Do Christians Fear Death?

[MrFun]

Originally posted by badman
Once you receive AIDS, it's also pretty asexual (at least, it should be).

That is not the case actually, and neither should it be that way.


Positive people do date negative people, and they engage in safe sex, with the negative person fully aware that the other person has HIV/AIDS.

And of course, you also have instances where two positive people who are fully aware of the other person's condition, who have sex with one another.


It's somewhat ignorant to equate having HIV/AIDS with asexuality, to say the least.

[BlackCat]

Life is dangerous - it kills you in the long run no matter what religious drug you are addicted to.

A couple of questions about the religious drugs :

In islam you are supposed to be equipped whith a number of virgins (can't remember how many), but are they supposed to stay virgin ? If thats true i'll call it hell.

I don't like harp music so going to heaven as a christian must be hell og are there a chance to select indiviual instruments ?

[Verto]

Only Christians who get their religious doctrine from Dante believe in that nonsense.

[Whaleboy]

Dante?

[Elok]

Dante Alighieri (sp?), thirteenth century or so. Lived in Italy. He got burned by the politics of the time, went into exile, and got this sort of perverted revenge on his enemies by writing an imaginary trip through hell populated by those he didn't like. There are different circles populated by the ghosts of different types of sinners, each circle with a different and increasingly nasty punishment.

My big problem with it, aside from the blatantly sadistic and ghoulish character of God as revealed by convoluted and superficially clever punishments, is that I don't think of people entirely in terms of one act, good or bad. Ted Bundy raped, he murdered, and he must have lied to get the girls into his car. I guess he travels between the various circles somehow. Bottom line is, it's a very limited view of the afterlife cooked up by a very bitter man. I don't care if it is good poetry.

As for death, I can't say because I've never faced it. Probably I wouldn't be too happy, but it's to be hoped that I'll die with some dignity. The main message I've gotten from my faith is not "live for the afterlife," as some people say it is, but that the hour of my death is out of my hands, that it's not as big a deal as it seems, and that the enjoyment of life is more than just a rabid denial of the grave accomplished by cramming as much hedonism in as possible before the end.

[Whaleboy]

Sounds cool though! I'll buy and plaigerise

[Verto]

Originally posted by Whaleboy
Dante?

The Divine Comedy

[Traianvs]

Originally posted by Elok
Dante Alighieri (sp?), thirteenth century or so. Lived in Italy. He got burned by the politics of the time, went into exile, and got this sort of perverted revenge on his enemies by writing an imaginary trip through hell populated by those he didn't like. There are different circles populated by the ghosts of different types of sinners, each circle with a different and increasingly nasty punishment.

My big problem with it, aside from the blatantly sadistic and ghoulish character of God as revealed by convoluted and superficially clever punishments, is that I don't think of people entirely in terms of one act, good or bad. Ted Bundy raped, he murdered, and he must have lied to get the girls into his car. I guess he travels between the various circles somehow. Bottom line is, it's a very limited view of the afterlife cooked up by a very bitter man. I don't care if it is good poetry.

As for death, I can't say because I've never faced it. Probably I wouldn't be too happy, but it's to be hoped that I'll die with some dignity. The main message I've gotten from my faith is not "live for the afterlife," as some people say it is, but that the hour of my death is out of my hands, that it's not as big a deal as it seems, and that the enjoyment of life is more than just a rabid denial of the grave accomplished by cramming as much hedonism in as possible before the end.

Nah, he's also got friends in Hell. In his work he explains pretty well how people of that time saw God and the theological principles there were relevant at the time. It might be that he has a limited view of the afterlife but he describes it as it was experienced by the christians back then, of course in his own style and with his own ideas. Still the theological principles are things he's read in various works published back then

[Drogue]

Originally posted by Whaleboy
Dante?

Surely you know about Dante? I must have said something about him when I came back from Florence and I thought we'd discussed the Divine Comedy?

Dante

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


That seems to pretty well be an indictment of Protestantism.

Not all Protestants are Calvinists. As a former Episcopalian you should know that.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
I don't fear dying. What I do fear is the reprocussions my death will have on others.

You're not a Christian, you're a Mormon, silly.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by MrFun
I am a Christian, and I would like to say that I do not fear death.

But you're an evil gay, so surely you're going to hell.

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


That seems to pretty well be an indictment of Protestantism.

Not really. Look at the example James gave -- Rehab the Harlot. She was a prostitute, and could hardly have been considered to have led a virtuous life, so when James speaks of her deeds, he cannot be refering to that. Instead, it is clear that the deed he is refering is the act of seizing upon the opportunity God offered her. Did she have faith because she acted? Or did she act because she had faith? The distinction is important.

Even so, all we must do to be saved is to act upon the opportunity God has offered us.

So why is it important that James says that faith without works is dead? It is not because we must work for our salvation, but so we may know we are saved. A saved person will do these things because they want to, not because they have to.

If you want, I can go into Paul's understanding of faith later -- you cannot have a true understanding of Calvin without having an understanding of Paul.

[The Mad Monk]

It is amazing. My own words convict me, for I have not lived up to my own standards lately. This must be corrected.

[Whaleboy]

Originally posted by Drogue

Surely you know about Dante? I must have said something about him when I came back from Florence and I thought we'd discussed the Divine Comedy?

Dante

Hey I'm only human, as pitiful it is to not remember a mind of such brilliant evil