I was thinking about this today. Does God have a certain age by which if people have heard the word of God and die that they either automaticaly go to heaven or whether they are judged. Like babies who die before they get old.
Well that is retarded. That means that my baby brother didn't even get a chance to go the Heaven. I dont' believe it.
MW was just being facetious, mgwisni. Nobody goes to hell - that's just a nasty Christian myth to scare people into toeing the line. Nothing to worry about at all - just something to poke fun of now and then. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I'm sorry about your baby brother. I was just being a smart ass, and I apologize. My belief is there is no such thing as death. We have a physical body for a time, and then we shed it. Our spirit is always intact and never dies. We share the One Spirit of God, and when we shed our Earthsuit, we simply return to the source--God. I don't believe in heaven or hell, so that's not an option to me. We are spiritual beings, alpha and omega, and we carry a body around temporarily. Your brother is still very much alive and will forever. He only shed his Earthsuit.
First of all, I'm very sorry to read that your baby brother died. That must be unbelievably devestating for you and your family, my sincere condolences. As to the answer to your question, you already answered it yourself. When that sweetheart (who seemingly spends all her spare time bashing Christianity on this forum) mockingly told you that your baby brother went straight to hell, you responded "I don't believe it". That's right, don't believe it. God loves your baby brother, that's all you need to know.
First of all, in his original post, he asked a general question about where babies go when they die, he never said it was his baby brother who had died until a later post. Secondly, do you actually believe I spend all my "spare time bashing Christianity on this forum? Hah! The truth is that I spend every waking minute of my life bashing Christianity, and then some. I even bash Christians in my dreams. I never get tired of bashing Christians. My only goal in life is to bash Christians. I'm even writing a 'how-to' book on Christian bashing for fun and profit.
i don't understand why you are asking us. I know I am not god. hmm.. though god does post here. ask god.
mgwisni, Before I start, let me just say that I'm sorry about your baby brother. I had a best friend when I was young, her name was Lauren. She was about 11 when she was burned in a fire at her aunt's house, and died 3 days later. I know what loss is, and especially someone so young who didn't have a chance to show their potential, it's just unbearable. But you'll pull through, I promise. Life will get better, and the memories you have of your baby brother will be a cherished thing, not something that makes you cry. Trust me. Now, just to point something out about religion, it's comments like the one you've made above that show just what's it's purpose is. You thought Medicine Woman's stance (albeit a mocking one) was "retarded," and you refused to believe it. What about her stance was incorrect? The child had no chance to praise or worship Jesus, or know him, so how is he to find the key to heaven? Technically, her argument was as valid as anyone's. Now, the harder stuff... How do you know God exists? What makes you think he does? Think about it, bro; you rejected MW's response because it wasn't comfy or cozy, it didn't fit in your mind how god should act. Does that make it false? God did a lot of things in various religious texts. And in the one I'm most familiar with, the Bible, he did some stuff that would make him less of a figure to be worshiped, and more of a villian to throw your popcorn at. He's murdered for pleasure, he's murdered out of jealousy, and he's murdered just to show that he can. He's shown bad decision making, and he's shown that he's vengeful. Look, he sent his son, according to the story, down to Earth to die there. Simple. To die. How is that for a bad father? Truth is, you can't prove god's existance. Sure, you can't really disprove it, either, but you can refute the idea of god, and the stories told about him. We have identified countless frauds when it comes to texts and treasures; who's to say that it all isn't a lie? Bottom line is God, and all the things that go along with it, were put in place to set standards, both legal and moral, to keep a race of people in line with how the leaders of this cause thought they should act. In those stories, man has found comfort. Granted, little of it is based on actual texts, but it's a theology based on the idea of god. That said, can you really trust it? I don't think so. There is plenty of comfort outside of the confines of religion. Family is one, and I'm sure they need you right now as much as you need them. Taking comfort in a diety who may or may not be there is giving up on what life you have. If you don't believe me, then do your brother justice and ask questions! Seek truth, and do it without the blinders of religion! Come at this situation with clear eyes adn a fresh mind, and find out for yourself. Bridge, Good one, Bridge. Just go ahead and promote your ignorance to this poor kid. Forget that noise, you idiot. Learn how to think for yourself, and question god and everything about him. It shocks me just how willing these people are to put on the blindfold and accept what they are told. JD
JDawg, you wanted to know why I believe in God? Well here you go. I do not believe that we are here to live out our lives, pass our genes, and then die. It doesn't make any sense. The world around us provides for the needs we have. We hunger, there is food. We thirst, there is water. We have sex drives, there is sex. So naturally along thos lines, our internal need for a "heavenly father" would be fulfilled. What a terrible, stupid world this would be without a reason for life. If all that was true, why wouldn't everyone just kill themselves? There'd be no reason for living. There you are partially wrong and partially right. God did send his "son" but essentially it was himself. Jesus was God on Earth. So in all technicallity, God didn't send someone to die, he died for us so that we could be with him in Heaven. Without that, we would be stuck to burn in Hell forever because of our sin. Don't you understand JDawg. If there is no afterlife, none of this life matters. None of it. You would say, live the life you have, but after you die, you won't remember any of it, and neither will anyone else. You will be erased in the pages of time and your life will have never mattered what-so-ever. But we as humans long for a meaning for our lives, and that is why I believe in God. I look forward to your response.
That is a question I have thought about a lot. My spouse lost a baby sister when she was only a couple of years old due to an automobile accident. There is a concept of the "age of accountability" that is thought to be some point in a person's life at which they have the emotional and intellectual ability to understand and accept or reject God. For someone who is mentally retarded, it is believed that they do not ever reach the age of accountability. Others reach it quite soon in their childhood. Many Christians believe that any baby or child who dies before this age of accountability go to heaven. Some use a passages like these to support their belief. Matthew 18 1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. Matthew 19 13Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
Somehow I don't think age has got as much to do with it as we think. We might measure "life" as a span of time, but who is to say God does? Life on earth, however long it might inhabit it, is a gift from God in the first place. When those people died when the tower of Siloam fell on them, Jesus told his disciples not to wonder whether they died because they were "worse sinners" than other people, but to concern themselves with their own lives. What this means to me, is that we have a chance to live the lives they never had. Your own faith will show your love for them. And on Judgment Day, when God wants to know whether they knew Him, He will ask if there is anybody who would vouch for them - and you will be the same position that Abraham's was in when he asked God to spare Sodom because of the believers in it. mgwisni, I believe that God will look at that baby's life and if even one believer comes forward to ask Him to spare it, He will. God gave people the ability to heal the sick, make the blind see and the lame walk... but the greatest gift of all is love. To love someone is to save their life, because God saved ours in the same way.
