So you don't believe that God would make some tribe of indigenous peoples suffer in the afterlife because they don't know about christianity in any shape or form?

That's what i am saying.But if you have read the bible and mock the scriptures then the world becomes a dark place. Though as we both know everyone on earth at the end of times will see the glory of the lord and will not be able to deny it . And if they do then well it's freedom of choice they never wanted to believe whether it was true or not.Peoples of the earth before the coming of the lord are already rejoicing.The dead in christ will rise first then the believers of the earth. Then for a short time the evil one will walk the earth and then the army of the lord will return (us) and all the martyrs that have turned to christ will rise and then we do battle with all on the face of the earth and the devil and his dominium will be thrown into the lake of burning sulphur forever amen.And we christians will have a new earth that will need no sun for god will be it's light in the supernatural world.We will live with him just like adam and eve in the beginning without the forbidden fruit lol.It's a new beginning the evolving of the human race second stage of our development, eternal life live forever good ya!

How do you know that anything you just wrote is true and/or will take place? Or, if one accepts there's no actual proof per se, what is it that convinces you it must be true?

Do you eccept there is good and evil in this world.Right well thats one hurdle crossed.Now then this will be difficult for you to comprehend, when i was a teenager i had a close call with death and while i was in a coma i travelled and was shown around the spirit world where i saw the gate of hell in the clouds and the stairway to heaven and the new earth and the kingdom of god which i have to add is a huge city in a bubble it was minature as i remember it. Why i was shown it all became clear to me but of course i selfishly denied my calling and ran away. When i awoke from my coma about 6 months later i saw the two witnesses on a train to bristol it was a warning. I have no idea why but since then i have become born again and i get visits either from jesus himself or angels every so often.So i believe what is written in revelations that is probably the only book i have read it's all about the present and future i can relate. I still am not sure about anything my feet are firmly on the ground and god knows it. I no longer go to church i find it irritating and boring and every church i go to everyone is to ambitious and they often hurt the simple faith we should all have. There are to many denominations to simplify it we are distant from one another we are divided by ignorance and selfish just as i was when i was a teenager and they call themselves christians and they all seem to know so much but have very little faith when trusting in the lord when it comes to money and authority forget it i'm better off. I have a simple faith and pray every day i am a sinner i won't deny it lol but for me i have seen what you all long to see and without seeing it you find it difficult to believe i understand. But for me i would put my head on the block than turn away for i know that we are not alone.

Hmm, okay .. That is interesting.

You write that the gate to hell is in the clouds? Do you know why this is or was it a misspelling? And I have a hard time understanding everything, but you wrote that the kingdom of God is a miniature city inside a bubble? Where's the bubble, is that too in the sky somewhere?

Somebody get a straitjacket.

I don't think it's a matter of being convinced so much as "even if I don't buy it it's better to be on the safe side". Pascal's wager and everything. That's why the most nutty religions are so successful, it's a fundamental key to their conversion process that while not explictly stated by the people trying to convert, very rarely does it not cross a person's mind.

That's really interesting. I had an experience of being blessed by the Holy Spirit when I was 16 it was the most incredible moment of my life. I could never turn away from God because I know that he is the one that is guiding me through life, aiding me in my suffering and sadness.

Ahh, Tore! :) Your clear, concise questions are always so soothingly thoughtful. I admire that you take the time to think of good questions about what you read.

I agree that people are too often divided by ignorance and selfishness, chard, yet this is one main criticism I have about some religions: they inspire people to believe that humanity is divided into believers who will have salvation and non-believers who will go to hell. To me it seems you are perpetuating the very divisions among humanity that you say you dislike.

Vanilla, when you considered that your experience was a hallucination, what made you decide it was not? Certain psychiatric conditions, for example, cause people to believe they talk to or see angels:

Thanks Vegangelica :) I am curious in finding out more without sounding too judgmental because I do think the subject and these experiences are interesting.

About hallucinations, just after my 12 years birthday, I was in the hospital with a pretty bad concussion from falling off a swing down a little mountain slope and banging my head pretty bad. I couldn't sleep that night in the hospital because the nurses were doing something painful to this other man in the same room as me and he couldn't keep quiet because of his pains. Sometime in the early morning when I was pretty scared and worried, I suddenly saw flames for just a split second. Not like the room was on fire, just fire filling my vision. It scared me pretty bad so I got out of bed and stumbled out in the corridor where I could see other people .. that calmed me down enough for me to go back to bed.

Possibly it was a hallucination or just a really vivid start of a dream just as I dozed off. I'm sure one could interpret it in a religious way, but considering it's only happened that one time after a pretty bad head injury leads me to think it had something to do with the injury and the bad experience rather than God sending me a message. If God sends visions, it would be strange if he only does it when people are sick and injured.

This is something I've always wondered about. I'm not religious in anyway but I like hearing about why people are. I hate being preached at, I'm just interested in why people choose to believe what they do (If having faith in something makes people feel better about themselves and their lives then who am I to judge?). But, whenever anybody says about 'visions' it's always based around some kind of injury or near death experience. Which I guess makes sense in a way, but I never hear stories about how somebody is at their lowest ebb and ready to chuck it all in when, all of a sudden, God pops down to say hello. Or when people truely need guidance in their life...

By all means, if someone can enlighten me then that would be awesome :)