It is all based on faith for me. I have no absolute knowledge of Heaven, Hell, or an Afterlife. I do have absolute knowledge of the feeling of love and peace that believing in God has given me.
Faith by default would not be faith anymore if someone had absolute knowledge.
2007-03-09 02:35:55
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answer #1
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answered by Radictis 3
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There can't be any absolute certaimty about spiritual or metaphysical objects. They can neither be proven nor disproven. All I could say is, there's a 50:50 chance that there is an afterlife and there is a very little chance that christian conceptions of heaven and hell are true, since even if the chance for god's existence might be 50:50, there is another at most 50:50 chance that he is like conceived by Christians.
Personally I don't believe in god (christian, deist, or any other) or any other deity of any kind.
2007-03-09 11:26:16
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answer #2
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answered by Stephen Dedalus 2
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I can say, with absolute certainty, that 1+1=2. Other than that, there is not much that is certain.
I believe that Heaven and Hell exist. I believe that there is life after death. If I was certain they were true, then belief becomes fact.
2007-03-09 10:50:00
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answer #3
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answered by Maverick 6
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There is no such thing as absolute certainty. Every thought must be subject to review from time to time. I'm reasonably sure that there is no life after death and I think that the concepts of heaven, hell, nirwana, valhalla, hades, or whatever, are outright ridiculous, but I have no absolute certainty. (And of course faith is not needed either)
2007-03-09 10:39:08
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answer #4
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answered by NaturalBornKieler 7
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If you know with absolute certainty, then faith no longer exists because you know. Faith it a belief in things unproven. Once it is proven, it is no longer faith, it is knowledge.
2007-03-09 10:58:48
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answer #5
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answered by rbarc 4
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We can not know anything spiritually with absolute certainty. That is why there is faith. One has faith that what they believe is right. I personally have faith that everyone is right.
2007-03-09 10:37:40
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answer #6
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answered by The Pope 5
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If something is known for sure, it doesn't require faith. One must have faith in order to prove a theory.
(Hebrews 11:1) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2007-03-09 10:37:26
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answer #7
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answered by MoPleasure4U 4
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I know there is existance after you leave the body behind. I also know God exists.
No faith is necessary when you know.
However a different form of faith comes in when your experience (that proved it to you) fades in memory. Kind of like when you tell a loved one you love them...while it is fresh in mind they know you love them...but after a time they are not so sure and they need faith that you still love them.
~ Eric Putkonen
2007-03-09 10:38:51
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answer #8
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answered by Anonymous
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that we know little with absolute certainty
2007-03-09 10:46:04
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answer #9
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answered by woodsonhannon53 6
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Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
I. SIMPLE DECLARATION
“Faith is”
A. Some deny such a thing as faith, but
the Bible declares "faith is." Faith is real.
B. Show me faith.....can’t see faith.
It is like the wind; cannot see the wind but you see the effects of the wind. You can see the result of the wind. The same is true of faith; you cannot see faith but you can see the effects of faith.
Faith is like calories; you can’t see them, but you can see the results.
II. SCRIPTURAL DEFINITION
Verse 1 presents us with the only definition of faith to be found in the entire Bible. To this one definition we must give some careful attention.
A. Bible faith defined
Faith is defined in a two-fold way:
1. “SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR”
Faith is so real it gives substance. The promises given to the Old Testament saints were so real to them, because they believed God, that they based their lives on them.
Faith is not a wistful longing that something may come to pass in an uncertain tomorrow. True faith is an absolute certainty, often of things that the world considers unreal and impossible.
If we follow a God whose audible voice we have never heard and believe in a Christ whose face we have never seen, we do so because our faith has a reality, a substance, an assurance that is unshakable.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were confronted with the choice of obeying Nebuchadnezzar, whom they could see very well, or God, whom they had never seen. Without hesitation, they chose to obey God. Moses (27) also was confronted with obeying a King he could see, or a God whom he had never seen.
Man's natural response is to trust his physical senses, to put his faith in the things he can see, hear, taste, and feel. But the man of God puts his trust in something more durable and dependable than anything he will ever experience with his senses. Faith is a present essence of a future reality. Faith is a capacity to see the unseen. It is the substance of the unseen reality before it becomes a seen reality.
Faith gives a surety. John 6:69 “we believe and are sure.” Faith furnishes my heart with a sure support.
2. “THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN”
Physical eyesight examines evidence of visible things; faith enables us to see the invisible.
Physical eyesight produces conviction or evidence of visible things; faith is the organ which enables people to see the invisible.
Faith means we are confident of what we hoped for and convinced of what we do not see.
Faith enables the believing soul to treat the future as present and the invisible as seen.
Faith enables the men and women in this chapter to see the invisible, choose the imperishable, and do the impossible. All the examples in this chapter are related to “things hoped for” or “things not seen.” George Muller, “Faith is the assurance that the thing which God has said in His Word is true, and that God will act according to what He has said in His Word. This assurance, this reliance on God's Word, this confidence is FAITH.”
Faith enables to believe what we do not see, and the reward of faith is to see what we believe.
B. Bible faith developed
1. By a revelation (Romans 10:17)
In one way or another, God communicated His truth to all of the people named in Hebrews 11. Their faith was generated by; founded on the revealed Word of God. Moses was not afraid of the Egyptian army because God had told him that He would safely deliver the Jews from Egypt. Joshua was not embarrassed to march around Jericho for a week, because God had told him he would conquer the city. Granted, God doesn't speak to us today in exactly the same way He spoke to Moses and Joshua; and I'm glad He doesn't.
You and I have something surer. We have a complete and final revelation from God in Jesus Christ, recorded in the Word.
2. By a relationship
The better you get to know your friends, the easier it is to trust him or not to trust them, as the case may be. See Daniel 11:32.
If we want our faith to grow we must get to know God better.
Now, oftentimes in order to get to know God better, we have to go through trials where we are forced to exercise our faith in God. God did not begin with Abraham by asking him to offer his son on the altar; he began by asking him to pack up and leave home. Jesus did not begin with Peter by asking him to walk on the water; he began by asking him to move his boat out into the deep. Faith is strengthened as we get to know God better through the trials and trouble that he allows in our life.
THREE SIMPLE TRUTHS ABOUT BIBLICAL FAITH
Romans 4:20,21.
Faith Requires a Promise from God (Romans 4:20a).
Faith Rests in the Power of God (Romans 4:21). God’s ability is the foundation of faith’s stability.
Faith Results in Praise To God (Romans 4:20b)
2007-03-09 10:37:45
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answer #10
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answered by Preacher 4
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