What does Judaism have to say about the afterlife?

[ymu]

So do you. I don't see the difference. Tell me why the stuff you believe is any different in terms of its relation to reality than Fattboy's (in terms of theology, not politics)

Hardly fair when she was commenting on his politics.

 

[The Groke]

right, there are signs and proofs of their existence

And none for the existence of heaven/hell.


QED etc.

 

[Spion]

right, there are signs and proofs of their existence

Let's see them then

 

[Spion]

Hardly fair when she was commenting on his politics.

It's a thread about 'the afterlife' and that's why I said '(in terms of theology, not politics)' Do read the thread

 

[invisibleplanet]

.

 

[frogwoman]

Yes, IMO, it's ridiculous to discuss who will go to heaven because it doesn't exist

how do you know, you've never been there. It's what i believe, i don't know whether it exists or not, nobody knows for sure, that is what i was trying to get across with my post, and my view that IF it did exist then of course good people of every religion would go to it, in my personal view of coruse.

it might not exist in a literal sense but in a figurative sense with the deceased living on in people's thoughts. like ip has mentioned, that's another opinion, there is loads of diversity on this issue

 

[Spion]

how do you know, you've never been there. It's what i believe, i don't know whether it exists or not, nobody knows for sure, that is what i was trying to get across with my post, and my view that IF it did exist then of course good people of every religion would go to it, in my personal view of coruse.

I think that, despite your religion being a rather harmless-looking liberal democratic iteration of Judaism, I still believe it helps legitimise the evidence-free invocation of supernatural phenomena. If humans are free from a need to justify themselves with evidence they can believe what the hell they like, and we've seen with Fattboy the type of things that can lead to.

the deceased living on in people's thoughts.

I agree with that. And think it's a very important thing around which I hope people will one day build a spirituality that isn't based on make-believe gods and heavens but on real people doing real good in the world and being remembered for it

 

[Spion]

As far as I am personally concerned, such ruminations about an afterlife/world-to-come (future) are made-up either to comfort the living feel about their own death and the death of their loved ones, else in the case of the political use made of eschatological beliefs (in all three Abrahamic religions), often used to manipulate the living to act a certain way in the present with the promise of a better future either in this world or in an afterlife. The only world that matters is the world we live in now, and the only future world worth worrying about is the one we will bequeath to our children/descendants.

Top post

 

[Belushi]

I think it was me that told OU that there's no heaven or hell in Judaism, and reading this thread and the contradictory posts I'm still confused about what Jews believe

 

[invisibleplanet]

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[Barking_Mad]

Not the Jewish point of view, but interesting none the less....

Ask the majority of Christians what they consider the greatest evil from which Christ feed humanity, and they will answer: from Hell, everlasting fire, and punishment in the next world. And along with this idea, they believe that our salvation may be obtained thanks to the intervention of others. The word Hell, which is seen so seldom in the Scriptures, has done much harm to Christianity as a result of false interpretation.

Men flee from an external Hell, when in reality they carry within themselves the Hell that they should fear the most. The salvation that they need is the liberation of their souls from the evil that is concealed within them. Much worse than any external punishment is the soul in a state of rebellion against Spirit; the soul endowed with divine force yet abandoning itself to bestial passions; the soul living in the sight of God yet fearing the anger of man, preferring glory in other men’s eyes to the peaceful realization of its own virtue. There is no greater disaster than this. It is this that impenitent man carries with him to his grave. ~ Channing

 

[Orang Utan]

x

 

[Spion]

I think it was me that told OU that there's no heaven or hell in Judaism, and reading this thread and the contradictory posts I'm still confused about what Jews believe

What's next week's dinner party poser:

Is there excrement in heaven and if so does it smell nice?
Can more than one angel be in the same place simultaneously?
Does the devil come round in his speedboat at 4pm?

 

[fattboy]

What does 'goy' mean to you, fattboy?

its a gentile innit

 

[Spion]

The Christian ideas of hell and purgatory probably have a very material base. The medieval church made a massive chunk of its revenues by selling indulgences to feudal lords and hangers on that would lessen the purchaser's time in purgatory. It was a bit like the way insurance companies try to frighten people about what might happen to them if they don't take out a policy.

If judaism never had a feudal-era religious establishment that did this it might explain why the idea of hell etc didn't gain any traction with them </conjecture>

 

[invisibleplanet]

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[invisibleplanet]

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[frogwoman]

Ummm, IP, reform doesn't say heaven and hell don't exist. Whether you believe in heaven and hell is left up to the individual's conscience, but the official line on the issue isn't to deny an afterlife at all

belushi - basically if you ask ten different jews about the same thing you'll get eleven different replies

 

[invisibleplanet]

.

 

[frogwoman]

i've never heard any reform rabbi saying that heaven doesn't exist

hell, yeah, but few jews apart from a few among the orthodox (and even then...) actually believe in it ...

 

[frogwoman]

Well that's up to you, and that's certainly a position that's held by some people but i really don't think that that's their official position, as far as i can tell they say that when it comes to the afterlife people can believe whatever they want

and according to some sects of hasidic jews, righteous scholars and so on are reincarnated, which goes to show that nobody can agree on it

 

[Demosthenes]

I heard someone say that if you get 2 jews together to discuss something you'll usually find at least four different opinions.

 

[frogwoman]

well, yeah, nobody can agree on anything. That's why discussions about the afterlife have usually been disapproved of in judaism, as one goes round and round in circles and the importance on focusing on this life , is lost. It doesn't stop people trying to imagine what the afterlife is going to be like though, because if you are religious you will naturally be interested in it.

 

[frogwoman]

This is what the jewish encyclopedia has to say on hell, anyway:

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=115&letter=G
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gehenna
xx

 

[phildwyer]

theology is utter bollocks

You Sir are a moron.

 

[Belushi]

What's next week's dinner party poser:

Is there excrement in heaven and if so does it smell nice?
Can more than one angel be in the same place simultaneously?
Does the devil come round in his speedboat at 4pm?

Nah, its 'Do all dogs really go to heaven?'

 

[Orang Utan]

So, do Jews go to heaven then?

 

[Belushi]

So, do Jews go to heaven then?

Depends on the Jew apparently.

 

[Orang Utan]

Is Larry David going to heaven?

 

[frogwoman]

Nah, its 'Do all dogs really go to heaven?'

i certainly think so, although there isn't all that much discussion of this in judaism.

dogs are so much better than people, in a moral sense, and i sincerely mean this btw