Posted on 11/24/2001 4:17:58 AM PST by chemicalman
Edited on 07/14/2004 12:58:33 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
IMO, Repentance must contain genuine regret and at least a willingness to modify ones thought's or behavior.
IMO it is the analysis of analysis.
Just picture your body as a shell that contains your consciousness, your thoughts, your emotions, everything that makes you a person. What is contained within the shell is your soul. And, no, I am not talking about tangible things, it is the intangible things that you cannot touch.
Gods word tells us that He created us in His image. That does not mean that our physical body with its metablism and electrical impulses are "in His image". Even the beast of the forest have those attributes. But rather it is another part of us that is "in His image". We call it the soul.... and it is the very essence of man and the "real" us. It is what we mean when we speak of looking beyond a person's appearance or deep within to see who a person really is. And it is the soul that will continue to live on after the body dies.
Granted that it is difficult for the finite mind to grasp the concept of a spirit or soul. And we must take Gods word for it on faith. But then, we cannot fully grasp the existance of Physicist's (another freeper) "linear collider" either, can we? But we take it on faith that he and other scientists understand that which we cannot fully grasp.
We see glimpses of the essence of the soul if we look. Next time you are talking to someone, look deep within their eyes, listen to the "tone" of their voice.
There is more.... but I hesitate to go there. The scriptures say that there will come a day when God will resurrect those dead bodies, repair them, and reunite them with thier souls. Even harder to grasp. If you are courious its all there in God's word.
Consciousness, thoughts, and emotions are all manifestations of electrical activity in the brain. To believe that they continue after death is like believing that your browser continues to run after you turn off your computer.
I don't debate there was a longing to dwell with God, and that the heroes of Judaism had special status and could live with God. I'm just pointing to the fact that an eternal afterlife was simply not a part of Judaism until much later.
As for Buddhist ideas being of Satan, that sounds ridiculous. Surely the idea that one man can bear the punishment for the sins of another, the idea of blood sacrifice are barbarities and of Satan, also? That a God would knowingly create imperfect beings and then drown all the world's living things despite the fact he could simply vaporize all of the truly evil ones, is the product of a primitive mind(unable to understand what omnipotence would really mean) ?
Your statement brings to mind the story of the doubting Thomas, who did not belive that Jesus had been resurrected until Jesus Himself showed him His wounds.
Believe or don't believe in any sort of an afterlife as you wish. If you don't believe in an afterlife, at least have the decency not to try to convert those of us who DO believe in an afterlife over to your view.
IMO, the point of the article is not so much that some of those who follow Judaeism don't believe in an afterlife.
The article infers that NO Jew believes in an afterlife. The article, therefore, seems meant to incite hatred toward the Jewish population in general, thereby bringing the anti-"zionist", Jew hating crowds out of the woodwork. In that, the article seems to have succeeded.
This is the heart of the matter. Apparently Jews have a different set of "words" and/or a different interpretation of those words. Therefore, as a matter of faith, some believe in an afterlife and some do not.
But then, we cannot fully grasp the existance of Physicist's (another freeper) "linear collider" either, can we? But we take it on faith that he and other scientists understand that which we cannot fully grasp.
Actually, if Physicist has a linear collider, he could show it to us and explain how it works. No faith is required (although it might take more time than he can spare).
In heaven the soul will not be required or have need to "think" on earthy terms... all that will be irrelevent perhaps. Using your analogy of the computer turned off : Even after my PC is turned off for the night, even after being unplugged... it continues to function, the time and date, for example are still being processed. Also you can think of the fact that data is still in storage on the hard drive to be brought back to use when turned on again. Perhaps the memory of some relevant information is not only implanted on the brain, but on the soul as well.
I don't understand why someone who believes in an afterlife would possibly hate someone else (Jew or otherwise) who does not believe in an afterlife? The believer might feel an emotion of pity for the unbeliever, or the believer might feel pride in their belief compared with the unbeliever, or the believer might feel ambition to change the unbeliever's view. But hate?
Not so funny, is he?
It is very interesting to me that intelligent human beings can reduce life down to mere electrical activities. Removing the divine from the physical has long been the goal of those who deny the divine. I am an educated person, but I am very happy that I have not been educated to the point where I would deny the divine.
The separating of the waters in Egypt to allow the Hebrews to escape is a good illustration of how people attempt to remove the divine from the physical world. They say that some physical event occurred that caused the waters to recede. I believe that one idea is that an earthquake occurred. These people cannot look beyond the physical to see the hand of God working. Even if an earthquake did occur, did it happen without design? Was it just plain dumb luck for the Hebrews? I would not think so. But those who would deny the divine would say yes.
The fact that there's only shadowy evidence of Hebrew captivity in Egypt, when Egyptian kings bragged about such exploits is something else to consider. Funny how the nationalist/xenophobic mythologies of an insignificant group of people, mostly borrowed from older regional myths, has replaced the cultural heritage of people around the world.
It is not totally turned off. There is a battery inside that keeps the clock running. Also you can think of the fact that data is still in storage on the hard drive to be brought back to use when turned on again.
Although I don't think it is completely worked out as to how memory is stored, in some cases the body is completely destroyed, e.g. by incineration. Thus, there is no permananent storage medium.
Perhaps the memory of some relevant information is not only implanted on the brain, but on the soul as well.
Perhaps there is some distributed information theoretic object pervading the universe (God?) such that when a localized information theoretic object (soul?) becomes sufficiently complex, the localized object can continue to exist after its physical representation ceases to be. But this seems pretty far from orthodox Christianity.
I don't understand it either. Nevertheless, it happens. History proves this.
I think Star Trek Generations showed one of the problems even with this concept, though. In the "Nexus" one can exist at any moment in time, even moments that never existed. In some sense, it's like the idea of Paradise.
After jumping his horse over an obstacle, Kirk stops, visibly disappointed. The thrill he usually felt while jumping that obstacle had dissipated, as there was no threat of danger and he KNEW it.
Even an eternity of great things both physical/spiritual is an AWFUL long time. Not to say I wouldn't choose eternal life over oblivion, but neither concept is without its problems.
Personally, I think there may be a kind of "Force" at work, but it is so far beyond the primitive human descriptions of the divine that we might as well not talk about it.
The Way is not something to be discussed. Once you start, it is no longer the Way.
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