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19 Mar 07
Originally posted by twiceaknightThat depends. If one was a heathen living in Scandinavia there were two main possibilities:
All those souls. They never worshipped God or followed the teachings of the Bible, so presumably they are not in Christian Heaven. Where are their souls now? There were millions of them.
1. If you were lucky enough to be chosen by Odin and slain in battle (i.e. if he chose you then being slain in battle was a certainty) then you would find yourself in Valhalla where you would practice combat all day with the other Einherjar (in preparation for Ragnarok) and feast and drink mead at night served by Valkyries.
2. The average person however, would descend to the underworld Hel (spelled with one l). This is not a place of torture like the Christian version of Hell but instead a place of bliss where the soul of the average man or women would journey. It was believed by some that one would be reunited with their ancestors in this afterlife. Reincarnation, being reborn into ones family line in particular, was also considered a possibility. To try and fully understand this version pre-Christian afterlife one should read the Eddas, Sagas, Rydbergs work on Teutonic mythology, Jacob Grimm, and there is a fine work out there by the scholar Hilda Ellis Davidson called "The Road to Hel" that goes into the subject in great detail.
There may be similarities between this and other pagan mythologies such as Greek and Indian. I wouldn't know since I don't study Greek mythology but Grimm does make some comparisons.
What does this have to do with Christianity? Not a single thing!
Christian Mythology has no say regarding the afterlife of pre-Christians Heathens and it has no say regarding the afterlife of Heathens today.
My point is that you're not going to learn the answer to your question by reading the Bible.
19 Mar 07
Originally posted by twiceaknightWell all the ones that drowned in the big flood are probably lost souls.
All those souls. They never worshipped God or followed the teachings of the Bible, so presumably they are not in Christian Heaven. Where are their souls now? There were millions of them.
We know Moses is in heaven becasue he came to talk with Jesus on one of the nights.
20 Mar 07
I think the main thrust of my point here is that if we assume that there is a Christian god, and we have souls, then why didn't this "all loving god" send "our saviour" about 2 million years earlier. He just let them rot. It's a bit mean and unnecessary don't you think?
What was he waiting for? What was he doing? Why not get on with it? Why did he leave his work unfinished for so long? Wasn't the dawning of a religion based on his greatness the best bit from his point of view?
My questions are largely rhetorical. I am pointing out what I see as an inconsistency in the logic upon which Christianity is based.
20 Mar 07
Originally posted by whodeyGood point. It is unfair to judge people good or bad when they have been given no moral guidance. Punishment from God for being bad when you had no chance of knowing how god wanted you to behave, or indeed that god existed, is simply cruel.Why did he keep himself and his moral guidelines a secret and then punish people who didn't follow his secret rules? How can this god also be defined as all loving?
Define what a "good" person is that belongs in heaven as well as what a "bad" person is who belongs in hell.