Interpreting the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus: It's Really Good News!

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TheLearner

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Jan 14, 2019
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"that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment"

It is impossible to mess that up.
"V. Unitarian John Biddle— Persecuted for Conditionalist Beliefs In 1655 the spirit of persecution again broke forth, resulting in unlawful imprisonment of men in the grim confines of old Newgate p rison, and banishment for conscience’ sake to the Isle of Scilly for three years for holding, among other “heresies,” that in death “ the soul of man dyeth or sleepeth when the body is dead.

...

In 1647 he issued a pamphlet concerning the deity of the
H o ly Spirit. Complaint was lodged against him, and Biddle
was summoned before Parliament for an accounting. After a
protracted trial he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
W hile under duress he wrote C on fession o f F aith C on cern in g
th e H o ly T rin ity . After the death of Charles I, Biddle was
released and he founded the Unitarian Society. But under
Crom well he was twice imprisoned thereafter, and his books
were publicly burned.

...

2 . N u t r i t i o n a l C o u n s e l s V e r i f i e d b y S c i e n t i f i c A dv a n c e s .— About the same time, a well-known authority in the
field of nutritional research, Dr. Clive M. McCay, for the past
twenty-three years professor of nutrition, Cornell University,
originally gave an address on April 9, 1958, before the Men’s
Club of the Ithaca (New York) Unitarian Church, titled, “An
Unusual Nineteenth-Century Woman, Mrs. E. G. W hite.” It
was then put into the form of three periodical articles published in February, 1959. The closing sentence of Dr. McCay’s
significant summary in his closing article reads:
“In spite of the fact that the works of Mrs. W hite were w ritten long
before the advent o f m odem scientific n u tritio n , no better over-all guide
is available today.” 21
3 . B e t t e r H e a l t h W o u l d R e s u l t F r o m T e a c h in g s"

https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Books/CFOOF1965-V02.pdf
 

TheLearner

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The answer to your question can easily be ascertained by this: you and a friend go into a kitchen, place the tip of your finger on a hot burner, and then try having a conversation with him about the prospect of your loved one's destinies.

Now, imagine your entire body on fire.

The answer is the "torment" was not literally fire, but a symbol for something else - and is why Jesus chose "hades" aka "the grave" INSTEAD OF THE FIERY, BURNING, BLAZING, SMOKING HELLFIRE OF "GEHENNA" (a word He knew very well) as the place in which the Rich Man lifted up his eyes.
I cor 15 tells us about the resurrected body. In context it speaks of Christians. The difference between goats and sheep are very little. Thus the description of the resurrected body relates to the goats' resurrected body too.
 

TheLearner

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You'd be right if the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus wasn't a parable.

I mean, do you really think Abraham's literal bosom is several square miles in size? Abraham musta had one heck of a tailor. ;)

Or, do you believe the dead get their resurrection bodies LONG BEFORE the resurrection?
And, you ignore Isaiah 14 that the dead are alive and aware.
 

TheLearner

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HOW DARE YOU QUESTION GOD EVEN THOUGH HE INVITES US TO REASON TOGETHER WITH HIM???!!!

(I agree, what possible comfort can be derived from watching a wayward son or daughter burn for all eternity, and wondering what we could have done differently to help them be spared of this supposed fate? Surely, their must be those of the Eternal Torment crowd who love their children more than life itself; are they satisfied with the prospect of watching them writhe in the "unspeakable agony of eternal blazing torment" for all eternity? We can't even bare to watch them suffer a tummyache, right?)
Wow, you borrowed an Unitarian Argument there friend. Go figure.
 

TheLearner

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It talks about the wicked falling by the multiplied thousands at our sides and ten thousands at our right hand - that's not beholding them being led away to punishment...that's beholding them being punished, for all eternity some might say. I can't see how the Eternal Torment crowd can be pleased with the notion they're going to watch their unsaved children burn for all eternity and be in "comfort" by that. I mean, I can see where Lazarus might have been OK with the Rich Man suffering...after all, he wouldn't share his french fries ;)
What text of bible do you have in mind friend?
 
Jan 12, 2022
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Guess, it does. So, what is the difference then?

I mean are there any that could sit back and watch their family and friends being burned to death and be happy about it.

Couldn't that mean we will see them left behind for judgment knowing what is getting ready to take place for them. Like I said, I don't believe in a pre-trib rapture so I'm not talking about that blasphemous movie "left behind" or anything like it. I just don't think we are going to have to see the full wrath of God being fulfilled upon the lost.

If that were the case, then surely there would be tears and sorrow involved in that for us.
We will see it and praise Jesus for it. The Twofold Acknowledgement. First people must acknowledge that their ways and their fathers' ways and their society's ways are all evil and wrong. Secondly, they must acknowledge that God's judgements against these people, even his severe judgements, are all correct. Consider the Prophet Daniel, he made the Twofold Acknowledgement in a spot-on fashion in chapter 9 of his book.
 
Jul 24, 2021
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God sent the dogs to do exactly that :)
Lazarus' name is Eleazar in hebrew which means "God has helped". So the narrative of Luke is
1) the archetypical friend of God - Abraham
2) the guy God helps - Lazarus
3) and a certain unnamed rich guy

Looks like a real story to me!
 
Jul 24, 2021
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DNA is dust.
we are not merely dust, but have in us the Breath of the Spirit of Life.


does the Breath of the Spirit of Life die?
does the Breath of the Spirit of Life cease to exist when it is not in dust?
Ecclesiastes 12:7before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Webers.Home claimed that the worms that do not have the image of God can be made immortal. He was trying to explain immortal demonic worms without tainting the Spirit of God. Please refer to him for the explanation. I have no clue.

Psalm 104:29 You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust.
 

Webers.Home

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Man's creator is superior to immortal-- He's eternal, viz; He always was, He
always is, and He always shall be; hence the name "I Am."

Man isn't eternal now, nor have they ever been, nor will they ever be.
_
 

posthuman

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And, you ignore Isaiah 14 that the dead are alive and aware.
excellent reference!
-- and a correlating point here ought to be made..


Sheol from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
They all shall speak and say to you:
Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?
Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.’
(Isaiah 14:9-11)
note the dead in sheol here looking forward to the king of Babylon being brought down to them - saying, 'have you become weak like us?'

now look over here in 2 Thessalonians, speaking of all who do not know God, who do not obey the gospel:

These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
(2 Thessalonians 1:9-10)
here's that word translated as 'destroy' -

Capture.PNG


it specifically does not mean "annihilate" but to ruin, to undo.
it is about making powerless -- in complete harmony with the testimony in Isaiah 14, and 100% opposed to the narrative of our SDA / JW / whatever friends here who reject what Christ is describing in Luke 16.
everlasting destruction is everlasting removal of strength, everlasting ruination - a building turned into rubble, as dust returns to dust, a tower that will never be built again.


dust is not nothingness.
dust is dust.
 
Jul 24, 2021
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Eternal vs Immortal
There is one Immortal Soul. It is wriiten.
That implies man is not even immortal. His natural state is non-existence.
Thus the reason for hell is absurd. No immortal soul no need for eternal torture.
The immortal soul is a pagan notion that speaks against the Scriptures.
Torture is characteristic of sociopathy not of Christ. Speak not against Christ.
God is always good. Speak not against God.
 
Jul 23, 2018
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I also might add to this, if this is literal, then the people in this place of comfort get to watch are possibly their old friends, maybe some family members, some coworkers, the baker down the street, people you thought were saved in church, and many more.

If this is literal then this "place of comfort" is only "comfortable", relatively speaking, to the other possible alternative of being in torment. The place of relative comfort seems to be safer and cooler, but you have noisy neighbors who don't stop begging you for help day and night.

This doesn't necessarily imply you get to be happy in the place of comfort; if the souls of people still have a caring heart they'll spend their time horrified and scared, while listening to the incessant begs for mercy, until their hearts are calloused and desensitized to the torment of others.

By the time people have finished their tour of comfort, they will have PTSD, some will be hardened, some will be hollow shells of their former selves, forever haunted by the torment of that baker down the street who didn't heed the gospel.
Jesus emptied paradise.
So that disrupts all that conjecture you are adding.
 
Mar 4, 2020
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Jesus emptied paradise.
So that disrupts all that conjecture you are adding.
Speaking of conjecture... got a verse that says paradise has been emptied or is that what you've inferred based off some hints in verses?
 

Webers.Home

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Immortality is a condition that's exempt from death. Well; seeing as how
Adam's body lost perpetual youth when he tasted the forbidden fruit, then I
have to conclude that his body wasn't created with immortality; but was
quite the opposite because it eventually got old enough for him to die of old
age.

But it's quite possible that Adam's soul survived the death his body because
Jesus said our souls can only be killed by the hand of God. (Matt 10:28)

That being the case, then our soul cannot be said to be truly immortal because
if it really was, then not even God could kill it.
_
 
Jul 23, 2018
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Speaking of conjecture... got a verse that says paradise has been emptied or is that what you've inferred based off some hints in verses?
One is " he took captivity captive"
Another is "he preached to the souls in prison"
Another is " people saw patriarchs risen from the dead and walking the streets"
Another is " Jesus said to the thief " today you will be with me in paradise"

There are probably more