Is heaven fun when you know your Mom is in hell?

[Cmass]

If I went to heaven and knew that many of my closest friends, neighbors and much of my family - perhaps even my child - were being tortured in hell forever, I would be tortured myself. In other words, is a heaven experience possible if you know there is a hell and know and love some of the people there?

[franknhonest]

There are only three possibilities: (1) hell does not exist, (2) people in heaven have no memory of those in hell or (3) people in heaven rejoice over those in hell.

Take your pick!

[McCulloch]

There are only three possibilities: (1) hell does not exist, (2) people in heaven have no memory of those in hell or (3) people in heaven rejoice over those in hell.

Take your pick!

You can rule out (2) for Bible believers.

[Jesus said,] "Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.
"Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.
"And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'
"But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.'
"And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers--in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
"But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.'
"But he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!'
"But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'"

Certainly Abraham and perhaps Lazarus seemed to be quite aware of the torment of Hades.

[bernee51]

There are only three possibilities: (1) hell does not exist, (2) people in heaven have no memory of those in hell or (3) people in heaven rejoice over those in hell.

Take your pick!

You can rule out (2) for Bible believers.

I would have thought that it also ruled out #1. And #3 would imply a lack of compassion - can a person without compassion get into heaven in the first place?

It looks like three strikes for franknhonest.

[Lotan]

In other words, is a heaven experience possible if you know there is a hell and know and love some of the people there?

There are only three possibilities: (1) hell does not exist, (2) people in heaven have no memory of those in hell or (3) people in heaven rejoice over those in hell.

How about...

4. Only those with a gift for compartmentalized thinking get to heaven.

[Easyrider]

franknhonest wrote: There are only three possibilities: (1) hell does not exist, (2) people in heaven have no memory of those in hell or (3) people in heaven rejoice over those in hell.

No, there's another option, franknhonest - (4) people in heaven understand why others are in hell, but they don't necessarily rejoice over it.

Get Christ before you die, sport.

[McCulloch]

No, there's another option, franknhonest - (4) people in heaven understand why others are in hell, but they don't necessarily rejoice over it.

Then explain how heaven could be a paradise if when you are there, you know that those whom you love dearly are not only not there but are in eternal torment.

Get Christ before you die, sport.

Why?

[Easyrider]

No, there's another option, franknhonest - (4) people in heaven understand why others are in hell, but they don't necessarily rejoice over it.

Then explain how heaven could be a paradise if when you are there, you know that those whom you love dearly are not only not there but are in eternal torment.

It didn't seem to bother Abraham that much in the Lazarus account. I believe God's judgment on unbelievers will be clear and set people's minds at ease because of it.

Get Christ before you die, sport.

Why?

John 3:36 is one reason why.

[McCulloch]

It didn't seem to bother Abraham that much in the Lazarus account. I believe God's judgment on unbelievers will be clear and set people's minds at ease because of it.

I guess your argument is that real believers get off on seeing their loved ones in eternal torment, because they know that they deserve it. Nice people!

Get Christ before you die, sport.

Why?

John 3:36 is one reason why.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

God, the omnipotent loving creator of the universe, loved humans so much that He condemned them to eternal torment if they did not obey his laws. Then in order that he could save a small fraction of them from his own wrath, he sacrificed his own Son. Somehow there is some form of moral goodness in a substitutional sacrifice. But even this great sacrifice is not enough. For those few people to be saved, they must believe in the somewhat poorly documented story of this strange incarnate God, to have eternal life with God.

[Cmass]

No, there's another option, franknhonest - (4) people in heaven understand why others are in hell, but they don't necessarily rejoice over it.

Get Christ before you die, sport.

Yes! Easyrider strikes again. I was wondering where you were.

Question: Easyrider, if I repent & accept Jesus into my heart and somehow make it to heaven (probably on a technicality), will I be able to look up the address of your cloud and meet you?
On the other hand, if I go to hell, will you miss my smartypantsness and snide remarks about your faith?
Just think, in heaven, everyone around you will agree with you! No conflict. No challenging you. Nothing. From what I know of you, I think you would find it terribly boring and would want God to install an intercom system to hell so you could at least reach me:
"Hellooooo Cmass! This is Easyrider. So how's the weather down there Sport? Ha ha ha! Just joking - sort of. So, anyway, here I am hanging out with Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, John Hagee, Tom Delay, Tom Foley, George Bush and the rest of the gang and, well, I just thought I would check up on you. The weather is fine up here & I love sitting on God's lap listening to stories! Tell me again why hell does not exist ha ha ha!
Geewiz Cmass, could you speak up? I can hardly hear you over all the screams of agony....... Hey, wait a minute, is that my daughter I hear in the background? I wondered why I could not find her cloud...............
Oh well. So be it. She knew better. I warned her & she did not listen so I guess it is eternal hellfire for her. But, I still love heaven and I love God!"