Eternal life - A curse or a blessing?

[OnceConvinced]

In the later years of my Christianity I started to think that maybe Heaven was simply too good to be true. But I found it interesting that some people saw eternal life as a curse rather than a blessing. I guess I can see the point for both arguments.

I’m reminded of one of Douglas Adam’s characters; Marvin the Paranoid Android in "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy". I can see now that Adams included this character as a bit of a dig at the concept of eternal life. That it was more of a curse. Marvin claims to be 10 times older than the universe due to regular time travel. He now knows everything there is to know and sees life as an incredible bore and everything seems menial to him. Nothing excites him. I wonder if it will become like that for us after a few million years in Heaven. How exciting will Heaven be once we know everything there is to know and there is no mystery left in it?

An extract of the story has Marvin talking about the sheer boredom of his life where for a small portion of his life he was a parking attendant at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe:

"The first ten million years were the worst. And the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million years I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into sort of a decline"

Another interesting aspect of Marvin’s character is that because he is a robot, he will only ever do good. Which brings another interesting question of how God will ensure there is no sin in Heaven. Perhaps we will all be like Marvin? Programmed to only ever do good, with no real urges to sin. No real free will? But that’s probably another topic for another time.

So:
Is Eternal life in Heaven a curse or a blessing? Why?

What do you think we will do in Heaven? Can there be an infinite number of things to do? If there is a finite number, just how often will we be able to do them before we get bored?

Assuming that in Heaven we will learn everything there is to know about the universe and over time there will be no mystery left, will life continue to be exciting?

And for those who believe Hell to be a place of eternal torment. How will we enjoy Heaven knowing that our loved ones (perhaps our children) are at the same time being tortured in the pits of Hell?

[McCulloch]

A case could be made for heavenly amnesia. How can one be eternally happy and not bored with a fully functioning memory? Loved ones in eternal torment? Forget them! Done this 2,434,873 times? No problem, can't remember when I did it last!

[OnceConvinced]

A case could be made for heavenly amnesia. How can one be eternally happy and not bored with a fully functioning memory? Loved ones in eternal torment? Forget them! Done this 2,434,873 times? No problem, can't remember when I did it last!

That would be a violation of free will though. So it seems when we go to Heaven we will be like robots. Our memory will be altered so we don't remember our loved ones. Nice.

[McCulloch]

A case could be made for heavenly amnesia. How can one be eternally happy and not bored with a fully functioning memory? Loved ones in eternal torment? Forget them! Done this 2,434,873 times? No problem, can't remember when I did it last!

That would be a violation of free will though. So it seems when we go to Heaven we will be like robots. Our memory will be altered so we don't remember our loved ones. Nice.

Free will is for our earthly existence. There are good logical arguments that conclude that there cannot be free will in heaven.

[OnceConvinced]

A case could be made for heavenly amnesia. How can one be eternally happy and not bored with a fully functioning memory? Loved ones in eternal torment? Forget them! Done this 2,434,873 times? No problem, can't remember when I did it last!

That would be a violation of free will though. So it seems when we go to Heaven we will be like robots. Our memory will be altered so we don't remember our loved ones. Nice.

Free will is for our earthly existence. There are good logical arguments that conclude that there cannot be free will in heaven.

But supposedly God would never violate free will. If it's ok to violate freewill in Heaven, why not on Earth? God could have prevented man from sinning simply by switching off the desire to sin.

[McCulloch]

But supposedly God would never violate free will. If it's ok to violate freewill in Heaven, why not on Earth? God could have prevented man from sinning simply by switching off the desire to sin.

Says who? Freewill is given as an excuse for the existence of evil on Earth. Earth must be the best of all possible worlds that allow for free will, or else God the creator is a sadist. If heaven is somehow better, then free will will not exist there.

[OnceConvinced]

But supposedly God would never violate free will. If it's ok to violate freewill in Heaven, why not on Earth? God could have prevented man from sinning simply by switching off the desire to sin.

Says who? Freewill is given as an excuse for the existence of evil on Earth.

Yes, you are right about that. It is and the bible doesn't seem to teach this at all. I guess it's the Christ followers that claim God wouldn't violate free will. But for them, they are the ones who need to explain how God will prevent sin in Heaven and how he will stop them from thinking about the horrible sadistic torture their loved ones are going through at the hands of the God they're hanging out with in Heaven.

Earth must be the best of all possible worlds that allow for free will, or else God the creator is a sadist. If heaven is somehow better, then free will will not exist there.

I think it's the only conclusion we can come to. No free will in Heaven. We will be all a bunch of Marvin the Paranoid Androids wandering around for all eternity.

[Ilias Ahmad]

"This is a day on which the truthful will profit from their truth: theirs are gardens, with rivers flowing beneath, their eternal Home: Allah well-pleased with them, and they with Allah" (Holy Quran, 5:119)

Radiya Allahu 'anhum wa radoo 'anhu (Allah pleased with them, and they pleased with Him). So this is the divine promise, the people of Paradise will be pleased. Allah never lies.

[Fallibleone]

Who told you that?

[McCulloch]

Allah never lies.

Maybe not, but Allah does not communicate directly with anyone. And so far, everyone I have found who claims to speak for Allah/God does lie.