(January 29, 2018 at 4:26 pm)SteveII Wrote:(January 29, 2018 at 4:02 pm)Astreja Wrote: I've always found this utterly baffling. If people can't do sufficient good to get themselves into heaven, how can they possibly make themselves bad enough to warrant an eternity in hell? The whole scenario is just too creepy and manipulative for my tastes.
It seems the confusion comes from your understanding heaven/hell as components in a rewards system. It is not. If God is perfectly holy, he cannot have a relationship with us because of our sin. He has provided a way to overcome this barrier. Going to heaven means you took him up on his offer to overcome the barrier. Hell you did not.
For the record, I do agree that Heaven is a state of perfect holiness and we cannot be in that state until our hearts are completely pure.
Steve, what are your thoughts on Purgatory? Purgatory makes sense to me, personally. It allows the person to transition into a state of perfect holiness before reaching Heaven, since I assume the vast majority of us are not there yet when we die.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
-walsh
