Semi-serious post here. I don’t believe in many improbable things about religion, especially Christianity. The whole Heaven and Hell thing seem to be a wildly expensive but unfunded boondoggle. Sort of like the old time-share adverts.
Nevertheless, Jesus is pretty clear about how to get there. Matthew 25 tells it:
“The King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
"Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
"The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
"Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
"They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
"He will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
So. The way to Paradise is by good works. Be kind and thoughtful and considerate to those around you, and you’ll be good with God.
But wait…
In Luke we find a story of Jesus being judged — a most unlikely one involving Pilate and Herod in adjoining suites — and an alternate method of salvation is explained:
“…And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, and saying, ‘If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.’ And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, This Is The King Of The Jews.
And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, ‘If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.’ But the other answering rebuked him, saying, ‘Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.’
And he said unto Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.’
And Jesus said unto him, ‘Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.’
Please excuse the olde worlde language. It might be a lousy translation but the language of the King James Bible is glorious.
Here we have a criminal convicted of a most brutal capital punishment and no mention of good works. Most likely he was one of the other kind.
But Jesus tells him directly that he’s going to a good place. For nothing more than believing in him.
Well, which is it?
These are pretty much mutually exclusive options. The choice between eternal bliss and eternal punishment, Jesus tells us, is all about being kind to other people. It’s pretty stark, sheep and goats stuff.
On the other hand, he throws that advice out the window when things get gnarly. Just have faith and you’re in, on the express lane, Jesus advises a bad guy he’s hanging around with.
Ask a Christian about this and you’re guaranteed to get a lot of double-talk.
The truth
Jesus the man preached love and kindness and peace. Pretty good advice.
After he was dead and buried his followers wanted to keep the operation going and the message was modified. Believe in what we say, follow our advice, pay us money and you’ll go to heavenly glory forever and ever with all your like-minded friends while those you don’t like will be tortured forever.
Easy sell, especially if you don’t have to come good on any of it. This may be why Don Trump is such a hit with the god-botherers.
No complaints. Nobody ever comes back and says it’s all a con.
Must be legit, eh?
Ah, about the AI art. Gosh but this thing is pretty saucy if you ask it to show you an angel. There are a couple of full frontal nudes with pubic patches if you want to check my work here and here. Maybe not so good if you start counting arms and fingers but heavenly bodies are certainly available with a robot artist.
Original Post is On Medium.com - https://medium.com/@britnipepper/heaven-81993dce49c2
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