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God and Death
- Thread starter Fool
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Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I doubt that. I would say it'd be more like opening the eyes with a blank mind again.
Exactly like in this life, and going through the whole process all over again as a new lifeform.
Depending of course upon where , who , and when once the lights come on for the new being.
..... once they die, or once they are resurrected ?
Acts 24:15 places the resurrection -> in the coming future that ' there is going to be ' a resurrection......
As when Jesus was dead (Acts 2:27) the dead know nothing - Ecclesiastes 9:5; Psalm 115:17; Isaiah 38:18; John 11:11-14,24
Know nothing until resurrected Jesus resurrects the dead - John 6:40,44
Resurrects on Resurrection Day (meaning Jesus' coming Millennium-Long Day governing over Earth for a thousand years)
- 1st Corinthians 15:24-26; Isaiah 25:8
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
I tend towards if you want to see God, look all around you and study.
To me the 'when' is when 'the lights go on' on Resurrection Day - John 6:40,44
For the majority of mankind the 'where' will be right here on Earth. - John 3:13; Matt.5:5
The 'who' will be the righteous and unrighteous - Acts 24:15 (KJV just and unjust)
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Well it's no harm no foul if people want to leave the planet thinking that it's the case.
Personally it's just going back home, just to go back out again as some future self with its own outlook and tales to tell with no recollection of little Ole me.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
I do not believe in reincarnation. I consider it absurd.
I could never believe a loving God would ever send anyone back to this world to relive it.
We have one chance to get it right. There is no reason why we should have a second chance.
As a new life form? Do you mean as an animal other than human? That would even be more absurd.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
Once they die and are resurrected in a spiritual body. The transformation from a physical body into a spiritual body is the resurrection that takes place.
1 Corinthians 15 New Living Translation
44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I don't believe in reincarnation either, but it certainly not absurd to note that the lights will come on exactly like the lights came on in this life.
Especially with the hard fact that we were dead before. So we're just returning to something we're definitely well acquainted with, and I think that life and death will just repeat forever, with the only unknown is where, who, and what, but that's for the next being to contend with weither sapient , instinctive , or a vegetable, molecular or maybe even something else.
I'll just wish that next future self all the best of luck and great success.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
FYI, that is not what @URAVIP2ME believes. He believes that most people (all but 144,000) will live forever on earth.
That is the JW spin on Christianity. They have decided that only 144,000 go to heaven.
He said: For the majority of mankind the 'where' will be right here on Earth. - John 3:13; Matt.5:5
The excerpt below is from the JW website. They call it The Bible's answer but it is not the Bible's answer. It is the JWs answer.
The Bible’s answer
God selects a limited number of faithful Christians who, after their death, will be resurrected to life in heaven. (1 Peter 1:3, 4) Once they have been chosen, they must continue to maintain a Christian standard of faith and conduct in order not to be disqualified from receiving their heavenly inheritance.—Ephesians 5:5; Philippians 3:12-14.What will those who go to heaven do there?
They will serve alongside Jesus as kings and priests for 1,000 years. (Revelation 5:9, 10; 20:6) They will form the “new heavens,” or heavenly government, that will rule over the “new earth,” or earthly society. Those heavenly rulers will help restore mankind to the righteous conditions that God originally intended.—Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:13.How many will be resurrected to heaven?
The Bible indicates that 144,000 people will be resurrected to heavenly life. (Revelation 7:4) In the vision recorded at Revelation 14:1-3, the apostle John saw “the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000.” In this vision, “the Lamb” represents the resurrected Jesus. (John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:19) “Mount Zion” represents the exalted position of Jesus and the 144,000 who rule with him in the heavens.—Psalm 2:6; Hebrews 12:22.Those “who are called and chosen” to rule with Christ in the Kingdom are referred to as a “little flock.” (Revelation 17:14; Luke 12:32) This shows that they would be relatively few in comparison with the complete number of Jesus’ sheep.—John 10:16.
Misconceptions about those who go to heaven
Misconception: All good people go to heaven.Fact: God promises everlasting life on earth for most good people.—Psalm 37:11, 29, 34.
So, according to the JWs all the other Christians are wrong about going to heaven when they die.
How logical does that seem to you that all the Christians are wrong and only JWs are right?
In my opinion, JWs have completely misinterpreted the Bible and created a false doctrine.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
I believe that is true in a sense, because our body did not exist before we were conceived and born in a body and our body won't exist after we die either. Even the Bible says that our body will return to dust.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
That is what I believe. The body will return to dust, but the spirit (soul) will return to God who gave us a soul.
No, we do not know what will become of our body after we die, but that is not important since the body was only a means for the soul to express itself while we were alive on earth. After we die we will no longer need a physical body since we will no longer exist on earth.
I wish everyone the same.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Well we do have some knowledge of what happens to our body after death. Particularly on the atomic level where some of our atoms actually go out into space.
Aside from that interesting fact, it's very peculiar that you say that we don't know what happens to the body , yet you are certain you know about the soul.
That shouldn't be the case because I do agree that neither of us actually knows what happens , but the difference is mine is an educated guess based on actual fact, so I don't know where you get your facts in regards to a soul , although there have been many threads here already made about it.
Suffice to say we all are at the mercy and control of the forces of the universe, and what becomes of us is as natural and normal as anything else, phenomenal or otherwise and completely indifferent to what you or me believe or think which should be okay with both of us.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
I never thought about what happens to our bodies after we are buried so I never researched that. As such I did not know that there is some knowledge of what happens to our body after death.
There are no 'facts' about the soul, as there are about the body, because the soul is a mystery of God.
“Thou hast asked Me concerning the nature of the soul. Know, verily, that the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel.”
I don't know exactly what happens to our soul but I believe it continues to exist in the spiritual world and associates itself with a spiritual body and continues to live. Exactly what we will be doing in the spiritual world for all of eternity I do not know, as the specifics have never been revealed by God, but based upon he Baha'i Writings, I believe we will continue to do work as we do here.
“Your questions, however, can be answered only briefly, since there is no time for a detailed reply. The answer to the first question: the souls of the children of the Kingdom, after their separation from the body, ascend unto the realm of everlasting life. But if ye ask as to the place, know ye that the world of existence is a single world, although its stations are various and distinct.”
“Those who have passed on through death, have a sphere of their own. It is not removed from ours; their work, the work of the Kingdom, is ours; but it is sanctified from what we call ‘time and place.’ Time with us is measured by the sun. When there is no more sunrise, and no more sunset, that kind of time does not exist for man. Those who have ascended have different attributes from those who are still on earth, yet there is no real separation.”‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London, pp. 95-96
I would posit it as "the Gods" but yes. Look, listen and study.
Sgt. Pepper
All you need is love.
I personally believe that reincarnation is possible because I find the multiple stories I've read of other people's personal accounts quite compelling. As a spiritualist, I believe there are earthbound human spirits who don't cross over into the spirit world for different reasons, and that a lot of these spirits have the choice of either crossing over into the spirit world or remaining in the physical world. However, I also believe that there are some human spirits who have unfinished business that prevents them from crossing over until they resolve their problems with the assistance of a psychic medium. I believe the medium can also assist these spirits in crossing over. So it is for these reasons that I believe that reincarnation could be possible. In my opinion, if human spirits can choose to remain earthbound, as I believe they can, then it makes sense to me that they can also choose to be born into a new physical life and live again. As I've stated in other threads on this subject, reincarnation intrigues me, and the evidence I've seen and read is, in my opinion, very compelling.
The following is a sample of what I've written about other similar topics related to reincarnation.
As I've previously stated, reincarnation intrigues me, as do the stories I've read about it. I've researched reincarnation stories online and found several of these stories to be quite compelling, such as the case of Ryan Hammons. In addition to his story, there are many other cases of children remembering specific details about individuals they'd never met or a dead language they could speak, and the child's parents having no idea where their child learned it. I've also read professional studies that were conducted on young children who recalled memories from a past life, such as "Life Before Life: Children's Memories of Previous Lives" by Jim B. Tucker, M.D., and I found this book and his others "Before: Children's Memories of Previous Lives" and "Return to Life: Extraordinary Cases of Children Who Remember Past Lives to be compelling evidence. Of course, I can't say with absolute certainty that reincarnation occurs because I don't have any memories of a previous life, but I've read many personal accounts, read several books, and watched documentaries that, in my opinion, provided compelling evidence that reincarnation is possible. I like to think that it is. Lastly, for reference, I'm including some articles I've read.
Dr. Ian Stevenson’s Reincarnation Research
9 Amazing Reincarnation Stories From Children
Tales Told by Children Remembering Their Past Lives
Psychology Today: When Children Remember Past Lives
Reincarnation Stories: Children Who Remember Their Past Lives
Chilling Reincarnation Stories: Meet 6 People Who Lived Before
'Return To Life': How some children have memories of reincarnation
University of Virginia: Children Who Report Memories of Previous Lives
5 Mysterious Cases of Children Who Claimed to Remember Their Past Lives
Little boy’s eerie reincarnation story freaks out mom in viral TikTok: ‘This is scary’
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I find accounts of reincarnation dubious and the reason being is if a person can remember past lives, events , and such in detail, then how come they can't remember any other things , particularly language, because if you had in the past the ability to retain memory, you should be able to speak your former language right off the get-go, I mean immediately, and retain knowledge of past education and the like provided you were human or sapient, maybe an animal or plant among other species including living microbiology. That pretty much kills reincarnation for me.
I also think the research that's been done thus far on reincarnation is not very scientific at all, and a lot is missing that should be there in order to do an experiment properly to confirm any of it.
It's why I'm privy to rebirth rather than reincarnation because I think the mind and the ego of who you are, is completely wiped clear. The only constant would be base consciousness, but without any memories or recollection of anything that has happened in the past, of which would apply to any future beings that come out of what I would call the abyss or void and would understandably have no recollection whatsoever of who or what they may have been as a living being.
The reason for it all is, exactly as you would say and for me as well , that I have absolutely no recollection of who I even was in any past life or past lives for that matter , and any future Incarnation following would also experience the same.
The only strange aspect of it all would be consciousness or awareness, a mystery which is something that seems to be constant and 'shared' with all living beings who are aware and have the ability to interact with varying capabilities with the physical world.
MonkeyFire
Well-Known Member
God doesn’t have to be alive at all, He can simply exist.
If God can do anything, then God can make himself alive as well.
Samael_Khan
Goosebender
If he is suicidal, then he could delete himself.
Samael_Khan
Goosebender
Maybe God is Yaldabaoth. It would explain a lot.