Originally posted by ivanhoeIs it permitted for a Roman-Catholic to assume a particular person or a somebody is in heaven?
It is not permitted for a Roman-Catholic to assume a particular person or a somebody is in hell.
Is it required for a Roman-Catholic to assume all particular persons are in heaven?
Originally posted by DoctorScribblesI don't think so. Unless they're a saint. But you hear it all the time anyway... "He/she's in heaven now. He/she's in peace. He/she's in a better place." etc, etc...
Is it permitted for a Roman-Catholic to assume a particular person or a somebody is in heaven?
Originally posted by DoctorScribblesI can't identify specific people. I'm merely saying that on the balance of probability, there are people I'm related to (not necessarily particularly close relatives) who are in hell.
Tell us about them, how they were on earth, and how you suppose they are suffering now.
How they were on earth? Quite possibly fine upstanding citizens, good neighbours, and generally nice people to be around. It doesn't matter that much.
How they are suffering now? Again, I wouldn't know specifics. I don't necessarily believe there's a bunch of demons using red hot pokers. Just knowing where they are and that God isn't there may be suffering enough.
I'm certainly not trying to be glib about this. There's simply a limit to what I know, and quite frankly if I *did* know then the knowledge would probably be far too distressing for me to want to discuss it on a message board with a bunch of near total strangers.
Let me say this, though: the one thing I'm not looking forward to about heaven is discovering who isn't there.
Originally posted by DoctorScribblesYou know I dont think we can judge or possably tell who goes where. Only God can count all the factors, whereas Humans looks at the "works",
Many evangelists here say that you must do this and you must do that, such as saying the Sinners Prayer or having a personal relationship with Jesus, in order to avoid hell.
My question to them is, Have all of your relatives done those things, or do you have relatives who are burning in eternal torment?
And I think its Childish to have disscusions about who is going to hell and who isnt.
Ben
Originally posted by checkbaiterYou are correct. But whats the Biblical Defintion of "lake of Fire", and "everlasting torment", and "knashing of teeth", and "depart from me for I know ye not"?
Yes, in fact all that have died, with the exception of Jesus Christ are in "Hell".
The biblical definition for hell is the "grave". That's it. There is no place of eternal torment, nor will there ever be....
Originally posted by DoctorScribblesI really don't know what you mean by 'perfect'. Heaven is in God's presence, and to a certain extent that would make other factors pale by comparison. I don't know that once I'm THERE I would feel regret. After all, there will be no more crying, no more death, no more pain.
If the people that you would like to see there don't make the cut, will it still be a perfect place for you?
I can only tell you what I feel *now* about the issue of other people not being there, which is that it makes me unhappy. But I don't own the place, so I don't make the admission rules.
Also, when I think about it a little, I wonder how people who had rejected God would behave if they actually found themselves in heaven. Would they enjoy it, or just be terrified out of their mind? Would they try and ruin it for everyone else?
I don't have answers to any number of questions about heaven, and most of the time I don't spend much effort on pondering them. The one thing I'm clear on is that a ticket has been offered to me. I intend taking it.