The Resurrection: A Re-evaluation

[Dondi]

Why? I think most people do not remember, for good reason. I can say in my own experience that memories are not always pleasant. You can find yourself working through baggage from multiple lives at once, which is not easy. It's also hard to feel like you miss who you were before, the places you were before. Like all memory, they come with emotion. I think it likely that most people are best served by not having any memories at all, so they can focus on their life this time around, what they are learning now, their service to others now.

Well, if that's the case, if we don't remember, or aren't supposed to remember, how are we supposed to avoid the same mistakes in the past? Does our soul instinctively know? Does God place us in different circumstances (different culture, ethnic group, gender, social status, etc) to learn a different lesson or correct a lesson we didn't learn the last go round? Or perhaps our next life depends on how we do in this life, for example, if I were a greedy, corporate CEO who step over people to get to the top, then I'd be a poor beggar in the streets of Calcutta next time around, till I learn the value of money and charitable giving?

Agreed. But I think where I differ from mainstream Christian doctrine is that I think hell is not eternal, and I think we are not "sent" to hell by God, but rather choose to be in hell out of our own stubbornness and controlling nature. We choose to be alone because we don't want God to be in authority, and by nature, God is in authority. So we remain in hell until we choose to turn toward God and embrace our true selves. We remain imprisoned in our ego until we learn to let it go. I think God never gives up on us, and I think all are purified through this painful fire until we choose to leave it.

I'd like to think that hell is not eternal. I can't see God banishing souls without any hope. What's sad are funerals. One lady in our church had been trying to witness Christ to a close relative, but the that relative suffer a stroke and eventually died. She was devastated thinking that the relative died lost and in hell forever. But even if she didn't 'accept Christ', I'd like to think that there is still hope for her. We don't know the true state of someone's soul, we can only go what people say they believe and by the fruits they exhibit. On the other hand, her family has been praying for years that she would come to the Lord. I can't help thinking about what Paul said the the Philippian jailor, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be save, you and your household." Now it seems to me that if God were merciful, that He would have made a way for that relative to be 'saved'. from what I understand, that relative did have a belief in God, though outside of Christianity. But then again, I don't think God is going to judge us on what tag we label ourselves with. He's more interested in our lives and how we have treated others. I can't see Him gigging us just because we don't have our theology right.

 

[LeoSalinas22]

quahom, thanks for your response.

Hmm, good point. the woman's egg is the potential for life, while the man's sperm is life. When the two meet, the sperm dies, but not before creating a "new" life within the two parts. Ironic that it is the sperm that initiates the beginnings of life, but the egg that completes it.

its cool you notice this as well. but did you notice something else? at a microscopic level, you have many sperm wanting to go into the egg like its some sort of death wish. i notice that the sons of man do the same with the earth. we don't notice it, but everything we do no matter what happens, end up dying and returning to the dust. its like we're programmed to do this, but we resist. another thing too, only one sperm gets to enter into the egg, right? i noticed that there is only one firstborne resurrected son of creation. so far anyways. at least to me. maybe we are God's sperm and the earth is the egg. just my psychotic thoughts.

"For a man shall leave his home and cleave unto his wife..." A little bit of irony there as well.

i always thought this meant that man would serve and love their woman by means of marriage. but i can see what you mean with this.

Likewise, like Brooks and Dunn state in their song "I saw God today", there is no fear of death because it is temporary, a passage.

it is a means to an end. to me it is all one big test to see what we love more. God's way or our way.

But I hate "sleeping" too lol

i know, right?! if i didn't sleep, i would have a heck of alot of time to do things. but there is a reason for this, i know. there has to be a balance. and its all for our own good, really. otherwise too much time could mean alot of bad things. what's the saying? idle hands... something... something. i don't know. anyways thanks again and hope i make sense.

 

[path_of_one]

i know, right?! if i didn't sleep, i would have a heck of alot of time to do things. but there is a reason for this, i know.

Well, we have to rest some time. But I confess, I love to sleep. Then again, as a kid I figured out lucid dreaming. So my sleep is kind of awake. I watch myself fall asleep, watch myself dream. When I've been really pressed for time, I worked on things in my sleep. Sounds crazy, but it works in an odd way. It's just directing your dreams, rather than watching your dreams. When I worked on my PhD, I did a lot of thinking about data analysis in my sleep. However, when I did this or directed my dreams (like a movie) I was not very rested after sleeping. So, you know, just sleeping has its place.

 

[path_of_one]

Well, if that's the case, if we don't remember, or aren't supposed to remember, how are we supposed to avoid the same mistakes in the past? Does our soul instinctively know?

I don't know. I don't think it's about avoiding mistakes as much as coming to a point of choosing to learn. We are forgiven our mistakes by grace. But we have to choose to learn.

Even when I remember things I look at as mistakes in my own past, it is sometimes very hard to avoid them. Just like we know what we shouldn't do in this lifetime anyway, but it's still tempting.

I think it is broader issues of learning. At least, for me, I currently think it's a combination of me being here to learn stuff from incarnation at this time/place that I couldn't under other circumstances combined with being here for some sort of purpose. Though I haven't figured out what that means yet. Given my own memories that have come through, I have some suspicions, but I kind of hope I'm wrong. It's a long story.

My short answer is that I think it works differently for different people. I don't believe in a mechanistic version of reincarnation like karma. I think it's tailor-fit and directed for individuals by God.

Does God place us in different circumstances (different culture, ethnic group, gender, social status, etc) to learn a different lesson or correct a lesson we didn't learn the last go round?

Maybe. Probably depends on the person. I'm torn between sometimes feeling like it's a mistake I'm here at all, and other times feeling there is a very deep purpose to my being here in the exact body and place and time I am. I experience this stuff, but I don't have the answers. I can say that in my case, as far as I can remember, I've always been the same gender and roughly the same social status (which is to say, pretty unimportant and normal). But culture has varied greatly and I always felt like a fish way, way out of water here/now, which kind of is depressing at times. I don't feel at home here/now.

What's sad are funerals. One lady in our church had been trying to witness Christ to a close relative, but the that relative suffer a stroke and eventually died. She was devastated thinking that the relative died lost and in hell forever.

I also find that depressing and unnecessary. I choose to think God is merciful and just, and so I don't need to worry about it. I trust that God is ultimately loving.

But then again, I don't think God is going to judge us on what tag we label ourselves with. He's more interested in our lives and how we have treated others. I can't see Him gigging us just because we don't have our theology right.

I agree. I doubt they are handing out Beliefnet quizzes at the Pearly Gates.

 

[Quahom1]

quahom, thanks for your response.
its cool you notice this as well. but did you notice something else? at a microscopic level, you have many sperm wanting to go into the egg like its some sort of death wish. i notice that the sons of man do the same with the earth. we don't notice it, but everything we do no matter what happens, end up dying and returning to the dust. its like we're programmed to do this, but we resist. another thing too, only one sperm gets to enter into the egg, right? i noticed that there is only one firstborne resurrected son of creation. so far anyways. at least to me. maybe we are God's sperm and the earth is the egg. just my psychotic thoughts.

i always thought this meant that man would serve and love their woman by means of marriage. but i can see what you mean with this.

it is a means to an end. to me it is all one big test to see what we love more. God's way or our way.

i know, right?! if i didn't sleep, i would have a heck of alot of time to do things. but there is a reason for this, i know. there has to be a balance. and its all for our own good, really. otherwise too much time could mean alot of bad things. what's the saying? idle hands... something... something. i don't know. anyways thanks again and hope i make sense.

Idle hands make for the devil's work...

And I don't mind saying, I'd die for the love of a good woman, so I don't blame the little squigglies trying to get in there and make somehting great. When a girl comes along that is right...what man wouldn't give up everything for what "they" could have together...?