Okay, so christianity offers an eternal afterlife of praising god, alone, for eternity...?

Question

but also offers eternal suffering for those that don't believe, no matter how much of a good person they were in life. No Jesus, no Heaven. It also offers beleivers a "get out of Hell free" card, so no matter how much of a bad person they were in life, or the bad things they did, they still get to go to heaven on grounds that they believed in Jesus. Being good won't get you in, only belief and loving Jesus will do it.

Okay, sounds like a bad deal to me. What rewards do some of the other religions have for those that live good lives, whether they are believers or not?

Seth, I actually like Judaism's answer. To me, it makes sense. But I'm trying to find out what other beliefs are out there. I'm not trying to subscribe to any of them.

Answer 1

Agreed. Fortunately, one has the option of not believing in any of it.

Answer 2

ISLAM..

get to know it first...
look.. you have to believe there is a GOD.... if not then.. who create us?? who create the world.. the universe.. the AIR.. the wind..

In ISLAM if u are good..helpfull...u will be reward..even if u are not MUSLIM..

i have a story to tell..

there is a time where a man (lets call em A).. Mr A is not a muslim... he is alchoholic...like to sleep around... (do all the bad things)... every body in the city know about MR A behaviour but one day..when he was walking around the city.. he saw a woman with a baby..sitting in a corner..the women and her baby look sick and hungry.. Mr A feel really sorry for the women and her baby and he went to a shop and bought the women some food and water..

The women and the baby (IS MUSLIM)...is very thankful to MR A... and thank him..

Then years go by..when MR A is sick n dying..when he pass away..when the judgement day come.. he will go to hell first (bcoz of his sins) ...then he will go to heaven (bcoz wht he did to the women n the baby)..

conclusion is... if you are nice to ppl or you do even 1 small good thing... GOD will reward you.. you will enter the heaven..

Answer 3

Well, some of us don't really have a reward/punishment system. I'm Jewish, and we believe that it's what we do here and now, during our lives, that matters. We believe that there's SOMETHING after death, but we simply don't know what it is (although some Jews do believe that when you die, that's it). I think you'll probably find as many beliefs about the nature of the afterlife among Jews as there are Jews. We prefer to concentrate on the here-and-now, and see if we can make this world a little better.

Answer 4

Without God's standard one can hardly say that one is good and has lead a wise and righteous life. Christianity is not a religion, it is a personal relationship with Living God. This one and true God offers the same thing for everyone, so you can hardly blame Him if you end up in hell. You can choose heaven. He gave you your intelligence.

Answer 5

Well, Buddhism has lots of views. The most popular one, the belief in Bardo, goes as follows. When you die, first the elements of your body are broken down. These lights and flashes, which are written in the ancient Tibetan Book of the Dead, perfectly describe the near death experiences that people see today. Next your id, ego, and superego are basically destroyed by a blinding light and a series of heavily symbolic visions that take the form of images from your past life (A Buddhist would see Bodhisattvas, a Catholic might see saints, a Muslim would see Angels) As you are basically psycholically dismembered, layer by layer, your responses to the visions (which are based on your attitude that was built up during the past life) begins to determine the state of your next life. Now, this is where it gets tricky. Traditional Buddhists believe that the 6 realms are literal, that people really come back as Devas, or Pretas. I tend to look at them figuratively. Someone who responds with Anger will enter Naraka, or hell, which figuratively represents struggling with hatred and anger in your next life. Someone who responds with greed or desire, will become a Preta, or hungry ghost, which figuratively represents a person who struggles with a perpetual, insatiable hunger for more material items. Someone who responds with Ignorance or Stubborness will enter the realm of the Tiryag-Yoni, or animals, which figuratively represents a perpetual attachment to the status quo, to maintaining outdated traditions at any cost. A person who responds with Passion or the Desire to Control will be reborn into the Human Realm, which figuratively represents a future struggle with trying to succeed and being overcompetitive. A person who reponds with Fear will be reborn as an Asura, or jealous-god, a state that figuratively represents a struggle with fear or distrust, or over-rationalization. A person who responds with Pride or Arrogance will be reborn as a Deva, or god, a state that figuratively represents a struggle with narcissism. As you pass through your journey, layers of your being are erased and rewritten into a new being. There is nothing left of the old you when the process is complete. Imagine someone who has a stack of papers, and copys them one at a time, burning the old copies as they go. This is similar to what happens to your soul. Once the process is complete, you are reborn into samsara (The physical world)

The other possibility is Nirvana, in which you stop being reborn. If you think of people as ripples on the surface of water, the water representing our universe, Nirvana is like having that ripple fade back into the water. You become one with everything, yet you also loose all identity. This is why Nirvana is often called "The Deathless State"

Answer 6

We wont be alone for eternity, we'll be with everyone else who accepted God...unless only 1 person accepts him we wont be alone.

There is a Jesus and the is a Heaven, and who cares if they don't accept Jesus and go to Hell? God does...it's not like he's "oh well...you thought we weren't real, you have to go to hell"...he will look at the heart, not the actions...

Believers do not give them a "get out of jail free" card...you have to pray for forgiveness but you have to really want forgiveness...you have to mean it. You can't just ask out of whim and be expected to be forgiven. So if someone is bad, and doesn't regret their feelings and actions, then they wont be forgiven.

It seems like you only see what you want to see in our belief....not what it is.

Answer 7

Here's a good one. You come back to live again until you get it right. As if once isn't bad enough.

Maybe you get a virgin or more. Or it may just be raisins.

I say, if someone thinks a get out of hell free card is real, let them believe it. They will probably be disappointed if they feel anything when they try to redeem the card.

Answer 8

You are explaining salvation badly! But be that as it may.You can try over and over again to get off the Wheel of Life by reincarnation and if you are lucky ,someday you'll be thrown off the wheel into Nirvana ,which means you go into nothingness.Sounds great.I'd rather be working for Christ for eternity and visit all of the expanse of the universe.We won't be sitting around on a cartoon cloud strumming a harp.

Answer 9

All will someday go to heaven, but no one will be there except by the grace of God through Jesus Christ and His death on the cross. "Christ died for the sins of the whole world". Some just don't believe it as yet, but someday will thank Him. Love never fails.

Answer 10

God makes the rules, He is the judge. Christians are in no position to make any calls on their own or modify anything to their personal preference or justify any behavior by using God. Don't take people seriously, people are idiots (religiously affiliated or not).

Answer 11

Wrong.

Believing does not get you in. You have to Love Jesus and follow his teachings to spend eternity with him.