OK, we know that the Bible says that if your good you go to heaven, right? We also know it says that there you "live an eternal life of happiness", right?
We also know if it's right, you can do whatever you please there or something, right?

But, if you live forever, wouldn't you eventualy do everything so much you get bored? What'd be the point of living in heaven if you've done everything already?

The question I have is this: Why do we strive so hard to get to heaven? Is it only so we don't get tortured? Or is it something else?

To live disease free, war free, to be with your family forever, ( ok, , maybe not the best point ) but to live your life a good as possible. If its not true, what do you have to lose? I rather live my life in hope of heaven then to live my life hurting others and myself.

Either spend eternity with a mass-murdering tyrant, or spend it with the tool of the mass-murdering tyrant.

Hmm...

You have some misconcieved ideas.... First, you dont go to heaven just by "being good". Secondly, heaven is so much more desirable than earth, you will probably never get bored, or run out of things to do. This is a really bad analogy, but think of Neo in the Matrix, flying around and having super natural powers with a place to explore that is much more infinite than Earth.

look at the state of the world and you can clearly see that we do NOT strive that hard to get to heaven.

Instead of focusing so much into getting to heaven; perhaps we should put more emphasis on making Earth a better place to live.

Smile more, love more, be kind more, go out of your way to help someone in a bind, hug someone, be more GENUINE and SINCERE.

I think that will bring sunshine and happiness to someone else's day and they will feel heavenly joy; even if it is short lived.

Dear Mr. E.,

You pose an interesting question: 'Why do we strive so hard to get to heaven?'

I assume by the term 'we' you are referring to yourself and other like-minded persons. Perhaps we could start by asking you why you strive so hard to get to heaven? If you prefer not to answer, that's OK.

Who can truly speak for anyone else on such a question? There are probably as many answers as there are Religions on the subject. If one's idea of eternal happiness includes having all the sex you want with your choice of partners perhaps the Christian Ideology is not for you.

According to some interpreters of Jesus' words in Mark 12:25 and Luke 20:34-36 there is no marriage in the afterworld and therefore, presumably, no sexual activities.

The texts say the resurrected will become as Angels. Further, according to Genesis 6:4 some Angels abandoned their station in Heaven in order to reside on Earth so they could be able to enjoy sexual relations with women.

Now if you are of the Muslim belief then 72 virgins as a reward for martyrdom might seem like a fair trade for surrendering your human life. Perhaps this is one reason why that religion is one of the fastest growing in the world.

Personally speaking, there is little empirical evidence for the existence of 'Heaven.' What ideas I get about an afterlife have come from the experiences of some people who have had a near death experience in which they believe they journeyed to a heaven-like place, and from the communications through spirit mediums like James Von Prague.

But not everybody has had a wonderful experience in this afterworld. Some, admittedly evil people, have experienced a horribly tormented existence, to the extent, in some cases, that they turned their life around and some even became ministers. The case of a fellow by the name of Ronald Reagan (not the former President) comes to mind.

Other cases I have studied involving people who attempted suicide claim they experienced going to a dark, dismal place, not unlike the mental/emotional condition they experienced just prior to their attempt at killing themselves. This could be the state some religions refer to as Limbo or Purgatory.

This scant evidence leads me to believe that the afterworld may be a kind of continuance of this reality with the one exception being that we will know that we no longer exist in the flesh. There may be deceased relatives who, as some have claimed, assist us in understanding where we are and what are purpose will now be. Again, this is all personal conjecture on my part.

It seems logical that one would have to admit that we have no frame of reference to compare this world with the next. To me, it seems next to impossible to imagine what the next life will be like.

If you enjoy satire then perhaps the writings of Mark Twain might entertain you. He wrote a book entitled, 'Letters from the Earth' in which Satan explains God, Man, Heaven and Earth from his point of view. There is a very interesting chapter about his views about Heaven you might enjoy reading:

http://www.online-literature.com/twain/let...om-the-earth/3/

I prefer to believe in the perfection of the Universe. To me it seems quite natural to go to a place, after the death of the body, where we feel we belong and/or deserve to be, be that a good place, because of our good deeds or a not so good place because of our bad actions brought on by our spiritual ignorance.

It also seems natural for me to believe in reincarnation. I have studied several cases in which there seems to be no logical explanation, outside of reincarnation, as to how a young child of four of five years of age could know so much about the life of someone who lived in another time and place.

In conclusion, my idea of Heaven is a place where we go to learn to grow and develop our love. When we know we have achieved a certain level it would seem only natural to want to go some place where we could assist others in the easing of their pain and suffering. Isn't that what love does?

The only difference between the leaving of this world and the leaving of the other is that in the leaving of this world we will know who we were in the next. When we voluntarily leave the next world it will be with the certain knowledge that we will likely forget who we were in the former world.

To my way of thinking, that is the real sacrifice of love. We risk losing all we have learned about ourselves and our motive of Love from the Spirit world on the chance that we can possibly have a positive effect on the lives of others while in this world.

How can we know if we are achieving our goal in this life? If we are happy with and joyful in the selfless things we do. When our joy becomes contagious and others begin to realize their spiritual heritage and strive to become better people, not for the greedy desire of the reward of Heaven or for the fear of a painful Hell, but because it is the most natural thing to do.

To my way of thinking, every person on this planet is here for the same unselfish reason, whether they realize it or not, and are therefore deserving of my love, respect, appreciation and assistance.

My beliefs may seem rather simplistic to some but sometimes the simplest ideas can be the truest.
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"Happiness is a sort of atmosphere you can live in sometimes when you're lucky. Joy is a light that fills you with hope and faith and love." Adela Rogers St. John

"there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy"

if there is a kingdom of "heaven"... then presumably this is part of it. hell is not a place per se, but more of a state of being. the same can be said of heaven. earth floats amid the heavens... therefore are we not already there? the heavens where referred to as the stars, the cosmos.

people get images of golden streets and a landscape in the clouds from descriptions of the city of god... not from the sum of the heavens.

if you fail to maintain your yard it goes straight to hell... becomes unsightly, the bugs take over, and its really difficult to get it back to an acceptable standard... sound familiar? the same analogy can be placed on personal hygiene... (the body is the temple, etc.)

if one takes scripture to heart then would not Eden have been a 'heaven on earth' type scenario?

You're all going to Hell for questioning the Holy Bible, the number one authority on His Majesty and Imperial Overlord.

However, there is one way to prove your loyalty to The Great Yahweh and redeem yourself:

Sacrifice your firstborn son on the Altar. Go on. Don't keep His Excellency waiting.

Wow I had to read that twice. I never thought of it like that. I personally think the idea of any heaven is too good to be true and simply made up, but if there is a heaven I hope it is as you describe. Then I would wonder why I chose to come here because you risk doing evil yourself and losing your place in heaven right? So besides coming for love and to help others your in a way testing yourself in the hardest way you can. That is something to think about. If I make it to heaven this time around I think ill stay there for a long while before I decide to come back.(unless the harps drive me crazy like your link says :nopity: )

I think I got an answer for you. First realize heaven is an idea nothing more then a concept. In general people no whats right and whats wrong and they want to be treated fairly. So the do on to others as you would have done to you is applied here. Heaven or the bible gives all the "rules" that people think are good. In this way they can get everybody to play along and the idea is that nobody will object because fundamentally and morally they agree. Plus the idea of immortality sounds great. Thats the explanation to the simple answer which is :we don't really strive to get into heaven we strive to make heaven on earth. (because i think deep down we all know there is no heaven sorry had to add that in)

Eternity in heaven.. It's called bible bullshit. The soul exists for eternity but doesn't get stuck in a certain place (e.g. heaven, hell.) Actually I believe that the soul is recycled into a new body until it reaches a certain point of spiritual evolution. Then it merges to the creative source. (whatever that is) Maybe that is heaven.. Anyways that's just my opinion/idea.

Dear Gold_Grill,

Welcome back!

To answer your question, no, you don't risk losing your place in heaven. In my opinion, our Spirit is part of the Divine Source and can never be lost.

http://www.alien-ufos.com/forum/showthread...5294#post295294

As to wondering why you chose to come here; have you ever had so much love for someone that you felt you were willing to attempt to do anything to help them? According to the televised psychics I've seen, the Spirits of the deceased are very aware, interested and involved in the lives of their surviving friends and relatives. It would seem the next logical step would be to heed the unstoppable urge to return to the material plane in order to assist others more fully.

If you enjoy this topic you might appreciate a review of a book about it.

http://www.alien-ufos.com/forum/showthread...0305#post330305
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"We are healed of a suffering only by experiencing it to the full." Marcel Proust

If I was in heaven would I want to come back for a loved one? NO. I wouldn't want to help them I would want them to die. Then they would be in heaven with me and soon everybody would be there. So no need to come back to hellish earth. Thats the problem I see with your logic.

I think I somewhat get the picture now, but one thing that comes to mind is this:

You go to Heaven, and look for all your loved ones. What if all or most your loved ones aren't in Heaven but Hell? What if you have no loved ones in Heaven you know? Say your married to some one that you love and they love you, but they go to Hell instead of Heaven?

I mean, is a desirable afterlife in Heaven as desirable if your loved ones are all in Hell?

Well said, Mande.

religion made hell on earth.responsible for the death of thousands.god is your antichrist.the greatest thing the devil ever done was prove he did;nt exist.

wow, this forum is over run by religious people these days. That's unfortunate.

relgious???i think not!

I think it more unfortunate that its overrun by idiots. You posted this comment in a religious thread in a forum pertaining to religion! I'm not religious but I do not think a religious person participating in a religious thread 'unfortunate'. Perhaps if you find their existence so unfortunate you could stay out of the Religion, Spirituality, Cults and UFOs and Aliens in Religion forum?

i have to agree with you iwant2believe,i am not religious,but have an interest in all religions.some are hear merely to mock.lowlifes who cannot see further that the end of thier nose.