From a Christian perspective: If indeed we die and stay in death like sleep until the Resurrection, what does that say about Near Death Experiences? [Spirituality & Religion]
How do NDE's where people claim to see heaven or loved ones line up with what the bible tells us about the dead being dead until the day of Judgement?
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lol yes i have met such people. Here's bit of cripture.
[i] in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.[/i] 1 Corinthians 15:52
[i]Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.[/i] Ezekiel 37:12-13
[i]I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They[a] had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.[/i] Revelation 20:4-5
[i]Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.[/i]
[i]Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever[/i]
@Pikachu A bunch of visions/prophecies don't really give cause to believe in the soul sleep. When you die, you get judged and go to heaven. That's what I think you'll find most Christians believe
@Pikachu Yep. You know my views on Revelation. Just a giant pile of trash. Plus take the most important prophecy in the entire thing. The Christ prophecy. Most believe it came true through Jesus but there are still the orthodox Jews who claim it didn't and may never be fulfilled. That shows that all prophecy is a debatable maybe.
lol my dude. I'm not debating the utterly unreliable shit show that is prophecy in the bible, i'm just pointing out that if you think the average Bible believing Christian is NOT talking the various visions and prophecies therein as gospel truth...well i'd like an ounce of what you're smoking.
Or to put it another way: I think the assumption that Christians believe that biblical prophecy isn't to be taken seriously is where this falls apart.🤷♀️
@Pikachu Nah you can't do that. I get you are used to talking to Baptists and more fundamental evangelicals but they don't make up the majority. The "take every word literally" mentality hasn't been commonplace for decades. The Pope doesn't even do it and he's the head of the biggest denomination.
Please don't misrepresent what i've said. I didn't say they take every word of the bible literally. I'm holding that they take the prophecies recorded in the bible to have been fulfilled in the bible...
This isn't about fundamentalism, guy. But hey, maybe you know something i don't know. Take a poll. Tell me what comes up lol
Do it up, bud😎 You came into this not knowing that there were people who even believe this, didn't know the scripture supporting it and fell back on declaring that Christians don't take Biblical prophecy seriously so i think you'll admit you may have something to learn in this instance, yeah?
@Pikachu Ease up with the condescension there bud. You asked yet another dumb question about a minority of Christians. Then decided to use visions and foretellings as proof even though that doesn't mean anything. Plus "death like sleep" just means death. Same with soul sleep. They're both just poetic ways to say you're dead. You die and then you rise to heaven. Unless you shun heaven, in which case you go to Sheol or something (depends on your denomination). This is why no one has answered this question. It's a dumb one that no one relates to.
@Pikachu I get pissy when you act like a condescending douche. Nothing to do with the specific subject. Just don't assume you know about a religion you don't even identify with and then tell Christians what they believe. That's like the definition of arrogance.
lol on many occasions you've been condescending to me when you feel you have more specific knowledge on the subject. If turn around tastes this bitter to you then consider changing your own behaviour, hmm?
[quote]then tell Christians what they believe[/quote]
lol says the guy who entered the thread not even knowing that this was a thing or what the bible says about it. No need for assumptions on either of our parts. Ask Christians what they believe about prophecy being fulfilled in the bible.
@Pikachu You made that assumption that I didn't know. I know about the idea of soul sleep. Just that it isnt widely accepted by anyone. I've definitely never met a single person who believes it and I've yet to see anyone here who does either. I just gave you the benefit of the doubt that some crazy fundamental evangelical believes it because they usually believe the nonsense no one else does.
