### Background Hebrews 7:3 makes the following startling statement about a character called "Melchizedek": > Without father, without mother, without genealogy, **having neither beginning of days nor end of life**, but resembling the Son of God, he [Melchizedek] remains a priest forever Having no beginning nor end sounds similar to language the Bible uses about God: > Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the whole world, **from everlasting to everlasting** You are God. *Psalms 90:2* The author of Hebrews also compares him to the "Son of God". ### Question Do any Christians believe that since Melchizedek has no beginning nor end that he is a divine being in some way? If so, do any Christians worship him?

I've heard particular denominations claim that although hell is definitely a real place and hell itself will burn forever, people who are condemned to hell don't actually exist forever in hell but instead are eventually destroyed, wiped out of existence. They claim that the soul being naturally immortal is a pagan idea, and that only those given eternal life will live forever. As far as I know most mainline denominations affirm that if you are not saved then you will indeed exist forever in Hell. My question is, what is the biblical basis to support the doctrine that people who are condemned to hell will actually continue to exist in hell for eternity (as opposed to being annihilated)? Alternatively, what is the biblical support for the soul itself being naturally immortal?

I'm old atheist and I'm going to die soon. I never enjoyed life, not then, not now, and I'm happy to die and disappear. A missionary told me that if I accept Jesus, I will have eternal life, but was unable to explain me what that exactly entails. I read the New Testament and found it lacking in details. Will I reborn in this same old planet? What about climate change? Must I work? What activities/hobbies will I pursue? Please, only Bible quotations. **Answers** I didn't accept any answer; all lacks any level of detail. It all comes down to this: *It will be fantastic; trust me. I don't how, I don't where, but trust me, I will be amazing anyway.*

From my studies, Scripture seems to make a very clear difference between the requirements of receiving the gift of salvation (by faith alone) and the requirements to enter the kingdom of God. **A. Biblically the only condition or requirement for salvation is FAITH.** 150x total in the New Testament we see that faith is the only requirement to be saved, justified, and have eternal life. (Examples: Acts 16:30-31; John 3:16, 36, 6:47, 5:24, Romans 10:9-10...) **B. Yet when you look at the requirements for entering the Kingdom of God / Kingdom of Heaven (one and the same) we have a list a various requirements such as:** 1. Born again (John 3:3-5) 2. Do the will of God (Matthew 7:21-23) 3. Be a disciple, follower of Jesus (Luke 9:57-62) 4. Live righteous, free from sin (Mark 9:43-47; Matt 18:6-9, 5:20, 21:31-32; 1 Cor 6:9-11; Eph 5:5; Gal 5:19-21) 5. Be like a child (Matt 18:3-4, 19:14; Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17) 6. Enter the narrow way (Luke 13:23-30; Matthew 7:13-14, 21) 7. Go through hardships & persecution (Mark 10:24; Acts 14:22; Matt 5:10, 20:20-21; 2 Thess 1:5; John 15:20) 8. Produce fruit (Matthew 21:43) 9. Be poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3) 10. Love God and people (James 2:5; Matthew 25:34-39) 11. Not with our physical bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50) When I researched this idea to find others who see and make this distinction, I did not find very many. Instead most think that salvation and entering the kingdom of God the same thing. The person who makes the distinction the clearest that I found is **Watchman Nee** in his work about "The Difference between the Kingdom of the Heavens and Eternal Life." I also see a correlation in Scripture between the list of requirements for being a disciple and to the list for entering the Kingdom of God. Salvation is by faith and is an entry point and then the invitation Jesus makes is to discipleship, which is about Lordship, and about entering the kingdom of God. There has been an ongoing debate about the distinction between salvation and Lordship known as “**Lordship Salvation**” vs “**Free Grace Theology**.” In short Lordship Salvation says that Jesus must be Lord to be Savior. Free Grace Theology says that Jesus can be your Savior without being your Lord, and that Lordship is a journey that starts after salvation. John MacArthur in his book *The Gospel According to Jesus * lays out the case for lordship salvation. Dr. Charles C. Bing in his book *Lordship Salvation: A Biblical Evaluation and Response * and *Grace, Salvation, and Discipleship: How to Understand Some Difficult Bible Passages * lays out a case for distinguishing salvation and Lordship/discipleship. This debate was started earlier in 1959 in **Eternity Magazine** between “Must Christ Be Lord To Be Savior?" - a debate between John R. Stott and Everett F. Harrison But I don't see a lot of people making the distinction between salvation and the kingdom of God. **Can anyone help me with this or speak into this?** I'd love to find any and all books, articles, or resources that talk about this distinction and I would love your comments and answers on this topic. I am writing a book on this topic and am looking for a list of resources that mention the idea. Thank you!

One of the early collections of Rabbinic Law and Doctrine is contained in the Babylon Talmudic. I presume it’s fairly safe to say that it is a good source to indicate what the Rabbis at the time of Christ may have been thinking. Of course Rabbinic thinking is considered irrelevant by Christians with respect to what is true when not in-line with scripture. However from the standpoint of understanding the context of the gospels it has some value. This makes the reference below, from it to Dan 12:2, describing the eternal blessing of the resurrected, as well as the eternal contempt of the wicked also resurrected, as opposed to an odd theory of a temporal punishment for some not that wicked and not that good. This third class seems to be an invention of them outside of the scripture but does make the conclusion of the ‘non-temporal’ nature of the wicked souls subjection to contempt iron clad. Are there any references or parables of Christ in the gospels that indicate a familiarity with the Rabbinic view of the dual resurrection of both the wicked and the righteous? Is there anything rejected or accepted in them by the Lord? Talmudic Tractate Rosh haShanah > It is taught in a baraita: Beit Shammai say: There will be three > groups of people on the great Day of Judgment at the end of days: One > of wholly righteous people, one of wholly wicked people, and one of > middling people. Wholly righteous people will immediately be written > and sealed for eternal life. Wholly wicked people will immediately be > written and sealed for Gehenna, as it is stated: “And many of those > who sleep in the dust of the earth shall wake, some to eternal life > and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2). Middling > people will descend to Gehenna to be cleansed and to achieve atonement > for their sins Daniel 12:2 ESV > 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to **everlasting life**, and some to shame and **everlasting contempt**

In Genesis chapter two verse seven God created man from the dust and breathed the *breath of life* into his nostrils; >Genesis 2:7 KJV And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the ***breath of life***; and man became a living soul. The original words used in the Hebrew were: Breath: נְשָׁמָה >nshamah (nesh-aw-maw') n-f. >>1. a puff, i.e. wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect. or (concretely) an animal >KJV: blast, (that) breath(-eth), inspiration, soul, spirit. and life: חַי >chay (khah'-ee) adj. >>1. alive >>2. (hence) raw (flesh) >>3. fresh (plant, water, year), strong >>4. (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively >KJV: + age, alive, appetite, (wild) beast, company, congregation, life(-time), live(-ly), living (creature, thing), maintenance, + merry, multitude, + (be) old, quick, raw, running, springing, troop. Chay Is the same word used in 1Kings 17:17 which is just breath. Since נְשָׁמָה can also be interpreted as soul, could breath be a mistranslation in light of the second part of the verse "and man became a living soul". Or is there some other explanation for the breath of life, such as oxygen absorption, which has been prove to be the case of a fetus in the womb? Please make you answer as Biblical as possible. Thank you. If you want to down vote any of my questions or answers that is fine, but at least be courteous enough to tell me what is unacceptable about my question or answer. Otherwise I must assume you really don't have a reason and are just a mean person.

According to Christians who believe that salvation can be lost: - What is eternal life? Is eternal life attained *now* (in this life / before death) or at the resurrection? - What is spiritual rebirth? When a Christian is born again, does he/she attain eternal life at that moment? - If salvation can be lost, can salvation be regained? Can we be saved multiple times? If so, would that mean that we can have multiple "born again experiences"? _____ **Related questions** - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/12097/50422 - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/89603/50422 - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/89602/50422

**"God is perfect"** is often used as a justification for the belief that God never became God, but that rather, He never changed, but simply always was God, and **always was perfect**. What is the Biblical justification for the claim that "perfect" means that God always was God and never changed, seeing as Jesus commands us to be perfect, "even as our Father in Heaven is perfect"?

John 5:24 >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. KJV. > Verily, verily, I say unto you, that he that hears my word, and > believes him that has sent me, has life eternal, and does not come > into judgment, but is passed out of death into life. Darby. This tells me that believers will have an eternal life but that other people also might be worthy the eternal life due to: Matthews 25:31-46 >When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. > >Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. > >Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. > >And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. KJV. Your answer should explain why there is a day of judgement when some people are judged as righteous in spite of that believers qualifies without a judgement. ---------- I'm disappointed how this question has been received. I could have accepted an answer from John 3:15-21: > That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal > life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, > that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have > everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn > the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that > believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is > condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the > only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is > come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because > their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, > neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he > that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made > manifest, that they are wrought in God. Even though it is unclear why people who have never heard of Jesus would be sentenced to punishment.

Gaining eternal life through faith in the Lord is the longing of many Christians. But is it true that we can attain the way of eternal life by accepting the Lord’s salvation, repenting and confessing our sins to Him? What is the difference between the way of repentance and the way of eternal life?

> John 3:16 (NIV) 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**. The New Testament clearly tells us how one can attain salvation or eternal life. What about Old Testament? Was there any promise of eternal life associated with any of the Mosaic Law. For instance, was animal sacrifice promised with eternal life? How can we understand this verse? > Matthew 19:16 (NIV) > Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing > must I do to get **eternal life**?” If the rich man was a Jew, he must have known how to attain eternal life from the Torah.

During his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said > "It is better for you to lose one member of your body that causes you to sin than have your whole body thrown into hell" (Matt 5:30b) From the above it can be concluded that it is the body that receives life (enters heaven) or is condemned to hell. Then the preacher Ecclesiastes said that > "who knows whether the soul of an animal goes down into the earth when it dies or the soul of a man goes upwards into the heavens when he dies" (Eccl 3:21) Then there is the narrative of the thief on the right at the crucifixion who was told by Jesus that > "Believe me I tell you, you shall be with me in paradise today" (Luke 23:43) Because the body of the thief was left on the cross, it is evident that it is the soul of the thief that met Jesus in paradise in addition to what was written by Ecclesiastes. **Is it the body or the soul that enters into heaven or hell?**

> “And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though > thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou > comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be > afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is > become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the > wells of salvation.” Isaiah 12:1-3 A.V. Given that God *is* salvation here to those who trust and prise him as such discovering God to be their personal salvation, **how could one discover God that way, and what does drawing water out of those wells (plural) entail?** I immediately thought of Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, as to asking him for living water (that clearly had nothing to do with literal water nor that literal well.) > “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never > thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of > water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14 A.V.) Isaiah speaks of something spiritual, not literal, and Jesus agrees with that, so how would those who know God to be their own salvation explain how to discover such deeply hidden waters of eternal life? It strikes me as obvious that it’s no use anyone answering who looks to a system of religion for salvation, or who believes that the refreshing reality of God as salvation in this life cannot be experienced – it’s only for the next life. So, ***I’m directing my question to those who take Isaiah 12:1-3 to be a present, experienced reality in this life.***

There are some who believe that the "Second Death" in Revelation is not literal, but figurative of eternal separation from God in hell. >Revelation 20:14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. **This is the second death, the lake of fire**. >Revelation 21:8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, **which is the second death**.” For those that do not believe that the Second Death is eternal death/destruction, and instead believe that it symbolizes **eternal conscious separation** from God, particularly one that leads to being tormented in hell for eternity, how do you reconcile this with the fact that God is the only source of life? >Genesis 3:22-23 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, **lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever**...” **Therefore** the LORD God **banished him from the Garden of Eden** to work the ground from which he had been taken. God knew that if the humans ate from the tree of life they would live forever; He did not want that to happen. Hence why He took necessary action to ensure that they would **NOT** live forever. Said action was to banish the humans from the Garden of Eden, henceforth preventing them from eating of the tree of life and living forever. Essentially, humans are not, by virtue of being human, capable of living forever; if we were, then it would not have mattered if God banished them from Eden. But He did. They were officially and irrevocably separated from the tree of life; this **directly corresponds** to them being mortal and dying. All God had to do was separate them from the tree of life to guarantee their ultimate death. >John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection **and the life**. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, >John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, **and the life**; no one comes to the Father except through Me. Assuming that by "the life" Jesus meant eternal life(life that never ends), Jesus is saying that He is eternal life, i.e. that one can only attain eternal life(life that never ends) through Him. It follows then that if someone is permanently separated from Him *who is* eternal life, they cannot have eternal life(you cannot have something while also being separated from it). >John 6:63 It is **the Spirit who gives life**; **the flesh is no help at all**. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. Jesus makes it here as unequivocal as possible. It is God's Spirit that gives eternal life. Being permanently separated from God means being permanently separated from His Spirit. How, then, can those permanently separated from God(and His Spirit) live forever to be tormented in hell? Perhaps most unambiguously; >1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. **He is the true God and eternal life**. It is incontrovertible; God is eternal life. Ultimate and permanent separation from God directly corresponds to ultimate and permanent separation from eternal life, i.e. it is impossible for one to live forever if completely separated from the **sole means** of living forever. It's **logically inconsistent** to say that the wicked burn eternally alive in hell while also permanently separated from the only means of eternal life(i.e. God); you can't simultaneously have something and be separated from it(just as Adam and Eve could not eat from the tree of life while also separated from the Garden of Eden[which contains the tree of life]). But perhaps I am completely missing something. Hence my question... - How can the wicked live for eternity in hell while simultaneously being permanently separated from God, the only source of eternal life?

Many passages seem to suggest that one becomes born again and obtains eternal life on this side of eternity (before death). For example, regarding eternal life, the Apostle John said: > 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, **whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life**. He does not come into judgment, **but has passed from death to life**. [John 5:24 ESV] > 36 **Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life**; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. [John 3:36 ESV] > 11 And this is the testimony, that **God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son**. 12 **Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life**. [1 John 5:11-12 ESV] Notice how John seems to refer to eternal life as a present reality that we already possess, right now, if we have believed in the Son of God. John Piper arrives at a similar conclusion: > Stage 5: We Have Eternal Life Now > > **In believing we have eternal life NOW, not just in the future**. > > In John 5:24 Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life [not "will have" but "has"—now!], and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." **In other words eternal life is not something you wait for after death. It is something you have NOW if you are believing in Jesus**. > > **Believing is the link that unites us with the life of God in Christ now**. **If we have Christ, we have his life now. And his life is eternal**. > > [...] > > Stage 7: Not Interrupted at Death > > **Eternal life is not interrupted at death.** > > In John 11:25–26 Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die." I think what he means is this: **Everyone who has eternal life by faith will never have that life stripped away from him; even if he dies, he will live. Physical death will not turn eternal life into temporary life**. > > [(source)](https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-destiny-eternal-life) _____ John 17:3 sheds further light on the true meaning and implications of eternal life: > 3 And **this is eternal life**, that **they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent**. [John 17:3 ESV] Eternal life thus entails knowing both God and His Son, Jesus Christ. But then John explains to us in other passages what it means to know God and how this knowing happens in this life. If we know God in this life, then from John 17:3 it would seem to follow that we also obtain eternal life in this life: > 7 Beloved, let us love one another, **for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God**. 8 **Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love**. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that **God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him**. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; **if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us**. [1 John 4:7-12 ESV] > 23 Jesus answered him, “**If anyone loves me**, he will keep my word, **and my Father will love him**, **and we will come to him and make our home with him**. [John 14:23 ESV] _______ Similarly, regarding spiritual rebirth, Peter said (note the present & present perfect tenses): > 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, **he has caused us to be born again** to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. [1 Peter 1:3-5] > 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 **who through him are believers in God**, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. > > 2 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 **since you have been born again**, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; > [1 Peter 1:20-23] And a similar idea was expressed by the Apostle Paul (once again, note the present & present perfect tenses) > 17 Therefore, **if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation**. **The old has passed away; behold, the new has come**. [2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV] > 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 **So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus**. > > 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, **but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life**, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. [Romans 6:10-13 ESV] _________________ **Questions** According to [Christian mortalists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_mortalism) (a.k.a. 'Soul sleep' advocates): - Are we born again in this life? - Does eternal life begin in this life? - If so, what happens when we die? Does eternal life continue *while* we are physically dead (i.e. between death and the resurrection)? Can a Christian be dead (biologically/physically) and have eternal life simultaneously? - Does eternal life begin in this life, stop when we die and resume when we are resurrected? If so, how can it be eternal if it has gaps? _______ **Related questions** - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/89603/50422 - [When does eternal life begin? When we believe in the Son (1 John 5:11-12, John 3:36, 5:24) or on Judgement Day (Matthew 25:31-46)?](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/q/74395/38524) - [Does it follow from John 17:3 that the wicked will cease to exist (since they won't have eternal life)?](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/q/74380/38524) - [What does "born again" from John 3:3 mean?](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/q/373/38524)

To lay out the context of the verse at hand: > “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, > and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. > > Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will > profit you nothing. > > And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a > debtor to keep the whole law. > > **You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified > by law; you have fallen from grace.** > > > For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness > by faith. > > For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails > anything, but faith working through love.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:1-6‬ > ‭NKJV‬‬ **Q**: **What is the Reformed/Calvinistic interpretation of Galatians 5:4?** **Note**: *Since reformed doctrine holds to the P (Perseverance of the Saints)*

Many Christians believe that eternal life begins now. For example, in the article [The Destiny: Eternal Life](https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-destiny-eternal-life) , John Piper states: > **In believing we have eternal life NOW, not just in the future**. > > In John 5:24 Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life [not "will have" but "has"—now!], and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." **In other words eternal life is not something you wait for after death. It is something you have NOW if you are believing in Jesus**. > > Believing is the link that unites us with the life of God in Christ now. **If we have Christ, we have his life now. And his life is eternal**. The gotquestions article [What is eternal life?](https://www.gotquestions.org/what-is-eternal-life.html) reaches a similar conclusion: > It is a mistake, however, to view eternal life as simply an unending progression of years. A common New Testament word for “eternal” is aiónios, which carries the idea of quality as well as quantity. In fact, eternal life is not really associated with “years” at all, as it is independent of time. Eternal life can function outside of and beyond time, as well as within time. > > **For this reason, eternal life can be thought of as something that Christians experience *now***. **Believers don’t have to “wait” for eternal life, because it’s not something that starts when they die. Rather, eternal life begins the moment a person exercises faith in Christ**. It is our current possession. John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” Note that the believer “has” (present tense) this life (the verb is present tense in the Greek, too). We find similar present-tense constructions in John 5:24 and John 6:47. The focus of eternal life is not on our future, but on our current standing in Christ. If eternal life is something that Christians experience *now*, then how is this reconciled with the fact that Christians die for multiples reasons (e.g. car accidents, diseases, natural disasters, etc.)? If Christians have eternal life now, why do Christians die? ________ **Note**: what do I mean by "eternal life" (for scoping purposes)? That's a tricky question. I don't adhere to a set-in-stone definition of *eternal life* (just yet), so I'm open to any definitions as long as answerers accept the following two premises: - A human being is born lacking eternal life (no one has eternal life by "default", although I'm open to exceptions for children/babies). - A human being, by believing in Jesus (at some specific moment X in their life), obtains *eternal life*. In other words, *eternal life* has to be defined such that it is a gift that the believer receives at the moment they believe. Prior to that moment they didn't have eternal life, and after that moment they do. ________________ **Note 2**: I'm also open to answers from people that believe that salvation can be lost.

Annihilationists and universalists argue that the Greek word translated "eternal" (aionion/aionios) is more appropriately translated "eon-like", and thus New Testament terms like "eternal fire/punishment" (in e.g. Matt 18:8, 25:46) should be interpreted to mean long lasting but still finite fire and punishment. Given that argument, do annihilationists and universalists have any New Testament basis for believing that "eternal life" is really eternal and not merely long lasting?

The argument from contingency summarized by St. Thomas illustrates that in order for existence to be a reality there must be an "Uncaused Cause" that possesses existence in and of Himself. *Everything* else that exist does so by way of created contingency. See CONTINGENCY > According to Mormon theology, God the Father is a physical being of > "flesh and bones." Mormons identify him as the Biblical god Elohim. > Latter-day Saint leaders have also taught that God the Father was once a > mortal man who has completed the process of becoming an exalted > being. According to Joseph Smith, God "once was a man like one of us > and…once dwelled on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did in the > flesh and like us." > > According to Mormon scripture, "the elements are eternal". This > means, according to Smith, that the elements are co-existent with God, > and "they may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. They > had not beginning, and can have no end." This was elaborated by > Brigham Young, who said, "God never made something out of nothing; it > is not in the economy or law of which the worlds were, are, or will exist." > Thus, Mormons deny ex nihilo creation and instead believe that God > created or "organized" the universe out of pre-existing elements. See MORMON COSMOLOGY How does LDS cosmology address or reason with St. Thomas' contingency proof? In other words, according to the LDS, who or what causes existence to exist?

I recently asked a [question](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/59617/where-their-worm-does-not-die-and-the-fire-is-not-quenched-is-jesus-des) on the hermeneutics site with the intention of letting people share their exegetical takes on the words of Jesus found in Mark 9:47-49, where he said: > 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes **to be thrown into hell**, 48 **‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’** 49 For everyone will be salted with fire. [ESV] As I imagined would be the case, the topic turned out to be quite controversial: some people understand Jesus' description to be literal and others to be figurative. I would like to know if this controversy also existed in the early days of the church. What were the early church's views regarding the eternal fate of the damned? Did early Christians believe in a literal hell of fire to which the damned would be cast to receive the eternal punishment for their sins?