Images of Heaven and Hell

[Miss Darcy]

Dear everyone,

Don't be put off by the rather serious-looking subject header; I don't expect this will turn out a very serious thread. Mind you, I'll try my best to not do any ridiculing, and I promise I won't criticize. Not in this thread. This is a peaceful thread. :angel:

Alright, so that angel looks like the spirit of Aunt Rhody's goose...never mind that. I wanted a peace smiley but I couldn't find one so...

Now to the subject. I want everyone's ideas, visions, fantasies of what Heaven and Hell would be like. Not just Christians or members of other religions with a Heaven and a Hell...atheists as well. Being an atheist doesn't mean you don't have any imagination. Just make something up. :thumbs_up

I don't want any copy-the-Bible's-view sort of posts. I want originality. Your own personal ideas. It can be roughly based on the Bible, but not taken from the Bible.

With Heaven, please state if this is the way you'd like it to be or the way you think it would be - which can be two very different things.

With Hell...have a free hand. It can be a red cave filled with fire and hobgoblins for all I care. I just don't want you to be overly conventional.

I think I've said enough.

Darcy.

-----

Some of my ideas for these two...places...but please be reminded that I am an atheist and don't believe in these whimsical ideas...

Heaven: Let's just say, the way I'd like it to be. I'd like it to be filled with classical music, and I'd want it to have a few good orchestras. I'm not overly particular about clouds under my feet and flying about with white wings...that sort of stuff is a bit too fanciful. I'd prefer a simply spiritual flying through the universe...see the Orion Nebula...Cats Eye...Ghost-head...to name just a few....journey to distant galaxies millions of light years away...by the way that means it takes millions of years for light to get there, so I'd have to be flying pretty fast...maybe I could employ a wormhole...*muses*

Hell: Now this is pretty conventional, I must admit myself, but it's my pet version of Hell. Okay, it's this sort of big interconnected maze of underground caves. There are a lot of devils in it, very friendly guys, with horns on their heads...but I guess you know that...then there's Satan, cleverest of all, but he's rather strict and crafty. Satan changes into a fox. A horned fox? I know. Never mind. But he's got a good heart...just all this time spent distilling naughty spirits makes him a little ill-tempered. Ah, and he distils them in pots. They're invisible, sort of steam. When all the bad is evaporated, they turn from red to white. Then he lets them go, after testing them.

Any other versions appreciated, guys, so hurry up and add some! ;)

[lhaeber]

Vahly intahrestingg..(say it with Freudian accent)

I, too, am athiest, well, leaning that way, for now, deeply agnostic, I'm trying to find a way to begin a sect of Josephcampellism, but so far I'm lacking commitment.
I don't believe in a heaven and hell, obviously, therefore my ideas of such don't exist.
But I am interested in the answers to this question, good idea MissD.

[baddad]

Oh, well, Hell will be easy to describe: The only redeeming thought is that I will not be alone.......I will be standing in the pit that is filled with snakes, and the pit will be deep enough so that the densely packed snakes slither all around, from my toes to my forehead. Hell will be our greatest fears..... Come visit me if your in the neighborhood.....but bring your own beer.....we can sip and wait to catch a glimpse of Dante'......

....got so freaked out I forgot the second part of the question....hehehe...


Life is heaven. Everyday is heaven. The possibilities of each fresh dawning are heaven. New love is heaven, old friends are heaven, rain storms are heaven, all the arts/music are heaven, girls are heaven, children are heaven, fine wine, good food, procreating, new tales, great books, new friends,......well, you get the idea.......all the really good stuff is right here, right now!!!!

[subterranean]

Heaven: right at the happy button (to use Kik's words)
Hell: the farthest point from being happy

[baddad]

Well, after this afternoon's round (golf) I'd have to say hell is shooting an 8 on a par 3 147 yard hole...........

Heaven was Saturday morning, beating 3 other players (my friends) by 10 strokes....

[subterranean]

exactly....it's in the eyes of the beholder indeed :D

[LV_Designs]

I was raised christian, but my view of hell differs from that of what is depicted by the church. In my case the church was Presbyterian, although I have visited many other denominations. I have now come to consider myself atheist, but here is what my view of hell was when I believed in "hell".

It seems to me that hell is simply a metaphor. Hell is simply being separated from god. This would in fact be the worst case synario. What greater punishment could there be?

I found it hard to believe that a loving God would banish those that he cared about to a perpetual place of torture. It just doesn't make sense. If humans are created to have the ability to make choices, the creator would know that they would chose wrong. By creating humans in such a manner, one can not judge them for incorrect choices.

[Miss Darcy]

I found it hard to believe that a loving God would banish those that he cared about to a perpetual place of torture. It just doesn't make sense. If humans are created to have the ability to make choices, the creator would know that they would chose wrong. By creating humans in such a manner, one can not judge them for incorrect choices.

That's exactly my argument! - And welcome to the forum, btw. Nice seeing your display picture, too...I saw a site full of those, forget which one it was, but...

This thread was kind of meant to be just general depictions of "Heaven and Hell", but I meant this creatively, i.e. parody, satire, anything at all is welcome in your picture. I personally found Mark Twain's vision of Heaven particularly witty:


2. In man's heaven everybody sings! The man who did not sing on earth sings there; the man who could not sing on earth is able to do it there. The universal singing is not casual, not occasional, not relieved by intervals of quiet; it goes on, all day long, and every day, during a stretch of twelve hours. And everybody stays; whereas in the earth the place would be empty in two hours. The singing is of hymns alone. Nay, it is of one hymn alone. The words are always the same, in number they are only about a dozen, there is no rhyme, there is no poetry: "Hosannah, hosannah, hosannah, Lord God of Sabaoth, 'rah! 'rah! 'rah! siss! -- boom! ... a-a-ah!"

3. Meantime, every person is playing on a harp -- those millions and millions! -- whereas not more than twenty in the thousand of them could play an instrument in the earth, or ever wanted to.

Consider the deafening hurricane of sound -- millions and millions of voices screaming at once and millions and millions of harps gritting their teeth at the same time! I ask you: is it hideous, is it odious, is it horrible?

Anyway, hope you're enjoying the OLN so far. :)

Darcy

[blp]

Life is heaven. Everyday is heaven. The possibilities of each fresh dawning are heaven. New love is heaven, old friends are heaven, rain storms are heaven, all the arts/music are heaven, girls are heaven, children are heaven, fine wine, good food, procreating, new tales, great books, new friends,......well, you get the idea.......all the really good stuff is right here, right now!!!!
Stop, Baddad, I'm in hell.

Other than sanctimony, hell will be being forced to watch shampoo and chicken tonight adverts while stuck in a tiny, cold, hard, damp, pinky green chamber too small for me to get comfortable in with a smell of rotting vegetables mixed with the strange odour of dipropyl triptamine burning and a tiny stone in my shoe that I can never get to.

Heaven will be like Wilton Park, a beautiful stately home in England where ex Nazis were taken after the war for classes in 'thinking for themselves', but with European art movies and a lot of sex.

[mono]

I remember reading this thread, and reflecting on its subject, but I either forgot to post, or thought I had nothing worth posting. Though I do consider myself a "believer," I cannot claim to believe in the existence of heaven (paradise), hell (inferno), or purgatory, etc. The satire sounds interesting to contribute to, however . . .
I think I have posted this quote several times by now (one of my favorite quotes of all literature), from John Milton's Paradise Lost, but once more will not hurt :p:

The mind is its own place, and in itself creates
A heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.
This quote states much more behind its words, which I cannot agree with more in my interpretation, considering myself a great endorser of subjectivism vs. objectivism. Surely, by each of the above members' depictions of heaven and hell, we state our greatest desires, hobbies, enjoyment (some seemingly Epicurean), and leisure, along with our biggest fears, mystery, nightmares, and eternal toil.
To me, both heaven and hell would persist simultaneously and in the same head-space of a person subjected to his/her own self; one would objectively perceive everything regarding his/herself, all actions committed, desires, thoughts, fears, faculties, perceptions, memories . . . everything! In this "intrapsychic" idea, heaven would consist of having no regrets, living a satisfied life of love and wisdom, and hell would consist of having to tolerate the most unsatisfying, loathsome self, if indeed someone lived in that manner with no hope (as states Dante's entry into Inferno: "all hope abandon, ye who enter in!").
In essence, both heaven and hell, in my idea, exist as two facing mirrors with one person in the middle. What sounds better or worse than facing one's true, objective self?

[baddad]

....good one Mono.......

[Pendragon]

Let's see: By now, you know ol' Pendragon is "The Great Questioner". Heaven for me would not be mansions, streets of gold, harps, wings, etc. A simple cessation of my earthly trouble for a life of eternal peace in a small cabin in the mountains would do fine. As for hell. I was always facinated by the Norse belief in two hells, one hot and flaming (our traditional hell, called Suterheim) and one cold, but so cold that the cold itself burns you. This one was considered worse. It's called Niflheim. Oh, and I don't believe God sends you to hell anyway,the Bible says He isn't willing for any to perish. So how do you end up there? Simple, you send yourself.

[Ulalume<3]

Hard for me to say what I think heaven is like. I just imagine it being beyond the comprehension on the human mind.

My views on hell are taken from C.S. Lewis' views. I imagine it being just like Earth, just without true happiness. People will seem happy, and act like they're your friends and act like they love you, just so that they can gain control of you.

[Psycheinaboat]

When I die, my god Krom will ask me the Riddle of Steal. If I cannot answer, he will cast me out of Valhalla and send me straight to California.

(I don't think that is quite as funny as it seemed while I was typing it - gave me a chuckle, though. Seriously, this thread has given me something to think about today. I shall return, likely as not!)

[ennison]

The image of Heaven in The Bible seems at times a cold cathedrally edifice filled with never ending psalmody. No sea. No marriage or giving in marriage. No individuality and no one who means anything special. It's a pretty unappetising scene but compared to a Hell where there is only hatred, emptiness, loneliness amongst crowds and heavy metal freaks in a state of permanent shriek, superimposed on constantly repeated politically correct treatises then Heaven definitely is the lesser of two evils.

[mtpspur]

I find it ironic to discuss Heaven and Hell but not allowed to refer to the Bible in the discussion. So with the foundation taken away fantasy and idle thoughts take sway.

I'm a person of little imagination of my own which is why I read the stories of others in the first place. Heaven will be a place where SOME people I care about will share quality time not lip service with me. In my secret dreams a little dog Tippy (from over 40 years ago waits for me with his unconditional love).

Hell on the other hand is living with snakes always lunging at me--sometimes striking and and the only food is cucumbers in potato salad with applesauce for desert.

Like I said little imagination but highly personalized.

Rich (but I'm really poor)--first spoken to a AAA club seeking to asign or pass the buck on why a tow went very very wrong. (Also known by the Columbus OH AAA as THAT GUY.

[dramasnot6]

Interesting question there. Well, i would feel untrue to my own thoughts of an ideal life, or heaven, and the worst possible life, or hell. To most everyone these two concepts come with contrasting connotations, black and white. But for me an ideal anything would consist of a mix of both positive and negative. There have been times where i have felt the extreme of both ends and realize it takes experience in the other to even realize one exists. Eye of the beholder applies to this question on two levels. One, what is ideal to specific to each individual as our own experience shapes our belief. And two, we can only identify something as heavenly by relating to something hellish. For example, if someone asks you how you are finding your sandwhich and you say "it's good" and then they ask you why. You then reply "its fresh and filling", you can then ask what defines it to be that way, and so on.Eventually they will have to tell you its only that way because its relative to having a unsatisfying, rotten sandwhich. If i were to be in heaven i wouldnt appreciate its perfection because id have nothing to compare it to. Also, i dont believe in the afterlife so ive never really thought of it.

[Miss Darcy]

Goodness! This thread is still alive?! :p

Happy to hear that someone can find in it some inspiration to philosophise. :) Lovely ideas, Drama, I thoroughly agree with you. Heaven itself could not really be perfect, after all, without some imperfection.

[Pendragon]

I read with interest my friend mtspur's post. I don't know why people imagine that an animal capable of love, who would give its life to save yours in a second, would not be considered worthy of heaven. Jesus said "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." St, John 15:13. If love is the great key to heaven, why would a special pet be denied? You may say there are no animals in heaven. Then where did the horses and chariot God set to pick up Elijah come from, would you explain? :)
__________________

[dramasnot6]

Goodness! This thread is still alive?! :p

Happy to hear that someone can find in it some inspiration to philosophise. :) Lovely ideas, Drama, I thoroughly agree with you. Heaven itself could not really be perfect, after all, without some imperfection.

Thank you Miss Darcy!:D Wow, you summarized my entire rant in 12 words.I have to work on that:p

[fisherofmen]

I have to wonder...

First off, our senses (hearing, sight, touch, smell, taste) are all associated with our flesh/human bodies... our ears let us hear, our eyes see, hands touch, nose smells, tongue tastes... I'm sure thats nothing new.

However, when we die won't our human bodies gets left behind? (and as a result, our 5 senses too?)
Just our soul goes to heaven, right?
I suppose what I'm getting at... If just our soul goes to heaven (and our bodies left behind) then perhaps heaven has a different set of senses. Or maybe just one.
For example, maybe the only sense in heaven is "love", or something like that that we are only dimly aware of or can't fully understand while still here on earth... so things like music, art, etc, that is beautiful to us on earth would not exist like so in heaven, but in an entirely different way that reaches us through a different "sense".


I kinda went out on a limb there, and would like to hear other people's thoughts on the matter. (not sure if that all made sense anyways, but i tried)

[mtpspur]

Ah Pendragon a friend indeed. It had never occured to me that horses in Heaven imply other creatures. I usually wonder about all the babies in Heaven if God ages them up or not as far as I get. Iwish I looked more forward to seeing the Lord Christ. For the first time ever I have hopes to see Tippy. He was a collie puppy down the street where I lived who would follow me on the afternoon paper route I ran and sit in the yard and always wait for me to come out. He was more my dog then the young married couple who owned him. My mother was a cat person never a dog person which my wife is. The neighbor wife never seemed to mind me and Tippy spending hours together--they both worked and Tippy and I bonded--then my parents did another of their frequent bored now let's move again and try fitting in another school class when 9th grade is almost over. Visited about a month later and Tippy had lost weight and heard from friends later that he ran away from home. To this day I think he was looking for me. Tragic for a 15 year old now the stuff of myth and dreams and hopes. There are reasons the long suffering wife comes behind the pets occasionally.

[Pendragon]

I have to wonder...

First off, our senses (hearing, sight, touch, smell, taste) are all associated with our flesh/human bodies... our ears let us hear, our eyes see, hands touch, nose smells, tongue tastes... I'm sure thats nothing new.

However, when we die won't our human bodies gets left behind? (and as a result, our 5 senses too?)
Just our soul goes to heaven, right?
I suppose what I'm getting at... If just our soul goes to heaven (and our bodies left behind) then perhaps heaven has a different set of senses. Or maybe just one.
For example, maybe the only sense in heaven is "love", or something like that that we are only dimly aware of or can't fully understand while still here on earth... so things like music, art, etc, that is beautiful to us on earth would not exist like so in heaven, but in an entirely different way that reaches us through a different "sense".


I kinda went out on a limb there, and would like to hear other people's thoughts on the matter. (not sure if that all made sense anyways, but i tried)Not exactly. Paul speaks of this earthly tabernacle (our body) being dissolved, but a new one, eternal waiting in the heavens. A soul floating around bodiless would have no need of the mansions Jesus spoke of. Eternal life is LIFE in a perfect body that never grows old, sick, or has need to cry, for there is no more sorrow. Mtspur, it is my belief that all will be one age in heaven, just at the prime of life in the bloom of youthful adulthood. Never age but be perfect from that as man was in the garden. And yes, I think we should long to see the one who is responsible for our salvation most of all, but we will have eternity to enjoy a new heaven and a new earth. :)

[fisherofmen]

Not exactly. Paul speaks of this earthly tabernacle (our body) being dissolved, but a new one, eternal waiting in the heavens. A soul floating around bodiless would have no need of the mansions Jesus spoke of. Eternal life is LIFE in a perfect body that never grows old, sick, or has need to cry, for there is no more sorrow. Mtspur, it is my belief that all will be one age in heaven, just at the prime of life in the bloom of youthful adulthood. Never age but be perfect from that as man was in the garden. And yes, I think we should long to see the one who is responsible for our salvation most of all, but we will have eternity to enjoy a new heaven and a new earth. :)

so yes, our earthly body being dissolved... do you think the new perfect one will reflect the images of our body here on earth? thats one thing im curious about...

[byquist]

If your mean visual artistic images, two interesting groups of lithographs are:

William Blake's with all the angels, men and women, etc., even God maybe.

and

Francisco Goya's darker images, life on earth, but haunted by gouls and goblins, etc.

[alhara]

hell is loseing your sould dying and theres nothing(food for worms) and heaven,...heavan is anything else.(said in quite desperation)

[Virgil]

Ah Pendragon a friend indeed. It had never occured to me that horses in Heaven imply other creatures. I usually wonder about all the babies in Heaven if God ages them up or not as far as I get. Iwish I looked more forward to seeing the Lord Christ. For the first time ever I have hopes to see Tippy. He was a collie puppy down the street where I lived who would follow me on the afternoon paper route I ran and sit in the yard and always wait for me to come out. He was more my dog then the young married couple who owned him. My mother was a cat person never a dog person which my wife is. The neighbor wife never seemed to mind me and Tippy spending hours together--they both worked and Tippy and I bonded--then my parents did another of their frequent bored now let's move again and try fitting in another school class when 9th grade is almost over. Visited about a month later and Tippy had lost weight and heard from friends later that he ran away from home. To this day I think he was looking for me. Tragic for a 15 year old now the stuff of myth and dreams and hopes. There are reasons the long suffering wife comes behind the pets occasionally.

As a dog lover, I think that was quite touching. I hope someday I can see my Sasha, my golden retriever, who's with me in my photo picture in the photo album thread.

[Pendragon]

so yes, our earthly body being dissolved... do you think the new perfect one will reflect the images of our body here on earth? thats one thing im curious about...I Corinthians 13 "For we know in part and we do in part, but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away with ... now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I also am known." Job 19: 25-27 "For I know that my reedeemer liveth, and that he shall stand in the later day upon the earth: And though after the skin-worms destory this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reigns be consumed in me." In other words, yes, young, strong, but undoubtably us! :)

[mtpspur]

Virgil--Kudos to your Sasha. God is still good. The Lord giveth and taketh away--blessed be His name. Thank you for noticing. To Pendragon all I know for sure is that it will be a new body in Heaven and people will know each other so I guess their is no escaping my special beauty-sigh.

It's like I tell all the young cashiers at stores good looking gus are a dime a dozen it's the Barney Fifes everyone remembers forever. Esteem issues--who me??!!

[fisherofmen]

I Corinthians 13 "For we know in part and we do in part, but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away with ... now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I also am known." Job 19: 25-27 "For I know that my reedeemer liveth, and that he shall stand in the later day upon the earth: And though after the skin-worms destory this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reigns be consumed in me." In other words, yes, young, strong, but undoubtably us! :)

Excellent verses man. I'm gonna have to save those.
I'll have to look into it more before posting ;)

[Janine]

You must get Virgil on this thread - he read Dante's Inferno. He must have some great ideas on it. I will post my ideas later on when the holiday pressure is off. I think maybe the holiday pressure is Hell!

[Neo_Sephiroth]

My idea of a Heaven...:angel:

Beautiful angels (women!)...God is as cool as they come...Jesus is hanging out with me and my crew. Yeah...It's all good. Also, we gotta have some mighty fine wings. Wings that are white and bright. We'll all be flying high and listening to some smooth and relaxing music. It would be Heaven on Earth...Everything is lush and green...Filled with beautiful trees, flowers, and some lovely roses. Did I mention beautiful women? Umm...*drools*

My idea of Hell...

A world control by Rosie O'Donald...And she continues to make millions of clones of herself! Aaahhhhhh!!! Kill me, kill me now!!!:sick:

[Theshizznigg]

My idea of Hell, of which I have several views.
I like Caedmons writings and so this is his view of hell.
Hell is a dark place filled with pitch black choking smoke, molten lava, and tons of gold and mineral wealth. One cannot hardly see in the place, nor can they effectively move about since the heat of the place is stifling beyond compare. In the center is chained the head demon Lucifer to a rock and all of his more powerful fallen surrounding him. Satan another lesser devil, his servant if you will sees to his whims and those surrounding him. Those that have fallen to him work endlessly in the darkness until the end of time.

Hell is a dark dank place in which a being is effectively chained to a rock in a solitary place. Their only view is of heaven, and what they missed out on.

My own theories.
Hell is neither hot nor cold nor anything, it is a place where the soul is without any means. There is no feeling, no sight, smell, sound, touch, or taste. All senses are gone, dissappeared, all kind memories, joys, all is stripped bare. The soul/mind is left, unable to move, unable to do anything accept re-live all of its regrets in its own solitary confinement. The soul eats away at itself, unable to die, unable to cease, stuck in endlessness, powerless.

On a more humourous note.
Hell is a beautiful carribean resort sort of place. Where you get to be the devils cabana boy. (you should be so lucky.) The resort constantly plays the worst elevator music, and for those who like that sort, the worst of anything they hate. The drinks are always warm and flat, the towels are like cheap rugs, the toilet roll has the consistency of sand paper. The attendents are constantly stealing from you, all of the channels are cheezy B movies home shopping network or peter popoffs ministry services, the maids leave scorpions and what not in the sheets. If you complain one of the many company lawyers will bog you down in paper work, and reasons why you can't do this or that. The pool has weird creature living in it. Hitler announces the wake up call in the loudest German possible, at 4am sharp. And the food while looking nice makes British rail sandwiches a god send.

Heaven I would like to believe is a place in which those that occupy it inherit the kingdom of God and rule over those kingdoms in an assembly of which he is the head. Everyone is therefore happy, nothing such as strife, or the plagues of humanity exist, and we all live as we were meant to be. Close to God. (All the books in existence, and endless time in which to enjoy the all.) I'd also like to go interspace travelling when I get there.

I agree with seperoths Hell, but I have a cure. We just send in the Trumpsiah, who through his powerful wisdom, corporate lawyers, and bad come over will undoubtedly lay waste to the big masses of loud mouthed lesbians who devoured a good portion of society, and all the worlds bratwurst.
Unshylldigzee Ferstehein Zee English, Ya, Ferstehein Moi Bitzen Deutch!

"Octoberfest sausage? Could it have stopped the war? If only Hitler had a name like Lemuel, or Roland, had his last name had been darling or Gosoling. Would anybody have followed him?" - Questions that don't have likely answers, nor ever will. #312

Merry Christmas!, Happy Hannukah!, Peace Be With You! Shalom, Blessing, Joyeux Noel! Engels Acht.

[Neo_Sephiroth]

I agree with seperoths Hell,

Umm...Dude...You spelled my name wrong.

[Orionsbelt]

You see we have actually fallen into paradise. ;) We are just un-aware of it.:yawnb: Well, back then, The children were allowed to romp about in the garden while Mr. and Mrs. God spent time on more important matters about the universe. My older sister Eve had taken the very last apple on the tree that Mrs. God was intending to use in a pie. When Mr. God learned that the last apple meant no pie, he got very angry with Eve and consequently Adam.:flare: He told them both to leave the garden and go to their rooms. In the process Mr. God was surprised to find that Adam was aware of his nakedness. :eek2: Astounded, he reflected on how fast kids evolve these days and locked the gates to paradise, un-ware that Adam and Eve had not yet left. They were waiting to sneak past him and avoid another scolding. He went back to Mrs. God and told her of his amazing discovery. She, however, scolded him for being angry at the children over such a small matter. :( After all he could simple have created an apple if it was all that important. Anyway they both went to the children’s room and found Adam and Eve missing. Mr. God was very puzzled and a little miffed about the whole honor your father thing. Mrs. God in that very feminine way commanded Mr. God to go out right this very minute and find the children. Sulking a bit, he grabbed his coat and wandered out into the universe. Well eons being so short and the universe being sort of large, God hasn’t come around yet and realized that the kids have been locked in the garden the whole time. Well anyway wait till he sees what we have done to the place. We are really gonna be in trouble. Hell? Is that like being someplace other than the garden?:banana:

[bouquin]

From Alexander McCall Smith's "Tears of the Giraffe" a novel set in Botswana:

In Mma Ramotswe's view there was God, Modimo, who lived in the sky, more or less directly above Africa. God was extremely understanding, particularly of people like herself, but to break his rules, as so many people did with complete disregard, was to invite retribution. When they died, good people such as Mma Ramotswe's father, Obed Ramotswe, were undoubtedly welcomed by God. The fate of the others was unclear, but they were sent to some terrible place - perhaps a bit like Nigeria, she thought ...

[Jetxa]

In The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel, hell is described as a "nashing of teeth", or the anger of the self seeking because they didn't get their own way. The type of person "goes to hell" in that their very world and life is a hell of their own making.

My "heaven" can be see in the following . . .

Richard Wagner said, "As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live."

"We are so accustomed to disquise ourselves to others that in the end we become disquised to ourselves. ~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld

As was inscribed at the entrance to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, "Know Thyself".

[hyperborean]

You must get Virgil on this thread - he read Dante's Inferno. He must have some great ideas on it. I will post my ideas later on when the holiday pressure is off. I think maybe the holiday pressure is Hell!

Dante's Inferno meant more than just heaven and hell. It was the book the jump started the renaissance. However, the inferno probably depicts a very vivid image of what hell would be like.

[naomi moon]

Heaven to me would be a place when i can be at ease, happy, grateful for what I have, where i could live a serene and pure life, I would be forgiven with no worries or troubles in the sight. No more heartache or torments.
Don't you think that people in heaven are extremely bored, they do nothing but watching life down Earth, and feel nothing but happiness, I'm still wondering about this.

But Hell would be just my life, yep!!I hate my life indeed, and nothing I can do will help me feeling better, this feeling is just nothing to me when it comes to the real sensations of hell: It would be a dark cave with a dark fire and ugly angels that will hold the way out of it, a horrifying nasty place where people are thrown to roast and NEVER DIE. Eternal suffering with no break.

[blazeofglory]

Dear everyone,

Don't be put off by the rather serious-looking subject header; I don't expect this will turn out a very serious thread. Mind you, I'll try my best to not do any ridiculing, and I promise I won't criticize. Not in this thread. This is a peaceful thread. :angel:

Alright, so that angel looks like the spirit of Aunt Rhody's goose...never mind that. I wanted a peace smiley but I couldn't find one so...

Now to the subject. I want everyone's ideas, visions, fantasies of what Heaven and Hell would be like. Not just Christians or members of other religions with a Heaven and a Hell...atheists as well. Being an atheist doesn't mean you don't have any imagination. Just make something up. :thumbs_up

I don't want any copy-the-Bible's-view sort of posts. I want originality. Your own personal ideas. It can be roughly based on the Bible, but not taken from the Bible.

With Heaven, please state if this is the way you'd like it to be or the way you think it would be - which can be two very different things.

With Hell...have a free hand. It can be a red cave filled with fire and hobgoblins for all I care. I just don't want you to be overly conventional.

I think I've said enough.

Darcy.

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Some of my ideas for these two...places...but please be reminded that I am an atheist and don't believe in these whimsical ideas...

Heaven: Let's just say, the way I'd like it to be. I'd like it to be filled with classical music, and I'd want it to have a few good orchestras. I'm not overly particular about clouds under my feet and flying about with white wings...that sort of stuff is a bit too fanciful. I'd prefer a simply spiritual flying through the universe...see the Orion Nebula...Cats Eye...Ghost-head...to name just a few....journey to distant galaxies millions of light years away...by the way that means it takes millions of years for light to get there, so I'd have to be flying pretty fast...maybe I could employ a wormhole...*muses*

Hell: Now this is pretty conventional, I must admit myself, but it's my pet version of Hell. Okay, it's this sort of big interconnected maze of underground caves. There are a lot of devils in it, very friendly guys, with horns on their heads...but I guess you know that...then there's Satan, cleverest of all, but he's rather strict and crafty. Satan changes into a fox. A horned fox? I know. Never mind. But he's got a good heart...just all this time spent distilling naughty spirits makes him a little ill-tempered. Ah, and he distils them in pots. They're invisible, sort of steam. When all the bad is evaporated, they turn from red to white. Then he lets them go, after testing them.

Any other versions appreciated, guys, so hurry up and add some! ;)

Heaven and Hell are simply things of imaginations and nothing else and yet it is thrilling to imagine.