What if the afterlife was what you expected...

[trying_ 2B_wheat]

meaning that if you felt you were a deserving Christian you would go to heaven and that if you weren't you'd simply cease to exist, or if you held some other belief you would do that instead. Perhaps even if you were Christian but you didnt feel you were Christian enough, you'd have some burden on you and go to "hell". What I'm getting at is what if religion existed as a frame of mind that was only manifested in your last millisecond alive and that your default for thinking the second you died was "whats next" and your mind freezes the instant you picture yourself where you'd thought you'd wind up. i know it doesnt make much sense and its hard for me to put in words (I am noob afterall) but its an idea off the beaten-path but something I wonder from time to time.
I feel that I am a Christain but I am aware that I know very little about religion and I am in a phase of my life where I am trying to find myself and find what exactly i believe. I believe in God and Jesus, but I find myself entertaining other possibilities. I am just trying to make sense of it all.

 

[Stuco]

meaning that if you felt you were a deserving Christian you would go to heaven and that if you weren't you'd simply cease to exist, or if you held some other belief you would do that instead. Perhaps even if you were Christian but you didnt feel you were Christian enough, you'd have some burden on you and go to "hell". What I'm getting at is what if religion existed as a frame of mind that was only manifested in your last millisecond alive and that your default for thinking the second you died was "whats next" and your mind freezes the instant you picture yourself where you'd thought you'd wind up. i know it doesnt make much sense and its hard for me to put in words (I am noob afterall) but its an idea off the beaten-path but something I wonder from time to time.
I feel that I am a Christain but I am aware that I know very little about religion and I am in a phase of my life where I am trying to find myself and find what exactly i believe. I believe in God and Jesus, but I find myself entertaining other possibilities. I am just trying to make sense of it all.

Have you read the bible. And I mean fully. Emerse yourself in Christ and seek after him and he will seek after you and give you peace.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I will give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid.-John:14-27

 

[peepnklown]

Stuco

I haven’t thought about that, read the Bible, it’s so simple.

I mean if more non-believers just read the Bible, wow!

I think you should call your local media and tell them this new idea.

Who would have thought it would be so simple, just fully read the Bible.

I believe now!

 

[shadowed_eyes]

now is that me, or is that sarcasm?

Reading the bible isnt meant to be boring, and it doesnt need your cynism... i understand that not everyone believes and that not everyone wants to believe, but if you actually read a version with a clear mind and no bias then you may be surprised as to what you can get from it. I'm not saying it'll convert you, as far as im concerened, you can remain atheist, its no skin of my nose, but stop being so cynical.... the Bible is not only the word of God or a rule book, it's a literary masterpiece designed to help us find our way in the world. Read it as a story book or a biography....

read it.

 

[levi501]

.. i understand that not everyone believes and that not everyone wants to believe, but if you actually read a version with a clear mind and no bias then you may be surprised as to what you can get from it.

wow,I love this argument...
So you think that non-believers don't believe because they simply don't want to? What you think the appeal of everlasting life with people you love in a place called heaven isn't attractive to them also? It's incredibly attractive. You're not going to see to many saying, "gee I really hope there's no blissful afterlife", unless they're suicidal. Many non-believers/atheists would love nothing more then to believe, but based on the evidence around them they have just as much reason to believe in invisible pink unicorns.

 

[levi501]

I feel that I am a Christain but I am aware that I know very little about religion and I am in a phase of my life where I am trying to find myself and find what exactly i believe. I believe in God and Jesus, but I find myself entertaining other possibilities. I am just trying to make sense of it all.

It's a process man. Your young and I can see you're on the right track... you're asking questions. All I can say is read and learn for yourself. Don't blindly accept anything people tell you. I found that when reading the bible some parts were incredibly inspirational to the point I found them to be moral truths... and then other parts I found rather disturbing. You should also consider reading other religious texts and studying philosophy. And consider this, the only reason you are a christian now is because it was the environment you were born into.

"The unexamined life isn't worth living... "

g'luck.

 

[coyoteBR]

meaning that if you felt you were a deserving Christian you would go to heaven and that if you weren't you'd simply cease to exist, or if you held some other belief you would do that instead. Perhaps even if you were Christian but you didnt feel you were Christian enough, you'd have some burden on you and go to "hell". What I'm getting at is what if religion existed as a frame of mind that was only manifested in your last millisecond alive and that your default for thinking the second you died was "whats next" and your mind freezes the instant you picture yourself where you'd thought you'd wind up. i know it doesnt make much sense and its hard for me to put in words (I am noob afterall) but its an idea off the beaten-path but something I wonder from time to time.
I feel that I am a Christain but I am aware that I know very little about religion and I am in a phase of my life where I am trying to find myself and find what exactly i believe. I believe in God and Jesus, but I find myself entertaining other possibilities. I am just trying to make sense of it all.

It's wonderful to want to grow spiritually, T2B.
Guess most of us experience, one time or another, this urge to question, to know, to understand.
Everybody has a determined view of afterlife. We desagree with each other about such subject. We can have certain evidences, certain writtings, certain reports, but be 100% sure... nope, I dont think anyone on this planet is.

The best thing I can say is, talk to God.
Talk what is in your heart, do not bother with formulas and repetitions.
Talk to God, and see what He Has to say.
You can find His Answer in books, but also on a sunny day, in nature, in people together praying ("Where two or more are united in My Name...").
He Speaks in your heart.

Talk to Him and Strive to Hear the Answer.
He Will Show you the best way for yourself, at this moment of your life

 

[trying_ 2B_wheat]

thanks for the replies everyone. a lot of what you had to say rings true.

 

[Blackmarch]

...<snipped>
I feel that I am a Christain but I am aware that I know very little about religion and I am in a phase of my life where I am trying to find myself and find what exactly i believe. I believe in God and Jesus, but I find myself entertaining other possibilities. I am just trying to make sense of it all.

That's OK and is natural; the bible doesn't have very much (and even if a person believes in a more unorthodox faith that accepts other material as scripture, even then that only adds a drop or two). Not much is given about what happens after this life. However if you continue to pray and ask for guidance,, earnestly, God will lead you to what is right and will calm your fears. Pay attention to you heart and mind.