• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Your idea of heaven?

loverofhumanity

We are all the leaves of one tree
Premium Member
Fair enough! Of course a god could exist, I fervently hope it doesn't.

I believe that He is more friend to us than we are to ourselves and often weeps at our plight but He cannot interfere as He given us free will to choose our own path.
 

JJ50

Well-Known Member
I believe that He is more friend to us than we are to ourselves and often weeps at our plight but He cannot interfere as He given us free will to choose our own path.

That sounds like an excuse for its behaviour in the Bible, which is worse than bad.
 

JJ50

Well-Known Member
Which behaviour are you referring to?

The flood for starters, getting a young girl pregnant before she married her intended for the purpose of having him die to atone for the mistakes its so called 'father' made when creating us humans. If those stories had any credibility, which to be frank they don't, it doesn't show god in a very good light.
 

loverofhumanity

We are all the leaves of one tree
Premium Member
The flood for starters, getting a young girl pregnant before she married her intended for the purpose of having him die to atone for the mistakes its so called 'father' made when creating us humans. If those stories had any credibility, which to be frank they don't, it doesn't show god in a very good light.

I agree that it doesn’t make much sense from that perspective at all.

My understanding is things like the flood were not actual events but symbolic. If you look at the essence of what Jesus actually taught : the beatitudes, love one another, forgiveness, to help the poor and earlier on in the Bible things like thou shalt not kill or steal and so on, this is the essence of the Bible.

Later people wove all sorts of things around Him and instead of focusing on His teachings of love began worshipping His personality.

The reason religion is renewed by God is because in this world everything withers, decays and eventually dies so it needs to be renewed again.

Since Christ other Teachers I believe, have appeared but people have unfortunately failed to move on into the new scientific age so are engulfed in many superstitious understandings setting aside the true essence of what God teaches which is to love and be kind to all life.
 

JJ50

Well-Known Member
I agree that it doesn’t make much sense from that perspective at all.

My understanding is things like the flood were not actual events but symbolic. If you look at the essence of what Jesus actually taught : the beatitudes, love one another, forgiveness, to help the poor and earlier on in the Bible things like thou shalt not kill or steal and so on, this is the essence of the Bible.

Later people wove all sorts of things around Him and instead of focusing on His teachings of love began worshipping His personality.

The reason religion is renewed by God is because in this world everything withers, decays and eventually dies so it needs to be renewed again.

Since Christ other Teachers I believe, have appeared but people have unfortunately failed to move on into the new scientific age so are engulfed in many superstitious understandings setting aside the true essence of what God teaches which is to love and be kind to all life.

If Jesus actually said the things that the Bible quotes, which is open to question, some of them where sensible and others things much less so. But then he was a human being with many faults and failings just like the rest of us.
 

loverofhumanity

We are all the leaves of one tree
Premium Member
If Jesus actually said the things that the Bible quotes, which is open to question, some of them where sensible and others things much less so. But then he was a human being with many faults and failings just like the rest of us.

I believe He was in the body of a human but His spiritual strength was from God. The interpretations going around are very superstitious. A lot of the bauble can be understand in a rational and r Asian leaders manner if not taken literally.

Metaphors are often used to convey deep truths but literally taken appear nonsensical as science proves these things can never happen such as dead bodies rising and so on,

The true meaning of Christ’s resurrection was that His Cause was made alive not that His physical body came back from the dead which is the current interpretation which science disproves.

The visions where the disciples supposedly saw Him can be interpreted as visions and dreams not that they actually touched His physical body.

I once had a dream and in it it was so funny I woke up laughing. It was all so real and yet it didn’t happen in the world of waking but in the world of dreams. We need science to cleanse religion from its superstitious interpretations. Who can accept what the mind and science can easily disprove?
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
If a heaven actually exists what you is your idea of what it would be like?
My religion does not really go into any detail about heaven, it only says that heaven is a state of the soul who is close to God (which refers to the heart, which is the seat of the soul, not a physical proximity to God). Because we can be close to God in both worlds, we can be in heaven in this material world and in the spiritual world, where our soul goes after our physical body dies. The brief three minute video below is a brief depiction of the journey of the soul but points out how the nature of the soul and the afterlife is a mystery that can never be described.


I get curious so I read books about the afterlife so I have some conceptions of what heaven will be like. Since they correlate to what my religion teaches I tend to think they might be accurate, although nobody can really know, for as the video says, the afterlife is a mystery. Nevertheless, I like to read about what it “might” be like because I think it is vitally important to have an idea about the afterlife before we die, rather than after.

The most detailed description of heaven by far is in the book entitled Heaven and Hell. It was written by a Christian in 1758, but his views diverged from the Church version of the Trinity and getting to heaven simply by believing that Jesus died for our sins. Rather, like the Baha’i view, he says we get to heaven by being close to God, loving God and our neighbor. It is my understanding that the author considers Jesus to be the Lord, thus Jesus rules heaven. I do not necessarily believe that but that is not important to this discussion. Where he refers to Lord, I have changed it to God because I believe that God rules in heaven.

In brief, heaven is called “the kingdom of God” because God resides there and influences the angels who reside in heaven. Heaven is divided into two kingdoms, a celestial kingdom and a spiritual kingdom.

The love angels have in celestial kingdom is called celestial love, and the love angels have in the spiritual kingdom is called spiritual love. Celestial love is love toward God, and spiritual love is love toward the neighbor.

There are three heavens in which angels reside. It is the interiors that cause angels to be in one heaven or another; for as their interiors are more open to God they are in a more interior heaven. By interiors is meant what we think of as the psyche or the soul, what resides deep down inside us, rather than the superficial. The interiors are opened by receiving God’s goodness and God’s truth. Those who are affected by God’s truths and admit them right away and will them and act from that will are in the inmost or third heaven. Those who do not admit truths right away But rather commit them to memory, and into the understanding, are in the middle or second heaven, whereas those who live morally and who believe in God, but are not open to learning, are in the outmost or first heaven.

Since in Baha’i belief heaven is nearness to God, I have always wondered if I will go to heaven, because I have much difficulty loving God. I do not have what is termed celestial love towards God, but I have spiritual love, towards my neighbor, so according to this depiction, I could still go to heaven....

So what is my idea of what I would want to do in heaven for all of eternity? I just hate being bored so there had better be a lot to do. If there are no animals in heaven, particularly cats, I am going to be even angrier at God than I am now. I would also like some nice scenery, beautiful landscapes and a nice place to live.

I hope there will be much to learn because I love learning new things; God-related spiritual things, not worldly things. I like helping other people above all else, so my idea of heaven is being able to rescue people from hell. Now, that could get rather tiring, so I would like to also have some time to enjoy whatever is in heaven to enjoy. The problem could be that if I (still) do not like God much by the time I die, I might not be comfortable in His presence, and since God will be in heaven and God is what is supposed to make heaven so great, that could present a problem.

I do not really know how to resolve this because love cannot be willed, it comes from the heart, and I cannot love a God that allows so much suffering in the world, because I cannot see Him as a benevolent Entity. Suffering is all around us, and more for some people than for others. If there was ever any reason for me to be an atheist, that would be my reason. But I cannot disbelieve in God so I need to try to understand why God allows so much suffering, and I do not mean the religious apologetics people offer.

My life has been mostly suffering and although it has gotten better in recent years, I cannot seem to forgive God for what I had to go through to get where I am at today. I know this is not a “right” attitude, but it is what it is and the fact that I am fully aware of it gives me hope that I might be able to change before I die. God knows I am trying and will continue to try. I am not one to give up on anything.
 

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
If a heaven actually exists what you is your idea of what it would be like?

I wrote this a few years ago.

Heaven


St Peter was showing a bunch of new recruits the delights of heaven. There were things to suit all tastes, even a gay bar. Most popular were the wine tasting sessions, which Jesus had set up, he was particularly proud of his Chateau Heaven vintage, being of course an expert in viticulture.


A carriage, pulled by eight white horses, stopped beside the group, and out got the most beautiful woman they had ever seen. St Peter bowed low and introduced her, "This is God"! The recruits gasped, "Don't worry, you will soon get used to the idea", she grinned!

At the end of the tour the recruits were shown a tin shack from which emanated the sound of hoarse discordant singing. St Peter explained, " That is reserved for 'born again' Christians who think they are the only inhabitants of heaven, we don't like to disappoint them so they can sing God's praises for all eternity. One puzzled new arrival queried how they reacted to God being a woman. "Ah" said St Peter, "Now that is our very cunning plan. Not everyone can enter into the delights of heaven immediately if they have been very bad whilst on earth. They must serve a term playing God for the 'born agains’, the length of which depends on the wickedness of their crimes. As the actor is always hidden in a blaze of light, they are none the wiser when a change over takes place. However heinous the crime, the perpetrator is deemed to have served their sentence after a few Millennia of listening to that lot 'singing God's praises!"

RJG
Just the usual, Beer Volcanoes and Stripper Factories.
 

Muffled

Jesus in me
I believe none of your imaginings fits in with what Heaven is like except for the fact that it will have imaginings.
 

Muffled

Jesus in me
I picture it being kind of like RF but with more food and drink. And eternal.

I believe there is no evidence that it will be like RF.

I believe there is no substance in Heaven so one may bring up images of food and drink to ones hearts content but I would consider that torment because it would cause one to long for material life.

I do believe Heaven will always be there.
 

Muffled

Jesus in me
Atheist view on heaven :D

I think it would be a place were all my desires were met and whatever I did It would be morally right :D

I believe that will never happen. Heaven is a place where God only allows what actually is morally right.
 

Nimos

Well-Known Member
I believe that will never happen. Heaven is a place where God only allows what actually is morally right.
God is not part of my desires....poooff :D

Did God know what was morally right, because it was so? or did God decide what was morally right and how did he know?
 
Top