YOU SAID:
I have a good Christian question. Why do so called Christians believe the vast majority of the world is going to hell simply for not believing the way they do? My stepmother actually believed only 100,000 would be in heaven because of a reference in revelations. If the stories were true then Jesus came to make heaven MORE accessible, not less. Do you believe non-Christians go to heaven too?
 
MY RESPONSE:
This is an excellent question with many excellent answers. Letâ019s break it down.
 
-- WAS HEAVEN MADE â01CMORE ACCESSIBLEâ01D BY JESUS --
First, Jesus did indeed come to the earth to make it accessible to us humans. Not â01Cmore accessibleâ01D mind you, but accessible period. God the Father is unable to look upon sin, which is the reason that Jesus said what He did on His cross of crucifixion.
 
Since Jesus sacrificed Himself to take on the sins of the world, God the Father was no longer able to look on His only begotten Son until after the resurrection transformation had taken place.
 
Matthew 27:46
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"â014which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
 
Everyone on earth has sinnedâ026
 
Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
 
And is doomed to everlasting destruction without the sacrifice of a Saviorâ026
 
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
 
So without a Savior the entirety of humanity is lost. Thus Christ came to the earth to make it accessible to everyone not â01Cmore accessible.â01D It is up to each individual to do what they wish with the gift they have been given.
 
-- IS HEAVEN IN EVERYONEâ019S FUTURE --
Will everyone make it to heaven?
 
Well, yes and no. In the first place not everyone would want to make it to Heaven. Thus those who choose to reject Christ on earth would actually see â01Cheavenâ01D as â01Chellâ01D as they are forced to endure all eternity with the very one whom they have rejected. Would it make sense for these types of people to be forced to endure â01Ceternal tormentâ01D? Though, some people then take this to mean that they will be subjected to eternal punishment in an eternal hell; even though such doctrine is clearly not taught within Godâ019s Word.
 
None-the-less, will there be a limit to how many people from planet earth can be saved?
 
Not according to Godâ019s Holy Word.
 
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
 
Did you notice the words like â01Cthe worldâ01D and â01Cwhoever believesâ01D there? Wouldnâ019t it be a fair step of logic to say this pretty much defines everyone who is, will be, or ever has been on earth? The only catch is that they have to believe, which is where some people get misdirected onto thinking they can do whatever they want because they are â01Csaved by grace.â01D
 
And they are â01Csaved by grace,â01D but spouting this in the face of any wrongdoing is indeed a dangerous thing to do. Though I may be challenged on the next Scripture, Iâ019m going to presume that there is not a great deal of difference in believing in Jesus and loving Jesus. Should I receive a counter to this point I will deal with it in a future post.
 
John 14:21
Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
 
So if we love and believe in Jesus we not only embrace Him into our lives, but we also follow what He has taught us to do. This does not mean we are saved by works, but rather the fruits of our works outflow from us as a result of our beliefs.
 
-- HOW TO INTERPRET THE WORD OF GOD --
In Godâ019s Word we readâ026
 
Matthew 27:5
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
 
And we also read...
 
Luke 10:37
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
 
Which, of course, means that God condones suicide. Right? Not hardly. If we do not use Scripture to interpret Scripture we can get so very misled as so many different denominations today are. Thus when looking upon a single passage we not only need to read what it says before and after the given verse, but we also need to look elsewhere throughout the Scriptures to see if we can find corresponding information that confirms or denies a particular position we believe Scripture to be making.
 
In the case of the 100,000 total for Heaven there is not enough supporting evidence within Scripture to prove that this is a position of which we should take a stand on.
 
Scripture does sayâ026
 
Matthew 7:13-14
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
 
Which indeed does mean that not everyone will make it to Heaven. However, limiting it to a specific number of people would not be exercising belief upon sound doctrine.
 
-- SUMMARY --
Non-Christians will not be in Heaven because that would be Hell to them. Though the number of people entering Heaven is definitely not positively confirmed within Godâ019s Word. However, unlike many a Christian would teach today, entering Heaven is not simply a matter of spoken belief; rather actions must follow words spoken though one is not saved by those actions; instead those actions are a fruit of oneâ019s transforming salvation experience.
 
I hope that has helped, and please feel free to ask any question you wish. Iâ019ll do my best to answer.
 
Cheers
IBIJ

I dont agree with the premise that God cant look at sin. He is God and capable of anything. He created sin. I also disagree that Heaven would be Hell to non christians. Surely Heaven would be pleasant to anyone there. Heaven isnt just Gods home...is a paradise beyond imagination and I refuse to think anyone would dislike that, whether they expected it or not.
 

YOU SAID:
I dont agree with the premise that God cant look at sin. He is God and
capable of anything. He created sin.
 
MY RESPONSE:
God may have created the propensity for sin, but he surely did not create sin. Lucifer created it within the Heavenly angels when he challenged God's position and was cast out of Heaven into the abyss (which is another word for the earth).
 
Why would God cast Lucifer out of earth as well as create a sacrifical system for covering sin which culminated with the death of His very own Son if this were not an issue? Even God has limits as to what He Himself can and cannot do.
 
For example, can God create a rock so large that He cannot pick it up? I know that's a mind twister, but it get's the point across very well of God not being able to look upon sin.
 
YOU SAID:
I also disagree that Heaven would be Hell to non christians. Surely Heaven would be pleasant to anyone there.
 
MY RESPONSE:
Take your average agnostic or athiest who have spent there lives here on earth attempting to discredit the existance of God. These people would be happy in a place where they would have to admit that the very one whom they denied all their lives was actually REAL? I think not. What do they think? Next time you meet a true agnostic or athiest ask them if they would love to spend time and eternity with God after fighting against Him all their lives. I'm sure their answer would be most telling.
 
However, Scripturally not everyone will make it to Heaven.
 
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
 
If that is not clear enough that not everyone will make it to Heaven, then add other scriptures like this.
 
Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
 
Revelation 21:8
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liarsâ014their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
 
Christ did indeed die for everyone everywhere, unfortunately everyone everwhere will not choose to follow Him with their lives.
 
YOU SAID:
Heaven isnt just Gods home.
 
MY RESPONSE:
You are quite right about this, but it surely is a place where sin exists no more anywhere forever, thus an eternal hell cannot be possible. And those who chose to embrace darkness rather than light will also no longer exist.
 
John 3
18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.[g] 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
 
YOU SAID:
Heaven isnt just Gods home...is a paradise beyond imagination and I refuse to think anyone would dislike that, whether they expected it or not
 
MY RESPONSE:
Men can think many interesting things, but if it is not taught within God's Word then basing one's existance upon those thought processes within men is indeed quite dangerous. While the thought above certainly is a nice one, how much support can you find from within God's Holy Word to back it up?
 
If God is capable of anything, then wouldn't that include being capable of inspiring man with His Holy Word and carrying that same Word down thru time and eternity? If not, then being able to look upon sin would be an illogical argument position. If so, then shouldn't we believe exactly what His Word teaches instead of coming up with our own "good ideas" for what His Word should say?
 
Happy Sabbath
IBIJ

..As 'IBIJ' would say {and we're in agreement, on this} God did Not
"create Sin," but rather.. human 'free-will.'
..You may think that I'm 'splitting hairs', but I'm really not{!}.
For without free-will {or, us having the ability to make our own
daily/hourly, even, minute-by-minute moral choices}, we would all
not be all that different than pre-programmed robots, who could
Only make the 'right' moral-choices, each and every time.
..And how weird, by comparison, would That be!?
 
..As for God not being able to look upon sin, short of His Eternal
Son's, 'blood-covenant-sacrifice'; that would be like saying, I
don't see why God has to have as strict a moral standard{!?}
 
..The story of Sodom & Gomorrah {among many others} tells us other-
wise; plus, who are we to tell God {in effect} what exactly His 'moral-
standards' {minus, JC's sacrifice, and whether or not, we as individuals..
ascribe any meaning to it} should be?!
 
..The other day, I was 'blabbering' about, what 'Saint' Paul referred to
as, "sinning, by presumption."
..Without denying the fact that this facet of 'Sin' among believers, has the
capacity for causing many of us {mainly believers} to often wonder if
we're guilty of such; without God's ordained 'Sin-nature'.. that remains in
part, in our temperament/psyche, even After we've become 'Saved'; I
suppose that this particular, potential 'moral pothole' {though it's more
like a "landmine" to some believers!}, Does succeed in causing more than
a few believers, to 'seek out' {if you will} God/JC, daily, {even hourly,
for that matter, if need be!}..than to 'become Saved'.. only to put that
experience, 'out-of-sight, and mostly out-of-mind', once that has been
accomplished{!} {my 'heaviest' speculative, and probably valid, {specu-
lative} thought, yet!}}
 
..And finally, as for your thought that "Heaven would be a Paradise for
everyone"{?}.. N-O-T!! As once mentioned by the Swedish theologian,
and at times..gifted psychic, Emmanuel Swedenborg; who said, to para-
phrase: 'Everyone is drawn to things of their own desires, both in our
present earthly-life, and the events taking place when we die.'
 
..Sounds logical; weren't we all at one time "drawn" to this Web site, if
only initially, because of our 'love' for chess?!..Not to mention, a number
of people who, for the most part, no longer post here, who both professed
their hatred for the "God of the Bible," and what He represents to their
own minds..{something to do with Him {God} alledgedly being a petulant
and insane mass murderer}.. plus, understandably.. given their perceived
views, their expressed desire to not have to worship/dwell with, such a
{self-perceived} entity.
 
..In a nutshell, like passions and mindsets {as in "values"} attracts like-minded
individuals, and environments; even in the ethereal/out-of-body realm. And I
suspect that over 99% of us, wouldn't want it any other way! ..{ :

Hi HallOfMirrors
 
I'm impressed. It's not often I find myself in nearly complete agreement with a religious post here on Caissa; but then there's you. And you have done an excellent job of explaining your (and my) position on this matter. Good job.
 
If there is any point on which I would call your attention in disagreement, it is so minimally minor at the time of this writing that it is not worth mentioning.
 
Once again, thanks for a well written post.
 
Happy Sabbath
IBIJ

Could you provide evidence as to claiming that earth and the abyss are one and the same? It seems to me that that is an assumption and a personal interpretation that needs some supportive scriptures.
~JEBUS

I am wondering how you deal with the person who is in an airplane that is hurtling earthward and genuinely asks Christ into their heart prior to death in the ensuing crash? Will they enter into heaven or not? Or the person who dies horribly in an explosive fire, their body reduced to ashes, will they be in heaven even though their body never is buried in a grave?
 
~JEBUS

Well well, Jebus is still in the house, Howdy
 
YOU SAID:
Could you provide evidence as to claiming that earth and the abyss are one and the same? It seems to me that that is an assumption and a personal interpretation that needs some supportive scriptures.
~JEBUS
 
MY RESPONSE:
I provided 5 pages of writing and you glean to this one point? No worries, just as long as you donâ019t expect me to be going back to Greek or Hebrew texts to build my support.
 
WEBSTERâ019s WORD:
1: the bottomless gulf, pit, or chaos of the old cosmogonies
2 a: an immeasurably deep gulf or great space
http://webster.com/dictionary/abyss
 
GODâ019s WORD:
GEN 1:1-2
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deepâ026
 
MY RESPONSE:
â01Cdeepâ01D here parallels with Websterâ019s â01Cdeepâ01D 2a definition. Or the fact that it was at this point formless and empty would lead easily to the definition of chaos from Webster definition 1.
 
Isaiah 14:12
How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
http://www.biblegateway.com
 
MY RESPONSE:
Here we see Lucifer being tossed out of Heaven to somewhere else. Where?
 
â01Ccast down to the earthâ01D
 
Wait, I thought he was supposed to be in some place called hell and stocking the stove as he prepares to welcome his new arrivals? Here we here that he was cast down to the earth. Which is it?
 
GODâ019s WORD:
1 Peter 5:8
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
 
MY RESPONSE:
Hmmmmâ026 I guess itâ019s the earth. Less of course you would like to demonstrate how Lucifer can be in more than two places at one time, which would demonstrate that he is omni-present. Are you willing to go there?
 
BRITANNICA SAYâ019s:
also called Macocha Abyss gorge in Jihomoravský kraj (region), Czech Republic. It is the best-known and most frequently visited feature in the Moravian Karst region and contains a labyrinth of caves and galleries and a number of magnificent stalagmites and stalactites.
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9049834/Macocha-Gorge
 
MY RESPONSE:
Just in case thatâ019s not enough evidence here we have a well respected reference source referring to a part of the earth as the abyss. Hmmmm, Iâ019m thinking that is a nice bow for this package and your answer.
 
Cheers
IBIJ

Next? Oh hi, you again? Letâ019s look at what you had to ask.
 
YOU SAID:
I am wondering how you deal with the person who is in an airplane that is hurtling earthward and genuinely asks Christ into their heart prior to death in the ensuing crash? Will they enter into heaven or not? Or the person who dies horribly in an explosive fire, their body reduced to ashes, will they be in heaven even though their body never is buried in a grave?
 
MY RESPONSE:
I never have understood the logic of this question. My own ma has tried this one against me, and at best it leaves me befuddled. Let me ask you, how big is your God? Just because the burial did not include six feet of dirt do you think that somehow ties Godâ019s hands from being able to act? I just donâ019t get the logic.
 
GODâ019s WORD:
Ecclesiastes 3:20
All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.
 
MY RESPONSE:
Which part of that verse demonstrates an entrance into eternity immediately upon death?
 
Psalm 13:3
Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
 
MY RESPONSE:
This writer certainly must not of known what he was talking about. Oh, I get it. Itâ019s an analogy. After all this is a Psalm. My bad.
 
GODâ019s WORD:
 
John 11
11After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."
12His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." 13Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
MY RESPONSE:
Are you willing to take the position that this verse here is also an analogy? I think itâ019s pretty clear that Jesus was correlating sleep and death. Notice how he doesnâ019t mention anything about Lazarus ascending to Heaven?
Add that to the fact that all customs do not include burying the dead under dirt. Nor do all people today choose to be buried according to our cultures traditions. Some choose cremation do they not? And further, what happens to the bodies that do get buried after enough time has passed? Do they not return to ashes just as the Bible says?
I guess Iâ019m naïve enough to think that the God who originally formed our bodies from the dust is quite able to do it again at the time of our coming resurrection. You may feel free to come back from Heaven and figure out how to get back into your body, thatâ019s going to be quite a challenge. As for meâ026
GODâ019s WORD:
John 5:28-29
28"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29and come outâ014those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
MY RESPONSE:
â026Iâ019ll believe exactly what the Bible says. Not to mention that in this verse there is a clear distinction between â01Clivingâ01D and â01Cbeing condemnedâ01D. If a building it â01Ccondemnedâ01D it is normally torn down and is no more, hmmmmâ026 seems clear to me. Besidesâ026
GODâ019s WORD:
Matthew 27:52
The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.
MY RESPONSE:
Why werenâ019t these people in Heaven where according to you they belonged?
Cheers
IBIJ

Still using Mr. Webster and the Britannica? When does Satan get tossed into the abyss? You need to nail that one down before you can claim that earth and the abyss are one and the same by quoting scripture that places Satan on earth rather than in heaven. You are really stretching logic here to sustain an untenable point. The surface of the deep is the earth? That is not indicated in the scripture you quoted. Your leap of faith equating chaos with the description of the earth at that time simply highlights your interpretive skills. You are not providing anything here that is concrete in scripture.
 
~JEBUS

You misunderstand my point of view in the question. I do not maintain that these individuals would not make it to heaven, I was wanting to know how you deal with that issue. If my body is my soul then if my body burns up in a fire then how can I possibly be raised from the grave? Logic dictates that sort of question when presented with your personal pov on souls. I was seeking to discover your position on this. As for your questions about why these people who broke out of their graves? Obviously you keep forgetting what my position is on what the difference is between our souls and our bodies. I keep seeing those "souls" crying out to God from under something in heaven which is in Revelation. Bodies or souls? Literal or symbolic? If symbolic, whose interpretation is the correct one? I prefer the literal approach. You might ask once again how all of those souls could possibly fit under there? I say, How small is your God?
 
~JEBUS

YOU SAID:
> You misunderstand my point of view in the question. I do not maintain
> that these individuals would not make it to heaven, I was wanting to
> know how you deal with that issue. If my body is my soul then if my
> body burns up in a fire then how can I possibly be raised from the
> grave?
 
MY RESPONSE:
Which is easier to do? Create something from nothing or create it again? There was a scientist who discovered how to create life. He called God aside and started gloating. God said very well, show me how you do it. The scientist went into his labortory with God and started to work with a pile of dirt. God responded... on no you don't, that's my dirt.
 
In case anyone thinks the above is literal, it is not. But it does make a point. God created us from absolutely nothing the first time just by the speaking of a Word. How hard do you think it will be for Him to recreate us when the time comes to do so? As for me and my house, we will serve and believe that we have a powerful God.
 
Further, just because someone is not laid 6 feet under does not mean they have not arrived in there grave. A grave can certainly be a pile of ashes that are spread into the wind. When Christ comes again He will raise all those who have chosen to believe in Him and follow Him back to life no matter what there final earthly existance was. Else the martyers of old who were incinerated by the leaders of Catholicism would not reach there desired and expected final victory. How big is your God? My God has no trouble with reconstructing what He originally constructed in the first place.
 
YOU SAID:
>I prefer the literal approach.
 
MY RESPONSE:
I know which verses you are referring to and I'll have to research that once again. However, it occurs to me that if you prefer the literal approach then you should embrace such clearly written verses as "Remember the Sabbath to keep IT holy". However if that is not for us today then such verses as "though shall not kill" and "though shall not commit adultery" also need to be discarded as they were given at the same time. The strange part is Lucifer (our enemy) will be fighting against those who hold to the testimony of Jesus
 
ANNNNNNNND!!!!!!
 
Keep the commandments of God till the very end of time.
 
Revelation 12:17
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspringâ014those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
 
Unless, of course, we have somehow suddenly chosen not to be literal; what are God's commandments if not the 10 Commandments?
 
Happy Sabbath
IBIJ

YOU SAID:
> Still using Mr. Webster and the Britannica?
 
MY RESPONSE:
Sure, aren't they respected authorities in there fields?
 
YOU SAID:
>When does Satan get
> tossed into the abyss? You need to nail that one down before you can
> claim that earth and the abyss are one and the same by quoting
> scripture that places Satan on earth rather than in heaven.
 
MY RESPONSE:
Are you suggesting Satan is in Heaven still?
 
Isaiah 14:12
How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
 
YOU SAID:
> You are
> really stretching logic here to sustain an untenable point. The
> surface of the deep is the earth? That is not indicated in the
> scripture you quoted.
 
MY RESPONSE:
Perhaps, but when leading authorites of there own right refer to earth as the abyss it's really a good indication that the earth is the abyss. Less, of course, there is this other earthly place where Satan resides while also being able to be on the earth. However that would make him omni-present and as I see it that characteristic belongs only to God. Besides, the above verse tells us that Satan was cast to the earth. Why question what the Bible says?
 
YOU SAID:
> That is not indicated in the
> scripture you quoted. Your leap of faith equating chaos with the
> description of the earth at that time simply highlights your
> interpretive skills.
 
MY RESPONSE:
Sure, I was interpreting Webster and the Britanica. Evidently you've never written a research paper? The way I interpret Scripture is far different from the other two sources. I read what Scripture says and then I believe what Scripture says. End of interpretation! :)
 
YOU SAID:
> You are not providing anything here that is
> concrete in scripture.
 
MY RESPONSE:
Main point here is that Satan was cast to the earth. The above verse describes that very well. However...
 
Luke 10:18
He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
 
That verse shows Lucifer not in Heaven.
 
Mark 1:13
and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
 
Wait, I thought Lucifer was in the abyss. Unless of course the abyss is the earth or Lucifer is omni-present.
 
Revelation 12:9
The great dragon was hurled downâ014that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
 
Where was he hurled to? The abyss? The earth? Both? Hmmm, I think I'll believe Scrpture literally here. How about you?
 
Happy Sabbath
IBIJ

I will assume that due to your handling three jobs you are tired and not thinking clearly. I asked, Where in scripture does it clearly identify the earth being the same as the abyss? You quote me scriptures that clearly show Satan getting chucked out of heaven to the earth, points that I never dispute, but you failed to quote me any verses where the abyss is called earth or vice versa. Why is that? Probably because there are none, you have to interpret a few other verses into some stretched out meanings inorder to reach your conclusion. That is not literal reading.
 
There are commandments in the New Testament other than the Ten Commandments of the Mosaic Covenant. We have to love all of the saints. We have to do good works. We have to remember Christ each and every time that we take communion. We have to esteem others better than ourselves. These are just a few examples, you ought to be able to locate the others easily since you study the Bible. As for the Ten Commandments, which ones don't you obey each day? Or, are you going to try and convince me that you are able to obey each one without failure?
 
~JEBUS

I could post many verses that support eternal torment for those who reject Christ, I have done so more than once in the past here. I limit the length of this post by simply pointing you to the addresses. Begin at Luke 16:19-31. Here Jesus tells us what to expect in hades, which is the place of departed human spirits between death and resurrection. This word occurs in several other places: Matt. 11;23; 16;18; Luke 10:15; Acts 2:27, 31; Rev. 1: 18; 6:8; 20:13,14 and is the equivalent of the Old Testament sheol found in Habbakuk 2:5. Hades is the unseen world. Scripture clearly teaches that prior to Christ's Resurrection hades was in two divisions with a great gulf separating them. One part was called "paradise" and "Abraham's bosom." This is where the blessed dead were. The dead lost were in the other part experiencing torment day and night. After the ascension of Christ the place and condition of the dead lost remained unchanged as indicated by scripture(Rev. 20:13,14). But scripture indicates a change has taken place which affected paradise. In II Cor. 12:1-4, Paul relates how that he was transported up to the third heaven, to paradise. This is after Christ ascended to heaven himself. Immediately he adds that He had descended first into the lower parts of the earth, this being hades. So paradise was relocated by Jesus Christ from hades to heaven. When we are absent from our bodies we are present with the Lord. All souls await the resurrection of our bodies, that time when we shall be like Christ, glorified bodies for us so that we may know Him as He truly is.
 
To return to eternal torment I suggest that you read Matthew 18:34 and Revelation 14:11 which tell us that the torment will last for ever and ever since the smoke of their torment will rise likewise. You can try and spin that any way you like, but truth is truth. How long must we pay the price of rejecting Christ? If my reward for accepting Christ is eternal life in heaven, then anything less than the exact opposite for rejecting Him does not remain consistent with God's character.
 
Enjoy the Sabbath, ~JEBUS

..As I suspected all along. Many of us struggled and even failed at,
high school Algebra, foreign-language-class, biology, etc. etc.;
developed neuroses of Not mastering in areas of the supposedly
'important-areas'-of-Life; as a result.. in more than a few cases,
negatively impacting our high school social-growth with Both sexes,
{because of all of this 'grade'-emphasis, as a supposed 'stepping-
stone' to later 'success' in life}.. and here, the ULTIMATE litmus-test
{if you will}, has very little to do with the presented curriculum
at-hand, but rather.. 'in-a-nutshell', who we all perceived, by our
Faith {or lack, thereof} 'J.C' to be; and did we show evidence..
in our {earthly} lives by our deeds, of manifesting His love to our
fellow man; with the 'Finer-points' of the '3-Rs' and assorted other
subjects, {which commences around the eighth-grade}, ultimately
being about as important to our Eternal-destinies, as a bucket-of-
apple juice.
..Fooled, Yah!!.. { :