A speculation about Hell

[cnorman18]

A long time ago--I forget where or when--I read, in a book on "near-death experiences," that many people live through a sort of "review" of their lives at the moment of death. Some said that the experience seemed to last a mere fraction of a second, and at the same time it seemed to last for years. This may be where that bit of folklore about one's "life passing before one's eyes" when close to death may come from.

One or two sixh reports piqued my interest; these people reported that this "review" did not take place from one's own perspective, but from that of others. One experienced, from their point of view, exactly how one had affected their lives, from the inside, as it were; and not only the people one had actually met, but all those whose lives one had touched indirectly as well.

One relived the moments that one had created in others' lives as those people experienced them. The more power one had, and the more people one had affected in life, the longer such a review would have to be.

If one was kind and charitable, such a review would be mostly pleasant; if one was cold and callous, less so; if one was cruel or sadistic, quite unpleasant indeed. It turns out that we are all connected, and each one of really is a part of everyone else.

There seems to be a certain justice in that to me; the ultimate justice, in a way. What you have done unto others becomes what you have done to yourself. You get to find out "How would that feel to you?" in a literal way.

Now consider Hitler.

How long would his review last? Ten million years? Twenty million? A hundred million centuries? Living through the years, even decades, of misery, torment and agonizing death he had inflicted upon so many millions of people worldwide, and knowing and feeling every moment of them from inside each individual person's body and mind, just as it happened...

If that's not Hell, exactly, it strikes me as being pretty damned close. Not eternal--but plenty long enough. Not flames--but perhaps worse than flames.

The greater the criminal, the longer the sentence. The worse the crime, the more severe the punishment--in direct and precise proportion.

I kinda like it. Any comments?

[servant]

You see, those sources are either known forgeries (jospehus), or the writer got
the information FROM Christians, and are second century. You can call all those
sources evidence for Christians, but not for the historical Jesus.

Can you produce documents that prove they are forgeries? If not I have to take them at face value.

[bernee51]

You see, those sources are either known forgeries (jospehus), or the writer got
the information FROM Christians, and are second century. You can call all those
sources evidence for Christians, but not for the historical Jesus.

Can you produce documents that prove they are forgeries? If not I have to take them at face value.

BTW...I am still waiting (and I guess will always be) for evidence the the resurrection story is anything more than myth.the resurrection.

[servant]

I think that you are judging me. I claim that I will look, critically and harshly, at the evidence but you say that you would withhold such evidence because you have judged me to have already made up my mind. I have room, as you say, in my mind and heart for God and Jesus. I used to believe. Show me a convincing reason to believe and I will.

I never said I was judging you. I only pointed out that you appear to have a closed heart to the things of God. Please forgive me if this is the way I came across as I would never even think about putting myself high enough to judge others. Thank you for pointing out that my writing tone like my grammar need work. I sincerely mean it. Sorry and thank you.

I do have faith. I understand there are things I do not know and as I obtain more knowledge I believe it reveals more unknowns. I believe that all knowledge and wisdom end at God. All the knowledge and wisdom I have is from God. Having the limited knowledge I have today I believe with faith (which is just a small reason that I believe) and from experience. It was only until I truly came to grips with my known reality of who I am did my faith make sense.

Let me ask you a question. You say you used to believe. What exactly did you believe?

[Goat]

You see, those sources are either known forgeries (jospehus), or the writer got
the information FROM Christians, and are second century. You can call all those
sources evidence for Christians, but not for the historical Jesus.

Can you produce documents that prove they are forgeries? If not I have to take them at face value.

Even the most ardent believers will admit antiquities 18 has been at least tampered with, because of the 'undue Christian rhetoric' in it. It was first mentioned by Euribus in the 4th century. It was NOT mentioned by Origien, who used antiquities
18 as a resource when talking about John the Baptist.

So, since that is admitted, it is up to those people who believe it to be genuine to show it existed before the 4th century.

As far as Antiquities 20, it has been noted that 1) the wording is exactly like a couple of the gospel phrases, and 2) The phrase uses the term 'christ' , which when put into latin would mean 'annointed' or 'wetted'. The intended audience of Antiquities was the Roman population, who would not understand the idea of
'annointed' as being a religious term. He very scrupulously avoided that terminology in all his other writings. It would not make sense to his intended audience in the time frame when he was writing (late 1st century), but it WOULD make sense to early Christian scribes, who probably wanted to say WHICH James he was talking about.

[bernee51]

[quote="servant"] It was only until I truly came to grips with my known reality of who I am did my faith make sense. [/quote

Servant, this sentence caught my eye. Integral to any spiritual journey is seeking an answer to the question "Who am I?"

Your words seem to indicate that you have an answer. I would truly be interested in hearing it.