Why would anyone want to go to Heaven?

Comer1

If we all go to heaven, exactly as we are now, won't it just be the very same as life here on earth? The only way it could work is if we had certain parts of our personality taken away...you know, all the bad parts. So do you think that for Heaven to work, God performs some kind of "spiritual lobotomy" on all souls upon entry through the pearly gates. That means that when I get to heaven, I'll be a completely different person than I am now. Ok, I admit that there are lots of things about myself that could do with changing, none of us are perfect, but the "bad" stuff, the "sinner" in me, is just as important in defining the person that I am as the good stuff.

Imagine if someone called to your door and said they can take you an absolute paradice, where there is no suffering, everybody is happy and content. All you have to do is agree to a small proceedure that will remove certain tendencies from your personality. Would you go or tell him to FO!?

Naz_st

Comer1 wrote: »

The only way it could work is if we had certain parts of our personality taken away...you know, all the bad parts.

Yeah, I'd say most people who think honestly about what would constitute paradise, it probably includes some form of "sin" - all the good stuff down here certainly seems to!

So if you live the perfect, devout life down here, when you get there you're either going to be disappointed or bored for a very very long time!

Mickeroo

No rock music either.

Comer1

Comer1 wrote: »

Imagine if someone called to your door and said they can take you an absolute paradice, where there is no suffering, everybody is happy and content. All you have to do is agree to a small proceedure that will remove certain tendencies from your personality. Would you go or tell him to FO!?

I don't do drugs, sorry


or lobotomies

ynotdu

beats the hell outta me why anybody would want to go to heaven;)

Genghiz Cohen

The struggle of life is what makes succeeding so damn rewarding.

Reminds me of the Earthworm Jim episode with kitty heaven.

Genghiz Cohen

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

The struggle of life is what makes succeeding so damn rewarding.

Reminds me of the Earthworm Jim episode with kitty heaven.

Now I feel the overwhelming urge to belt out the EWJ themesong =(

Genghiz Cohen

bluewolf wrote: »

Now I feel the overwhelming urge to belt out the EWJ themesong =(

Well he's such a groovy guy. How can you resist?

vinchick

I was thinking about this the other day.

How dull would it be to be stuck up there with all the religious folk.

Id prefer to be where the party is.....

bnt

A recent report suggests that Muslim martyrs may be in for a real let down. It seems that there may have been some difficulty in the translation or spoken interpretation or the Koran: the 72 "houris" promised to them in heaven may actually be a reference to fruit, particularly grapes, and not virgins.

"72 bunches of grapes? I blew myself up for this?" :rolleyes:

vinchick

bnt wrote: »

A recent report suggests that Muslim martyrs may be in for a real let down. It seems that there may have been some difficulty in the translation or spoken interpretation or the Koran: the 72 "houris" promised to them in heaven may actually be a reference to fruit, particularly grapes, and not virgins.

"72 bunches of grapes? I blew myself up for this?" :rolleyes:

Well they could make wine of grapes....drink the wine.....and who knows what will happen next?

jhegarty

vinchick wrote: »

Well they could make wine of grapes....drink the wine.....and who knows what will happen next?

you don't really understand the whole Muslim thing , do you ?

b28

great ice breaker topic for a funeral.

Galvasean

bluewolf wrote: »

Now I feel the overwhelming urge to belt out the EWJ themesong =(

Through the soil he did crawl....

vinchick

jhegarty wrote: »

you don't really understand the whole Muslim thing , do you ?

At that point what have they got to lose?

WooPeeA

Why would anyone want to go to Heaven?

70 loyal virgins sounds like a good reason to go to Heaven I supose.

pts

bnt wrote: »

A recent report suggests that Muslim martyrs may be in for a real let down. It seems that there may have been some difficulty in the translation or spoken interpretation or the Koran: the 72 "houris" promised to them in heaven may actually be a reference to fruit, particularly grapes, and not virgins.

"72 bunches of grapes? I blew myself up for this?" :rolleyes:

Sounds like sour grapes to me

kelly1

Comer1 wrote: »

If we all go to heaven, exactly as we are now, won't it just be the very same as life here on earth?

Then it wouldn't be heaven would it?

Comer1 wrote: »

The only way it could work is if we had certain parts of our personality taken away...you know, all the bad parts. So do you think that for Heaven to work, God performs some kind of "spiritual lobotomy" on all souls upon entry through the pearly gates. That means that when I get to heaven, I'll be a completely different person than I am now. Ok, I admit that there are lots of things about myself that could do with changing, none of us are perfect, but the "bad" stuff, the "sinner" in me, is just as important in defining the person that I am as the good stuff.

Imagine if someone called to your door and said they can take you an absolute paradice, where there is no suffering, everybody is happy and content. All you have to do is agree to a small proceedure that will remove certain tendencies from your personality. Would you go or tell him to FO!?

I think heaven will be very different to earth in at least 4 major ways:

1. We won't be subject to temptations to sin (i.e. the devil, the world and the flesh).

2. God will give us full knowledge of the enormity of sin and the wisdom of doing His will. We will become enlightened with God's wisdom.

3. We will see God "face-to-face" in all His glory and in such a perfectly holy environment, sin would be inconceivable.

4. We will become "divinized" in special bond with God similar to the bond Jesus Christ has with God. God's plan for us will be fully realized and we will never want to go back to our sinful ways. We will never want to do anything against God's will.

Of course it's difficult for us to imagine what heaven would be like but I'm sure that the God who created the universe and designed the laws of nature will have no difficulty keeping us blissfully happy eternally. What kind of infinitely good, intelligent, loving and wise God would leave us bored?

Comer1

kelly1 wrote: »

4. We will become "divinized" in special bond with God similar to the bond Jesus Christ has with God. God's plan for us will be fully realized and we will never want to go back to our sinful ways. We will never want to do anything against God's will.

Sounds like a lobotomy to me. The point I'm making is that for heaven to work, we could no longer be the people we are now. How many of us would be willing to sacrifice our personalities to get into paradise? What's the point of me wanting to go to heaven, so that when I get there, I won't even be me anymore?

kelly1

Comer1 wrote: »

Sounds like a lobotomy to me. The point I'm making is that for heaven to work, we could no longer be the people we are now. How many of us would be willing to sacrifice our personalities to get into paradise? What's the point of me wanting to go to heaven, so that when I get there, I won't even be me anymore?

Would you really want to hang onto your bad traits and faults? In Heaven you would be yourself but without the bad habits, faults.

Goduznt Xzst

kelly1 wrote: »

Would you really want to hang onto your bad traits and faults? In Heaven you would be yourself but without the bad habits, faults.

O'Brien: You once asked me, Winston, what was in room 101. I think you know. Everyone does. The thing that is in room 101... is the worst thing in the world.

velocirafter

I'm pretty sure the majority of things I enjoy might be frowned upon in heaven:

=> playing the guitar, not a problem in principle but my favorite style is blues which is somewhat morally ambiguous

=> bit of a computer and gadget nerd, cant see there being much high speed networking in heavan and I'm friends with God who can do WHATEVER he wants so gadgets are gonna lose their appeal pretty quickly

=> I have a couple of other vices that I'd rather not outline but I dont think I will be allowed do them either

I think I'm left drinking cups of green tea :eek:

Owen

I think Heaven could quite possibly be the most boring place ever. All nice, all the time, no sin, and who knows, if your wife who died before you was even 2% naughty and didn't repent, you won't see her.

I think hell would be a much more interesting place, parties, drink, orgies - of course both are figments of our imaginations dreamt up by people who had no clue about the world, and believed in talking shrubbery. And unfortunately, while some of humanity has grown up and stopped believing in magical fairy tales, most still do - embarassingly so.

kelly1

ned78 wrote: »

I think hell would be a much more interesting place, parties, drink, orgies - of course both are figments of our imaginations dreamt up by people who had no clue about the world, and believed in talking shrubbery. And unfortunately, while some of humanity has grown up and stopped believing in magical fairy tales, most still do - embarassingly so.

Where do people get the idea that Hell could be a pleasurable place to be? Just because we get away with drunkeness, wild parties and orgies on earth doesn't mean it'll be allowed continue in hell! There will be absolutely no pleasure for the inhabitants of hell but there will be endless remorse of conscience, hate, despair, darkness, hopelessness etc.

Owen

kelly1 wrote: »

Where do people get the idea that Hell could be a pleasurable place to be? Just because we get away with drunkeness, wild parties and orgies on earth doesn't mean it'll be allowed continue in hell! There will be absolutely no pleasure for the inhabitants of hell but there will be endless remorse of conscience, hate, despair, darkness, hopelessness etc.

I'd say you're wrong. Hell sounds great, and I'm sure the devil would approve of orgies and rock festivals, he seems that type of guy ... according to the church, that's sin anyway, so he'd be all on for that !

Zillah

I always assumed that in heaven God would use his meta-powerful might to imbue heaven goers with infinite joy and satisfaction. That trumps everything. As many problems as infinite power/knowledge/love can cause in hypotheticals, it can sometimes really simplify things.

O'Coonassa

To see what the craic is and do a bit of shopping.

Comer1

kelly1 wrote: »

Would you really want to hang onto your bad traits and faults? In Heaven you would be yourself but without the bad habits, faults.

Me and God may not agree on what the bad bits are that he is going to take away.