The White Wolf Considers Heaven And Hell
A contingency of my consideration of my faith, particularly based on where I began, was the question of heaven and hell. The concept of salvation. That's one of the most important things to consider, right? Isn't that what the whole Jesus story is supposed to be about?
It is generally presented that you are given one of two ultimate options. Either you go to heaven or you go to hell when you die. Tough choice isn't it? I am sure a lot of you lie awake for long hours every night trying to figure out which one of these destinations you would prefer to go to. Of course not. Eternal paradise or eternal damnation. I'll take paradise thanks. That simple right?
Of course not. Otherwise there wouldn't be a point to waving it around would there? It isn't a simple matter of choosing to go to heaven. Some preachers throw that around, but it isn't. The part that many of the televangelists play down is that even by their own teachings, choosing to go to heaven isn't the final answer. It doesn't remove the difficulties and the stumbling blocks. We are still human. You can't just say, I am going to do this from now on and do it. If you think you can, talk to an addict.
What's the deal with the trial period, though? Why do the two sides exist? Because it is the duality that man loves. You choose God, you follow the rules, you go to heaven. You don't, you go to hell. See, that's an important lesson. Obey God. It's good for you.
Therefore, it comes down to the choices that we make. This is where it gets very murky. If we are allowed to make the choices to get us there, doesn't God recognize that we are human and fallible? That the heart might be in the right place? Wouldn't there have to be a contextual component to this test? There would have to be. A loving God couldn't allow us to fail merely because we are who he made us to be.
What if the choices aren't ours? What if we are living out the plan that he created, filling the roles that we are supposed to fill in order for the end result to be achieved? Well, then, wouldn't a loving God have to let us into heaven based on the fact that it really wasn't our choice at all?
You see, heaven isn't the difficult concept to wrap your mind around. Hell is. Eternal damnation. Why? How can you reconcile yourself to a faith that metaphorically allows you to take anywhere from 1st grade math to beginning algebra and then test you on advance astrophysics? God is immense, we comparatively don't match up, but are we called to? If not, what are we called to match up to? Man? But man changes. Times change. This is an extremely low standard.
Now an argument has been made, ad nauseum, that we have the scriptures, and they explain what God wants clearly. They don't. If they did, we wouldn't still have factions debating every other verse 2000 years later. If, in fact, they are inspired, they don't give us the clear word. What they do is demonstrate how infathomable God is.
So the trial is not an acceptable theory. It makes God unpredictable and unworthy of our worship no matter how you lay it out. If this is the case, and heaven and hell must have another purpose.
This too has frequently been explained. Heaven is basking in the presence of God. Hell is suffering in the absence. You don't get there by trial, you get there by rejecting God. Now this sounds good. Again, back on track to living the holy, spiritual life.
But again you must consider, that refusing the presence of God wouldn't be a conscious choice if you had another. Nobody's going to say, sorry, God, I am too cool for you. This isn't an active decision. What, then, is it?
It would have to be based on shutting out the concept of God. Refusing to acknowledge the possibility and let God speak to you. Now we get to the core of what your average individual can follow. Open up, listen, take stock of what you come up with. Then see if you can deal with what you hear.
This is where the journey gets interesting. What do you hear when you do this? I don't know the case for the rest of you, but soon I will answer that one for myself, upon reflecting enough to be able to relay it as accurately as possible, years later.
Until then, remember, the White Wolf segments don't end with "Life, or something close to it."
It is generally presented that you are given one of two ultimate options. Either you go to heaven or you go to hell when you die. Tough choice isn't it? I am sure a lot of you lie awake for long hours every night trying to figure out which one of these destinations you would prefer to go to. Of course not. Eternal paradise or eternal damnation. I'll take paradise thanks. That simple right?
Of course not. Otherwise there wouldn't be a point to waving it around would there? It isn't a simple matter of choosing to go to heaven. Some preachers throw that around, but it isn't. The part that many of the televangelists play down is that even by their own teachings, choosing to go to heaven isn't the final answer. It doesn't remove the difficulties and the stumbling blocks. We are still human. You can't just say, I am going to do this from now on and do it. If you think you can, talk to an addict.
What's the deal with the trial period, though? Why do the two sides exist? Because it is the duality that man loves. You choose God, you follow the rules, you go to heaven. You don't, you go to hell. See, that's an important lesson. Obey God. It's good for you.
Therefore, it comes down to the choices that we make. This is where it gets very murky. If we are allowed to make the choices to get us there, doesn't God recognize that we are human and fallible? That the heart might be in the right place? Wouldn't there have to be a contextual component to this test? There would have to be. A loving God couldn't allow us to fail merely because we are who he made us to be.
What if the choices aren't ours? What if we are living out the plan that he created, filling the roles that we are supposed to fill in order for the end result to be achieved? Well, then, wouldn't a loving God have to let us into heaven based on the fact that it really wasn't our choice at all?
You see, heaven isn't the difficult concept to wrap your mind around. Hell is. Eternal damnation. Why? How can you reconcile yourself to a faith that metaphorically allows you to take anywhere from 1st grade math to beginning algebra and then test you on advance astrophysics? God is immense, we comparatively don't match up, but are we called to? If not, what are we called to match up to? Man? But man changes. Times change. This is an extremely low standard.
Now an argument has been made, ad nauseum, that we have the scriptures, and they explain what God wants clearly. They don't. If they did, we wouldn't still have factions debating every other verse 2000 years later. If, in fact, they are inspired, they don't give us the clear word. What they do is demonstrate how infathomable God is.
So the trial is not an acceptable theory. It makes God unpredictable and unworthy of our worship no matter how you lay it out. If this is the case, and heaven and hell must have another purpose.
This too has frequently been explained. Heaven is basking in the presence of God. Hell is suffering in the absence. You don't get there by trial, you get there by rejecting God. Now this sounds good. Again, back on track to living the holy, spiritual life.
But again you must consider, that refusing the presence of God wouldn't be a conscious choice if you had another. Nobody's going to say, sorry, God, I am too cool for you. This isn't an active decision. What, then, is it?
It would have to be based on shutting out the concept of God. Refusing to acknowledge the possibility and let God speak to you. Now we get to the core of what your average individual can follow. Open up, listen, take stock of what you come up with. Then see if you can deal with what you hear.
This is where the journey gets interesting. What do you hear when you do this? I don't know the case for the rest of you, but soon I will answer that one for myself, upon reflecting enough to be able to relay it as accurately as possible, years later.
Until then, remember, the White Wolf segments don't end with "Life, or something close to it."
posted by Wanderer at 6:44 PM
5 Comments:
Grace.
Care to elaborate?
Interesting.....definately something to think about....
I just started visiting your blog and the first word that comes to mind is ....interesting :)
This is a topic I have thought about in the past. Frequently my answer to heaven and hell is "If you believe in Heaven and Hell then that's where you'll go, me? I'm going to St. Thomas."
Well, welcome, Cheeky. Interesting is definitely something that applies to a lot I write about. Feel free to share any other words or ideas that come to mind as well.
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