Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: jmoon@lehi3b15.csee.lehigh.edu (Jonggu Moon [890911]) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: questions that I've never been able to answer Message-ID: Date: 7 Feb 90 08:20:22 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: CSEE Dept. Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Lines: 36 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu I just watched a short film called "An Occurrence at Battle Creek Ridge" an adaptation of a well read short story. In it, the hero appears to have escaped death and now is running through the woods rejoicing in his life. Hearing every bird, smelling every flower, savoring all the things that he ignored before. The irony is that we all die anyway. The Nihilist points out that as long as our lives may seem to us, in comparison to the worldly scale our physical lives are mere sparks, short blips on the timeline. Almost insignificant except for the few movers and shakers of history. Even those are not really worth much when you consider that this planet will go in a puff of smoke when our star runs out of fuel. I don't know how athiests handle this ( maybe they just accept it and so thats why they party as much as they can now ) but a Christian looks apon death not as the closing bloop in the blip, or a muffled snap of a spark, but the beginning of eternity. For those who accept Christ's salvation, death is a PROMOTION ! To finally be removed of the pressures and injustices of this world and take ones place in the kingdom of heaven, where the King is good, the men are strong, the women are pretty and the children are above average. The only thing a Christian might have to fear about death is the actual method of dying. Going to bed and not waking up is a good way to go I guess. Sliding down a 30foot razor blade is not. Crucifixion is the worst ( a study was done ). Paul himself looked forward to the day of his death when he can finally get his much needed rest. His dilemme was that he also wanted to continue to do God's work on Earth. Similarly, I too wait for the day of my death with the hope that I will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. But until then, I do what I am supposed to do here, so that I can hear the words "You did well my son" ^>*<^John