Quote:
Originally Posted by missourimary
For people to go straight to Heaven (where God's throne is) or Hell (where the devil will be) upon death seems odd to me, since at the end, Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
So I don't really have an answer, but I believe that at least some people will be at rest after their deaths, not asleep necessarily, but at peace from the troubles they faced while alive. |
This is the way most see death missourimary, that we are asleep till the resurection as per Paul in the new testemant
1 Cor. 15:51 the question is has the resurection happened or is it ye to come? If the resurection has happened already as some of us beleive then when we die we go strait to heaven or the lake of fire.
[QUOTE=Lafon;758464]I would be quick to agree that Jesus would never state something which was untrue, however, as you have asserted, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is just that...... a parable, and therefore
should not be construed as a depiction of an event which had already taken place at some previous moment.
Well then what should we do with it?
In fact, seeing that even Satan and all of the rebellious angels have not yet been cast into the lake of fire, then to assume that a certain rich man is presently there would represent a clear violation of the equality of justice which is truly what "righteousness" represents.
What then is death, and hell which shall all be cast into the lake of fire. is it not possible for hell to be a place of torment?
In addition to this, if it be true that a certain rich man was presently experiencing the torment of the flames of the lake of fire, then such punishment would represent a penalty which God (who is Spirit) had imposed, and that would clearly conflict with Jesus' statement recorded in
John 5:22 ("For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son").
Your hermanutics I think that is the word lol have some fault Jesus is God therefore judgement could be made before the Jesus walking on the earth. God is not held to time as we are.
as I read some of the responses in this forum I see just how limited mans mind is. This is not refering to just this thread but all I realize just how loving God has to be to save us and keep us saved.
Just a thought I felt like expressing sorry