Advice,  life

Heaven OR Hell?

Whilst getting ready for a night out for the queen of reems (Natasha) birthday me and Bilqis got into a deep conversation on heaven, hell, curly hair and what makes people do bad things (we’re very intellectual girls, we know).

I’m Catholic and she’s Muslim so traditionally our theories will kind of differ. For those of you who don’t know as Catholics we’re meant to believe when you die you go into purgatory. Easiest way I can explain it is a big room where you either prove you’re sorry and work off your ‘debt’ therefore going to heaven or you prove you’re not sorry and go to hell. Muslims believe when you die and you’re in your coffin you’re asked specific questions. Basically I think what she said was if you give good honest answers then you go into a place like purgatory but it’s a happy place till judgement day, if your answers don’t reflect on your life as being good then you go and work it off till judgement.

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Whether you believe in God or not everyone know’s about heaven, hell and the devil but think about it, if God is meant to have created us and decided everything we were going to do even before we were born then why do people go to hell? Can’t ‘he’ just stop us from doing those bad things since in the end ‘he’s’ meant to forgive everyone anyway as everyone is meant to be his children? Then there’s the devil, yes the devil is meant to be evil and hurt people but only bad people are meant to go to hell so does that mean the devil is doing good and punishing bad people or what? We came to kind of a conclusion. Whatever you do is already set in stone, whether you harm people in a malicious way depends on what happens to you. No one is perfect so we’re all going to keep making mistakes. Sometimes we have to do the wrong things to get the right outcome since everything you do has a snowball effect. You decided to leave the house two minutes later, this could be the difference between life and death. As insignificant as one little life may be everything they do is significant and needs to happen. Maybe as long as you try to be a good person all the wrong and bad things you do will be for a reason and when you’ve done what you were put on earth for you will move on and should find out.

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Later on I went to my cousin Mumas and him and his flatmates started talking about heaven and hell. What a conincidinc! Basically they don’t think heaven and hell is the stereotypical cloud, harps and God with a massive beard. They think both are built depending on your likes and dislikes for example Simons idea (pretty funny) of heaven is basically girls, boobs and trampolines. Mumas idea of hell would involve a lot of slugs. I still can’t decide what my idea of each would be but heaven would have to include chocolate fudge brownies from Thorntons or brownies from Bungalows and Bears or just deserts, I like deserts! 

 

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AHHHH I know it’s confusing but they’re all interesting theories. We may all be right and we may all be wrong but usually people don’t like to think about looking deeper into their beliefs or religion because they may uncover something they didn’t want to know but remember you have to learn from somewhere.

 

10 Comments

  • Frances Gill (@frandem_)

    just gonna leave you some theological knowledge re: “Whether you believe in God or not everyone know’s about heaven, hell and the devil but think about it, if God is meant to have created us and decided everything we were going to do even before we were born then why do people go to hell? ” if ‘he’ predetermined our lives we’d have no free will and therefore we couldn’t choose to be good or bad or bring about actions that cause happiness etc 😉

    • chikumo

      Why do people go to hell? This is where my circular argument comes in. Are we acting on our own free will because we are being autonomous and want to do what we choose or are we acting on behalf of an agent (like being lead in what to do) because we’re in an an autonomous mood? Personally I think we do have free will at the moment but ‘he’ still knows what we’re going to do and this is where heaven and hell come in. I think you only go to hell to show your sorry for what you’ve done but you don’t stay there forever, you pay off your debt then move on because apparently God is meant to forgive everyone. If people aren’t sorry they stay there till they are maybe?

      • Frances Gill (@frandem_)

        well after all its called a belief for a reason because you have to truly follow what it says and well believe but most would say hell isn’t a physical place and really neither is heaven but that depends on personal opinion.
        “we do have free will at the moment but ‘he’ still knows what we’re going to do” this unfortunately in language and theological terms is unmeaningful and incoherent cos well you cant have both a God that allows you to do what you want and still knows what you’re gonna do anyway but as I said a belief is a belief but technically 😉 haha!
        LEMME SEE YOU COME BACK TO THAT CHIK 😉 aha

        • chikumo

          True and everyones beliefs are different but to say you have to truly follow what it says does that mean you follow an eye for an eye or thou shalt not kill? Personally I’m starting to believe it isn’t a physical place.
          They do say the things we can’t understand right now are just because we’re mere beings so how do you know he can’t do both at once? ‘He’ may still watch over us but because we now live with original sin its up to us what we choose, ‘he’s’ only here to guide us on the right path. No one can say for certain there’s a right and wrong, just because we haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it isn’t there after all…
          Back at ya Gill!

  • Frances Gill (@frandem_)

    well we cant ever say if it is a physical space because we need eschatological verification (proof after death for you unintelligible people 😉 i kid i kid)
    Yes i agree we can never know God either cos he’s outside the spaciotemporal realm and is unknown and cannot be compared to human properties. It does all depend on religion but we have to take into account the linguistics used in the religion to help us understand god and how he does/doesn’t act in the world ( theres a word for this and i’ve forgot it and im heartbroke) some would then say its better to just not talk about the whole thing and just accept or quietly reject because we can never be sure
    theology has made me rethink what i do and dont believe haha its a right mind fuck so the only logical thing i can do is to do it uni right 😉 hahaha oh my brain will be mush

    • chikumo

      Haha bloody hell those words! True some may say quietly dispute but we’re also told to look more into what we believe and try and get a better understanding so we can be a better person even though we’ll never understand it all. Over all all our theories could be on point or totally off the mark. One day we will be stood, floating, sat whatever and we will find out and be like Ohhhhhh now it makes sense but as for now my head hurts haha!

  • Beatrice Mulenga

    Well, its interesting to read what you have all written here. But religion has made us believe wrong about heaven and hell. They are there for real, and so is the devil. The sin that takes you to hell is not believing In Jesus. Jesus is the center of Christianity. He is God, who came in human form to take back what Adam and Eve forfeited. He did that by dying on the cross and taking all those beatings on our behalf. If you accept this teaching which is the core of Christianity (John 3:16), then you will not go to hell. What takes people to hell is not believing and accepting that Jesus is God, he died for your sins, he rose again and is right now sited at the right hand of God the father. You don’t have to do anything because no one is perfect, not even one, only Jesus is perfect. You accept this fact, and heaven is yours for the taking. Religion has made it so complicated, but its very simple. The devil does not want you to believe and accept on Jesus, because he knows that truly Jesus is Lord, and that there is no hell for anyone who believes that Jesus is Lord. Its not the many other bad things that people do that will take them to hell; its not accepting that Jesus is Lord that will take people to hell, and that is what the devil wants. He doesn’t want people to believe and accept that Jesus is Lord.

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