Heaven and Hell: Misconceptions and Realities (As provided by The Bible)

[OutlawTorn]

I should start by stating that I'm not a religious man. Religion implies the following of a structured faith. A member of a church or religious community. I have my own faith, and it conforms.to no other man's ideals or laws. I have read the good book several times from front to back. I'm a big fan of history, and the Bible is mostly historic facts retold with a magical twist tossed in here and there. It is only through reading a Bible that you come to learn that widely embraced misconeptions about heaven and hell are so off-base you wonder how in the hell it ever got so twisted up.

First of all let's establish that the version you've probably read or will read has been modified a tiny bit. Only some careful rewording in the areas refering to heaven, and what happens when God's final judgement befalls our souls.


But first, let's also establish that I'm well aware that everyone has their own beliefs about this. I personally feel heaven is a 24/7 Disco party/orgy where squids in bikinis serve egg nog and poutine on giant chocolate chip cookies instead of plates... But that's just the 1st level of heaven in the outer realm of the gods! .... You get my point. We're talking SOURCE MATERIAL here, not half-cocked fantasies. If you practice a non-christian faith, that's great, but this is BIBLE discussion.


Hell:

First of all, there are no levels or circles, okay? This is newbian f**kery conceived by satanic 40 year old virgins over D&D campaigns. Let it go for the sake of this discussion, again it's Source Material Talk.

Hell is described as an abyss, or a 'Lake of Fire.' It is not Satan's domain... He is not down there torturing the souls of the wicked. Hell is empty right now. It's Lucifer's place of torment and currently awaits him.

To fully grasp this, you must first understand the story of Satan. We first encounter him in Genesis as the serpent who deceives Eve into questioning God and defying him in the Garden of Eden.

We next find him in the book of Job. He is summoned before God who askes him what he's bewn up to (paraphrasing). He tells the big man he's on the earth, "walking to and fro".

Satan is an angel, not a dark diety opposite the light. Biggest misconception in the history of mankind.

He challenges God's divinity and rule. He wishes to test the farmer Job, positive Job will rennounce him if he feels betrayed by his lord.

Now, God could have sent Satan away, but all of the oher angels are present... One rouge is enough, he cannot have a following begin to muster behind Satan. He tells him he may kill his caddle, wither his cops, taint his soil, and destroy his home, but he may not reach out and *touch his person*.

Job is tested several times but this is irrelevant. The story explains the beginning of Satan's role here. He is a restless angel who defies God's rule and divinity.


Hell is a place created for him to suffer along with the damned souls of mortal men. Think of it as a prison... The worst prison imaginable.

Several times in the good book, mortal death is described as "Sheol", meaning grave, or 'sleep'. This means when we die, there is no instant judgement, no passage either up or down. Your souls sleep until the final hour.

At which point, the names are read from The Book of Life. Here's where it gets hard for a lot of people who spent their entire lives saying stuff like, "He's in heaven right now, looking down on us. "

No he's not. lol.

Heaven:

Those who aren't in that book go to hell with Death (the essence of death, not a hooded scythe wielding skeleton) and Satan for a designated period of time (1,000, or 10,000 years. Forget exactly). Now God rebuilds the earth. No disease, sickness or death. Eternal life for all. No heaven...

You see, you're a creature of Earth, made on Earth, to live on Earth.

Said period of time passes. The damned souls are freed from the lake of fire and given one last chance to embrace Jesus as their lord, savior and king. But Satan is also released to test those who have supposedly accepted faith over flesh.

Now the last cut is made and Satan is destroyed in the abyss along with anyone who has failed. No coming back. Your soul is destroyed and the abyss along with it...



The End