to them outspokenly: “Lazarus has died... Jesus said to [Martha]: “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that exercises faith in me, even though he dies, will come to life
(Acts 24:15) There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.
The bible teaches that "hell" is *NOT* a fiery place of torment, but is actually the common grave of mankind. There is no suffering in "hell", or the grave. Sometime after the resurrection (once the grave is "empty"), 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 bible plainly teaches that a "soul" can die. In both Hebrew and Greek, original language words translated "soul" simply mean "a life", with no implication regarding some immortal otherworldly entity. Each deceased life is in Jehovah God's remembrance (with the potential for future resurrection), but the dead do not exist anywhere but memories until and unless the life is resurrected.
(Ezekiel 18:4) The soul that is sinning - it itself will die.
(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"]
(Genesis 2:17) But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die.”
(Genesis 17:14) And an uncircumcised male who will not get the flesh of his foreskin circumcised, even that soul must be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”
(Judges 16:30) And Samson proceeded to say: “Let my soul die with the Philistines.” Then he bent himself with power, and the house went falling upon the axis lords and upon all the people that were in it, so that the dead that he put to death in his own death came to be more than those he had put to death during his lifetime.
(Job 33:22) And his soul draws near to the pit, And his life to those inflicting death.
(Psalm 78:50) He did not hold back their soul from death itself; And their life he handed over even to the pestilence.
(Isaiah 53:12) he poured out his soul to the very death
(Acts 3:23) Indeed, any soul that does not listen to that Prophet will be completely destroyed from among the people.’
(Revelation 16:3) And the second one poured out his bowl into the sea. And it became blood as of a dead man, and every living soul died, yes, the things in the sea.
For the vast majority of mankind, their eternal hope is unending peaceful productive life in perfect human bodies in a restored paradise earth.
(Psalm 37:10,11,29) And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more; And you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be. 11 But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace. ...The righteous themselves will possess the earth, And they will reside forever upon it.
Bible students may recall this is exactly the life that Adam and Eve enjoyed before they introduced sinful imperfection and the issue of universal sovereignty. It is Christ Jesus who settles the issue and redeems mankind for all time.
(Genesis 2:15-17) Jehovah God proceeded to take the man and settle him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to take care of it. 16 And Jehovah God also laid this command upon the man: “From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. 17 But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die.” [note that abstaining from that one fruit would mean the man would never die]
(Romans 5:12,14) Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men ...death ruled as king from Adam
(1 Corinthians 15:22) For just as in Adam all are dying, so also in the Christ all will be made alive
2007-02-27 08:26:10 · answer #1 · answered by achtung_heiss 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The bible says the dead are conscious of nothing...Ecc 6: 5 & 6 & 10. If your conscious of nothing...you don't see, hear, smell, touch...so what good would a burning hell do?
Jesus spoke of Lazarus as being asleep in death. He had been dead for 4 days when he was resurrected. Why is there no account of what Lazarus saw when he was dead. Because he was conscious of nothing.
Can someone watch over us? Yes, God uses his angels to watch over us. Not that we have a guardian angel, but the angels are watching over the going ons on the earth. "...Into these very things angels are desiring to peer" 1 Pet 1:12
Can we be haunted? By ghost of dead loved ones? No once again the dead are conscious of nothing. Can demons pretend to be dead loved ones and possess things? Yes! Demons were expelled in bible times from people and animals.
God sent his son so that our sins can be forgiven and that we can have the hope of living forever. Even if we have died, we have the hope of the resurrection. John 17:3 ; Ps 37: 10 & 11 & 29; John 5:28 & 29
2007-02-26 05:59:11 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The Bible teaches once to die and then the judgment. No coming back (no hauntings) God provided a way out through salvation through Jesus Christ. That's why He died on the cross for our sins.
Because He is just, those who choose not to serve Him will get the same punishment He originally created only for the Lucifer and the fallen angels. To do any less would not be just.
Eternal happiness is being with the Lord forever and ever.
2007-02-26 05:30:54 · answer #3 · answered by Jan P 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
1. Yes, the Christian god really does roast people forever. Some sects, like 7th Day Adventists and others, have tried futzing with the verbs to turn damnation into obliteration instead of torment. However, since hell is a concept the Jews borrowed from the Zoroastrian Babylonians who borrowed it from the Zoroastrian Indo-Iranians, (in both cases where it is a place where the deity of evil torments those who fall into his grasp because of their earthly moral deficiencies) it seems the orthodox interpretation that hell is a place or never-ending torture has to be upheld.
2. What happens when we die? From dust we came, to dust we shall return. We become worm food. The undertaker makes money. People divide our earthly possessions amongst them and content themselves imagining we are in heaven or hell, depending on how they felt about us.
3. Can someone watch over us from heaven. Of course since dead people are dead and heaven is a fantasy, the answer is no. and for the Bible-minded, the answer is still no. According to Paul the dead sleep until the resurrection, which for the dead is the same as falling asleep and waking up with Jesus in the resurrection without experiencing the passage of time. But they are not watching over anyone in either scenario, which we have to assume includeds all the saints Catholics are praying to.
4. Haunting is a psychological response to environmental stimulus. There are no ghosts or demons, and thus no real hauntings. You basically haunt yourself.
5. God, like Zeus, Odin, Ahura Mazda, Quetzalcoatl and all the other proposed deities which don't exist have done nothing as things that don't actually exist tend to do. It's like asking how many quarters has the tooth fairy left us. None, because ther eis no tooth fairy. And since we are temporal and not eternal, eternal happiness is a meaningless notion whichis why we should focus on happiness in this life since there is no other.
2007-02-26 05:48:54 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Wow, many interesting questions!
~Does the God of love really roast people forever?
Yes. It will not be His fault if you roast in hell because YOU decided not to obey him, eventhough you knew heaven was for those who obey ONLY.
~What happens when we die?
You spirit goes to a waiting place. There you will be until the REAL end, when Christ returns.
~Can someone watch over us from heaven?
I've never read anything about that in the bible, so i cannot say yes or no.
~Can we be haunted?
No. God keeps spirits in a waiting place - spirits cannot come and go as they please. Remember what happend to the rich man in that story of Lazarus. Once the rich guy and Lazarus were in Hades (waiting place), the rich guy asked if Lazarus could go down to earth and tell all his brothers that there really was a God to whom they owed honor, glory and obedience. The answer he got was NO.
~ What has God done for us to make for eternal happiness?
He sent his only son to die for ALL.
2007-02-26 05:36:19 · answer #5 · answered by Java Chip 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No "God" does not roast people.
What happens when we die depends on what we believe in this life. - no one knows specific details.
Yes, there is someone watching us / can 'watch over' us individually.
The haunted thing is questionable / not understood /Bible references satanic possession, but nothing specific about ghosts.
God says he has prepared a place for His people, in heaven. Where is heaven? Don't know except that it is with Him.
(His people are those who except that Jesus is the Son of God)
2007-02-26 05:40:16 · answer #6 · answered by howdigethere 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Debbie that is more than what the Bible teaches and some of it is denominational dogma or the position of radical fundamentalist.
Regardless, there is no way to answer your question in this kind of forum. The best thing, even if you are a non-believer, is to get a Bible and sit down and start reading.
2007-02-26 05:30:26 · answer #7 · answered by Seek Him 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Hi, debbie.
There are lots of question we have, even those of us who believe and study the bible. God hasn't told us or shown us a lot of things. But it is clear that the eternal state for those love Him and obey him is one of bliss and untold happiness. and it is clear that the opposite is true for those who continue to rebel against Him and His word.
What has He done for us? What hasn't He done for us! He demonstrated His great love and mercy in sending Jesus Christ his only Son into the world for our sins.
god bless
2007-02-26 05:31:48 · answer #8 · answered by happy pilgrim 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
the Bible is the infallible word of God, written by men inspired by the Holy Spirt as a means to communicate the awesome love of the creator and the plan He has laid out for His children. It is a reflection of true love.
the only ones watching over you are God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
people who reject God are cast into the lake of fire...for eternity...they are not roasted..but their spirit is tormented with the fact they are forever seperate from God...
when we die.....we either live eternally in joy or torment...it depends on who you chose here...God or satan....
we can be provoked and our possesed by demons....sent by satan as a means to prolong his attempt to draw people from God.
God has given His Son, Jesus as the means to eternal happiness...but more than that is eternal joy...which begins in the hearts of those who accept Him as their Saviour...the joy is a promise of God....and it is real.....†
2007-02-26 05:36:38 · answer #9 · answered by implumbus 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well, i'm not God but from reading the Bible i can tell you that we go to what i'd call a "pre-hell" or a "pre-heaven" i call it that because no one goes to heaven or hell unitl the Lord has returned. If you don't understand what i mean,
read Luke 16: 19-31
2007-02-26 05:33:22 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
I assure you that God loves everyone and has no intention of roasting enyone for any reason no matter what it says in the bible.
The bible was created by the roman empire to adjust the message of Jesus to something that the Romans found more acceptable.
This is why it is often contradictory and difficult to understand.
The message of Jesus on the other hand is elegant and simple to understand. You need to separate the message that Jesus left for us from all of the nonsense that the Romans overlaid it with and it will start to become quite easy to understand.
Don't take my word for any of this. Study biblical history for your self and draw your own conclusions. There are many good books on this subject by some intelligent and thoughtful people. Take advantage of their efforts.
Email if you are interested and I will send some suggested reading material.
Love and blessings.
Don
2007-02-26 05:30:29 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 5⤋