Still confused about religion

Hi. Okay...I asked a question previously about religion and how I'm not religious in any way because of a lack of knowledge/education on the subject. Well, I've been reading through a lot of the religious questions on this site trying to learn things. I...

was reading how if you are religious and you sin then you go to hell? Okay well if someone is not religious they just die and go nowhere? Is it only if you are religious that you go to either heaven or hell? Or is heaven just a comfort though for people so the thought of dying is not so scary? And hell is just something to scare people into being good? Sorry for all the questions and if they sound in any way stupid.

Heaven and hell don't exist. Don't be scared of anything. When you die, you die...so just have a happy long life! The Christian bible if full of the same funny stories as previous religions (Greek mythology, Roman mythology)... so I say, believe in Secular Humanism. Treat everyone with respect and live life to the fullest!!!

They're not stupid at all, my dad's athiest, and says when you dye, you just saty in the ground. My mom, on the other hand is catholic, and sometimes forces me to got to church. Well, I think heaven and hell are like you say, to confort and scare those who are religous. Those who are athiests, are usually mentally stronger, that I've noticed, but I don't know what happens to them. I'n leaning right now towards believing in gog, who I call life though. Great subject

well I dont label myself religious but I do have a faith. in my faith there is only one way to heaven, and thats through God. so I don't believe that heaven and hell are just made up to scare people. also, according to my faith, you dont go to hell just because you sin or something. it doesn't work like that. you can't earn your way to heaven through the things you do or good deeds as many people think. again, you have to accept Jesus into your life and then you are saved.

Jesus paid for ALL sins, once for all. All that will ever be committed and all that ever were. It is so simple to just ask Him into your heart and turn wholeheartedly the other direction. Sinning will still be there, but you consciously try not to do them.
Accepting Christ and His eternal salvation is a FREE gift. You don't have to earn any of it. Just believe.
He will change you within. Find a Bible preaching/teaching church, and fellowship with other believers and have an accountability partner, join a small group where you study the scripture, and each can tell their own story of how the Lord has saved them from the pit!
Blessings as you find truth in Jesus, our Lord God and Savior!
And most important...it is not a religion, it is a relationship with our Creator.

No, your questions are not at all stupid. They are the questions that people have been asking themselves for thousands of years.. they are universal worries.

The problem is, that the different religions have different approaches to them, and also within the same religion the different groupings can have different answers, or approaches.

And, despite the many reported 'near-death' experiences, no one can know for sure.

So... for those who believe in an after-life, the idea of heaven can be very comforting. Likewise, for Christians the thought that there was a man called Jesus who came to earth as the son of God and atoned for all our sins.

But that doesn't 'prove' anything as such.

Many Eastern religions (Buddhists, for example), generally hold that when our body dies, there is an 'essence' that is re-born in another body, although the person may not be aware of it. And that the way we lead this life on earth determines what sort of life we will have in our next time around.

In other words: people of all countries and religions ask those questions. Everyone has to find his or her own personal answer. I'd suggest that you read up on the different religions, talk to people, maybe go to different religious services, and see where you feel most at home.

No, ALL of mankind is born into sin - all have sinned and come short of the glory of God - sin separates us from God - our sins must be forgiven for us to be re-united with Him in Heaven - God made a WAY for that to happen - see John 3 : 16...Take care !!

everybody goes to heaven or hell. it depends on what you have done on earth. good or bad things... even you are not religious you can go to heaven.. but God only knows that.

Heaven and hell don't actually exist. No-one goes to either of them. However, a lot of religious people believe in them, so they reply as if these places actually did exist.

But they are no more real than Hades, Nirvana or Valhalla. When you die, you're just dead and that's it.

Not stupid at all.
It's as you said, heaven and hell are to comfort and scare those who are religous(or non-religious to make them religious/scare them into being religious...).

As for whether one's belief determens where they will go, well, I highly doubt that.

Amblessed, can you at least say something... slightly intellegent when it comes to god related questions?

Katerinapapadis, what makes you think so? Maybe buddhists are righ, and there is karma and we get reincarnated? Never thought about that?

As for near-death experience, what I've heard(and which is logical) is that what people see after they die depends on what their belief was at the moment. Well, not neccesarily at the moment. Anyway, so obviously if you were christian you would most likely see angels, jesus etc.
And, there have been no reports on, say, hinduists seeing that same christian stuff. MAYBE one in thousands, but that still doesn't mean anything. It could obviously be the other way arround, too.(christians seeing hinduism stuff)

Also, some people have claimed to fly above their body and up into the sky, and that they could hear and see everything that was happening in the room in which they were lying.
Anyhow, they did a test: they placed some kind of sign in another room, and , I'm not sure how they did that test in detail, but, anyhow, they told the patients to try and read what's on that sign when they would fly away, and see if they could realy do that when they came back to life. And so far no one has been able to read what's on that sign. And I believe the sign was orange or something...

Besides, dying is a complicated proces, there are many stages that the brain goes through while shutting down, and it goes through proceses that it's never expirienced before, so it doesn't realy knows what to do, so it's no wonder that you might be seeing things. And, you are not realy dead yet when you're expiriencing all that stuff.

Hope this answers some questions.

Heaven and Hell ARE real and those who choose to follow Christ belong to Him, We are His children and those who reject His word will not go to Heaven. God doesnt want anyone to go to hell, but wants us all to be saved, but He didnt make us like robots either and we have free will to choose to do as we want. The choice is ours. Salvation is a free gift, the price was already paid by Jesus on the cross. all we have to do is accept and trust Him.

No, they are not. At least there is no proof that either exists(bible is not proof... and a pope saying they are real is not proof either..)
And, um, I don't realy like being called a child of a guy from a sect, so, don't make statements such as We are His children please. If you consider yourself being one, please speak for yourself.

That god doesn't want anyone to go to hell has to be one of the stupidest thing about bible, hand-in-hand with the statement he gave us free will, otherwise we would be like robots or a simiar one.

One - he is all-knowing. He knows everything. What will happen, happened or is happening. So, no matter what he does, he allready knows what will happen to the very end. Right? Because otherwise it wouldn't be all-knowingness.
Second - god is everywhere, which is another addition to the first point, since he can see everything that is happening too.
Doesn't this mean that when he created Adam and Eve, he allready knew they would eat from the tree? If he did, isn't he cruel then? It's like buying a dog knowing it will ask for food later, and then punishing the poor thing for that?
So, basically, no matter what you do, he knows the outcome. Tell me please, how can there be free will if everything that you did/will do was/is allready predicted?

Okay, next. If god loves us so much, and doesn't want anyone to go to hell, and wants everyone to be happy, why the hell would he create satan? Why?
Another thing that is funny, is the unforgivable sin, which I believe is not believing in god.
Now, let's look at what we've got: there is nothing that can prove(or disprove) god's existance. The only thing we've got is a 1500 years old book full of errors. And god obviously knew that people would not believe the bible, and yet he didn't do anything about it. Why? Doesn't he want us to know the he is real, so that the poor us won't go to hell?
So it's like saying: I'm invisble, can't be proven to exist, but I want you to believe in me. Because if you won't, you will go to hell - even if you have a good reason not to believe in me. So you will burn for all eternity. But I love you!
Doesn't that sound wrong?

Correct me if I said smething wrong.

Bou, I see your point, but yes, it is wrong...we do have free choice...adam and Eve had the choice to NOt eat of the tree of knowledge of good and Evil, but they chose to anyways...that isnt God's fault. THEY made the choice even tho God told them not to. We arent robots and in one sense God is limited, He cannot accept sin and we are given a fee choice in our actions and when things were put into motion there are natural consiquenses in those actions He isnt going to interfere on those even tho He could if He wanted to, but then we would be robots ...He DOESNT want anyone to perish as the Bible says, but He isnt going to make anyone do what we dont want to do. We are free beings and we need to make the desicions for ourself, but that doesnt mean they are always right decisions.

No one is FOR SURE 100% on where ANYONE will go after death .
No one .
It depends on what each individual feel towards what they are believing .

***He isnt going to make anyone do what we dont want to do.***

...EXCEPT... he'll make us go to hell for not worshiping him.

Have you considered reading the bible, to see what it has to say? There are many diff. versions available now, that make it easy to read and understand. If you go to the Christian bookstore, they can help you find one that you will like. As you pray and seek the Lord, thru his spirit, and thru his word, you will find the truth.

I don't know where you were reading from, but first let me suggest Paul Washer as a teacher. He is about as biblical as it gets, his sermons can be found on youtube.

But to answer your question, all people are destined for hell unless they look to Jesus Christ. When a person becomes saved God does a supernatural work within their life, he gives them a new heart, and new desires. That person is then saved by Gods grace through faith, through Christs death. Jesus came to die for man under the wrath of almighty God. God slaughtered his son upon the cross to satisfy his perfect justice so that we may live with him in heaven forever. I should also tell you that everything God does is for HIS glory. Why does he save you? For HIS glory. Why do sinners go to hell? For HIS glory. Hell is infinite in duration, because every time a person sins, they are sinning against an infinitely worth, and almighty God. Look unto Jesus Christ for salvation. Do not trust in any prayer! Trust in Jesus Christ so that you may avoid his wrath which will come upon all those who refused to look unto him.

Most believe that when people die their souls go straight to either Hell or Heaven, but some Christians will tell you that the Bible says that people go to the after life after Jesus returns.

But is there any reason to believe these places really exist when they were thought up by ancients? The ancients believed Heaven was the sky because god supposedly told them so, and Hell was the underworld. Now these places have been assigned new locations outside the universe in another dimension that humans can't perceive.

And yes people claim they've had near death expeirances, though most people who've been near death havn't had them.
Some people claim remembering family members, others interpret the experiences spiritually usually related to the culture they live in. Christians interpret the experiences as going to Heaven, buddhists interpret the experiences as reaching Nirvana. what people explain is clearly vague, but interpreted in a way.

The same experiences can be simulated by the drugs ketamine and pcp which can create sensations that are nearly identical to near death experiences.

So are near death experiences a psychological reaction to the brain which has undergone trama and lacked oxygen?
What might be happening is that the brain released chemicals and may have been shutting down or malfunctioning, which caused it to receive faulty information while still trying to interperate it, and the person perceived it as a real experience.

oka..oka..I have multiple answers...for your questions.and I am a Christian. soo,, I can knowledge you=]if you'd like.
you may email me and askk the unanswered questions at:

Fun mail me

OR

Fun mail me

You've gotten many answers on this question, but I'd be happy to discuss my Catholic Christian beliefs with you if you are still curious about the subject!! (:

things just happen, if they didnt then the world would be boring (if there was a world hehe) but apart from that just be kind and respect those that respect you otherwise if they cause you harm then tear them to pieces.

Do unto the enemy as they would unto you just do it first hehe thats what I always say anyways