What do believers believe heaven or hell are like?

I have been told by believers about some vague descriptions of Heaven and Hell, and that they are working very, very hard to get into one and to stay out of the other.However, as an unbeliever I have been asked many, many times, "Since you are not a believer, what do you think happens when we die?"The question rarely gets turned around upon the believers. In general, they answer something about "reward", "bliss", "Heaven", "hell", "punishment", or something along those lines, but rarely do any specifics get mentioned or discussed.I am curious what conceptions of heaven and hell believers have, and what are the rationales they use to justify their idea of what heaven and hell are like.I think this should go into Faith and Belief.

Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.

I'm glad you started this thread. I can't wait to see some of the responses since almost all of those I've heard make heaven sound very hellish.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Not sure what heaven will be like. I guess my heaven would be like jar's hell, me bouncing his little head down streets of gold Just kidding.What I would hope for is for us to exist in a joyful spirit like beings, where truth is the norm, and it is a joy knowing everyone. Is heaven free from worry? I don't know. If my buddy goes to hell, I might worry for him.I also hope things are easier in heaven, and life would be more enjoyable than here. I also hope to meet up with all of you, in a more relaxed atmosphere, where all these questions we have will be answered.As far as hell goes, I think I had a glimpse of it once. This is going to sound wierd, but I had the spirit of suicide pass through me once (for no apparent relative reason, since I like my life). It promised me peace, and freedom from all my troubles in life (we all have troubles). At that moment I had not a thought in my head.....39 years alive, and I never had that happen, not a thought in my head......then I realized, that would be how I existed for eternity, without a thought. The next week, my neighbor commited suicide. The whole thing lasted about 2 seconds, scared the crap out of me.I think most of us here are thinkers, and that sounds like hell to me, no thoughts, good or bad.

i'm honestly not sure i believe in either. (as a believer, even)i'm fairly certain that i don't believe in hell in the traditional sense.This message has been edited by Arachnophilia, 02-06-2005 04:21 AM

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What I would hope for is for us to exist in a joyful spirit like beings, where truth is the norm, and it is a joy knowing everyone. Is heaven free from worry? I don't know. If my buddy goes to hell, I might worry for him.

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I also hope things are easier in heaven, and life would be more enjoyable than here. I also hope to meet up with all of you, in a more relaxed atmosphere, where all these questions we have will be answered.

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So, it seoms to me like you believe that you will think and feel pretty much like you do now. ...which is interesting, considering that you won't have a brain or a body.Are you going to be aware of the passing of time? What will you do for all of eternity if you are aware?

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I think most of us here are thinkers, and that sounds like hell to me, no thoughts, good or bad.

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Actually, Buddists practice meditation in which the idea is to empty one's mind of active thought. Apparently it is extremely peaceful and calming.I think I practice something similar when an over-active mind gives me trouble falling asleep.

It's going to be very tough for everybody in the afterlife, so you must be prepared. Hell is very painful, of course, and all metaphore of extreme pain are appropiate to it. Some atheists complain much about unavoidable socalled natural pains, as if that proves God doesn't exist. And that is fine they make some argument, however they must not cloud the truth that natural pain is insignificant compared to the pain associated with sin, or doing wrong, the pains of hell.No soul will help another soul in the afterlife, but in marriage two souls are joined as one. Any soul that is not good by more then a half in God's judgement, will be thrown into hell and painfully destroyed.In the afterlife, you will know the whole truth about everything, and you either like it or you don't, and if you like it, you will be in heaven, and if you don't you will be in hell. So some will be full of love for God, and some will curse God and hate him and his creation. This hate burns in their soul, and it is extremely painful.There are a great many women in hell, which causes many muslim women much fear, and so tend to be more religious. However I think they're mistaken, I think the reason there are so many women in hell (where one might expect there to be mostly men only because men generally more engage in murder etc.), must be because of femininity, as a quasi religion. It doesn't make sense that lack of faithful practice of religious rites is the reason so many women are in hell, because women have generally been as much or more faithful in practicing religious rites, as men have been. So I would guess that women should spend less time on femininity, rather then that they should pray more often.Some of above is on good authority, some of it is interpretation.regards,
Mohammad Nor Syamsu

That's a great gag - that stuff about women was the best bit. It's part of that Rowan Atkinson sketch isn't it?

He did say it was on good authority.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)"...don't believe I'm taken in by stories I have heard, I just read the Daily News and swear by every word.."(Steely Dan)

I never heard anything like this before. The things one learns on this forum!You seem to be saying that women are guilty of idolatry, and the idol is "femininity"!!There might be something to what you say.This message has been edited by robinrohan, 02-06-2005 11:01 AM

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The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.---Milton

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It's going to be very tough for everybody in the afterlife, so you must be prepared. Hell is very painful, of course, and all metaphore of extreme pain are appropiate to it.

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How does one's incorporeal soul feel "pain". We won't have ur bodies or brains, right? What is "feeling" if we don't have bodies?What causes the pain?

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Some atheists complain much about unavoidable socalled natural pains, as if that proves God doesn't exist. And that is fine they make some argument, however they must not cloud the truth that natural pain is insignificant compared to the pain associated with sin, or doing wrong, the pains of hell.

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Ditto the above questions.

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No soul will help another soul in the afterlife, but in marriage two souls are joined as one. Any soul that is not good by more then a half in God's judgement, will be thrown into hell and painfully destroyed.

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So, souls are either destroyed or continue to exist in torment, right? How are souls tormented?

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In the afterlife, you will know the whole truth about everything, and you either like it or you don't, and if you like it, you will be in heaven, and if you don't you will be in hell.

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So, if you have no brain, how can you "know" anything? How can you "like" anything?

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So some will be full of love for God, and some will curse God and hate him and his creation. This hate burns in their soul, and it is extremely painful.

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Ditto the above questions.

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There are a great many women in hell, which causes many muslim women much fear, and so tend to be more religious.

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So, you've been to hell, I take it, and therefore have firsthand knowledge of these many women in hell?

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However I think they're mistaken, I think the reason there are so many women in hell (where one might expect there to be mostly men only because men generally more engage in murder etc.), must be because of femininity, as a quasi religion.

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Uh, and masculinity isn't a quasi-religion in Islam?? The Muslim world greatly values males over females. The males always have many more rights and privileges in Muslim cultures, and in some countries it is only the male children who are taught to read and write and the women are kept intentionally illiterate and dependent, as if they are children, or domestic animals.No, in the Islamic world the cult of the masculine is worshipped openly and shamelessly.But anyway, you haven't aswered my question of what heaven is like.

Yes in principle the same goes for masculinity, but in my experience men don't spend half as much time on masculinity, as women do on femininity. And I'm not saying that either femininity or masculinity are wrong, just that some go to extremes, displacing religion proper. Anyway, if there wasn't the revealed knowledge that many women are in hell, it would look like that hell is basicly only something for men to worry about, not so.Your questions are of course annoyingly atheistic / materialistic. Could you please tell me the size, weight, accelleration, vector of the decision of some despot to kill some harmless people? I think if you recognize choice as real, you can get a sense of what things like spirit and soul mean, because they are more closely related to choice, as they are to your materialistic conceptions.It would be good if you can find some way towards a "memento morti" sentiment for atheists, avoiding all the references to things you don't believe in. I'm thinking of some atheist public figures, not mentioning any names, but they just only had the "carpe diem" sentiment. Dying like that, it's like they were murdered, which didn't actually happen. So if you are done criticizing what you don't understand, can you please look to it that you actually have some alternative.regards,
Mohammad Nor Syamsu

You know, I love this question you asked, your OP. I have so much to tell you, but its hard through the internet.We exist in our body, soul, and spirit. When you become born again through Jesus, salvation, and all the crazy Jesus freak stuff, it means that your spirit is born at that point.From that moment, it is a growing process. Your spirit starts to grow, and you start to do things of the spirit more than things of the body/soul. So you start to get a feeling of what it is to exist in spirit only, without your body or brain. It is a wonderful feeling. It's a little taste of heaven here on earth. I wish I could jsut give you that feeling for a second. I to often wonder that very thought. Because no matter how many things I wish to do, eventually I would run out of time, and be bored.But what if heaven existed in the 4th demension (or beyond) where there is no time. I have had visions of what it looks like. I seen the earth, it was a globe, but I could see all the countries.If there is no time, how can we get bored? How can we relate to what we don't know? Like Q from the space time continuum in Star Trek.The heavens may be infinate, which would leave us with plenty to do.
God does promise us treasures in heaven, and that we will be at peace, and happy. I don't understand the mechanics of it, but maybe the joy you get from riding your horse magnified by a thousand, sprinkled with the perfect love that only God could provide, might be what it's like. Yes, I agree. I do the same with prayer, and try to focus on the Lord, and what he has for me. But I find it scary to be completely without thought....blackness, blankness, nothingness, for eternity?We all seem to spend our whole lives seeking the truth, and happiness, but for some reason, atheist on this board seem to think that this would "suck" to be happy for eternity. Maybe it's our comprehension of eternity that is wrong.

My idea of heaven is a college with only the greatest teachers. Every day you will learn something new and will be challenged. You will never learn it all but get glimpses of what you will learn tomorrow.Hell would be just the opposite, a universe filled with WWF, reality tv, the Apprentice, Lite Beer and Ball Park Franks. It would be comfortable and non-threatening, secure yet unrelenting. It would be filled with those who find high art in a mid-80's US automobile and enjoy beer commercials. Hell will be filled with CHRISTIANs and the evangelical and every day will be Sunday, complete with football or basketball. It will be NASCAR and remakes of all the great films. It will be Burt Reynolds doing action movies, Katy Couric doing commentary on Martha Graham, Rush doing commentary on origami.

I think heaven will be just like Rose Creek Village (Error 404 (Not Found)!!1), only better, because we won't have bodies with the needs, demands, and temptations that these have.My rationale for believing that is that Y'shua's proclamation was that the kingdom of heaven was drawing near. We decided to put all our hearts into receiving whatever he had for us, and our village is what he has created. We believe this is what heaven has chosen to build on earth, and we can't imagine why he would build something different anywhere else.