Without Heaven and the Hell, There Cannot Be...
There is a famous teaching by Christ Jesus called the Sermon on the Mount, which characterizes Christianity:
17 And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;
18 And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed.
19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.
20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
(Luke 6)
Christ Jesus healed the sick and drove unclean spirits out of people, further assuring that the poor should be welcomed in the Kingdom of God and the rich and happy people should be punished but yet encouraging people to love their enemies.
But if there are no super-natural power, evil spirits, and Heaven and the hell, etc., Christ Jesus is a kind of mad man.
Christ Jesus spoke to poor and suffering people but not to rich and happy people. Rich and happy people have wealth and happiness built on poverty and travail of poor and suffering people in society. They do not usually have true sympathy and empathy to poor and suffering people. Conversely they despise poor and suffering people, sometimes thinking that the God belles the rich and happy but forsake the poor and suffering. Therefore, the rich and happy, no matter how much learnt they are, cannot see and find what the poor and suffering are seeing and finding in their lives. However, Christ Jesus could see and find it, thus enabling Him to deliver the teaching that touched the hearts and minds of the poor and suffering.
Christ Jesus healed the sick and drove unclean spirits out of people, further assuring that the poor should be welcomed in the Kingdom of God and the rich and happy people should be punished but yet encouraging people to love their enemies.
But if there are no super-natural power, evil spirits, and Heaven and the hell, etc., Christ Jesus is a kind of mad man.
Christ Jesus spoke to poor and suffering people but not to rich and happy people. Rich and happy people have wealth and happiness built on poverty and travail of poor and suffering people in society. They do not usually have true sympathy and empathy to poor and suffering people. Conversely they despise poor and suffering people, sometimes thinking that the God belles the rich and happy but forsake the poor and suffering. Therefore, the rich and happy, no matter how much learnt they are, cannot see and find what the poor and suffering are seeing and finding in their lives. However, Christ Jesus could see and find it, thus enabling Him to deliver the teaching that touched the hearts and minds of the poor and suffering.
The biggest joy for the poor and suffering was being taught by the Son of God, as proven by His acts, that there was life after death and Heaven where they would be welcomed.
So, even today, poor and suffering people would accept the Sermon on the Mount, while rich and happy people should not feel real with it. Rich and happy people are busy enjoying their lives in this world, but when they think of life after death, they will try not to believe that there is Heaven and the hell, since they instinctively understand that they cannot be welcomed in Heaven. In most cases, their riches and happiness depend on science, technology, and rational behaviors based on their own smart judgment, planning and machination. They do not need the teaching of Christ Jesus.
However, it must be impossible that this teaching of Christ Jesus has survived 2000 years, if truly there is no life after death, Heaven, the hell, etc.
Without Heaven and the hell, there cannot be Christianity anyway.
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John 5, King James Version
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.