@ OP,

There is a problem with evidence... Let me show you :

When Isaiah prophesied that Judah will be taken captive to Babylon, that God is not happy with the nation, and that doom is coming,

Judah was at her best in prosperity. There was plenty to go around.. (Problem of evidence)

Do you know the funniest part?

That prophecy came to pass after that generation that heard it had all passed away....

Jesus told the Pharisees who are extremely knowledgeable in the law of Moses that they are blind, and that they don't know. (Problem of evidence)

Look at what Jesus told John in his revelation about the church in Laodicea,

It is very interesting and it applies to your situation at present :

" Because you say I AM RICH and increased with GOODS and have NEED OF NOTHING, but you don't know that you are WRETCHED, MISERABLE, POOR, BLIND AND NAKED "

The church in Laodicea was very wealthy physically...

Again, my brother, we have a problem of evidence. "



I don't need to say much...

Anyone who is blind, wretched, poor ,naked and miserable is in danger... The spiritual is of more essence than the physical.

It doesn't matter what the physical says.

God is angry with you my brother. You and all atheists in the world.
He only waits for your repentance.

If I am not sure about anything, I am certain that God is angry with you.

Again, we have a problem of evidence... Your life is in a perfect shape.

Originakalokalo:

@ OP,

There is a problem with evidence... Let me show you :

When Isaiah prophesied that Judah will be taken captive to Babylon, that God is not happy with the nation, and that doom is coming,

Judah was at her best in prosperity. There was plenty to go around.. (Problem of evidence)

Do you know the funniest part?

That prophecy came to pass after that generation that heard it had all passed away....

Jesus told the Pharisees who are extremely knowledgeable in the law of Moses that they are blind, and that they don't know. (Problem of evidence)

Look at what Jesus told John in his revelation about the church in Laodicea,

It is very interesting and it applies to your situation at present :

" Because you say I AM RICH and increased with GOODS and have NEED OF NOTHING, but you don't know that you are WRETCHED, MISERABLE, POOR, BLIND AND NAKED "

The church in Laodicea was very wealthy physically...

Again, my brother, we have a problem of evidence. "



I don't need to say much...

Anyone who is blind, wretched, poor ,naked and miserable is in danger... The spiritual is of more essence than the physical.

It doesn't matter what the physical says.

God is angry with you my brother. You and all atheists in the world.
He only waits for your repentance.

If I am not sure about anything, I am certain that God is angry with you.

Again, we have a problem of evidence... Your life is in a perfect shape.

So evidence is a bad thing. Your God want to raise mumus as his army yet he wants people that will fight off wise Satan.

He creates humans with brain and gets angry when they use the brain to ask pertinent questions.

I asked a simple question in the op... What is, just two things, that a Christian enjoys on earth that I as an atheist don't have.... Instead u are telling me God is angry with me.

Getting angry upandan, that's what ur God has been doing since u guys said he created the world.

Well he can go hug a transformer for all I care. My question is quite simple... Give me two reasons why being a Christian is better than being an atheist in relation to our lives on earth. Once I see two reason I might live a better life as a christian, I definitely will become a Christian by the end of this year.

frank317:


So evidence is a bad thing. Your God want to raise mumus as his army yet he wants people that will fight off wise Satan.

He creates humans with brain and gets angry when they use the brain to ask pertinent questions.

I asked a simple question in the op... What is, just two things, that a Christian enjoys on earth that I as an atheist don't have.... Instead u are telling me God is angry with me.

Getting angry upandan, that's what ur God has been doing since u guys said he created the world.

Well he can go hug a transformer for all I care. My question is quite simple... Give me two reasons why being a Christian is better than being an atheist in relation to our lives on earth. Once I see two reason I might live a better life as a christian, I definitely will become a Christian by the end of this year.

Even if I give you ten reasons, it won't matter.

You don't understand spiritual things because you have denied God who is the Father of all spirits.

You don't need to bother yourself about being a Christian since you are "doing better" with your present believe.

I am a child of God and I have told you what He asked me to tell you in my previous post..

The summary of which is:

You are in spiritual danger despite the fact that your physical situations say otherwise.


Let's leave your being a Christian aside,

Did i just see you call Satan "wise? "

Oh.

Ihedinobi3:
But only Christians expect what we have in this life to be made infinitely better in eternity.

This is a lie!

frank317:

What difference does believing in Jesus Christ make that makes ur life better as a Christian than mine as an atheist.


I am reacting Christian preaching all around me all day... Let it go... This has nothing to do with the op.




So what's ur argument? That u live better or not?


Anger of God that is coming... In another news Christians will b like 'god does not put anyone in hell people chose to go there' what's he going to be angy for exactly?
All these are not what I am asking u sha... It seems there is nothing,not even one thing Christians enjoy on earth as Christians that atheists don't.



I know, that's why I am asking u the benefit of one over the other. Me think there is not difference hence I am wondering why anyone would bother about a seemingly useless God.

Believers aren't the only ones in this war. It's an all-encompassing war.

On one side is God Whose Will is being carried out by the elect angels and by faithful human beings. On the other is Satan and the rebellious angels aided very often by faithless human beings to oppose God's Will.

For now, because of a kind of truce that has persisted for a while, there is a large middle ground where many of God's human troops are avoiding battle and many humans while technically on Satan's side are largely useless to him. In the Tribulation which is coming very soon indeed, this middle ground will be all but wiped out and nearly everyone will be forced to pick a side.

For Satan, the objective is to prevent human beings from actually giving their allegiance to God or sustaining that allegiance until the end of their lives. This is because human beings were created to replace him and the rebel angels after they rebelled. If he cannot prevent either of those things from occurring, he tries to prevent those who choose for God from actually being useful to Him by helping others either to make the same choice or to sustain it. That is his play. This is why the world's good things were made so enticing by him. They exist to a large extent to distract human beings who would otherwise follow God faithfully and be useful in doing so.

So, while we believers in Jesus Christ do desire and ask from God and receive from Him much that you unbelievers value such as work, family, friends and entertainment, the ones among us who take the Faith seriously understand that these things can easily be turned against us by our Enemy so while we work to get them and ask and receive them from God, we prioritize them below our Faith and its constraints upon us. That is what it means to "take up your cross daily and follow [Christ]".

Those who live life like that are living it right and will therefore not only escape the Coming Wrath and Judgment of God but will in fact receive unimaginable rewards for it along with Eternal Life.

So, as I said before, even though you have dropped out of the fight and Satan rewarded you for doing so with trinkets and very little overt aggression anymore (he does not love you any more now though. He hates every last human being because each one is a potential replacement for him and thus a guarantee of sorts for his eternal destruction) so that, like most unbelievers, you have possibly better external circumstances than most believers, especially serious believers, if we factor in what is coming for every human being and the comfort that God gives believers as we continually engage with the battles each day brings, then you may be having less than you think.

My answer then would be - as you will also find in my first post - that as far as your definition of "the good life" goes per your opening post, Christianity does not offer you anything that unbelief cannot get you in this life. In fact, Christianity makes you possibly a worse offer - as far as this life is concerned: real action in a real war against an incredibly agile and particularly hateful enemy but with all of God's Comfort and Help to bring you all the way through to the other side safely.

Whether you decide to fight or not fight for or against God or Satan though, I must repeat, every human being is involved in this business one way or another and everyone has the same concern: God is coming back to judge the world. How we choose to deal with that is up to us and is not devoid of its consequences.

frank317:

Lie... All Christians I know crave for a fulfilled life... They pray for good health, wealth, children and prosperity... How else can one not be fulfilled with all these?

What is the lie? Do you know every Christian in the world? Does the Bible teach Christians that fulfillment is defined by good health, wealth, children and prosperity?

As I told you, the vast majority of Christians prefer to pursue those things instead of to do what they are called to do as followers of Jesus Christ. That they have this preference does not mean that it is what the Faith is about.

Ranchhoddas:
This is a lie!

Not necessarily. There may be an argument over what "better" objectively means but no other religion or philosophy out there thinks of Eternity as a perfection of what life ought to be. All the others have some notion that either describes Eternity in terms of this world, for example, Islam is concerned with sex and food and water, or presents Eternity as some ethereal existence completely divorced from what we know about life through our experience in this world, for example, becoming or returning to being part of the Brahmin as Hinduism holds.

But Christianity teaches that this world is damaged because of a war that intimately involves human beings. When that war is over, everything will be fixed and for those who have been faithful to God, life will finally be everything it was meant to be from the beginning.

Ihedinobi3:

Not necessarily. There may be an argument over what "better" objectively means but no other religion or philosophy out there thinks of Eternity as a perfection of what life ought to be. All the others have some notion that either describes Eternity in terms of this world, for example, Islam is concerned with sex and food and water, or presents Eternity as some ethereal existence completely divorced from what we know about life through our experience in this world, for example, becoming or returning to being part of the Brahmin as Hinduism holds.

But Christianity teaches that this world is damaged because of a war that intimately involves human beings. When that war is over, everything will be fixed and for those who have been faithful to God, life will finally be everything it was meant to be from the beginning.

Does Christianity not have sects that believe eternity to be in terms of "this world" like jehovahs witnesses?

Ihedinobi3:

Not necessarily. There may be an argument over what "better" objectively means but no other religion or philosophy out there thinks of Eternity as a perfection of what life ought to be. All the others have some notion that either describes Eternity in terms of this world, for example, Islam is concerned with sex and food and water, or presents Eternity as some ethereal existence completely divorced from what we know about life through our experience in this world, for example, becoming or returning to being part of the Brahmin as Hinduism holds.

But Christianity teaches that this world is damaged because of a war that intimately involves human beings. When that war is over, everything will be fixed and for those who have been faithful to God, life will finally be everything it was meant to be from the beginning.

Na wa o...
Is this sophistry or what
See how you just turn this matter upside down now now.

Okay, just so I am not the one getting things wrong. What exactly is the Christian idea of the afterlife?
What do you mean by "perfection of what life ought to be?"

Originakalokalo:



Even if I give you ten reasons, it won't matter.

Give me one first

You don't understand spiritual things because you have denied God who is the Father of all spirits.

Mr spiritual... Give me two things u enjoy as a christian I don't enjoy as an atheist that can make me turn christian

You don't need to bother yourself about being a Christian since you are "doing better" with your present believe.

OK... Thanks. In order u don't even know what u gain as a Christian, u guys are so full of noise. U have time to talk a lot without answering the op

I am a child of God and I have told you what He asked me to tell you in my previous post..

U must have told me in parables... I didn't see it.

The summary of which is:

You are in spiritual danger despite the fact that your physical situations say otherwise.


Let's leave your being a Christian aside,

Did i just see you call Satan "wise? "

Oh.

Answer the op and stop saying irrelevant things.

Ihedinobi3:

Believers aren't the only ones in this war. It's an all-encompassing war.

In order words there is no difference between Christians and non Christians

On one side is God Whose Will is being carried out by the elect angels and by faithful human beings. On the other is Satan and the rebellious angels aided very often by faithless human beings to oppose God's Will.

For now, because of a kind of truce that has persisted for a while, there is a large middle ground where many of God's human troops are avoiding battle and many humans while technically on Satan's side are largely useless to him. In the Tribulation which is coming very soon indeed, this middle ground will be all but wiped out and nearly everyone will be forced to pick a side.

For Satan, the objective is to prevent human beings from actually giving their allegiance to God or sustaining that allegiance until the end of their lives. This is because human beings were created to replace him and the rebel angels after they rebelled. If he cannot prevent either of those things from occurring, he tries to prevent those who choose for God from actually being useful to Him by helping others either to make the same choice or to sustain it. That is his play. This is why the world's good things were made so enticing by him. They exist to a large extent to distract human beings who would otherwise follow God faithfully and be useful in doing so.

Seriously,how does all these relate to my question. U are just repeating the same things Christians have repeated over and over again. Sorry I don't see how this is related to my question.

So, while we believers in Jesus Christ do desire and ask from God and receive from Him much that you unbelievers value such as work, family, friends and entertainment, the ones among us who take the Faith seriously understand that these things can easily be turned against us by our Enemy so while we work to get them and ask and receive them from God, we prioritize them below our Faith and its constraints upon us. That is what it means to "take up your cross daily and follow [Christ]".

So if I am going to be a Christian I shouldn't bother about a better life on earth... I should just be a Christian for The sake of faith in Christ.

Those who live life like that are living it right and will therefore not only escape the Coming Wrath and Judgment of God but will in fact receive unimaginable rewards for it along with Eternal Life.

Like I told u before I am happily not interested in what happens after life. So stop bringing such irrelevancy up. So far u have painted Christianity and a religion of suffering.

So, as I said before, even though you have dropped out of the fight and Satan rewarded you for doing so with trinkets and very little overt aggression anymore (he does not love you any more now though. He hates every last human being because each one is a potential replacement for him and thus a guarantee of sorts for his eternal destruction) so that, like most unbelievers, you have possibly better external circumstances than most believers, especially serious believers, if we factor in what is coming for every human being and the comfort that God gives believers as we continually engage with the battles each day brings, then you may be having less than you think.

U can't bring ur problem to heap on my head. U as a Christian is the one who knows and battles with Satan. I as an atheist have no business with Satan. All I have achieved are through my hardwork. So the existence of Satan is also one of the reasons I shouldnt be a Christian since he seem to be in constant battle with u.

My answer then would be - as you will also find in my first post - that as far as your definition of "the good life" goes per your opening post, Christianity does not offer you anything that unbelief cannot get you in this life. In fact, Christianity makes you possibly a worse offer - as far as this life is concerned: real action in a real war against an incredibly agile and particularly hateful enemy but with all of God's Comfort and Help to bring you all the way through to the other side safely.

Thanks... Christianity has worst things to offer. U are now telling me that settling to be a Christian would be to live a worst life than this... So why should it be an option? Why so much fuse about something that has nothing good to offer?

Whether you decide to fight or not fight for or against God or Satan though, I must repeat, every human being is involved in this business one way or another and everyone has the same concern: God is coming back to judge the world. How we choose to deal with that is up to us and is not devoid of its consequences.

This is not the point of the post. I have already gotten my answer from u

[quote author=frank317 post=73109979]
Give me one first


Mr spiritual... Give me two things u enjoy as a christian I don't enjoy as an atheist that can make me turn christian


OK... Thanks. In order u don't even know what u gain as a Christian, u guys are so full of noise. U have time to talk a lot without answering the op


U must have told me in parables... I didn't see it.


Answer the op and stop saying irrelevant things. [/quote

]

Peace.

Ihedinobi3:

What is the lie? Do you know every Christian in the world? Does the Bible teach Christians that fulfillment is defined by good health, wealth, children and prosperity?

As I told you, the vast majority of Christians prefer to pursue those things instead of to do what they are called to do as followers of Jesus Christ. That they have this preference does not mean that it is what the Faith is about.

I know many Christians... I have seen the promise of prosperity,good health, and wealth in the bible... Every Christian and every human on earth desires and pursue these things... So I don't know what u are trying to prove here

[quote author=Originakalokalo post=73112434][/quote]

Tomorrow you will start preaching all over the place still u have nothing to offer

frank317:


Tomorrow you will start preaching all over the place still u have nothing to offer

.

You don't believe in the existence of God but you describe the devil as "wise" in your post...

I have offered you what I have. There is nothing else to offer.

Peace.

Originakalokalo:


.

You don't believe in the existence of God but you describe the devil as "wise" in your post...

I have offered you what I have. There is nothing else to offer.

Peace.

You typed so much but still managed to say something. You must be very jobless and have a lot of time to waste

[quote author=Originakalokalo post=73113690]

.

You don't believe in the existence of God but you describe the devil as "wise" in your post...

I have offered you what I have. There is nothing else to offer.

Peace.



[/quote

dont your bible describe the devil as wise? Am i the one who wrote the bible? or dont u believe in ur bible again?

[quote author=frank317 post=73115073][/quote]


Peace.

hahn:


You typed so much but still managed to say something. You must be very jobless and have a lot of time to waste

Yes. I am very jobless and have a lot of time to waste.

Peace my brother,

Peace.

Christianity is useless afterall. The God challenge failed.
No wonder I am an atheist.

frank317:
Christianity is useless afterall. The God challenge failed.
No wonder I am an atheist.

LoL! The thing can't withstand any sort of critical scrutiny. You practically have to suspend your brain to accept it. Like the people plugged into the Matrix, the ones that reject it become free while the ones that accept it become machine slaves. Na wa for religion.

davien:
Does Christianity not have sects that believe eternity to be in terms of "this world" like jehovahs witnesses?

There are many tribes, languages and skin colors in Nigeria. There are even natural-born Nigerians and naturalized Nigerians. But there is really only one thing which is called Nigeria and which each of these categories claim to possess in order to be Nigerian. This is true of all things.

In Christianity, there is one core idea that is what Christianity is. Sects, religions and denominations may claim rightly or wrongly to be associated with that core idea but it is that core idea to which one must address oneself if one wants to deal with Christianity, not with sects, religions, denominations etc.

The Bible defines what Christianity is. It is Faith in Jesus Christ, God Who also assumed humanity for Himself in order to die for human beings and thus save us from our sins and the just condemnation awaiting every sinner. This is what you should address yourself to. If any sect misrepresents this, then regardless what claims it may make for its identity, it is not Christian. If it does represent this accurately, it should still proceed to line up with the Bible's position on everything else in order to be a good exemplar for examining Christian claims.

The Bible does not say what you have here quoted the Jehovah's Witnesses as saying. It does not hold that eternity will be in terms of "this world".

But it is true that the Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ will return to rule this world for a thousand years. And after that thousand years and another worldwide rebellion against His Government at the end of it, the entire universe will be destroyed and then the Last Judgment will occur at the end of which a new Universe will be created with a perfect Earth where God the Father will come down to in order to live with His Children for eternity.

That Eternity will be spent in a material reality just like this one except only Perfect is true but even the Millennium will be in a world very different than this one because of how this planet will be changed by the Second Advent. Not only will physical conditions be much different than they are now, the very principles that govern human existence now will be replaced with new and perfect ones. It is common knowledge (you find it even boldly written on the walls of the UN), for example, that during the Millennium of the Reign of Christ, there will be no war. Still, that is not eternity. It is still time in this physical earth with sinful human beings and a corrupted universe. In eternity, things will be completely different.

In the Eternal Earth that will be created after the Last Judgment, for example, there will be no oceans. Also, the Capital City of that Earth, the New Jerusalem, will be a perfect Cube and a perfectly beautiful place where all the Church will have their lodgings. But while there will be amazing trees whose fruit will be a great delight and rivers of the water of life, these things will only be delights not necessities. Food and water would no longer be necessary at that point to sustain human existence since we will be immortal at that point. Sex would be hardly important because of the far more amazing pleasures of eternity that would take up our time and thought. When you consider how powerful the Resurrection Body is and how vast the present universe is and therefore how much better the coming one will be, the pleasures of this life that exercise our imagination so much will lose at least some of their appeal.

This is what the Bible teaches irrespective of what any "Christian" sect may believe or teach.

frank317:


You know, I pondered on this before opening the thread... Why so much noise about God when its absolutely useless for our survival or better life.

Its not enough that God cannot be seen, heard or even felt... He is also useless in our daily life... Why so much noise about something so meaningless?

The thing sef tire me. Lol.

frank317:
Christianity is useless afterall. The God challenge failed.
No wonder I am an atheist.

Yeah. No wonder....

Ihedinobi3:

There are many tribes, languages and skin colors in Nigeria. There are even natural-born Nigerians and naturalized Nigerians. But there is really only one thing which is called Nigeria and which each of these categories claim to possess in order to be Nigerian. This is true of all things.

In Christianity, there is one core idea that is what Christianity is. Sects, religions and denominations may claim rightly or wrongly to be associated with that core idea but it is that core idea to which one must address oneself if one wants to deal with Christianity, not with sects, religions, denominations etc.

The Bible defines what Christianity is. It is Faith in Jesus Christ, God Who also assumed humanity for Himself in order to die for human beings and thus save us from our sins and the just condemnation awaiting every sinner. This is what you should address yourself to. If any sect misrepresents this, then regardless what claims it may make for its identity, it is not Christian. If it does represent this accurately, it should still proceed to line up with the Bible's position on everything else in order to be a good exemplar for examining Christian claims.


The Bible does not say what you have here quoted the Jehovah's Witnesses as saying. It does not hold that eternity will be in terms of "this world".


But it is true that the Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ will return to rule this world for a thousand years. And after that thousand years and another worldwide rebellion against His Government at the end of it, the entire universe will be destroyed and then the Last Judgment will occur at the end of which a new Universe will be created with a perfect Earth where God the Father will come down to in order to live with His Children for eternity.

That Eternity will be spent in a material reality just like this one except only Perfect is true but even the Millennium will be in a world very different than this one because of how this planet will be changed by the Second Advent. Not only will physical conditions be much different than they are now, the very principles that govern human existence now will be replaced with new and perfect ones. It is common knowledge (you find it even boldly written on the walls of the UN), for example, that during the Millennium of the Reign of Christ, there will be no war. Still, that is not eternity. It is still time in this physical earth with sinful human beings and a corrupted universe. In eternity, things will be completely different.

In the Eternal Earth that will be created after the Last Judgment, for example, there will be no oceans. Also, the Capital City of that Earth, the New Jerusalem, will be a perfect Cube and a perfectly beautiful place where all the Church will have their lodgings. But while there will be amazing trees whose fruit will be a great delight and rivers of the water of life, these things will only be delights not necessities. Food and water would no longer be necessary at that point to sustain human existence since we will be immortal at that point. Sex would be hardly important because of the far more amazing pleasures of eternity that would take up our time and thought. When you consider how powerful the Resurrection Body is and how vast the present universe is and therefore how much better the coming one will be, the pleasures of this life that exercise our imagination so much will lose at least some of their appeal.

This is what the Bible teaches irrespective of what any "Christian" sect may believe or teach.

This is you preaching, not answering my question, the only thing I can recognize to be an answer to my question is the bolded and to that you would be wrong to think so, as the Bible being a religious text opens it up to interpretation, whether or not that interpretation is deemed the right one by the denominations with majority on their side..

Ranchhoddas:
Na wa o...
Is this sophistry or what
See how you just turn this matter upside down now now.

Okay, just so I am not the one getting things wrong. What exactly is the Christian idea of the afterlife?
What do you mean by "perfection of what life ought to be?"

Why do you think it may be sophistry?

To your first question, I have already answered it to some extent in my response to Davien. I will add a little more to fully answer your question.

The Bible teaches that God made man and gave him rulership of the earth. Man lived in a paradise at the time. He had access to the Tree of Life which kept him revitalized all the time. But when he disobeyed God, there was a break in his otherwise perfect existence. He lost access to paradise and also to the Tree of Life and was forced to work for his food and get little in return for his hard work. Also, for the first time, man became exposed to death. He was condemned to steadily lose vitality until he dies and returns to the dust from which he was made.

Clearly, if man had never committed treason against his King, he would never have experienced death and the earth would not have become what it is today.

But, by choosing to rebel against his Overlord in agreement with the first rebel, man lost favor with God and became Satan's vassal instead. Satan, by that maneuver of deceiving man, forcibly took back control of the earth from man (he was once God's Regent over the Earth before he rebelled). Consequently, man became an agent of limited authority over the Earth and also lost all that he may have had if he had stayed true to his Sovereign.

Man is a spirit that lives in a body. So, death is not really an end to his existence. When God decreed death for him, it was to make sure that evil had an end and that man could still be saved. Otherwise, man would be hopeless in his failure against God. Death then is what happens when our bodies wear out and our spirits are released from them. When that happens, every human being receives a temporary body and is then taken to a place in keeping with their choices in life. Those who choose to return to God in repentance through faith in Jesus Christ are today taken to God's temporary Headquarters in the Third Heaven where they rest from the war on earth waiting for the Return of God's King to the earth and their own Resurrection. Those who choose to persist in rebellion against God also receive their temporary bodies but are taken to Torments in Sheol which is under the Earth. There they must suffer until the Last Resurrection when they will be consigned to the Lake of Fire after their own Judgment for eternity.

This is the first part of "after-life" in biblical cosmology. No dead person is unconscious, they are only absent from life on earth.

The second part is that after circa 6000 years of human history counting from Adam and Eve, the number required to replace the angels who rebelled against God will be reached in human believers who together are called the Church. At that time, God will begin to warn the world of the Return of His King who would be bringing God's Vengeance against rebellion against His Authority. This is what we call the Tribulation. It will be open warfare finally between God's Side and Satan's side. At that time, Satan will appoint a special man to lead the earth side of his campaign with the view to destroying the Church and the nation Israel and thus make it impossible for the King to return. God will warn the unbelieving world at that time of the serious implications of continuing to rebel against Him then with terrible judgments such as this world has not seen or heard in thousands of years. But wickedness will only increase until the Lord Jesus returns and the Church is resurrected. That is, all dead believers from Adam and Eve to the last one to die or be killed during the Great Tribulation return to life on Earth in new bodies which cannot be harmed or destroyed ever again and all living believers at the time also have their bodies changed to become these new bodies too. Then, they gather and enter final battle against Satan and his angelic and human forces. That is what we call Armageddon.

When the earth has been cleared of all the aggressive enemies both angelic and human, then the Lord Jesus will renew the Earth changing it back into the perfect state it was in before Adam sinned, only better.

But there will still be unbelievers in the world who just never chose to join Satan and his armies in aggressive rebellion against God. And there will also be new believers who only come to believe because they have finally seen Jesus Christ return to the world. These latter will mostly be Jews. These two populations will exist side by side until the thousand years is done.

That thousand years or the Millennium will be a time when Christians who stayed faithful to the end of their earthly lives or the return of the King will rule the world with Jesus Christ. So, this again is part of the "after-life" in Christian cosmology because a large population of believers will now be living on Earth again but in eternal bodies completely freed from the constraints and troubles of life in this world but they will be the rulers of this world with the Lord Jesus Christ.

After the Millennium, the unbelieving population will begin a new rebellion to try to oust the worldwide Government of Jesus Christ. The rebellion will be tolerated for a short time before it will be summarily squashed and the entire material Universe finally destroyed.

Then, the whole population of, first, believers who chose loyalty to God in Jesus Christ, and, second, unbelievers who decided to remain in rebellion against God, both from the Millennium, will be raised from the dead in Resurrection bodies each suited to their status as believers or unbelievers. Then there will be the Last Judgment after which all rebels will be consigned to the Lake of Fire for eternity and a new Universe will be created by the Lord Jesus Christ to which God the Father will return to spend eternity with His Children for all eternity in the New Earth that will be made.

Both this new Universe and the Resurrection bodies will still be material things but not in the way these current ones are because they will be perfectly suited to spiritual existence and thus will be eternal in nature incapable of ever wearing out or being destroyed. Also, unlike these current ones, they will be perfect with no trace of evil or wickedness in any form.

The Bible does not say very much about what Eternity will be like. But it does talk about beautiful forests of trees on the new earth which produce delightful foliage and fruits which the inhabitants will eat in enjoyment and large rivers of the water of life that they will probably drink and swim in. But none of these things is presented as needful at all, that is, as necessary to survival. They are just more delights that God's children will enjoy in eternity. But with bodies as powerful as the Resurrection Body is, it only stands to reason that something like sex, for example, will hold little interest to us at that time given all that we would be able and also free to do with it. We certainly won't need food or water, as I said, but we would certainly be able to enjoy both if we wished for them. But the greatest pleasure would be to finally be able to see God face to face and live with Him, never leaving His Presence for all eternity.

This is the final part of "after-life" in Christian cosmology.

I believe that in all the foregoing, your second question has been answered. Man was created to be with God eternally and enjoy the beautiful universe that God made for him and the angels. Today though, things are not so. Much is wrong with man and with the universe itself. This is because of the war I spoke of. Many things that man takes pleasure in are injurious to him, for an obvious example, you could consider heroin or meth. There are more subtle things than those but they all harm the user. In eternity, our desires will finally be purified so that we want things that are actually good for us and we will also finally possess an uninhibited ability to actually enjoy these things and in doing so please the God Who loved us so much that He paid a Sacrifice beyond our ability to fully understand in order to save us from our own selves.

davien:
This is you preaching, not answering my question, the only thing I can recognize to be an answer to my question is the bolded and to that you would be wrong to think so, as the Bible being a religious text opens it up to interpretation, whether or not that interpretation is deemed the right one by the denominations with majority on their side..

First, your question was whether a Christian sect did not teach something. My answer was to explain what the Bible actually said and thus help you to see whether what they teach is Christian or not. If you think that that does not answer your question, I'm curious as to why.

Second, what is peculiar about religious texts that "opens [them] up to interpretation"?

frank317:

In order words there is no difference between Christians and non Christians

Clearly not in this particular. Both Christians and unbelievers are part of a war, only on different sides, at least in a general sense.

frank317:
Seriously,how does all these relate to my question. U are just repeating the same things Christians have repeated over and over again. Sorry I don't see how this is related to my question.

I can't help you with seeing if you don't want to see. But it is related to it as my post itself explains. Or else you can show me how it is not.

frank317:
So if I am going to be a Christian I shouldn't bother about a better life on earth... I should just be a Christian for The sake of faith in Christ.

I wonder where you got that.

frank317:
Like I told u before I am happily not interested in what happens after life. So stop bringing such irrelevancy up. So far u have painted Christianity and a religion of suffering.

Unfortunately for you, it is an essential part of my answer. Can't answer you without it.

frank317:
U can't bring ur problem to heap on my head. U as a Christian is the one who knows and battles with Satan. I as an atheist have no business with Satan. All I have achieved are through my hardwork. So the existence of Satan is also one of the reasons I shouldnt be a Christian since he seem to be in constant battle with u.

It's up to you to show how it is not your problem. Being an atheist is already buying Satan's business. But the major problem here is that you are not content to be. You want to derail other Christians' faith too. That makes you not only a nominal member of Satan's armies but actually a particularly active one for him.

frank317:
Thanks... Christianity has worst things to offer. U are now telling me that settling to be a Christian would be to live a worst life than this... So why should it be an option? Why so much fuse about something that has nothing good to offer?

I can't help you with your straw men. Certainly, being a Christian makes you a target for Satan so that he comes after you and tries to make life really hard for you. Certainly, the more seriously you take your faith in Jesus Christ, the harder Satan fights against you so that you have a harder life than most people. But nothing good to offer? Yeah, you made that up on your own.

frank317:
This is not the point of the post. I have already gotten my answer from u

I'm quite sure you made up your own answer and tried to put it in my mouth.

frank317:

I know many Christians... I have seen the promise of prosperity,good health, and wealth in the bible... Every Christian and every human on earth desires and pursue these things... So I don't know what u are trying to prove here

There are probably hundreds of millions of true Christians. How many do you actually know? A hundred? A thousand?

Yes indeed and those promises will be fulfilled in a truly wonderful way in the Millennium and in Eternity too. In time, however, what we are promised is that God will always be with us in all of our troubles and He will comfort us and get us through life's myriad challenges safely if we continue to trust Him.

Indeed, but Christians who know what the Faith is about know that "our life is hid with Christ in God" and that is where our hope is and we look steadfastly up there trusting that we will be given all we need in this life to make it to the other side where all our deepest desires will be perfectly fulfilled.

Ihedinobi3:
In my opinion, this may only be another bait thread for Christians. It seems to me that you made your choice and lived it for seven years and you like your experience. So I cannot see what you would expect Christians to tell you. I would expect that you would dismiss Christianity as a fool's dream and ignore Christians while carrying on with this wonderful life you have made for yourself without God in it.

But, for what it is worth, I will humor you.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Truth that we Christians follow is not primarily about this life. Not many of us believers will have that easy a life. Many of us suffer broken marriages as a direct result of our Faith. Many of us suffer penury or at least economic "mediocrity" because we prioritize God's Truth. That is not to say that following Christ necessarily leads to misery. In fact, even in our sufferings, those of us who want to follow the Lord and stick to the program do find a joy and peace that cannot be explained by our circumstances. So, it is not about misery although being a Christian guarantees more suffering in this life than being an unbeliever will.

What Christians endure everything we endure for is the hope we have for the world to come. We look forward to a Resurrection whereby we will be rescued permanently from suffering. We look forward to eternal rewards and riches and glory that this world has not even a prayer at equalling. We look forward to a New Earth and New Heavens where everything is perfect and there is no more evil or injustice of any kind. That is what our true gain is.

For us, this life is a war, a labor, a test that we must endure everyday. We accept the gifts of work, family, friends and entertainment as some of the things the Lord gives us to make our journey bearable for us. But these things are not what we are Christians for. As your own experience proves, even a staunch atheist can have them and have them in abundance. Very few of the wealthiest people in the world are Christians after all. But only Christians expect what we have in this life to be made infinitely better in eternity.

Truer words have never been spoken..

Ihedinobi3:

First, your question was whether a Christian sect did not teach something. My answer was to explain what the Bible actually said and thus help you to see whether what they teach is Christian or not. If you think that that does not answer your question, I'm curious as to why.

Second, what is peculiar about religious texts that "opens [them] up to interpretation"?

I've made it clear why, denominations base their faith on an interpretation of religious texts, in this case the Bible, you were carving a special category for christianity that does not hold true.

For your second question, it's a faith based text, why wouldn't it be open to interpretation when it promotes blind faith?

davien:
I've made it clear why, denominations base their faith on an interpretation of religious texts, in this case the Bible, you were carving a special category for christianity that does not hold true.

For your second question, it's a faith based text, why wouldn't it be open to interpretation when it promotes blind faith?

I agree that denominations and sects of all kinds base their beliefs on interpretations of religious texts that they favor. In what way however have I carved out a special category for Christianity and how does this category not hold true?

I'm afraid you have not made your argument any clearer to me. I do not see what relationship faith has to subjective interpretation of texts. Also, please explain how exactly the Bible promotes blind faith.