The Baha'i Studies Listserv Also, I consider these place as metaphysical as opposed to some who believe in a literal re-bodying.
________________________________ From: Adib Masumian <adibmasum...@gmail.com> To: Baha'i Studies <bahai-st@list.jccc.edu> Sent: Wed, November 3, 2010 4:18:04 PM Subject: Re: Afterlife The Baha'i Studies Listserv >No one believes in a literal fluffy cloud heaven or literal underworld. I don't know if I would go so far as to say nobody. I just have to change the channel to the 700 club or take a stroll around the hotspots at my university, which ironically is liberal, to find all kinds of people who really do believe in a literalist depiction of heaven and hell. And those are of course just representative of a much larger demographic who probably go to Bible camps or other venues where they could potentially be indoctrinated with literalist interpretations of scripture. >I would say dimensions, planes of existence, etc. are ways to describe what >people believe in No argument there, since I don't think believing in a literal interpretation of heaven or hell and considering them to be dimensions or planes of existence are mutually exclusive beliefs. I don't think you'll find a Christian or Muslim who doesn't believe that heaven and hell are planes of existence in one way or another. >What exactly defines the difference between literalism and symbolisism. I think it lies in the original text and what is then done with that text. If there's a statement in a religious scripture that depicts heaven as a fluffy paradise with streams of milk and honey, taking that description at face value and believing it, to the letter, to be the reality of that place, constitutes a literalist interpretation. If, however, allegorical hermeneutics (the kind the Baha'i Faith uses) is applied to that original text so that its definition is meant to be viewed through a symbolic lens, that constitutes symbolism. Best, Adib On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 4:03 PM, Stephen Gray <skg_z...@yahoo.com> wrote: The Baha'i Studies Listserv >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purgatory > >The Bahá'í Faith regards the conventional description of heaven (and hell) as >a >specific place as symbolic. The Bahá'í writings describe heaven as a >"spiritual >condition" where closeness to God is defined as heaven; conversely hell is >seen >as a state of remoteness from God. Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í >Faith, >has stated that the nature of the life of the soul in the afterlife is beyond >comprehension in the physical plane, but has stated that the soul will retain >its consciousness and individuality and remember its physical life; the soul >will be able to recognize other souls and communicate with them.[9] >For Bahá'ís, entry into the next life has the potential to bring great joy.[9] >Bahá'u'lláh likened death to the process of birth. He explains: "The world >beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of >the child while still in the womb of its mother."[10] The analogy to the womb >in >many ways summarizes the Bahá'í view of earthly existence: just as the womb >constitutes an important place for a person's initial physical development, >the >physical world provides for the development of the individual soul. >Accordingly, >Bahá'ís view life as a preparatory stage, where one can develop and perfect >those qualities which will be needed in the next life.[9] The key to spiritual >progress is to follow the path outlined by the current Manifestations of God, >which Bahá'ís believe is currently Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'u'lláh wrote, "Know thou, >of a truth, that if the soul of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, >assuredly return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved."[11] >The Bahá'í teachings state that there exists a hierarchy of souls in the >afterlife, where the merits of each soul determines their place in the >hierarchy, and that souls lower in the hierarchy cannot completely understand >the station of those above. Each soul can continue to progress in the >afterlife, >but the soul's development is not entirely dependent on its own conscious >efforts, the nature of which we are not aware, but also augmented by the grace >of God, the prayers of others, and good deeds performed by others on Earth in >the name of that person.[9] > >The Bahá'í Faith regards the conventional description of Hell (and heaven) as >a >specific place as symbolic.[34] Instead the Bahá'í writings describe Hell as a >"spiritual condition" where remoteness from God is defined as Hell; conversely >heaven is seen as a state of closeness to God.[34] > >The afterlife is seen as a central part of various relgions. Christianity and >Islam are the foremost examples of religions where this is of central >importance. What does symoblic mean anyways? No one believes in a literal >fluffy >cloud heaven or literal underworld. I would say dimensions, planes of >existence, >etc. are ways to describe what people believe in. What exactly defines the >difference between literalism and symbolisism. > > >__________________________________________________ You are subscribed to >Baha'i >Studies as: mailto:adibmasum...@gmail.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to >mailto:leave-537343-1580342.0cbc3d0f5e686b78fcb37c32a3ff1...@list.jccc.edu >Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu >Or >subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st >Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - >mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - >http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - >news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - >http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai...@list.jccc.net New Public - >http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:skg_z...@yahoo.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-537351-1719008.2a3842ae5b2f7d34dd5fdfc724616...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai...@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-537356-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai...@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
