Hello, everyone! I'm posting for the first time here, even though I've been lurking. I wanted to share something I've been thinking about recently.
It's not anything ground-breaking but pretty cool nonetheless. Namely - the distinction between up and down that is completely illusory, because there is no up and down in the universe. The heaven and hell dichotomy only makes sense if the earth is flat, which is exactly what the people who wrote the Bible believed. Also the universe is expanding and earth is never in the same place; we're constantly drifting through the cosmos and each of us has traveled thousands of kilometers for a few minutes even if it appears to us that we're standing still. This would mean that heaven and hell are constantly on the move too - and the bible says earth stands still... This juxtaposition between heaven and hell is simply a human construct. Of course someone might counter this by saying they're not actual places, but as we know... every time science makes a discovery and proves the religious texts wrong yet again, suddenly those verses become metaphorical. I'm sure most theists believe they're real.
When I think about it, it's a pretty powerful thought because it destroys the idea about these places. What do you think?
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"the bible says the earth stands still" -Heartplace
I am curious where that is in the bible or how you interpret it. The bible does not say the the earth moves.(of course not it obviously does not).
"I am curious where that is in the bible or how you interpret it."
This is one instance but there are others as well:
Psalm 93:1: Thou hast fixed the earth immovable and firm
Basically they believed earth is the center of the universe, and the other celestial bodies revolve around it. The realization that earth was round and not flat was a very tough one to swallow - so they put Galileo on house arrest for the rest of his life(I think). =/
Also this reminds me of:
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@Heartplace
: they put Galileo on house arrest"
Galileo must have been absolutely terrified. A few years before that, Giordano Bruno was cruelly executed for saying that the stars were really other suns with their own planets, where perhaps other people lived. I saw a statue of Bruno in Rome's Campo de' Fiori, where the bastards burned him alive. The Catholic church recently apologized to Galileo, but I've never heard them apologize for their vile treatment of Bruno. Too ashamed perhaps.
I agree Heart place. Why is heaven always up? If your in Arizona going up is heading down if your in Israel. Best explanation is that the humans who wrote the bible were ignorant of the greater world and universe. The theology reflects that ignorance.
Between heaven and hell, check into the boogie motel. Foghat