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Originally Posted by One Frugal Mom
"For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten." Ecclesiates 9:5
"However, now Christ has been raised up from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep [in death]." 1 Corinthians 15:20
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The first verse tell me that the dead are in a state where they do not have any knowledge of what is going on, thus not in Heaven or in any other state of conscienceness.
The second verse is where I believe that we will be raised from the dead and where the Bible described the dead as being in a sleep-like state.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smashley
Thanks for the answers, but this raises my next question. IF God knew from the day we were put on this earth EVERYTHING we were going to do, how could he NOT forgive us? He knew this person was going to kill themselves before they even knew. Obviously by my siggy I am sure you can put two and two together and figure out this is a personal issue. The man in my siggy committed suicide going on 4mths ago. He was the greatest person I knew. The most selfless person. However, he was a tortured soul ravaged by mental illness (undiagnosed, but I have never seen such a textbook case of bi-polar) and alcohol. I just feel like he couldn't have gone to hell. How could such a good soul go there because God put him on this Earth to suffer in such horrific ways? I am not catholic or any kind of denominational Christian....not to mention I am a seriously struggling Christian at best lol. Thanks for your answers though. Brings some peace of mind, though it doesn;t fully feel like he is gone yet.
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I do not believe that God knows from birth everything we will do. I believe He could have that knowledge IF He wants to.... but he gives us free-will so that we can make our own choices.
I believe that God is very forgiving to those who suffer mental illness and only He knows what they are truly going through.
Plus, I do not believe in a literal Hell, where people are tortured for eternity.