Posted on 05/16/2010 5:24:35 PM PDT by lovesdogs
My neighbor was buried today. He was a Jewish man of devout faith. Now mind you he was no saint, he had his share of issues just like anyone else. But in his later years, he became much more involved in the temple and study of the Torah. His Rabbi was at his home every other day and sometimes every day for study and company.
I looked all over for an answer to this question and I cannot find it. My friend did not accept Christ as his savior. As a Jew he did not accept Christian belief. Can anyone help me with what will happen to his soul? Will my prayer help? I have no experience with this sort of thing and I am heartbroken with the loss of this good man.
“So yes I believe this Jewish Man knew Jesus in his death and followed him into the light of heaven.”
I certainly and truly hope so. Jesus does no wrong.
So, yeah, there are acres and aces of folks in white gowns. On the other hand, that's simply the prophet's way of saying "everybody is pure" ~
There's the mile high Jesus with feet of burnished bronze, and hair like sheep's wool of course ~ African-Americans love that description for some fairly clear reasons.
And just as respectfully, I cannot know the mind of God.
I think you are confusing me with someone else on this thread. I didn't write anything about the Bible. I merely pointed out that it takes heroic stretching to see the Buddhist view of life after death somehow be twisted into "judgement day". I claim it can not be, and in the specific posting you replied to point out that there is "no judge" in Buddhism, which is quite different from the Monotheistic religions.
No big deal.
Your reference to "judge" necessarily dips into the stream of Western consciousness and religious exigesis.
So, true, there's "no judge" in Buddhism ~ except there's certainly a pantheon of gods in the underlying Hinduism ~ and forces of nature in some of the other traditions that've gotten sucked into the Buddhist intellectual maelstrom.
Guess it's just one of those questions no one gets to ask ~ kind of like asking Zen devotees why it is they seek to find the Scripture Within without first asking themselves why it is they even know of the concept of Scripture. No one asks that one either.
Well, I do ~ because it definitely ties into the historic question of why the Yakuts/Sakha actually lost their knowledge of reading and writing ~ while, for centuries, maintaining their own annals from ancient times ~ when they lived in Nepal and ruled India.
Zen's creation certainly seems to dovetail nicely with the history of the Yakuts/Sakha if not with a theory of logical progression in a broadspectrum belief system.
So, I won't ask the question of "where's the judge who makes the decisions" about getting off the Wheel of Life.
You might want to call your belief something else. It is anything but Christian.
Did he call on the NAME of YHvH for his salvation ?shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiachWhat we in the west know as Jesus is in Hebrew
is Yah'shua (YHvH is my salvation).There is only ONE YHvH.
NAsbU Ruth 4:14 Then the women said to Naomi,Is YHvH your Redeemer ?
"Blessed is YHvH who has not left you without
a redeemer today, and may his name become
famous in Israel.NAsbU Job 19:25 "As for me, I know that my Redeemer
lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.NAsbU Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in
Your sight, O YHvH, my rock and my Redeemer.NAsbU Psalm 78:35 And they remembered that God
was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.NAsbU Isaiah 41:14 "Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you men of Israel; I will help you," declares YHvH,
"and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.NAsbU Isaiah 43:14 Thus says YHvH your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, "For your sake I have sent
to Babylon, And will bring them all down as fugitives,
Even the Chaldeans, into the ships in which they rejoice.NAsbU Isaiah 44:6 "Thus says YHvH, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, YHvH of hosts: 'I am the first and
I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.NAsbU Isaiah 44:24 Thus says YHvH, your Redeemer,
and the one who formed you from the womb,
"I, YHvH, am the maker of all things, Stretching
out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the
earth all alone,NAsbU Isaiah 47:4 Our Redeemer, YHvH of hosts
is His name, The Holy One of Israel.NAsbU Isaiah 48:17 Thus says YHvH, your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, "I am YHvH your God,
who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the
way you should go.NAsbU Isaiah 49:7 Thus says YHvH, the Redeemer of
Israel and its Holy One, To the despised One,
To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant
of rulers, "Kings will see and arise, Princes will
also bow down, Because of YHvH who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You."NAsbU Isaiah 49:26 "I will feed your oppressors
with their own flesh, And they will become drunk
with their own blood as with sweet wine; And
all flesh will know that I, YHvH, am your
Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."NAsbU Isaiah 54:5 "For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is YHvH of hosts; And your Redeemer
is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God
of all the earth.NAsbU Isaiah 54:8 "In an outburst of anger I hid
My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting
lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,"
Says YHvH your Redeemer.NAsbU Isaiah 59:20 "A Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,"
declares YHvH.NAsbU Isaiah 60:16 "You will also suck the milk of
nations And suck the breast of kings; Then you
will know that I, YHvH, am your Savior And your
Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.NAsbU Isaiah 63:16 For You are our Father, though
Abraham does not know us And Israel does not
recognize us. You, O YHvH, are our Father,
Our Redeemer from of old is Your name.NAsbU Jeremiah 50:34 "Their Redeemer is strong,
YHvH of hosts is His name; He will vigorously
plead their case So that He may bring rest
to the earth, But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.
Jesus was a Jew - as was his mother, Mary - and his earthly father, Joseph. I assume his grandparents were also Jews. I'm going to assume some of them were allowed in heaven...
Jesus was a Jew - as was his mother, Mary - and his earthly father, Joseph. I assume his grandparents were also Jews. I’m going to assume some of them were allowed in heaven...
Yah'shua will rule and reign the world for a thousand years Amen !
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
on the throne of David in Jerusalem.
Yes, particularly the Jewish people whose very existence was prophesied centuries before ~ no doubt their entry into Heavy (presuming that happens prior to the time of the Final Judgment) was eased a tad ~
Fine, but who wrote the word? God, or fallible men? It’s a matter of FAITH, not fact.
I can accept that all religions have to have certain criteria by which one becomes a Christian, Jew, etc., but I will never accept that an IDEA is more important THAN HOW ONE CONDUCTS THEMSELVES IN LIFE. Titles don’t interest me, how people ACT does.
First, I was interested in your comments because my wife died in February after a lengthy illness, and I have been trying to wrap my mind around the fact she is no longer here. She was here, but now she's not. I sense you have the same feeling for your friend.
As I'm sure you knew would happen, hundreds of people would post their ideas and theories. Some would be gentle and nonjudgmental. Others would be dogmatic. Some would confess to being unsure, and others would be equally confident.
But the fact of the matter is no one knows. Billy Graham doesn't know. Pope John Paul didn't know. Name whomever you wish, they don't know.
The most anyone can do is believe, be sure, be confident, be positive and, as Evangelicals like to put it, "hope" (in the Old English sense of that word). But none can ever know.
Thank you and everyone here for your replies. I guess the bottom line is that while many here are far more educated than I am in matters of religion, no one really “knows”. I guess that is what faith is.
Where do you suppose all the millions of people went who died before Jesus did?
It’s not the “idea.” It’s the person of Jesus Christ. You know, the son of God who lived a perfect life fulfilling the law, who died taking my sins and the sins of the world, and who rose again victorious over death, walked around for several days appearing to hundreds of people, and then ascending back to heaven with the Father. The one who is coming back.
If you want to be judged by your works, God will do that, but you should remember that you will be judged by his standard not yours. His standard is perfection. Have you lived a perfect life? Made no mistakes? Had no impure thoughts? Done nothing wrong? Ever? Our works will not get you or me to heaven because they are never perfect.
The only alternative is to put your faith in Jesus as savior. He paid the debt for our sins. We were purchased with his blood. There is a place for us to live as good a life as we can as his servants, but that comes after salvation. It comes in obedience because we love him, not in order to earn our way to heaven.
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