Heaven and Hell Survey, part 1
One of the girls I went to Oxford with last year sent me this. She is a biblical studies Major and made this survey for some sort of religious beliefs study that she is doing at gordon and stuff. I figured it was interesting stuff to paste here. I'll do it in two posts
1. If you had to define your religious views (even if you don’t regularly), what would you say? (e.g. Jewish/“spiritual”/agnostic/atheist/pick-and-choose/Christian/etc)
***Umm... I guess christian, though I dont like the social overtones that the word has accumulated throughout history. Admirer and attempted follower of Christ, i guess.
2. Quick! Before you think any “deep”/philosophical thoughts! Word-associate! Write down whatever images or ideas come to mind after reading the following words, even if you don’t actually agree with those images/ideas.
heaven: musical, puffy, shiny, extra orbital, light, weight off my shoulders, legally high, cosmic rave
hell: bad, lonely, painful, tears, alone, required chapel
ghosts: lost, bitter, lonely, "I cant believe you told me the end of Sixth Sense"
purgatory: waiting, airports
afterlife: real, hazy,
great-grandpa: dead, dont know em,
Stalin: dead, dont wanna know em, paranoid, mustache, trotsky, killer, getting raped repeatedly by banshees in hades.
3. Where do you get ideas about heaven? (Even if you don’t agree with those ideas – where do you most encounter ideas about the afterlife?)
church/religious institution? (yes/no/somewhat) Obviously
family/friends? (“Where is granny now?”) Yes
movies? (which ones?) Ooh ooh, Bill and Ted's Bogus Adventure!!
TV shows? (specify, please) I cant think of any that involve heaved
books? (again, what books?) The chronicles of narnia, especially The Last Battle and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
jokes/pop-culture? (examples?) the fact that I wrote "puffy" in that stream of consciousness exercise above seems to indicate that whether I want to or not I have been influenced by the whole "cherub on a cloud thing"
4. Now for what you actually believe about the afterlife (not just what you’ve picked up from your environment, as above): Do you believe in heaven/a positive afterlife? (If not, that’s a-okay – skim over the remaining questions and just answer what you can.)
***yeah I do...
5. Do you believe in hell? If not, does everybody go to heaven?
***Yeah its out there. Its only fair or something.
6. How is it decided if you go to heaven?
***We dont have much say in it. Call it mercy or grace.
7. Where are people who have already died – in heaven/hell or somewhere else? Can we, the living, contact them? If they’re not in heaven/hell, when do they go there (if at all)?
***I believe the links between the afterlife and earth are more real that we know or care to acknowledge. I believe that mediums and such things do contact spirits and such but as to what kind and how... I dunno. But that much is in the bible. I sorta believe that souls in heaven still have some interaction in our lives, or can. Again, how I dont know.
8. Can people in heaven/hell/the afterlife/purgatory/what-have-you look into our lives and see what we’re doing? ***I'd like to think so.
1. If you had to define your religious views (even if you don’t regularly), what would you say? (e.g. Jewish/“spiritual”/agnostic/atheist/pick-and-choose/Christian/etc)
***Umm... I guess christian, though I dont like the social overtones that the word has accumulated throughout history. Admirer and attempted follower of Christ, i guess.
2. Quick! Before you think any “deep”/philosophical thoughts! Word-associate! Write down whatever images or ideas come to mind after reading the following words, even if you don’t actually agree with those images/ideas.
heaven: musical, puffy, shiny, extra orbital, light, weight off my shoulders, legally high, cosmic rave
hell: bad, lonely, painful, tears, alone, required chapel
ghosts: lost, bitter, lonely, "I cant believe you told me the end of Sixth Sense"
purgatory: waiting, airports
afterlife: real, hazy,
great-grandpa: dead, dont know em,
Stalin: dead, dont wanna know em, paranoid, mustache, trotsky, killer, getting raped repeatedly by banshees in hades.
3. Where do you get ideas about heaven? (Even if you don’t agree with those ideas – where do you most encounter ideas about the afterlife?)
church/religious institution? (yes/no/somewhat) Obviously
family/friends? (“Where is granny now?”) Yes
movies? (which ones?) Ooh ooh, Bill and Ted's Bogus Adventure!!
TV shows? (specify, please) I cant think of any that involve heaved
books? (again, what books?) The chronicles of narnia, especially The Last Battle and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
jokes/pop-culture? (examples?) the fact that I wrote "puffy" in that stream of consciousness exercise above seems to indicate that whether I want to or not I have been influenced by the whole "cherub on a cloud thing"
4. Now for what you actually believe about the afterlife (not just what you’ve picked up from your environment, as above): Do you believe in heaven/a positive afterlife? (If not, that’s a-okay – skim over the remaining questions and just answer what you can.)
***yeah I do...
5. Do you believe in hell? If not, does everybody go to heaven?
***Yeah its out there. Its only fair or something.
6. How is it decided if you go to heaven?
***We dont have much say in it. Call it mercy or grace.
7. Where are people who have already died – in heaven/hell or somewhere else? Can we, the living, contact them? If they’re not in heaven/hell, when do they go there (if at all)?
***I believe the links between the afterlife and earth are more real that we know or care to acknowledge. I believe that mediums and such things do contact spirits and such but as to what kind and how... I dunno. But that much is in the bible. I sorta believe that souls in heaven still have some interaction in our lives, or can. Again, how I dont know.
8. Can people in heaven/hell/the afterlife/purgatory/what-have-you look into our lives and see what we’re doing? ***I'd like to think so.
Comments
You know, the more I think about it, the more I don't really know what I believe about the afterlife. I mean, I have spent so long just BELIVING what I was taught as a child but I have never gone back to really examine it as an adult and know I don't know. It has never really held much interest with me, but I guess it is in many ways more important than life, so it should. Maybe one day I will take the time to investigate...
To be honest heaven always seemed boring to me until recently, once my views of God began to both change and become my own. Then my views of heaven became much less concrete, but more firmly believed in if that makes sense.
i suppose that doesn't help if your motivation for being good in life is to get to a good afterlife filled with rewards and such. but that's not me, so i don't have to worry about that:-D