First you just got confirmed, cool. However there are a few things that are incorrect first the only why (in Catholic Theology) that any Christian goes to heaven (purgatory is just a intementite step, cuz your going to heaven, just not yet). Must be forgiven of his or her sins. So if Al Bundy goes to confession right before he dies will he go straight to heaven not nessacarly. Here's the problem, if you confess all your sins and aren't repeatant then you are not forgiven because you really wheren't sorry for your sins. Further if you don't do the things that the priest tells you to (normally some prayers) then you aren't forgiven, so if before you left the confession and you ignored the what the priest said, perhaps he asked you not ask for forgiveness from the person you hurt and you didn't do it, then your aren't forgiven. Also just because you are forgiven of the sin doesn't mean your won't get the punishment from the sin, it just means means you are forgiven. It's like if you stole you mom and dad's car the "should" forgive you from stealing the Car, but do you think that they won't give you a punishment, errr no (unless you are my little brother).

*Will edit this post later, My little bro needs the compy, more content to follow*

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Pinky we will so rule the world...as soon as I figure out what step 2 is.

Heaven: Don't know if I'm going. Doesn't much matter. Either most of the theology I've heard is wrong, and I'm going, or its right, and I wouldn't WANT to. Heaven as I keep hearing it described (a vast city where you praise and sing throughout eternity) sounds DREADFULLY boring, to me. A heaven we get to choose, though.. that could have promise. Me, I'd want to spend eternity travelling to every planet and moon in the universe, just to see what they looked like. By the time I finished a circuit, everything back where I started would have changed, so I could do it all over again.

Hell: Could somebody explain this to me again? Just what is the POINT of Hell? What useful purpose does it serve? Purgatory sounds better for everyone, I think. Purgatory should be a place where you are confronted with the reality of your actions, the truth about yourself and your place in the universe, and everything you did to screw it up. Then you start working to fix yourself... probably includes begging forgiveness of the people you hurt. Once you're better, then you ascend. Hell, if you'll pardon the pun, has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. You're there, you're stuck there forever. What good does that do? Eternal pain, despair, and torment would seem to be incompatible with the concept of a loving, all-powerful Deity. After all, omniscience and omnipotence means you're smart enough to figure out a way to redeem EVERYBODY, and CAPABLE of doing it, as well, doesn't it?

I'll do my time in Purgatory, if that's what it takes... but Hell? That's just daft.

It's good to ask questions about these things. Even if you don't believe, it's good to understand what your friends do, even (or especially) if they don't believe what you do.

--Baloo

Postscript: So now we know what caused the schism between the Catholic and Protestant churches, and what purpose purgatory is supposed to serve, and what it is believed to be like. What next?

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A well-intentioned fool can get into more trouble than any number of rapscallions.
www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/8641/

You want to know the point of Hell? The way I have it figured, God never destroys anything that He creates, but He will punish those who don't ask for forgiveness (or, in philosophies including Purgatory, those who will NEVER ask for forgiveness, by the very nature that they've built up for themselves, ala Satan) for eternity. Some people choose "The Dark Side", and they can reach a point of no return. The Bible says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the only unforgivable sin. I believe this is because human nature is such that, once this sin is committed, there will be no repentance, and thus no forgiveness. God COULD redeem everyone, but that would go against the concept of free will. If He forced you to be repentant, there wouldn't be much point. You have to CHOOSE Him, not be forced into it.

Sol:

Calculators? No idea. But I do know where win.ini goes when your system crashes.

"And to this day I do not know the place to which lost data goes.
Perhaps it goes to Heaven, where the angels have it stored.
But as for productivity, well, I fear that it goes straight to Hell. And that's the tale I have to tell.
Your choice: Abort, Retry, Ignore."

Matthew 12:31. And that would be an instance of the Catholic church directly contradicting Jesus, wouldn't it? Saying that there is no unforgivable sin when He specifically said that there is?

1 o' 2:

My definition doesn't really matter. God's definition of the original Greek word used by Jesus matters. Again, I'd say it's unforgivable because human nature is such that, once a certain event has taken place, repentance will not be asked for, and thus no forgiveness given. What that event is, I have no idea, but that suicide idea the Catholics used to have may just fit the bill. Assuming there is no purgatory in which you can correct your mistakes here, of course. Anyone know if there is a specific ancient Greek term easily translated as "suicide". Of course, then the situation might come up in which oe would try to commit suicide, but didn't die right away. You could then change your mind, repent, ask for forgiveness, THEN die.

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"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That "all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people . . ." To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition."
- Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1791

12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be
forgiven unto men.
12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

(King James version of the Bible)

Ok so what this says is you can curse against Jesus and be forgiven, but not against the Holy Spirit, if you take the bible literally.

My understanding of "the unforgivable sin" is this: If you know perfectly well that God has done something and you willfully ascribe it to ungodly forces, that might be it. You are intentionally not just lying about God, but are trying to get others to buy into the lie.

If you think God is a dirty, hypocritical so-and-so and say exactly that, it's forgivable because God knows you really believe what you are saying. Even if it isn't the truth, you believe it is and aren't trying to mislead anyone about it. If you don't believe something (about God) but try to get others to believe it, that's when you're in trouble. Hmmm... Sounds kind of like preachers as portrayed on TV or in the movies (not without some basis in fact, I'm afraid).

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A well-intentioned fool can get into more trouble than any number of rapscallions.
www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/8641/

Of course, that bit of scripture may date from before the Dogma of the Trinity and of the divinity of Jesus was codified by the Nicean Council, and somehow escaped "correction?"

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Cordellia: "Well, does looking at guns make you wanna have sex?"
Xander: "I'm seventeen. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex."

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"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That "all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people . . ." To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition."
- Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1791

Omega: In what way does God punish?

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--Then, said Cranly, do you not intend to become a protestant?
--I said that I had lost the faith, Stephen answered, but not that I had lost self-respect. What kind of liberation would that be to forsake an absurdity which is logical and coherent and to embrace one which is illogical and incoherent?

James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.