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Some Religious Questions

Blake Bowden

Administrator
Staff Member
According to your beliefs/religion:

1. What would happen if you died today? If you believe that you have a Spirit, where would it go?
2. What would happen to those who are of a different religion than your own? (Refer to question 1)
3. According to your beliefs, what happens if a person never knew God?
4. Did the Supreme Architect create evil?
5. If the Supreme Architect did not create evil, where did it originate?
6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven?
7. If sin already existed before Adam and Eve...(fill in the blank)

Share your thoughts and ask any questions you may have. This is not a debate...be respectful...keep it simple.
 

Browncoat

Registered User
1. What would happen if you died today? If you believe that you have a Spirit, where would it go?
I am a Christian. I believe in Heaven and the afterlife. Like most, I often speculate on what it's like "up there". I suppose I believe in some cliche things, like St. Peter meeting me at the Pearly Gates with a large book in hand, where my life will be reviewed to see if I can gain admission by being deemed worthy. I like to think that lost loved ones and friends will be there waiting for me.

2. What would happen to those who are of a different religion than your own? (Refer to question 1)
This is a tough one. While I believe in God, I also have to accept that Christianity is relatively "new" compared to other religions. What about the ancient Egyptian gods, the Greek/Roman gods, Buddhism, etc.? To believe in Christianity is to also believe that everyone else got it wrong. Any religion requires faith, but how do you know yours is the right one? You don't. I suppose that if I adhere to my own faith, that there is one true God, and that there's only one way to get to Heaven...then I also have to adhere to the mantra that non-believers will not be there.

3. According to your beliefs, what happens if a person never knew God?
See above. Christianity has certain "prerequisites", for lack of a better word.

4. Did the Supreme Architect create evil?
5. If the Supreme Architect did not create evil, where did it originate?

If God is the creator of all things, then He had to create evil. Then again, this brings into question the balance of the universe, which brings science and other teachings into play. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Yin and yang. Good and evil. Heaven and hell. Did this balance always exist? Does anyone really know the answer to such questions?

6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven?
Lucifer is not Satan. The names are not interchangeable. The name Lucifer only appears once in the Bible, and was not referring to Satan/the devil.

This is where my own beliefs get muddy. I have studied many interpretations, and at best, Satan is depicted as "the deceiver". The word devil means "diabolical". It was undoubtedly Satan who took the form of the serpent in the Garden of Eden to tempt Eve with the apple from the Tree of Life. Satan said that to eat from the tree would open their eyes, and make them more like God. We often think of the devil as some red goat-man with horns who rules over the fiery pits of hell and eternal damnation. Why? If you take some liberties, Satan isn't necessarily anti-God as he is pro-man.

When we think of hell, we think of our worst nightmares. Read the Bible. All Satan ever did was tempt people to defy God's will...and that's only if you subscribe to the Bible being literal and not parable. What if hell is just a world of sin? What if it's a bunch of wild orgies and smoking pot?

7. If sin already existed before Adam and Eve...(fill in the blank)
Sin is a transgression of divine law, the act of defying God. Sin had to exist before Adam and Eve, because if God has no beginning and no end...then so must the opposite be true.
 

JJones

Moderator
Since you asked I will answer. Be warned my views are a bit muddy and I'm intentionally brief or vague at times to avoid typing walls of text. :)

1. What would happen if you died today? If you believe that you have a Spirit, where would it go?

Heaven, or closer to it.

2. What would happen to those who are of a different religion than your own? (Refer to question 1)
I tend to believe that all religions are paths to the same destination, unless it's a religion that fosters hate.

3. According to your beliefs, what happens if a person never knew God?
It depends on the type of life that person led to an extent.

4. Did the Supreme Architect create evil?
No, at least not directly.

5. If the Supreme Architect did not create evil, where did it originate?
Evil is the absence of God, much like shadow/darkness exists because light is not presence. Evil is not a 'thing' so much as is it an absence of light/God/good.

6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven?
Unless I'm mistaken, the devil being banished from heaven is a story that doesn't even exist in the Bible, rather it appears in a book written by Thomas Hobbs called 'Leviathan'. No, I don't believe sin exists in Heaven as it represents a oneness with God.

It's already been pointed out but I also agree that Lucifer and Satan are not the same entities or interchangeable terms.
7. If sin already existed before Adam and Eve...(fill in the blank)
I believe it did but I'm unsure what this would imply.
 
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BroBook

Premium Member
1. My body will return to the earth, my soul will go to sleep ( dream? Oh how we love to sleep, ) my spirit will return to God who gave it. I believe that my job is to get my soul so in tuned with my spirit that when the spirit goes home my soul goes with it. Body to the dust, soul and spirit back to the Garden the Cherubim / Tyler will let me pass.
2. Body to dust spirit to God , soul to who in hell knows( comic relief )
3.The Word of God lights every human being that comes to earth. Everyone knows , but God is righteous , I don't know how but he will honor Yeshua's request "Father forgive them they know not what they do"
4.yes Isaiah 45:7
5.evil can best be described as a cancer in the body of God (He is all and in all) and we as his Servants should be looking for a cure.
6.He was banished for rebellion " and war broke out in heaven". Sin "existed" but it and its followers were cast out "woe earth..... His time is short . Praise GOD!!!
7. This whole thing is a replay satan was a liar and murderer from the beginning . In the beginning of Satan's trial The Word of God and the Spirit of God created.

Note:
The Big Bang was an assassination attempt
Lucifer is the title satan bore before the rebellion
He was the Light bearer the sum total of wisdom until iniquity was found in him. In closing those Holy Books that can be laid on Masonic Altars
Should be read how else can they be your rule & guide that part is not symbolic.
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Bro Darren

Premium Member
In respect for all faiths/religions I believe that the Grand/Supreme Architect is the final judge and he judges us on the state of our heart. He decides what will be..
 

nfasson

Registered User
1. What would happen if you died today? If you believe that you have a Spirit, where would it go?
I believe that I would move on to a greater place with God.

2. What would happen to those who are of a different religion than your own? (Refer to question 1)
I'm not the one who judges, so it's not my place to say who goes where.

3. According to your beliefs, what happens if a person never knew God?
Again, it's not my place to pass judgement. Being a Christian does not automatically make me judge, jury and executioner of people's souls.

4. Did the Supreme Architect create evil?
I think that evil is in the eye of the beholder, and like everything else, there's a purpose to everything in God's creation.

5. If the Supreme Architect did not create evil, where did it originate?
That would infer that it's a wholly separate entity parallel or outside of God's influence.

6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven?
No, it merely suggests that free will is both a blessing and a curse... you can choose to turn your back on God. He has given you the choice to embrace love or scorn it.

7. If sin already existed before Adam and Eve...(fill in the blank)
To me, sin is merely our natural condition. It's the baseline of our existence. I think that the bigger choices we make in life are really more important than becoming obsessed with the minutiae of this sin and that, because making those big choices the right way will help with those smaller choices. Jesus laid that out pretty plainly in the New Testament.




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masonicdove

Registered User
Good morning Brethren. Here are my answers.

1. What would happen if you died today? If you believe that you have a spirit, where would it go? As a Christian I believe that if I died today I would go to heaven. In essence my spirit/soul, the immaterial part of my being, would go to heaven. My body would return to the grave where it would lie until the resurrection of the dead in Christ (thus being changed into what we term as a glorified body and be reunited with the soul).

2. What would happen to those who are of a different religion than your own? (Refer to question 1) I believe that those who never confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will die and not go into the presence of God in heaven. I do believe in a literal hell for those who don't believe in Christ.

3. According to your beliefs, what happens if a person never knew God? See my answer to number 2

4. Did the Supreme Architect create evil? God did not create evil. This is the great theodicy debate.

5. If the Supreme Architect did not create evil, where did it originate? Evil originate when Lucifer sinned against God. In his pride he desired to rise up against God.

6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven? See my answer above and also refer to Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:12-19, and Revelation 12:1-9. The second part of the question sin does not exists in Heaven. God is light and there is no darkness in Him. If we look at scripture we will see that in order for one (humanity) to come into the presence of God there must be forgiveness and the removal of sin. Christ took care of that through His sacrifice on the cross. Through Christ we have access to God.

7. If sin already existed before Adam and Eve...(fill in the blank) ...ahh this statement is ambiguous so I really don't know what you are aiming for. Yet here is the theological issue that must be settled. Why does satan seek to destroy what God has created?
 

cherrynobel

Registered User
1. What would happen if you died today? If you believe that you have a Spirit, where would it go?
I am a Hindu and we believe that if a person has done enough good deeds he will escape from the cycle of life and death and go to Heaven and if is to evil for living on earth he is banished to hell.I personally believe that our spirit will go from one dimension to another (the string theory suggests that there are 10 dimension) which is called Heaven
2. What would happen to those who are of a different religion than your own?
I think so that the principles of life and death apply to every living being even animals and plants.
3. According to your beliefs, what happens if a person never knew God?
the same as question 2
4.Did the Supreme Architect create evil?
Yes.Like the saying that light cannot exist without darkness.Good and evil compliment each other we will not be able to identify one without referring to the other and the Supreme Architect will surely would have created evil.I think so that god created many forms of evil and like new thing's are discovered evil is also discovered by different individual in there different ways
6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven?
In Hindu mythology sources of evil like Ravan and his brother's were strong believer of god and were granted special wishes by god and became god like themselves but in greed of their power they become evil(except one).It is similar to the Satan story and this further proves that evil might have existed in heaven
7.If sin already existed before Adam and Eve..
Yes.Sin would have been created at the same time the universe was created.




 

Blake Bowden

Administrator
Staff Member
Sorry Brother, no discussion as that could lead to a debate. Answers only before I make you clean the chalk board!
 

BryanMaloney

Premium Member
1. What would happen if you died today? If you believe that you have a Spirit, where would it go?
My soul/spirit/whatever would be sent to a "place of waiting" that I would hope would be the "bosom of Abraham". There, like nearly everyone else, I will wait for the Final Judgment.

2. What would happen to those who are of a different religion than your own? (Refer to question 1)
As a Saint of my Church wrote to one of his students: "You ask, will the heterodox be saved... Why do you worry about them? They have a Saviour Who desires the salvation of every human being. He will take care of them. You and I should not be burdened with such a concern. Study yourself and your own sins..."

3. According to your beliefs, what happens if a person never knew God?
We can know of God and know about God but never actually know Him. He's just that "big". Only the infinite can know the infinite. In short nobody knows God and nobody can know God. That being said, if someone was never prosetylized or otherwise exposed such doctrines, it is a matter for God to decide. It is not a legalistic formula.

4. Did the Supreme Architect create evil?
No.

5. If the Supreme Architect did not create evil, where did it originate?
God permitted freedom. His love is such that He voluntarily falls silent if we do not wish to hear Him. Refusing to hear Him is the origin of evil, but even this evil ultimately shall be for the greater glory of God and the ultimate good--it can't be helped.

6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven?
Only God is perfect. Any being aside from God with free will is imperfect, thus, sin could exist in any heart that has closed itself to God. "Heaven" is nearness to God. Sin cannot abide God, so sin flees from God--or deludes itself into thinking it has.

7. If sin already existed before Adam and Eve...(fill in the blank)
Things are as they are.
 

BryanMaloney

Premium Member
6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven?
Unless I'm mistaken, the devil being banished from heaven is a story that doesn't even exist in the Bible, rather it appears in a book written by Thomas Hobbs called 'Leviathan'. No, I don't believe sin exists in Heaven as it represents a oneness with God.

Quick jump-in: Hobbes's "Leviathan" is a purely secular piece of political philosophy that makes a case for an all-controlling state. The idea is that humans are innately too selfish to be trusted with democratic government. Milton's "Paradise Lost" gave a great deal of detail to the old Lucifer/Satan legend, but it's much older than Milton, indeed, older than the English language. It may have started as a Hebrew folk tale. I heartily suggest reading Milton, in any case. Excellent work. Hobbes is only for those with a taste for very old political philosophy.
 

JJones

Moderator
Quick jump-in: Hobbes's "Leviathan" is a purely secular piece of political philosophy that makes a case for an all-controlling state. The idea is that humans are innately too selfish to be trusted with democratic government. Milton's "Paradise Lost" gave a great deal of detail to the old Lucifer/Satan legend, but it's much older than Milton, indeed, older than the English language. It may have started as a Hebrew folk tale. I heartily suggest reading Milton, in any case. Excellent work. Hobbes is only for those with a taste for very old political philosophy.

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely add Paradise Lost to my book list. :)
 

Bro. Michael

Registered User
1. What would happen if you died today? If you believe that you have a Spirit, where would it go?

If I died today, then I would find myself in the presence of God, and I would remain in that presence eternally. Heaven, after all, is not about location but about eternal fellowship with God and His people.

2. What would happen to those who are of a different religion than your own? (Refer to question 1)

It is not my place to cast judgement. God knows their hearts, and if they have genuinely sought Him in their lives, then I believe they will have found Him.

"Seek, and you shall find" Matthew 7:7


Given the absolute truth of God's word, I must accept that a person who truly seeks God, must have found Him. The question then becomes, has a man truly sought God, the answer to which, only the Great Architect knows.

3. According to your beliefs, what happens if a person never knew God?


Returning to my previous answer, if a person never knew God, then he never sought God. A person may not know God well (after all how could any mortal comprehend the mind of the one who created Him), but if he has genuinely sought God, then he will know whatever God intended him to know.

4. Did the Supreme Architect create evil?


God created all. Light exists but would not be identifiable without darkness. Good exists, but without something to distinguish it, what purpose would it serve? He may not have wanted evil to be acted on, but He must have created it.

5. If the Supreme Architect did not create evil, where did it originate?




6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven?


The Devil was banished from heaven for his pride and (for the lack of a better word) treason against God. Sin exists in the heart of a person. Anywhere there are conscious and intelligent creatures with free will there is potential for sin. On the other hand, there is no glory in being worshiped by the unconscious or unintelligent or by that which lacks the freedom to do otherwise.

7. If sin already existed before Adam and Eve...(fill in the blank)

Then humanity cannot blame Adam and Eve for the introduction of sin into the world.



 

Bro. Michael

Registered User
According to your beliefs/religion:

1. What would happen if you died today? If you believe that you have a Spirit, where would it go?
2. What would happen to those who are of a different religion than your own? (Refer to question 1)
3. According to your beliefs, what happens if a person never knew God?
4. Did the Supreme Architect create evil?
5. If the Supreme Architect did not create evil, where did it originate?
6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven?
7. If sin already existed before Adam and Eve...(fill in the blank)

Share your thoughts and ask any questions you may have. This is not a debate...be respectful...keep it simple.

Brother Blake, I would be curious to see your responses to these questions as well. After all, every new perspective carries with it the opportunity to grow and learn.
 

jjjjjggggg

Premium Member
1. I believe, as Alan watts put it, as a wave returns to the sea, so shall I return to the Source.

2. Refer to answer 1... we all return to the Source.

3. I'm not sure that anyone cannot know "God". The Source is every where and in all things. I'd say he/it is experience itself.

4. Evil, in my opinion, is a gross understanding of the energy that underlies the universe. A more subtle understanding is to see the interplay of 'yin' and 'yang' as the source itself manifests in the world.

5. Refer to answer 4.

6. A moral lesson wrapped in allegory.

7. Another moral lesson wrapped in allegory interpreted too literally.


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JamesMichael

Premium Member
1. What would happen if you died today? If you believe that you have a Spirit, where would it go?
To meet Him.

2. What would happen to those who are of a different religion than your own? (Refer to question 1)
To meet Him.

3. According to your beliefs, what happens if a person never knew God?
To meet Him.

4. Did the Supreme Architect create evil?
No. Permitted.

5. If the Supreme Architect did not create evil, where did it originate?
Freewill.

6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven?
Not sure it was heaven.

7. If sin already existed before Adam and Eve...(fill in the blank)
then so what, they were just the first to give in.
 

rfuller

Premium Member
1. What would happen if you died today? If you believe that you have a Spirit, where would it go?
I think there are many different names for what would happen, Heaven, returning to the source, etc...
2. What would happen to those who are of a different religion than your own? (Refer to question 1)
I am of the belief that Jesus was the embodiment of the Divine, here to fulfill the law for all of mankind. The idea of "personal salvation" is a relatively new one.
3. According to your beliefs, what happens if a person never knew God?
I don't believe in a Divine so cruel as to be a tally keeper of right/wrong. I also believe we are all pointing at the same thing with different words, concepts, and notions. I think the insistence of admittance into the afterlife being only for those who have the exactly correct notions (provided that any fallible human has ever had the perfect combination) is wrong headed and uncompassionate.
4. Did the Supreme Architect create evil?
No. I think it was allowed as things were set into motion, and the result of self-focus as opposed to compassion. I believe several systems were set in place to run their course freely.
5. If the Supreme Architect did not create evil, where did it originate?
See above answer.
6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven?
I think there is a great deal of the allegory and mythology of the Devil that was filled in later, yet taken as factual. Personally I think the Devil is allegory for the selfish temptations of mankind. Also, typically "hell" as interpreted today is better translated to "death" or "ruin" depending on which verses we are discussion.
7. If sin already existed before Adam and Eve...(fill in the blank)
I don't believe in a literal Adam and Eve. This is a part of the Bible that I believe is allegorical. I believe that there was early sin. We know that war is a relatively new concept. Mankind was more helpful and communal prior to agriculture. Agriculture giving man the ability to settle and leaving some tribes with more than others created conflict (some because of necessity for starving tribes, some because of jealousy). I view the jewish law found in the pentateuch as a call from God to pull mankind forward, out of the bronze age. "Eye for an eye" was a forward step from the human nature of progressive revenge. (When someone wrongs you, and you then turn around and have the initial desire to exact revenge twofold or tenfold...) The later as this law was used as an absolute excuse or reason, Jesus taught to turn the other cheek. Once again, the Divine pulling us forward, toward a more compassionate society. So, short answer, yes. Sin existed before Adam and Eve, and the Jewish law was a system to pull us forward to compassion. Same thing for the teachings of Jesus, yet again calling mankind further toward compassion.
 

goomba

Neo-Antient
Site Benefactor
1. What would happen if you died today? If you believe that you have a Spirit, where would it go?
Heaven.
2. What would happen to those who are of a different religion than your own? (Refer to question 1)
Hell. However, I do not believe in an everlasting hell. I believe in Universal Reconciliation to God. Ergo all will ultimately be reconciled to God.
3. According to your beliefs, what happens if a person never knew God?
See the answer to question 2.
4. Did the Supreme Architect create evil?
No. Evil is not a thing. It is the absence of a thing and that thing is good. Ergo evil is the result of their being no good.
5. If the Supreme Architect did not create evil, where did it originate?
See no. 4.
6. If the Devil/Lucifer/Iblis was banished from Heaven, what was the reason? Does that mean sin exists in Heaven?
As recorded in the book of Job the devil can still enter into heaven.
7. If sin already existed before Adam and Eve...(fill in the blank)
Beyond my pay grade.
 
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