Every form of organized religion has taboos with extreme forms of punishment, usually rooted in cultural norms. These exist to keep members of the community in line to maintain public order and become so ingrained in the mind (whether by choice in adulthood or through family traditions) that they become expressed in the subconscious through the form of dreams or how we view the divine, as the form spirits and places are filtered through our minds. That is why acts of blasphemy (or taboo breaking in general) can be extremely powerful for some individuals, as the individual is breaking through psychological restraints that has been introduced to them. So, if we look at heaven and hell as psychological metaphors, there is a sense of reality to them.
Personally, if we look at the Old and New testament literally, I would take the hellfire over heaven’s light based on what the chief deity stands for, which is blind obedience.
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The Bible’s like mostly all symbolism , so it is my perception they were referring to states of consciousness and vibration , it’s also my belief that when you die , if you don’t overcome illusions that keep you stuck here , you’ll have to come back , just my thoughts
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You are most likely correct that it was probably not meant to be taken literally. I often wonder if it is intended to actually be a form of poetry. Unfortunately, it often is viewed as literal history,
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I think it was intended to be written for those to take truths from it who were Advanced enough to perceive the knowledge
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Its both symbolic and literal in my view, also, i am wrestling with the idea that the Old testament God (Jewish god) and the Father that Jesus referred to, are not the same, also, yeah, in the the old testament, the Israelite god was pretty strict, but it was for the Jews, i think he is calm now, though we see the strictness in the Quran as well, i think He was so in the past but he’s chill now
Religion is generally where spirituality goes from personal to political.
I wonder if the fact that the old testament being written originally in Hebrew and the new in greek might also be at play with the different personality of God between the two. Language and culture are very closely intertwined so I am wondering if God being all loving might have roots in the favoritism expressed by the Greek/Roman pagan pantheon towards their followers that was passed on into the new testament through the authors who would have been exposed to it.
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That’s actually a great insight, I did not think of that, you know, a very good chapter is Revelations, it shows a multifaceted version of Divinity amongst the Abrahamic
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It is an interesting text, especially when you factor in the turmoil going on during the time period the text was believed to be written involving the Roman Empire. Lots of wars and revolts were going on at the time, as well as heavy persecution in the form of heavy taxes towards Jews and Christians (the emperor at the time was not as crazy as Nero was, but the stress of maintaining a living is still an obvious hardship). There is little doubt that the frustrations of the followers was being expressed by the author within the text.
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