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Religion and the Near-Death Experience

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Heaven is not about religious beliefs,
but about spiritual actions. It is not true, as some people
believe, that we get to heaven by giving verbal assent to belief
in God. It is love, not religious doctrines, that creates spiritual
growth. Religions are cultural
institutions but love is universal. Those religions which claim
superiority over other religions or exclude people for various
reasons, go against God's law to love others as we love
ourselves. Although religion, in itself, is not important to
God, all religions are necessary because there are people who
need what they teach. For this reason, all religions are precious
in the sight of God. All religions refer to the same God. All
religions are different ways of trying to describe the same
God. After death, if you insist upon searching for an old man
on a throne as God, you will do this for awhile until you get
the idea that you are following an illusion.
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Table of Contents |
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1. Religion is not as Important as Many
People Believe |
An
example of the spiritual change that often takes place in near-death
experiencers can be found Tom Harpur's excellent documentary
entitled
Life After Death.
In it, he profiles a minister named Ken Martin who had a near-death
experience. Upon his return from his experience, he discovered
that everything he had previously known - his ministry, his
calling, everything - was insignificant in comparison to his
experience with the afterlife. (Life After Death)
"Doctrine and creed and race mean nothing.
No matter what we believe we were all children joined under
one God. The only rule is God's true law: Do unto others
as you would have them do unto you." (May
Eulitt)
"God does not care which religion is best. God
does not care what religion people practice. They are all a
blooming facet of the whole. All religions refer to the same
God." (Mellen-Thomas
Benedict)
"One man who had a near-death experience
realized that the "God" of his religious background
wasn't anything like the reality. He learned that it doesn't
matter if people call him God, Allah, Great Spirit or whatever,
he is one and the same." (Dr.
Liz Dale)
"Everyone, religious or not, believing
in God or not, transitions to the spirit world as part of the
natural process of life. Just as one does not need to be religious
to live in the physical world, one does not need to profess
a particular faith to live in the spirit world." (Nora
Spurgin)
"Heaven is about deeds, not creeds.
Therefore, persons of many cultures and religions form the societies
of heaven." (Emanuel
Swedenborg)
"Religious beliefs
have little to do with what we experience in the transition
from one realm to another, except that we are allowed to see
briefly the teacher or guru that we followed. Regardless of
cultural or religious beliefs, we have the same basic experience
at death." (Betty
Bethards)
"God is not dependent on our belief,
for our belief or disbelief in God does not affect God - only
us." (P.M.H. Atwater)
"God cares little about our religious affiliation
or church membership. Love is not limited to any one religion
or even religion at all. Religions are cultural institutions
but love is universal." (Kevin
Williams)
Kenneth was born and raised a Southern
Baptist. As a child, he first made his commitment to Christ
and was baptized with water. He was a member of the church all
his life. He was saved, on the path toward heaven, a believer,
a follower of Jesus, and he knew this assured him a place in
heaven. Nevertheless, he had a NDE and it sent him straight
to hell. (Rev.
Kenneth Hagin)
"God is not a member of any church
or religion. It is the churches and the religions that are members
within the vastness and the glory that is God. There is no one
religion just as there is no chosen people or person, nor any
single way of regarding what cannot be fully comprehended. We
are all sons of God in the sense that we are all souls of God's
creation, without gender, without form, without nationality,
complete and whole and perfect as we explore the never-endingness
of God's wonderment." (P.M.H. Atwater)
"Having faith IN Christ doesn't
matter as much as having the faith OF Christ. It is foolish
to think that Jesus will carry your cross for you because he
taught people that they must take up their own cross. Having
the faith of Christ means to practice unconditional love." (Kevin
Williams)
"There is a lot of solid evidence in the
Bible itself that the
Bible has serious and devastating errors in it." (Kevin
Williams)
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2. Emanuel Swedenborg's Discourse
on Religion |
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772)
was a renowned Swedish scientist and
Christian mystic whose spiritual visions led to experiences
which have remarkable
similarities to the NDE. So remarkable are these similarities,
that in Dr. Raymond
Moody's ground-breaking book on NDEs,
Life After Life, he devotes an entire section of his book
to describe these similarities. Dr. Moody describes how Swedenborg
described death as a pulling away from the physical body, followed
by encounters with departed ones and a life review drawn from
the person's memory. Most notably, is his description of
encountering a supreme Being of Light which Swedenborg described
as "the Sun of heaven in which the Lord resided."
The following are just a few of Swedenborg's insights about
religion and the true path to attaining heaven according to
Swedenborg's most famous work Heaven and Hell which
was translated into the book entitled
Awaken From Death:
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"Some people
believe that it is hard to lead a heaven-bound life
(which is called a spiritual life) because they have
heard that a person needs to renounce the world, give
up the appetites that are associated with the body and
the flesh, and live like spiritual beings. They take
this to mean nothing other than rejecting what is worldly
- especially wealth and prestige - and walking around
in constant devout meditation on God, salvation, and
eternal life, passing their lives in prayer and in reading
the Word and devotional literature. They think that
this is renouncing the world and living by the spirit
instead of by the flesh.
"But an
abundance of experience and discussion with angels has
enabled me to know that the situation is completely
different from this. In fact, people who renounce the
world and live by the spirit in this fashion build up
a mournful life for themselves, one that is not receptive
of heavenly joy; for everyone's life on Earth stays
with them when they enter the spiritual realm. On the
contrary, if people are to accept a life in heaven,
they must by all means live in the world and become
involved in its functions and dealings. Then through
a moral and civic life they will receive a spiritual
life. This is the only way a spiritual life can be formed
in people and their spirit be prepared for heaven.
"Living
an inward life and not an outward life at the same time
is like living in a house with no foundation, which
gradually settles, or develops cracks and gaps, or totters
until it collapses.
"If we
examine a person's life with rational acuity, we
discover that it is threefold: there is a spiritual
life, a moral life, and a civic life; and we find these
lives distinct from each other. There are people who
live a civic life but not a moral or a spiritual one.
Then there are people who live both a civic life and
a moral life and a spiritual as well. These are the
ones who are leading heaven's life - the others
are leading the world's life separated from heaven's
life.
"A heaven-bound
life is not a life withdrawn from the world but a life
involved in the world. A life of piety without a life
of love (which occurs only in this world) does not lead
to heaven. Rather, it is a life of love, a life of behaving
honestly and fairly in every task, every transaction,
every work, and from a more inward source that leads
to a heavenly one. This source is present in that life
when a person behaves honestly and fairly because it
is in keeping with divine laws. This life is not hard."
(Emanuel
Swedenborg)
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3. Love is the True "Religion" |
"I asked the light, which I call Christ,
how people from other religions get to heaven. I was shown that
the group, or organization, we profess alliance to is inconsequential.
What is important is how we show our love for God by the way
we treat each other. This is because when we pass to the spiritual
realm we will all be met by him, which substantiates the passage,
'No
one comes to the Father, but by me.' The light showed me
that what is important is that we love God and each other, and
that it isn't what a person says, but the love in their
being that is examined in the afterlife." (Sandra
Rogers)
"What is truly important is love,
not religion." (Beth
Hammond)
"The best religion is the religion
that brings you closest to God." (Rev.
Howard Storm)
"There are only two true religions
- the religion of love and the religion of fear." (Sandra
Rogers)
"Your religion is where your love
is." (Henry
David Thoreau)
How are we saved? By unselfish love.
When we love unselfishly, our vibrations are so high that the
only place we'll fit into is heaven. There is no other place
we can go if we want to. This is divine justice because it gives
all the people who ever lived, as well as all the higher animals
who know right from wrong, an equal chance to eventually attain
internal harmony which will fit them into some kind of heaven
- regardless of their intelligence, education, indoctrination,
ignorance, wealth or poverty." (Arthur
Yensen)
"The central message that Buddhist
near-death experiencers bring back from their journey is that
the most important qualities in life are love and knowledge,
compassion and wisdom." (Lingza
Chokyi)
"People who truly practice the religion
of love will find themselves in a universal sphere where everyone
understands that true religion is to love others as ourselves."
(Nora Spurgin)
"There is light that
can be found in many, many other faiths. All faiths which stress
love have this focus. All have their own paradise, but the devoted
eventually learn the tremendous experience that all is one under
God and that there is no division in purpose. There is one God
of us all." (Margaret
Tweddell)
"Near-death accounts suggest that
unconditional love is the highest form of religion there is."
(Kevin Williams)
"Jesus didn't come to preach a new religion.
Jesus was a Jew who preached unconditional love." (Kevin
Williams)
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4. Religions have an Important Purpose |
"I wanted to know why there were
so many churches in the world. Why didn't God give us only
one church, one pure religion? The answer came to me with the
purest of understanding. Each of us, I was told, is at a different
level of spiritual development and understanding. Each person
is therefore prepared for a different level of spiritual knowledge.
Each church fulfills spiritual needs that perhaps others cannot
fill. No one church can fulfill everybody's needs at every
level." (Betty Eadie)
"The different religions just have
different ways of explaining the same Creator." (Dr.
Liz Dale)
"God created differences in religion
because of the different lessons we all need to learn." (Sandra
Rogers)
"All religions are necessary because
there are people who need what they teach." (Betty
Eadie)
"Religions have a place and any one
person in that religion is on the path of learning what is important
for that soul." (Darlene
Holman)
"The most important thing is to really
live what our religion teaches. Even if we have the greatest
religion of all, it won't do us any good if we don't
put it into practice in our lives. Whatever we practice becomes
a part of us." (Daniel
Rosenblit)
"Religion is used as a stepping stone
to further knowledge. As an individual raises his level of understanding
about God and his own eternal progress, he might feel discontented
with the teachings of his present church and seek a different
philosophy or religion to fill that void. When this occurs he
has reached another level of understanding and will long for
further truth and knowledge, and for another opportunity to
grow. And at every step of the way, these new opportunities
to learn will be given." (Betty
Eadie)
"One does not have to be religious
to dwell in the spirit world, but one inevitably will benefit
from a thorough understanding and practice of a particular tradition."
(Nora Spurgin)
"We have no right to criticize any
church or religion in any way. They are all precious in God's
sight. Very special people with important missions have been
placed in all religions that they might touch others." (Betty
Eadie)
"It is possible for the uneducated
and unbelieving spirit to be a virtual prisoner of this Earth.
Such spirits may not recognize the energy and light which draws
one toward God. Lacking the faith and power to reach for the
light, unenlightened spirits may actually stay on Earth until
they learn of the higher power which surrounds, and is available
to them." (Betty
Eadie)
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5. NDEs are the Source of Many Religious
Concepts |
a. NDE archetypal
images: NDE archetypal
images have been consistent throughout history.
Jenny Yates describes how the phenomenology of the
archetypal Being of Light in world myths and religions
shows the archetypal parallels with the Light in the
NDE that are consistent across time and cultures. Yates
shows how the phenomenon of the Being of light of the
NDE has parallels to:
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b. NDEs
correlate with Judaism: Jewish scholars have discovered
contemporary NDEs in Israel and found parallels in
the Talmud,
Zoharic traditions,
and later Rabbinic literature and folklore. The theme of
judgment before a heavenly court is particularly prominent
in the Jewish NDE tradition (Jonathan
Neumann).
c.
NDEs correlate with Buddhism:
Carl
Becker reports that Japanese
Pure Land Buddhism is grounded upon the reality and accessibility
of NDEs for all (1984 b.c). Becker also explores the strong
parallels with the
Tibetan Book of the Dead
(1985). The Tibetan Buddhist leader Sogyal Rinpoche explores
the parallels between NDEs and the classic Tibetan Book of the
Dead in his article in this book.
d.
NDEs correlate with Hinduism: The Hindu subtle body that leaves the body at death,
Arvind Sharma
shows, is analogous to the spiritual body described in
Hindu NDEs.
The flash of light experienced by the youthful guru
Yogananda
is an archetypal parallel to the NDE light. (Yogananda, 167).
e.
NDEs correlate with Christianity:
The New Testament describes
Paul's NDE
because Paul is defending his authority as an apostle on it.
John describes
a NDE in the Book of Revelation.
Some Christians consider NDEs to be very much like Biblical
resurrections (Wilkerson).
The Mormon faith is very open to NDEs
because it already has a well-developed picture of the next
world. Mormons who have reported NDEs are well-received in the
Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Craig Lundahl,
Arvin Gibson).
f. NDEs correlate with mysticism:
NDEs have
also been compared to mystical shamanic journeys (Doug
MacDonald) and to Kundalini
yoga's mystical states (Dippong; Ring, 1984). Christian
mystics such as
Edgar Cayce
and
Emanuel Swedenborg
describe having visionary experiences identical to NDEs.
John Pennachio
defines a NDE as a mystical state, since NDEs show congruence
with
Walter Pahnke's
nine categories of a mystical experience:
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(1) |
Intuitive unity (a sense of cosmic
oneness) |
(2) |
Transcendence
of space and time |
(3) |
A deeply felt positive mood |
(4) |
A sense of sacredness |
(5) |
A feeling of insight or illumination |
(6) |
Paradoxicality |
(7) |
Ineffability |
(8) |
Transiency
yet persisting positive changes in attitude and behavior
(the experience passes)
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(9) |
Persisting positive changes in
attitudes and behavior |
(10) |
David Lorimer interprets NDEs
and the psychic experiences of NDE survivors as their
participation in the immanent, divine presence described
in the mystical literature of the
Perennial Philosophy, from
Plato's
Being to
Emerson's Oversoul.
Judith Cressy shows a number of specific parallels
between NDEs and mystics in the classical tradition,
such as
St. Theresa and
John of the Cross. In her essay in this book, she
encourages NDE survivors to seek supportive spiritual
communities that can support their journey of integrating
the Light into daily life.
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6. Some Religious Beliefs can be
Harmful |
a. Harmful Belief: Soul Sleep
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Throughout history,
many Christians
have believed in the idea of soul sleep. This is the
repulsive doctrine that people sleep in their graves
until the second coming of Christ at which time their
corpses come alive and crawl out of their graves like
the movie Night of the Living Dead. Near-death experiences
show that this doctrine is not only false, but is a
very harmful doctrine to believe in. The following are
NDE insights that show the dangers of believing in this
doctrine:
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"One of the places we observed
seemed to be a receiving station. Beings would arrive
here oftentimes in a deep hypnotic sleep. I call it
hypnotic because I realized they had put themselves
in this state by their beliefs. Here were what I would
call angels working with them trying to arouse them
and help them realize God is truly a God of the living
and that they did not have to lie around sleeping until
Gabriel or someone came along blowing on a horn." (Dr.
George Ritchie)
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"Things change little in the
hereafter. Suppose we have the fixed idea that we'll
sleep till the resurrection of the body. Then suppose
there isn't a resurrection of the body. We might
sleep a very long time." (Arthur
Yensen)
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"Those that
died believing they would sleep until awakened by Gabriel,
reported a black darkness, a feeling of being trapped
and alone, stranded. What I've finally come to realize
is we truly and most literally create our own realities.
When we die, the reality we created is where we will
live and what we will become." (P.M.H. Atwater)
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Betty Bethards has this to say
about not believing in life after death:
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"You
will probably be kept in a sleep state for the
first two to three day period. You will wake
up in a beautiful meadow or some other calm
and peaceful place where you can reconcile the
transition from the death state to the continuous
life. You are given teachings in the hope that
you do not refuse to believe that you are dead."
(Betty
Bethards)
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Ruth Montgomery
has this to say about a person who does not believe
in life after death:
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"He
expects to find nothing when he passes through
the door called death, and for a long time that
is usually what he finds - nothing. He is in
a state like unto death for a goodly while,
until at last something arouses him."
(Ruth
Montgomery)
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b.
Harmful Belief: Strict Religious Fundamentalism |
People who have strong and
uncompromising religious beliefs generally have temporary
problems after death when they discover their beliefs
to be false. The following are insights that support
this:
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"If we have
no fixed beliefs about anything, we'd be free to
adapt to the new surroundings and fit in where we belong
with no unusual difficulty. Everything has its place.
Fixed beliefs are useful in prayer where doubt is fatal.
Yet doubt is always useful in sizing up religious dogma,
reading junk mail, listening to commercials, and the
promises of politicians." (Arthur
Yensen)
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"Deeply held
religious beliefs come into visible expression in the
spirit realms, just as they do in the physical realm.
We create our own experience. Eventually, restrictive
minds slowly open and expand allowing them to accept
greater understanding. Then they are ready to move from
their limited concept of life to the eternal adventure,
for there is ever more to know, to do, to be." (Jan
Price)
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"Some people
believe that to be a spiritual person, we must renounce
the world, give up worldly things and read the Bible
all the time. But people who live this way create a
mournful life for themselves and one that is not receptive
of heavenly joy. Everyone's life on Earth stays
with them when they enter the afterlife. If people want
to live a heavenly life, they must live a moral and
civil life in the world. Living an inward life and not
an outward life at the same time is like living in a
house with no foundation which gradually develops cracks
and collapses." (Emanuel
Swedenborg)
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"The most difficult thing for a
person who has been deeply steeped in a particular religious
tradition is to realize that the form alone is not what
elevates a person; it is the heart." (Nora
Spurgin)
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"Some Christians enter the spirit
world and are led into thoughts they had during their
physical life about the soul's state after death,
heaven, and hell, until they come to resent their former
utter ignorance of things like this, and resent the
Church's ignorance of such matters." (Emanuel
Swedenborg)
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"Many people, when they come to
the astral world, experience a great deal of turmoil
and distress because they have been too positive and
too dogmatic in their earthly lives and have tried to
impose that dogmatism on other people. I think you can
find, if you will think about it and look back at your
own lives, that there are times when you wish you hadn't
been so forceful in persuading someone to do something.
When one does this he is cutting across a divinely given
attribute of each person, which is free will." (Margaret
Tweddell)
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"After death, people do not keep
their religious faith if it does not come from a heavenly
love." (Emanuel
Swedenborg)
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The following
revelation from Ruth Montgomery is an example of a fundamentalist
preacher's death experience:
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"First, he is shocked
to find that God is not sitting on a throne
surrounded by angels. He may think this is only
a brief interlude until he adjusts. He may begin
to preach to people there who he believes are
lost souls who lack the righteousness to advance
to heaven. His sermons may attract some people.
But he begins to demand that the older souls
around there help him find the way to the throne
of God. He may honestly believe that it is being
concealed from him in some mysterious way. At
last the old souls gather around and explain
to him that he is preaching a false doctrine;
that heaven is within each man, and so is his
private hell; that he has arrived, and nothing
is being hidden from him. It is up to him to
begin work on his own spiritual advancement,
and he is retarding the progress of others by
misleading them with false hopes of a promised
land. For this is the promised land, and we
make of it what we will through our own endeavors."
(Ruth
Montgomery)
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"Some people believe we must be
baptized to go to heaven. Some people believe we must
speak in tongues. Some people believe we must accept
Jesus as God or savior. Such people believe that religion
is the way to heaven. But unless the religion we practice
is unconditional love, then we are not following in
Jesus' footsteps." (Kevin
Williams)
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"God is love. Whoever lives in
love lives in God, and God in him." (1
John 4:16)
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c.
Harmful Belief: Religious
Bigotry |
Many religious people
have the erroneous and bigoted belief that only
their religion is true and that all other religions
are false. Such a belief has been the scourge
of humanity and has been the source of the multitude
of horrible religious wars and atrocities that
have plagued humankind. The following are some
NDE insights concerning this problem:
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In the hell realms, there are souls who argue
over some religious doctrine and try to kill
those who do not agree with them. (Dr.
George Ritchie)
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"Those religions which
claim some singular relationship with God, claim
superiority over others, or exclude people for
various reasons, go against God's law that
we love one another as we love ourselves." (Sandra
Rogers)
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"God is not a member
of any church or religion. It is the churches
and the religions that are members within the
vastness and the glory that is God. There is
no one religion just as there is no chosen people
or person, nor any single way of regarding what
cannot be fully comprehended." (P.M.H. Atwater)
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"We are all different
aspects of the same being who is not committed
to one particular religion." (Mellen-Thomas
Benedict)
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"Not all teachings described
as religious are beneficial. Religion which
is judgmental, prejudicial, critical, and narrow
may impede the spirit's natural growth.
Where religion teaches love, there is growth.
Where religion impedes love, there is stagnation."
(Nora
Spurgin)
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"Many religionists think
they have the whole truth and the only short-cut
to heaven. Some churches force their particular
brand of God's love on people who were perfectly
satisfied and thought they were on good terms
with God already. But even though the churches
have abused religion, I believe everyone should
have some kind of a religion, or philosophy,
to encourage them to think and grow spiritually."
(Arthur
Yensen)
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"Despite what some people
think, heaven is not limited only to Christians.
Jesus reveals the way, the truth, and the life.
However, unless we can give someone the true
Christian experience of the Christ, it is not
right for us to say to them, 'You must not
be a Buddhist -you must be a Christian.'"
(Margaret
Tweddell)
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"Many faiths on Earth do
not include Christ but are loved and used by
God nevertheless. Our Father never turns away
a person who searches for him. He created our
mortal conditions and knows perfectly what we
face in sometimes godless circumstances. A person
born to a home that does not recognize God is
not cursed, but rather blessed with the needed
opportunities of growth uniquely available in
that home. Any person searching for any degree
of light, in any religion or system of belief,
is graced by God with opportunities for greater
light." (Betty
Eadie)
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"There is a tendency among
certain religious people in the afterlife to
congregate in their little groups and have their
little sessions of what they feel are heaven.
Eventually they become very bored with this
narrowness, and then their own helpers and teachers
will try to give them another idea to help them
to break away from this narrow mindset. In the
higher realms there is a unity of God-praise,
not a segregation of the praise of God." (Margaret
Tweddell)
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d.
Harmful Belief: Extremely Faulty
Religious Doctrines |
Within some religions
are various sects or denominations that are
often based upon the magnification of some particular
religious doctrine. Below are some insights
about this:
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"Some Christians expect
heaven to be a place where people stand in front
of the throne, worshipping forever. Such a view
of heaven is boring and childlike. There are
so many heavenly realms and in each of them
there is a fractal that is your particular interpretation,
unless you are part of the group soul that believes
in only the God of a particular religion." (Mellen-Thomas
Benedict)
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"Insincere prayers of repetition
have little, if any, light. These, having no
power, are not heard. But there is no prayer
greater than that of a mother for her children."
(Betty
Eadie)
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"The belief that we are
separate from God is the only real sin." (P.M.H. Atwater)
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"When we die, there is
no so-called Judgment Day involving the hellfire
and brimstone that is described in the Bible.
God judges no one. The only judgment is self-judgment."
(Sherry
Gideon)
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"We do not sit at the feet
of a man with a long white beard called God.
God is within, whether you are in or out of
the body." (Betty
Bethards)
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"There is no doctrine and
no belief to pursue other than knowing that
the Being of Light is God." (Norman
Paulsen)
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"When we enter the spirit
realm, we are given glimpses of things we expected
to see in order to bring us comfort. We may
briefly see a teacher we worshipped in our lifetime:
Jesus, Buddha, or another guru, according to
your expectations. But gently we are brought
out of many of our illusions and are shown that
we have not landed in an ultimate paradise with
gold paved streets." (Betty
Bethards)
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"It is not true, as some
people think, that if we only give verbal assent
to belief in God, that is our passport to heaven
and everything will be all right. Not so. God
helps those who help themselves." (Margaret
Tweddell)
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"We do not go to heaven
by worshipping Jesus, or by believing in his
name, or by believing in his work on the cross,
or by accepting him as our Savior. The way to
heaven is through love. God is love. We grow
to heaven by allowing love to grow in our hearts
and create heaven within us by practicing unconditional
love." (Kevin
Williams)
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"Being a Christian is not
enough to attain heaven. We grow to heaven by
emulating the unconditional love of Jesus rather
than by worshipping him." (Kevin
Williams)
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"If you insist upon searching
for God, you will do this for awhile until you
get the idea that you are following an illusion.
God is love in all religions, so the more we
live love the closer we are to God." (Betty
Bethards)
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"Religious beliefs can
limit an open mind. Any belief such as soul
sleep, God on a throne, angels with wings, the
trinity, etc. etc., is initially carried over
at the time of death, but very soon, all beliefs
that don't correlate with afterlife reality
will just simply not be believed anymore. This
is all a process of instruction." (Kevin
Williams)
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e.
Harmful Belief: Atheism
Under Certain Conditions |
There is a misconception
that people who don't believe in God or
an afterlife are heading straight to hell after
death. Believing that all atheists go to hell
is, in itself, a harmful religious belief. And
like all rigid beliefs, the belief that death
is the end of everything can create problems
for those who hold this belief. Here are some
insights:
|
"Disavowing the possibility of the existence of a
Higher Power may contribute to the why of a "Less
Than Positive" (LTP) near-death experience: 19.4
percent of my LTP study group labeled themselves as
atheist or agnostic prior to their experience." (Dr.
Barbara Rommer)
|
"An atheist
is as likely to have a NDE as was a devoutly religious
person. Regardless of their prior attitudes - whether
skeptical or deeply religious - and regardless of the
many variations in religious beliefs and degrees of
skepticism from tolerant disbelief to outspoken atheism
- most of these people were convinced that they had
been in the presence of some supreme and loving power
and had a glimpse of a life yet to come. Almost all
who experienced a NDE found their lives transformed
and a change in their attitudes and values, and in their
inclination to love and to help others." (Dr.
Kenneth Ring)
|
"If you
don't believe in God or an afterlife, you will probably
be kept in a sleep state for the first 'two to
three day' period. You will wake up in a beautiful
meadow or some other calm and peaceful place where you
can reconcile the transition from the death state to
the continuous life. You are given teachings in the
hope that you do not refuse to believe that you are
dead." (Betty
Bethards)
|
"People
do not have hellish NDEs because they are atheists.
My research shows that it is what is within us that
matters, not the religious belief we have or don't
have. Nevertheless, not having a belief in life after
death can lead to serious problems such as having an
excuse to treat others badly. Before his NDE,
Howard Storm
was such a person and his NDE was certainly very hellish
because of it. Interesting enough, his NDE is remarkably
similar to the hell witnessed by
Dr. George Ritchie
during his NDE. Another remarkably similar hellish experience
was documented by
Ruth Montgomery
through her paranormal research. Also, the
Tibetan Book of the Dead
describes a similar hell for people who lack spiritual
development. All four of these sources agree that having
an excuse to treat others badly can create a hellish
condition. Such a hellish spiritual condition is certainly
not limited to atheists." (Kevin
Williams)
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7. Religious Aftereffects
Resulting from a NDE |
"One of the truths about NDEs is that each
person integrates their NDE into their own pre-existing belief
system." (Jody Long)
"The
Beings of Light
found in NDEs usually conform to the predominant religion the
person was exposed to, but not always. Jesus has appeared in
near-death scenarios of Jewish people, for instance; a Muslim
man once told me he was met by Buddha." (P.M.H. Atwater)
"Some experiencers find joining a
church to be helpful. Others find quitting their church to be
helpful. Near-death experiences tend to make people less religious
and more spiritual." (IANDS
FAQ)
"Experiencers tend to become more
spiritual - though not necessarily more involved in organized
religion." (Dr. Kenneth
Ring)
"No matter what the nature of the
NDE, it alters some lives. Atheists embrace the existence of
a deity, while dogmatic members of a particular religion report
feeling welcome in any church or temple or mosque." (P.M.H. Atwater)
"After having a NDE, people tend
to exhibit a significant shift in their beliefs on a wide range
of subjects including a general tendency toward an increased
openness to the idea of reincarnation." (Dr.
Kenneth Ring)
"After having a NDE, religious observance
may increase or lessen, but a deepened belief in God, or a Higher
Power, is almost certain. People say, 'Before, I believed;
now I know.'" (IANDS
FAQ)
"Religious
orientation is not a factor affecting either the likelihood
or the depth of the NDE. An atheist is as likely to have one
as a devoutly religious person. Regardless of their prior attitudes
- whether skeptical or deeply religious - and regardless of
the many variations in religious beliefs and degrees of skepticism
from tolerant disbelief to outspoken atheism - most of these
people were convinced that they had been in the presence of
some supreme and loving power and had a glimpse of a life yet
to come. Almost all who had a NDE find their lives transformed
and are changed in their attitudes and values, and in their
inclination to love and to help others." (Dr.
Kenneth Ring)
"An experiencer's religious beliefs
do not prevent the expansion of psychic abilities resulting
from their experience." (P.M.H. Atwater)
"Death does not suddenly turn a non-religious
person into a religious person." (Margaret
Tweddell)
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8. Miscellaneous NDE and
Religion Insights |
"I saw that we could literally call down
thousands of angels in our aid if we ask in faith." (Betty
Eadie)
"The gods of one faith are the angels, saints,
or supernatural beings of other faiths." (Sandra
Rogers)
"Prayer is a tangible force - a power
for good here on this Earth! Many people ask me what was the
first thing I thought or felt when I came out of my coma, about
3 weeks after the accident. I could feel Christ's love and
compassion for me and I believe the prayers of many for me made
him tune into me personally, and led to my incredible experience
with Christ in that heavenly garden." (Derry
Bresee)
"There is one God who is worshipped
through many different teachings of many different religious
faiths." (Sandra Rogers)
"NDErs are not more or less religious
than in the cross-section of the population. They come from
many religious backgrounds and from the ranks of agnostics and
even atheists." (IANDS
FAQ)
"Religious backgrounds do not affect
who are most likely to have a NDE." (P.M.H. Atwater)
"Many people are turned off by religion. Any complete
body of knowledge is like a spoke in a wheel - pointing to the
center of ultimate truth. Science, art, music, philosophy and
religion run into trouble because they are not yet complete
bodies of knowledge even though religion is advertised and sold
as such." (Arthur
Yensen)
"Evil and the devil do not exist. What people
consider evil is really ignorance. Hitler was not an evil man.
He was just so incredibly ignorant of spiritual realities that
he was practically retarded at a spiritual level. Such people
are to be pitied and our unconditional love should extended
even to him because it is hard to hate a retarded person." (Kevin
Williams)
"There is no such thing as sin. There are only
mistakes. Everything is a learning experience. We are here to
make mistakes in order to learn and grow from them." (Jayne
Smith)
"If you read the Bible with the idea of finding
contradictions and problems, you will find them. The Bible contains
spiritual truth and it has to be read spiritually in order to
understand it. It should be read prayerfully. When read prayerfully,
it talks to you and reveals itself to you." (Rev.
Howard Storm)
"Religious figures including the
founders of world religions, the saints and prophets, exist
in various spirit realms. The similarity of one's life,
heart and knowledge to a particular figure determines one's
closeness to these religious figures." (Nora
Spurgin)
"The Being of Light seen in near-death
experiences can change into different figures, such as Jesus,
Buddha, Krishna, mandalas, archetypal images and signs. Our
beliefs shape the kind of feedback we get from this Being. If
we were a Buddhist or Catholic or Fundamentalist, we would get
a feedback loop of our own beliefs." (Mellen-Thomas
Benedict)
"In the spirit realms, you are able
to go back in time and live in the minds of Jesus and his disciples.
You can heard their conversations, experience them eating, passing
wine, smells, tastes - as pure consciousness. Any time in history,
you can go there." (Dr.
George Rodonaia)
"There is no difference between scrubbing
floors and praying, between balancing your checkbook and praising
God. It's all the same energy from the same Source. The
only difference is how we choose to manifest that energy at
any given moment in time and space." (P.M.H. Atwater)
"Outward worship does not accomplish
anything, but rather it is the inner elements from which the
outward ones come that really count." (Emanuel
Swedenborg)
"I saw the Christian heaven. We expect it to be
a beautiful place, and you stand in front of the throne, worshipping
forever. I tried it. It is boring! This is all we are going
to do? It is childlike." (Mellen-Thomas
Benedict)
"Life is what you worship as God."
(Edgar Cayce)
"Then I thought about Jesus and he
came. There was never any feeling or need to worship him. No
awe or fear. Rather, it was a feeling of seeing a beloved elder
brother after being apart for so long." (P.M.H. Atwater)
"Worship God within others through
love and you will be following the commandment of Christ." (Kevin
Williams)
"Hindu near-death experiences often
consist of someone reading a person's record of their life.
In some Christian near-death experiences, it is the Book of
Life that is read." (Pasricha
and Stevenson)
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9. Spiritual Concepts of Religion |
Christianity:
The following Bible
verses show exactly how love is the greatest, most important,
supremely exalted concept in the entire Christian faith
and the source of all heavenly worship and object of
all adoration. Love is God.
|
The way to eternal life is simply
through the practice of love. (Luke
10:25-28) |
"Everyone who loves is born of
the Spirit and knows God." (1
John 4:7) |
"Whoever
does not love does not know God because God is love."
(1
John 4:8) |
"Whoever
lives in love lives in God, and God in him." (1
John 4:16) |
"Anyone who does not love his brother,
whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen."
(1
John 4:19-21)
|
"We know that we have passed from
death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone
who does not love remains in death." (1
John 3:14)
|
Faith implies the possibility
of doubt. Knowledge implies certainty; but love surpasses
both of them. (Ephesians
3:19)
|
"The only
thing that counts is faith expressing itself through
love." (Galatians
5:6) |
"But the
greatest of these is love." (1
Corinthians 13:13) |
"If you have the gift of prophecy,
can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, have the
faith that moves mountains, speak in the tongues of
humans and of angels, give all you possess to the poor
and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love,
you gain nothing." (1
Corinthians 13:1-3)
|
"God is love"
(1
John 4:8) "Love does not keep a record of wrongs." (1
Corinthians 13:5) |
"God is love"
(1
John 4:8) "Love removes
a multitude of sins." (1
Peter 4:8) |
"Love is
the fulfillment of God's law." (Romans
13:10) |
"Love is
the commandment of God." (John
15:12) |
"God is love."
(1
John 4:8) God holds
all things together; therefore, love holds all
things together. (Colossians
1:7) |
"God is love."
(1
John 4:8) "Love is patient, kind, doesn't
envy, doesn't boast, is not proud, is not rude,
is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, does not
delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, always
protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres,
and never fails." (1
Corinthians 13:4-8)
|
"God shows no partiality, but in
every nation anyone who fears God and does what is right
is acceptable to God." (Acts
10:34-35)
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Buddhism:
Hatreds do not ever cease in this
world by hating, but by love: this is an eternal truth. Overcome
anger by love, overcome evil by good ... Overcome the miser
by giving, overcome the liar by truth. (Dhammapada
1.5 & 17.3)
Hinduism: A man acts according
to the desires to which he clings. After death he goes to the
next world bearing in his mind the subtle impressions of his
deeds; and, after reaping there the harvest of those deeds,
he returns again to this world of action. Thus he who has desire
continues subject to rebirth. He who lacks discrimination, whose
mind is unsteady and whose heart is impure, never reaches the
goal, but is born again and again. But he who has discrimination,
whose mind is steady and whose heart is pure, reaches the goal
and, having reached it, is born no more. (Upanishads)
Judaism: What is hurtful
to yourself do not to your fellow man. That is the whole of
the Torah and the remainder is but commentary. (Rabbi
Hillel)
Islam: Shall I tell you
what acts are better than fasting, charity, and prayers? Making
peace between enemies are such acts; For enmity and malice tear
up the heavenly rewards by the roots. (Koran)
Sufism: You when
you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church.
For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit.
(Kahlil Gibran)
Zoroastrianism: One good
deed is worth a thousand prayers. (Zarathushtra)
Wicca: Bide ye the Wiccan
Law ye must, in perfect love and perfect trust. Eight words
the Wiccan Rede fulfill: An ye harm none, do what ye will. (The
Wiccan Rede)
Atheism:
Love is the expression of one's values, the greatest reward
you can earn for the moral qualities you have achieved in your
character and person, the emotional price paid by one man for
the joy he receives from the virtues of others. (Ayn
Rand)
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10. The Bible in the Light of the
NDE |
The following are Kevin Williams'
interpretation of Christian doctrines as they relate
to his NDE research:
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Jesus: In the Bible,
Jesus revealed himself as a
Being of Light. And Jesus taught that
we too are beings of light. Jesus is the way, an
example, the pattern which we can follow to attain
at-one-ment with God as Jesus did. |
The Trinity: Jesus
referred to the oneness of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, which suggests that God has a three-dimensional
nature. One particular NDE account revealed that
humans are
made up of a trinity of bodies: physical body, mind
(soul) body and spirit body. There are also references
in the Bible equating God to
life,
light and
love. Thus, the Bible refers to divinity as the
body of Christ, the
mind of Christ, and the
spirit of Christ. Paul states that "we have
the mind of Christ" which shows that we too have
God within us. |
Humanity: Jesus taught
that
we are gods which means that God dwells within us
all. This agrees with NDE accounts. We were made in
the image (a trinity) of God.
We are sons (and daughters) of God just as Jesus
is. |
The Silver Cord:
The Bible mentions a "silver
cord" which traditionally is a cord that connects
the soul body with the physical body. During a NDE or
OBE, this
tinsel-like
cord can be seen. During a NDE, if this cord is
broken then return to the body is impossible. |
Heaven
and Hell: Traditional
Christianity believes in
three realms: hell, the world, and heaven. NDE accounts
agree with this except that
there are
many hell realms and many heaven realms -
many mansions. Heaven and hell are actually spiritual
conditions within us.
The kingdom of heaven is within us. The Bible and
NDEs reveal that communication in the afterlife is by
mental telepathy
[1] [2]. |
Evil: The Bible states
that evil and sin are like plagues afflicting humanity.
NDE accounts reveal that
"evil"
is really spiritual ignorance and
"sin"
are mistakes we make out of ignorance. God allows
us to be ignorant and make mistakes for the purpose
of instruction and spiritual growth. |
Salvation: Jesus
taught that
eternal life is attained through loving others and God
unconditionally. Eternal life means no more death.
NDE accounts overwhelmingly agree. In fact, many NDE
accounts reveal that
we are
already "saved." We just have to realize
it and make it a reality. |
Judgment: The Bible
states that
God does not judge anyone nor does
Jesus judge anyone
[1]
[2].
The Bible states that
the great Judge will set us free [1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6].
God is love; and
love keeps no record of wrongs. NDE accounts affirm
this to be true also. Both agree that
the only judgment that exists is self-judgment and self-condemnation
[1].
After death, we judge our entire life -
every thought, every word, and every deed. |
Damnation:
The concept of eternal damnation also comes from
the symbolism of the
parables of Jesus and the
Book of Revelation (along
with this verse) which were
never meant to be interpreted literally as even
Jesus taught.
Hell is not literal fire [1]
[2]
[3].
NDE accounts and the Bible affirms that hell is state
of
purification and
reflection - not eternal damnation, although it
may seem like
an eternity for those who are in that condition.
Hell is a temporary state [1]. |
Resurrection: Traditionally,
Christians believe "resurrection" to mean a time when
corpses come out of their graves at the Last Judgment
when Jesus appears on Earth again. But NDE accounts
and early Christian history agree that resurrection
really means
spiritual regeneration and
spiritual reincarnation [1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6].
Death is an out-of-body experience to other realms [1]
[2].
There is no sleeping in graves. The Bible describes
people who returned from the dead. Millions of people
are returning
from the dead today. The Bible and NDEs reveal that
we existed before we were even conceived [1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]. |
The Bible: During
one man's NDE, he was told by Jesus that
the Bible is
true, but it has to be interpreted spiritually and
read prayerfully. Early Christian history shows that
there were many
writings considered sacred but not included in the Bible.
Hundreds of years after the death of Jesus,
it was a relatively
small group of bishops who determined what would
be included in the Bible and what would not. |
Prophecy:
The Bible predicts a future of
major catastrophes both natural and man-made. This
agrees with
predictions
of the future found in NDE accounts. |
Prayer: One woman
learned during her NDE that
prayers of repetition
are not even heard. And there is no prayer more
powerful than a mother's prayer for her children.
Sincere prayers can be seen on the Other Side as beacons
of light shining out from the Earth. Group prayer appears
as a gigantic beam of light. All sincere prayers are
answered; but we cannot tell God how to answer them. |
Evolution: NDE insights
reveal that both
evolution and creationism are true. Science strongly
suggests that the universe was created through the process
of evolution. NDE accounts reveal that
evolution
is a divine process which all things experience
by means of
reincarnation (or "resurrection" as it
was known in Biblical days). |
Abortion: Some people
believe life begins at conception and others believe
life begins at birth. Some NDE insights suggests that
the soul enters the fetus anytime during a particular
timeframe of the pregnancy. That timeframe is roughly
between six months
after conception and up to an hour after birth.
Concerning abortion,
some women
have had NDEs while having an abortion. None of
the accounts that I have read, indicated that God was
displeased with what they did. All of them were heavenly
experiences with no condemnation. Indeed, NDEs show
that abortion is never even an issue with God. In fact,
the Bible actually condones abortion. |
Homosexuality: The Bible was written during
a time when society considered all sinners, homosexuals,
adulterers, and prostitutes as outcasts and worthy of
death. Women had the same status as cattle, slavery
was sanctioned, and so-called sexually immoral people
were stoned to death. But Jesus didn't follow the
social norms of those days. He hung out with sinners,
prostitutes, tax collectors and even made some of them
apostles. He even told the religious bigots of his time
how
the prostitutes were entering heaven before they were.
The Bible is virtually
silent about the issue of homosexuality. There are only
six verses in the Bible that refer to homosexuality
and they have been misinterpreted for thousands of years.
Historically, people's misinterpretation of the
Bible has left a trail of suffering, bloodshed and death.
Over the centuries people who misunderstood or misinterpreted
the Bible have done terrible things. The Bible has been
misused to (a) kill homosexuals; (b) defend bloody crusades
and tragic inquisitions; (c) to support slavery, apartheid
and segregation; (d) to persecute Jews and non-Christian
people of faith; (e)
to support Hitler's Third Reich and the Holocaust;
(f ) to oppose medical science; (g) to condemn
inter-racial marriage; (h) to execute women as witches,
and to (i ) support the
Ku Klux Klan.
The Bible is not
a science textbook nor a book about human sexuality
although scientific
studies prove homosexuality to be a genetic trait [1]
[2].
In fact, the Bible describes various sexual practices
which were acceptable in those days but are considered
immoral today. Here are a few examples:
• If
a bride is found not to
be a virgin, the Bible demands she be
executed on the spot by
stoning (Deut.
22:13-21). |
• If a married
person is found committing adultry, the Bible
demands both adulterers
be stoned to death (Deut.
22:22). |
• Divorce is strictly forbidden
by the Bible in both Testaments as is
remarriage by divorcees
(Mark
10:1-12). |
• The Bible forbids
a married couple from having sex
while the wife is menstruating.
If they disobey, both man and wife
shall be executed
(Lev.
18:19). |
• When a man died
childless, his widow is ordered by Biblical
law to have sex with each
of his brothers in turn until she bears
her deceased husband a male heir (Mark
12:18-27). |
•
If a man
gets into a fight with another man and
his wife intervenes
to rescue her husband by
grabbing the other man's
genitals, her hand
shall be cut off and no pity shall be
shown her (Deut.
25:11-12). |
• The Bible endorsed
the practise of
one man having many wives. |
• God ordered the
prophet Hosea to "marry a whore." |
•
Slavery and sex with
slaves was Biblically acceptable. |
• The marrying
of 11-year-old girls
was Biblically acceptable. |
•
Inter-racial
marriage was Biblically
unacceptable. |
•
Birth control was was Biblically
unacceptable. |
•
Seeing your parents naked was definitely
not acceptable. |
Some people falsely claim
the story of Sodom (Genesis
19:1-14) is a story about a city being destroyed
by God because it was filled with homosexuals. But Jesus
and five Hebrew prophets all describe the sins that
led to the destruction of Sodom and not one of them
mentions homosexuality.
In
Ezekiel 16:48-49, the prophet says, "This is
the sin of Sodom; she and her suburbs had pride, excess
of food, and prosperous ease, but did not help or encourage
the poor and needy. They were arrogant and this was
abominable in God's eyes." Sodom was destroyed
because the people there didn't take God seriously
about the poor, the hungry, the homeless or the outcast.
It does not condemn homosexuality itself. As for the
story of Lot, it was common for thieves, soldiers and
bullies to rape their vanquished enemies to assert their
victory and to dehumanize and demean them. The act of
rape or threatening to rape is about power and revenge,
not about homosexuality.
In
Leviticus 20:13 you will read these words: "If
a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both
of them have done what is detestable. They must be put
to death." The idea of executing homosexuals is
repulsive to spiritual people today. But there is an
important truth about God in this verse that has nothing
to do with sex.
Leviticus is a holiness code written about 3,000
years ago. This code includes prohibitions against round
haircuts, tattoos, working on the Sabbath, wearing garments
of mixed fabrics, eating pork or shell fish, getting
your fortune told, even touching the skin of a pig.
These "abominations" are offensive cultural
behaviors which people in those days considered tasteless.
They were written for the priests of Levi only to set
the priests of Israel over and against priests of other
cultures.
Jesus taught people
to love others unconditionally which includes loving
people who were born with a sexual preference different
from ours. This is supported by the gospels, the
NDEs of gays
and lesbians, and mere logic: God loves homosexuals
otherwise he wouldn't be creating so many of them
every day from the beginning.
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