Christians: a few questions?

Question

I already have my own answers to these questions; I simply want to know what you think.

1. If we only live one life (as I understand it, most Christians do not accept reincarnation), where were we before we took this birth? Was there ever a time when our soul did not exist? Could we ever cease to exist?

2. Is the soul independent of the body? In other words, would you agree with the statement, "I am not this body?"

3. If accepting Christ is the only way to avoid eternal hell, what about people born into atheistic families or cultures that never have a chance to even hear much about Jesus, let alone develop faith in Him?

4. How do you explain the concept of punishment lasting for eternity (i.e. out of time) fitting the crime of sins committed within time? Why wouldn't our punishment fit our sins, one for one?

5. How would you explain why, if we have no past lives, some people seem to have innate faith, while others, no matter how much you preach to them, have no faith at all?

BTW, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of documented cases of little children knowing people and places they should have had no knowledge of. For example, a child mentions a city she has never been to, and mysteriously knows their way around and recognizes people they have never seen before. Very strong evidence for reincarnation.

Oh, and to clear things up: I most definitely believe in God; I am not pagan, nor am I polytheistic, nor do I deny the existence of heaven or hell. I simply ascribe to truth as revealed in the Vedic scriptures rather than the Bible. That's all. I would like to be able to reconcile revealed Vedic truth with the teachings of Jesus himself, not necessarily every book of the Bible.

Answer 1

+PAX

1. We were with God. Ask a very young child. Sometimes they can still remember Him and then sadly, we all forget.

2. Yes, the soul is independent of the body but without the soul the body cannot live. The body is the temple of the Lord and Holy Spirit.

3 Our God is a fair, loving and forgiving God. He will take into account if you have lived in the rain forests of the Amazon and have never heard the name Jesus.

4. God and Heaven are beyond space and time as we know it. So either we will be faced with Eternal paradise or eternal....I don't even want to think about it. I hope and pray that Hell is empty but Scripture does not indicate so.

5. I don't think past lives have anything to do with it. Some souls are stronger than others just as some people are stronger than others. Some folks have to fight all their lives for that one drop of faith that keeps them alive in the Lord. Others have it from day 1 such as Elizabeth, St. John the Baptist's mother. When the Blessed mother visited her "her child leapt in her womb for joy" and she asked why should the Mother of my Lord visit me? St. John even in the womb had faith.

Those who have trouble with faith consistently usually will gain advantage in having a Spiritual Counselor.

In Humlity,
j

Answer 2

1. The Bible is clear that there is no immortal soul . That is a pagan unChristian teaching that you are following.
So , in answer to this question .. No , before you were born there was no part of you somewhere it isnt., wasnt and never has been.

3.Everyone that lives has the opportunity to know Christ , if for some reason they are living in the deep amazon and don't ever speak to anyone , then they will likely die not hearing about Jesus and his father Jehovah.
If that was the case (unlikely) they would be resurrected after Armageddon and given an opportunity again to learn the truth about God.
You see, perfectly fair.
All people will have the opportunity to know , but most will reject it.

4.Punishment , are you referring to eternal hellfire.If so you are stuck in another pagan lie that isn't taught in the Bible.
The wages sin pays is death , if a person refuses to bring their life into harmony with Gods will they will be die in accord with the penalty brought on by Adamic sin.
That will last forever , as they will no longer have an opportunity to live again.
There is nothing in the Bible that promotes the idea that people will be persecuted in a hell like place.

5.The bible is clear once again that we have no past lives.(reincarnation , or immortal soul etc)
Man while having a spiritual need does not have innate faith.
Faith is a quality that must be worked on , nurchered , cultivated and exercised , it also can be lost.

Once again ---
The Bible is very clear on the matter of the soul , it says that soul that is sinning it itself will die , perhaps you should read the Bible sometime before making up your mind on your own questions.

For more Bible based info please feel free to email me.

Answer 3

1. We exist in a physical time plane. This has a beginning, and it will have an end. There is nothing in the physical realm that is eternal (ie no beginning, and no end), that only exists in the spiritual. When God created us, He breathed into us the breath of life. This is from the eternal. So that which is eternal, entered our physical body and can never cease to be eternal.

2. Your body is only a tent. Your soul is the living being that exists inside the tent.

3. Those who are so concerned with "what about those who haven't heard" start with a skewed view of God. They assume that
1) God is unable to reveal Himself without man doing it for Him.
2) God will be unjust during the judgment day.
3) God sets unfair expectations.

The Bible reveals that God has clearly revealed Himself in nature (Romans 1:20) in the hearts of people (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and the individual seeker (Deuteronomy 4:29) as it proclaims,

“But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

These scriptures prove assumption #1 as false.

Those who assume the above have come to their own conclusions about God--not based on truth. They are not speaking about the living God revealed in scripture, but rather an idol crafted out of their own politically correct imaginations. We see the correct view of God as stated by Abraham in Genesis 18:25...

"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

God will not judge us by which religion we associate with, nor what church we attend. God will judge according to the individual heart, and that heart will be judged by the measure of how much revelation was imparted to them.

If you do not believe the Bible, you have no argument because, according to your own philosophy, there is no god, no heaven, no hell, and no impending judgment. To argue would be just being contentious. However, if you DO believe the Bible, then you can also take the following as a promise.

Psalm 19:9
The judgments of YHWH are true and righteous altogether.

4. Your question is the problem. Everyone focuses so much on the question that they avoid the answer. The answer is that nobody has to go to hell at all. Just accept the free gift of salvation. It's free, it's eternal, it's 100% assurance. To reject it is to wallow in your own foolish choice. It's an act of free will to say "I do not desire to dwell within the light of love of God, so I choose separation."

5. Your question assumes that there is no God or a god that has no sovereignty. Both will leave you with the assumption that there are past lives. But assumption is not truth. Truth can only be proved by fulfilled prophecy. No other holy book other than the Bible can prove its Authorship is from the eternal.
http://ncane.com/n7k

Answer 4

1.We are not from everlasting. We have a beginning but no end. All spirits are to continue throughout eternity. The difference is that some will be blessed, and some will not be blessed.

2. We are both, body and spirit. God made us that way. God is both body and spirit, we are made in His image.

3. I would refer you to Romans 9. In that chapter, Paul makes it clear that God did not want everybody. Jesus makes that clear in John 6. Only those who God wants are to be counted as His children.

4. It's not about fairness. If it were, we would all be there in Hell. It's about God providing a covering for sin. And only those who trust God get that covering. See Propitiation, Expiation.

5. Faith is to me, an action, based upon belief, sustained by confidence. The people who you are referring to as not having any faith, have faith. They just do not have any faith in God or a god. They have faith in the things not of God. But they still have faith. A person who functions normally in life has faith, otherwise they would question whether gravity worked, they would walk to their car with their cell phone in hand in case they had to call a tow truck. People use faith, even though they do not recognize it as faith.

Liturgically, faith in God is given to some people by God. No person can want to know God without Him giving them the desire to know Him.

Answer 5

1. God knew when we were going to be concieved and or soul came from there. GOD gave us a soul and after we die our soul either goes to heaven or hell.

2. Your soul is in your body in this time on earth. So when you die, your soul does not lie with your body, it either goes to heaven or hell.

3. It doesn't matter if you were born into Atheistic families or other cultures, you WILL be given a chance to know Jesus. What do you think missionaries are for? Most people believe that there is a greater being than ourselves and God will reveal Himself to you.

4. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you repent and are truly sorry for your sins then you will go to heaven and your sins will be erased. But if continue to deny God when He has continuously revealed himself to you and you continue to sin and do wrong.. then yes you will spend eternity (forever longer than your brain could ever imagine) in hell.

5. Some people believe because they see the truth, they see what God can do. I was born and raised in a CHristian home but for a long time I strayed away from that lifestyle and that was at my lowest point of my life. it wasn't until I recommited my life to God, that i found peace and joy. the people who won't accept God... well they just wont whether its out of stubborness, or they think they're being smart and not falling for God.. where actually, they fail to enjoy the peace and TRUE joy that God has for them. they would rather believe their idea of what happened and go with that.

Answer 6

1. We were born as spirits to a heavenly father and mother and before we were spirits we were intelligence then we chose to come to this earth to gain a body and go thru the Gods plan of salvation

2. The soul is independent of the body but they both contribute to who you are on this earth. I dont know why, but the body is essential for some reason. We all need to have a body.

3. Eventually everyone that wants to achieve the highest degree of glory, or heaven will have to accept christ because they will have to accept the atonement and repent in order to be made perfect and live with God again, but all individuals will have that opportunity whether it be in this life or the next and we will all be judged according to our knowledge, hearts, works and faith

4. Hell is just the absence of God and being stuck, not being able to learn anymore or progress, but it isnt eternal suffering and people will be content. They will just know that their actions led to the inability to gain any more knowledge or growth then what they already have. It would be very hard to commit a crime that would be sooo terrible that it justified an eternity of burning suffering. God isnt that cruel. Heaven is living with our Heavenly Father, our eternal family and progression and knowledge.

5. Since we lived as spirits before we came to this earth we already had a preexistance and some people have already proven their faith and obedience and worth to God. Some of those people had no reason to be tested on earth and really just come to earth to teach us, ex extremely disabled people and children that die before the age of accountability.
Some people proved to be greater leaders and stronger faithful people and so have been put in leadership positions on this earth, but they still need to live their life in a manner to be led to these positions. Most of us proved a desire to please God and to prove ourselves on this earth.
Everyone will have a sincere opportunity to really hear the truth and accept it at one point or another.

Answer 7

1. We came from nothing

2. yes it's independent since Adam fall into sin. Thats why when you go to the predictor he/she will know all your histories before you speak a word, by asking to your spirit, uncounsciously (without your knowledge). But we still 1 part body. Not agree.

3. I believe all atheistic families now already heard about salvation in Christ, thats why God asked us to tell every one in any nations about this salvation.

4. When we die, hell is not only a punishment over sin, but a choice for permanent. Once you choose not to accept salvation, then you wont save for good.

5. I believe that it wasnt innate faith, but innate spirit (cud be bad spirit or demons-sorry if too rude to tell) that againts God,made someone than refuse salvation preachs.

Answer 8

1 Our souls existed as part of the spirit of God who is the giver of life.
2 Yes I would agree with this statement.
3 God will have mercy upon whom he has mercy, he knows and searches the depths of our hearts and knows the unknowable. If truly there is a person who has never heard the gospel of Christ and this person dies the the Lord will Judge him fittingly. During the collapse of the Twin Towers there were survivors who said that when they were losing hope they called out to God and as they were passing out saw visions of a man who was encircled in light who stretched out his hand to them saying he had heard their cry and had come to save them. These survivors say they asked for forgiveness of sins and professed belief in Him who they believed to be Jesus. The same may happen to others. As death overcomes them Christ may appear to them in spirit and they may accept him.
4 What punishment would you deem appropriate for those who deny the sacrifice of your sons life for them? God gave all he could through giving his most beloved and begotten son into this world for us. The God of all eternity put on a coat of flesh, left the throne of heaven to walk and live among us, so for the first time in all eternity the Lord of Lords could know hunger, cold, sorrow, betrayal, and pain without measure. We beat him., spit on him, mocked him and placed bets for strips of his clothing at the foot of the cross. But still we have the nerve to say all this was not enough, we reject this sacrifice, we need more proof. What punishment do you think we are worthy of?
5 The bible says that before we (believers) were formed in our mothers womb he knew us and set us apart. We are those that belong to him. The bible also says that he is a Shepard and that his sheep hear his voice and they answer. Some sheep belong to another master.

Answer 9

we didn't exist before,,,we can never cease to exist after we do exist...Romans 11:25

2. independant

3. wrong starting premise...We all deserve hell to begin with...salvation=privelidge, not right...God owes us nothing

4.All sin equals rebellion...rebellion is a state of being not an act....one for one =wrong analogy

5. people who do not have faith willfully choose this because for the athiest =the existance of God forces people to live less selfishly....for the religious but non-Christian= believe that they can earn the right to be in God's presence by thier own works...

Answer 10

I will only comment on your #3. I don't believe that accepting Christ is the only way to salvation. I have been places where there haven't been missionaries -so not every person is able to know Christ. I think God speaks through many religions that aren't Christian-I believe he speaks to people in terms of what they can understand within their society. I know that others will think this heresy but no one who is finite can understand the infinite!