Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Justice, covenant, punishment?
Tonight at work I was talking to Adrian (who is Jehovah's witness) I was curious about what they believed about heaven and hell and who goes there. So I asked. He just asked me what the Bible said. I was kinda annoyed because I know what the Bible says but that was not what I was asking. I wanted to know what he believed.
Finally he kinda answered my question. He told me that they believed that there are 144,000 people who are chosen to be with God, or something. But the rest of the righteous went to live in the new earth after Armageddon.
I asked, "What about the people who are not righteous in God's sight, what about them?" He said he did not believe that there was a hell. He believed that those people just ceased to exist. He does not believe that it is in God's character to send people into eternal suffering.
This conversation got me thinking. I need to do another project like the one I did for exegesis class. This time about hell and heaven and who goes where. I was thinking about the covenant and how God is just and how we have an option to serve God or not to. If we choose otherwise thus breaking the covenant then we have to face the punishment. God does not put us in hell we put ourselves there. I guess I need to do some studying.
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Finally he kinda answered my question. He told me that they believed that there are 144,000 people who are chosen to be with God, or something. But the rest of the righteous went to live in the new earth after Armageddon.
I asked, "What about the people who are not righteous in God's sight, what about them?" He said he did not believe that there was a hell. He believed that those people just ceased to exist. He does not believe that it is in God's character to send people into eternal suffering.
This conversation got me thinking. I need to do another project like the one I did for exegesis class. This time about hell and heaven and who goes where. I was thinking about the covenant and how God is just and how we have an option to serve God or not to. If we choose otherwise thus breaking the covenant then we have to face the punishment. God does not put us in hell we put ourselves there. I guess I need to do some studying.
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