Is Earth actually Hell?

I wonder if Earth is actually Hell that we always talk about.

Poor people suffering in every way. Middle class poeple struggling to keep financial stability. Rich people have lack of privacy and followed by papprazzi everywhere, etc.

Accidents, injury, disease, illness, murder, rape, mutilations, robbery, theft, greed, crimes, jealosuy, no peace of mind, paranoia, etc.

If you look around you, Earth is sometimes even worse than the basic concept of Hell. Only good thing is that its not infinite. Death frees us from it.

Maybe Earth is the hell that we all are going through to make us realize the heaven we will achieve after death. People never appreciate things they have until they lose it. So maybe we are all going through life on earth to make us appreicate the afterlife more?

Just a thought.

Since 'hell' is really a word which comes from words originally meaning 'grave' (sheol and hades)...

and since we are dying from the minute we are born in this life....

until we realize the nature and origin of true life (which is of the spirit not the body)...

then yes, earth is our 'hell.'

Our 'grave.'

But it will also be our 'heaven' - after we learn and experience life (as I described above) then we are on the 'other side.'

I've experienced both heaven and hell right here on earth, so I'd have to say that this is a middle ground between the two.

but at times yeah, I've thought that I was in a living hell, so I can see why could think that way.

Originally posted by worldwatcher
I've experienced both heaven and hell right here on earth, so I'd have to say that this is a middle ground between the two.

but at times yeah, I've thought that I was in a living hell, so I can see why could think that way.

As worldwatcher said, we're between the two. We're the balance. Of course Earth isn't all evil and hell-ish, there is good things that must be taken to notice too.. A lot of the times we are prompted to see the terrable things that happen out there, and the good things are easily forgotten, and are not celebrated long after evil events. It's all a factor of balancing the two.

Oh and...

From my point of view,yesh, earth is somewhat of a hell. As Queen said, the word hell is derived from the word sheol. Sheol is actually a dumping ground in Israel that was used to dump the dead. So....

Hi half_minded:

Half >> I wonder if Earth is actually Hell that we always talk about.

No. Hades (#86 = www.blueletterbible.org... ) is a ‘realm of the dead’ located in the ‘lower regions’ of the Earth itself.

"And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will DESCEND to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.” Matthew 11:23.

Hades and death will eventually be thrown into the lake of fire the “Second Death,”

“Then death AND HADES were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:14.

The third picture on the right shows “Hades” to be just one third of the Neither World on the far side of “Paradise” with the “Pit” (Great Chasm = Luke 16:26) appearing between them. This is the pit where Satan will be chained (Rev. 20:2) for the thousand years “Day of the Lord” to be released after that 1000 years is over (Rev. 20:7).

Half >> Poor people suffering in every way. Middle class poeple struggling to keep financial stability. Rich people have lack of privacy and followed by papprazzi everywhere, etc.

Everyone counted among the living here is certainly on the Earth standing between Heaven above and Hades below. Some people bring ‘aspects’ of Heaven with them wherever they go and some bring Hades along with death and destruction.

Half >> Accidents, injury, disease, illness, murder, rape, mutilations, robbery, theft, greed, crimes, jealosuy, no peace of mind, paranoia, etc. If you look around you, Earth is sometimes even worse than the basic concept of Hell. Only good thing is that its not infinite. Death frees us from it.

Living upon the earth is never quite as bad as an existence in Hades of the Nether World. Men should take every measure to ensure they do not end up among those suffering in Hades in anticipation of the Final Judgment:

“And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death AND HADES gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.” Revelation 20:12+13.

Anyone who thinks going to Hades through death is freeing them of anything is in for a big fat surprise on the other side. Examine yourself carefully before taking refuge in any such conclusions.

Half >> Maybe Earth is the hell that we all are going through to make us realize the heaven we will achieve after death. People never appreciate things they have until they lose it. So maybe we are all going through life on earth to make us appreicate the afterlife more?

If you are saying “maybe” then obviously you do not yet “know” for certain. My youth was spent running too and fro looking everywhere for the answers to these kinds of questions, before God sent me the answer in His Living Word. God is the only game in town, because everything else here will certainly fade away (Rev. 20:11, Rev. 21:1). Not knowing the answers to these things would scare me to death and the same should be true for everyone here.

In Christ Jesus,

Terral

The Gentile Prophet opi_0dd precides ova' tha congregation, Respekt.

Terral thats ironic because thats how my youth has been spent, in search of knowledge in the wrong areas. And then once I looked at everything, and every possibility, and all evidence for this or that I could find, I still couldn't get answers. This story im about to tell is weird, and its not advocating anything, it is simply what happened. Up until this point I was a nonbeliever, skeptic agnostic at the most. This was a few years ago.. 2 or 3.

One day(I know this sounds terrible) on my way with my friend to a concert performance out of state, I took an E-pill (which i'd done more than once before so it was nothing new but hadn't done it in a while) and went inside this club. I went to see this d00d perform, my favorite tech producer. During the entire time I didn't think about religion much at all, I was just bobbing to the beat and dancing(I'm a good dancer I credit God w/that). At that point in time i wasnt very religious. But once I got home after driving 3 to 4 hours back with my buddy, I was still under the influence pretty good and was rather 'energized' so I picked up the bible, and decided I'd read it page for page to make myself tired until I was capable of actually going to sleep which I wasn't at the time.

So I read all of Genesis, and Exodus, and get halfway thru the 3rd book of the old testament and then fell asleep(Deuteronomy?). The next day, I finished the 3rd book and had this new profound belief in God, and a calm feeling in regard to all the unanswered questions about the most deepest of topics that had plagued my mind before -- the answer was God, to all of those questions. I'm not advocating drug use and im not saying the drug brought me to the religion, rather the drug broke certain inhibitions keeping me from it and allowed me to interpret with even more sympathy and "emotion", and it was quite profound of an effect. Maybe i stumbled upon a surefire conversion technique! Oh no, get the Scientologists out of this thread immediately! No, I dont want to be audited! Just poking fun, im sorry, no harm.

But, to be on topic lol, many Gnostics of Medieval times believed in this very idea. Most notably, the Cathars of France. The idea that we lived in Hell was a part of their version of Christianity. But they also thought that the God of the Old Testament was not the same as the New Testament. Further, they even said the God of the Old Testament was really evil! Satan, the Devil, whatever! Crazy right?

But I agree Earth is quite hellish sometimes. You know, I feel like at this point in my life, (just turned 24, former drug addict with opiates, trying to finish a 2-yr degree) this planet of Earth and furthermore this entire reality or dimension or universe is what we would call a training ground, except instead of it being for the evil terrorists, it's for the true future warriors of God! Ok.

In this reality we all experience, our earliest memories are post-birth so, we did exist in some manner beforehand but not in this form; our spirit was not in our flesh as it is now. It's like we are automobiles that have a top speed limit. There has been a limit put in place for all these things ie; reality by God that we have to undertake when we are placed into the flesh. But why are we placed into the flesh? Why do we get a human body? Because its a training ground! God doesn't want any ole' body on the highest level of heaven where the ultimate truths are. But but but.. you say, "God should love all people, even gimps and retrobates" right? Right, and he does. It's just that the ultimate truths are dangerous in the hands of anyone who is not ultimately divine to the core of their being, and you have to become that way to gain access to the higher levels of heaven, each level where more knowledge of truth is there. I call them levels but they dont go up and down, and they arent like stories of a tall building. I can't remember what it's like because I'm in the flesh so, sorry for yah. But, I'll be reminded again someday.

So the people who live life thoroughly sinfully and get judged negatively, the worst of the worst, who needs them? If they go into the pit of fire, then so be it. I dont want to share space with a wicked man intent on killing me, do you? let him stay over, your family will be thrilled. The ones that mess up but aren't genuinely evil? Well, they learned some lessons, but not all needed to attain divinity after death. It looks like they have to do go through the course again until their scores are acceptable. Send them back to Earth, this time in a disabled body, or a diseased one. Hah. That would be called an increase in the difficulty level of reality, right?


Maybe I am just insane.. woo wee

Terral,your stance is a perfect example as to why there has been a great falling away.

Luke 3:6

6
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

[edit on 2-11-2006 by SpeakerofTruth]

Hi Speaker:

Speaker >> Terral, your stance is a perfect example as to why there has been a great falling away.

Luke 3:6 quote: 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Your stance is impossible to determine from so few words. What ever happened to ‘quoting >>’ someone and refuting their errant statements using Scripture? Throw us a bone – what ‘stance’ are you talking about? Where is your commentary on Luke 3:6? Everyone ‘seeing’ the salvation of God is not everyone being ‘saved’ from the wrath to come. Are you teaching Universalism from this single verse? Are you saying nobody truly goes into the lake of fire in Revelation 20:11-15? If you have some point to make, then write up a paragraph or two detailing your views. Your ‘chat’ really is an insult to those trying to come to the truth on this topic. GL in the debate,

In Christ Jesus,

Terral

Okay,Terral, firstly, there are a couple of things that need to be put into context. Obviously, you take the bible quite literally,which is fine. As far as I am concerned, not that it matters to someone as "all wise" as you seem to be,Terral, the doctrine of "hell-fire" was inserted into the bible as a method of control by the powers that be.

However, I will play along and say, "Let's say that hell is an actual place where individuals go to be tormented for their misdeeds in life." Let's say there is such a place.

What is ironic, you and those of your ilk, the majority of the present day "church," want people to accept that "hell" is real and that God is still loving,compassionate and forgiving. Am I right thus far?

So,.... how is one to unite a "hell" whether it bea "tormenting" raging "fire" or the "second death" as you proclaim, with a loving,compassionate God? You see, your stance is an error in logic. Some will argue that God is "just." Okay. I'll agree with that. However, how is throwing people in a "lake of fire," regardless of what one has done, just?

You see, one can either bow to the warlike,blood god that so many of the "prophets" spoke of, or one can bow to the God of Jesus who loves his children. I choose the god of Jesus.

I am not going to mince words with you here, Terral, "hell" will indeed be experienced for some during the time of tribulation. It will be a "hell," at least in my opinion, but what do I know,right,Terral, here on earth. It will be God's cleansing of the spirit of man that brings about the inner hell for the individual.

I make no claim to know anymore than you do,Terral. What you believe falls directly in line with what the status quo wishes you to believe, and that is your choice. We have the free will to believe what we may.

I shouldn't have come off as combative as I did, but it is a subject that I hold dear to myself. Sometimes I wonder what God people are worshipping. The god that most claim to represent the true God, in no way is the God that has been shown to me. Someone is obviously wrong.. It may be me,but I think I will hinge my bets on what I believe rather than what the masses believe.

[edit on 2-11-2006 by SpeakerofTruth]

Hey Terral:

The Hebrew Old Testament, some three hundred years before the Christian era, was translated into Greek, but of the sixty-four instances where Sheol occurs in the Hebrew, it is rendered Hadees in the Greek sixty times, so that either word is the equivalent of the other. But neither of these words is ever used in the Bible to signify punishment after death, nor should the word Hell ever be used as the rendering of Sheol or Hadees for neither word denotes post-mortem torment.

I think the above quote sums my opinion up quite well.

Sheol

SHEOL RENDERED GRAVE
Consult the passages in which the word is rendered grave, and substitute the original word Sheol, and it will be seen that the meaning is far better preserved: Gen. 37: 34-35: "And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sack-cloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him." It was not into the literal grave, but into the realm of the dead, where Jacob supposed his son to have gone, into which he wished to go, namely, to Sheol.

In a sense, everyone goes to "hell" because everyone dies. "Hell" is death.

[edit on 2-11-2006 by SpeakerofTruth]

The Manicheans (one of my Classics professors described them as the Super-Gnostics,) believed exactly this and felt compelled to wage war against whatever their prophet Mani deemed a threat. Although to us this sounds insane, before Constantine they were in serious contention with what we now call Christians. They also survived for a long time after the Council of Nicea in 332AD where they were subsequently deemed heretics everywhere in the Roman world.

The Manicheans

Hi Speaker:

It is too bad I cannot call you “quoter >> and speaker.” You and your girl friends like to start your own threads all over again within these topics, which amounts to hijacking the thing to SomeWhereElseVille. Are you addressing anything I said above? No. Thank you for allowing everything to remain standing by challenging nothing.

Speaker >> Okay, Terral, firstly, there are a couple of things that need to be put into context. Obviously, you take the bible quite literally, which is fine. As far as I am concerned, not that it matters to someone as "all wise" as you seem to be, Terral, the doctrine of "hell-fire" was inserted into the bible as a method of control by the powers that be.

Poppycock! The 66 canonized books of Scripture represent God’s Living Word. The OT appears in Hebrew with parts in Aramaic and the NT appears almost exclusively (some Aramaic terms) in Greek. They appear as written thousands of years ago and contain NO CONTRADICTIONS. The powers that be in the world today had no opportunity to alter the Egyptian (Critical Text derived) and Antiochian (Received Text derived) bodies of manuscripts. To base your position on God’s Word being defiled by mere men is to cast suspicion upon EVERY SINGLE WORD. In that case your views may as well be based upon an assembly of comic books . . . The difference between us that my explanations require nothing at all to be changed about a single syllable of God’s Living Word. I am far more inclined to be suspicious of Speaker and her girlfriends than anything pertaining to Scripture.

Speaker >> However, I will play along and say, "Let's say that hell is an actual place where individuals go to be tormented for their misdeeds in life." Let's say there is such a place. What is ironic, you and those of your ilk, the majority of the present day "church," want people to accept that "hell" is real and that God is still loving, compassionate and forgiving. Am I right thus far?

The way God treats His children VERSUS His enemies is well documented throughout Scripture, just like the concepts Jesus Christ taught concerning Heaven and Hell already provided for you above.

Speaker >> So,.... how is one to unite a "hell" whether it be "tormenting" raging "fire" or the "second death" as you proclaim, with a loving, compassionate God? You see, your stance is an error in logic. Some will argue that God is "just." Okay. I'll agree with that. However, how is throwing people in a "lake of fire," regardless of what one has done, just?

Absolutely! You are not privy to the actions everyone here has taken in God’s Infinite Realm in assisting Satan slay Adam, which caused God to call this Creation (now Adam’s dead body) into existence. Satan deceived myriads of infinite beings into piercing Adam, which led to a rebellion attempting to unseat God Himself. The lake of fire represents "God Designing Ends For His Enemies." What does Scripture say?

“But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart YOU ARE STORING UP WRATH for yourself in the DAY OF WRATH and revelation of the RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT OF GOD, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and DO NOT obey THE TRUTH, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.” Romans 2:5-8.

I see the situation here from a much different perspective and with significantly more Biblical knowledge than you possess today. Those who assisted Satan in his Rebellion deserve exactly what God dishes out to them AND MORE. Imagine you are Adam going about your “You are gods” (Ps. 82:6, Jn 10:34) thing in God’s Infinite Realm and suddenly without warning the whole Realm (your own brothers) appears to be holding you down so Satan can pierce every individual micro-particle of your existence. Here you are the ruler of realms within your infinite body, but now powerless to retain the very essence of your life force from draining out every fiber of your being. Do you believe in your heart of hearts that God loves His ‘son of God’ (Luke 3:38) sufficiently to demand JUSTICE?!!

Just how many of God’s sons should be allowed to perish in His Infinite Realm, before your theology creates sufficient space for the “Righteous Judgment Of God”??? There are millions and millions of members from Satan’s unholy body incarnate here from God’s Infinite Realm AND members of Adam’s body are being victimized by them CONSTANTLY. Why? Because every action that took place within the microsecond of a single instant in God’s Infinite Realm in Satan dividing Adam is being reproduced within time and space of ‘This Creation,’ so an accounting of innocence or guilt can be measured, scrutinized and handed down by God Himself through His Word (Christ). What appears to be ages and ages to come (Eph. 2:7) for ‘us’ will take place in an instant in God’s Infinite Realm; as Adam is brought back to life to be given ALL the rewards that Satan and his cronies have accumulated for infinite ages past. Wisdom is truly vindicated by her own deeds (Matt. 11:19 para.), even if few here yet understand what that means.

Speaker >> You see, one can either bow to the warlike, blood god that so many of the "prophets" spoke of, or one can bow to the God of Jesus who loves his children. I choose the god of Jesus.

Bow all you like, but everyone here is responsible for reconciling every word from God on all these topics and NOT just the ones we appreciate or understand the most. Do I understand the depths of God’s Hidden Wisdom the same today as in my youth? No way baby! Keep your nose between the pages and eventually you will come to realize the difference. Hades is just another topic taught in Scripture and we are not licensed to pick and choose around it. Either believe God and His Word or find something else to believe in. Bowing to God and ignoring the truth of His Living Word is simply not an option for me.

God will judge me according to what He has shown me through His grace and NOT by what He has shown to you or anyone else.

In Christ Jesus,

Terral

Ok,Terral...I have neither the time nor the patience to argue with you. I am also not going to contribute to your passing out your personal interpretation, and in my opinion,malarky, by trading quotes and verses with you. Believe as you wish. At this point,as far as your concerned, I really don't care.

By the way,Terral,I am not a "her" I am a HIM!! Thank you...

[edit on 2-11-2006 by SpeakerofTruth]

[edit on 2-11-2006 by SpeakerofTruth]

Heaven and Hell are absolutes meaning places that we cannot change. Each one of us has the ability to make this planet better or worse. Hell is Hell. Heaven is Heaven. Earth is what we make it.

meh, this thread is no longer an us thread, its a them thread, them being 2, against one another.


please take your ideas elsewhere reader, thanks.