Hell and Heaven

HEAVEN AND HELL: IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE: PROF.M.M.NINAN
Here God selects one person and a nation so that God could bring the redemption of mankind
through them. The process was, God himself to incarnate as man to bring gospel of salvation for
all humans who lived in the past, living in the present and will live in future until all are reached.
Until that time God's redemption and its process will go on. The choice of Abraham was the
initiation of the process.
This was the role of Israel. However, they wanted all the benefits of the election - all the special
privileges but was disinclined to serve and bring all mankind back to God. One solid example is
when Jonah refused to go and preach repentance to a gentile nation Nineveh.
Now all these are in the subconscious of every human in their collective consciousness and they
constructed their models of heaven and hell.
The only model of Heaven was the Garden of Eden. The only model of hell was the world outside
of Eden into which Adam and Eve were to live awaiting redemption. Thus both heaven and hell
are on the earth. The only hope of getting back into heaven was through death according to
some plan of God, the details of which are not given to us in the Old Testament time nor in New
Testament time in detail..
Judaism eventually offered a range of views on the afterlife essentially based of Eden and the wide
world as you can see through the description of heaven and hell which we now take up.
What exactly was the role of the death in this redemptive process? There are some who believe
that death in the universe and on earth was introduced only after the fall of Adam. The Universe
was created within God as an independent organism - it would imply that God has allowed freewill
or freedom of action based on fixed physical and spiritual laws to the universe. This is also true
about every organic beings and units within the universe. As long as they connect willingly to the
ultimate source of life and energy death will not be for them. But freedom an independence
means ultimate death because these create an isolated system. Isolated systems are subject to
the law of decay and death. This is essentially the law of entropy. Death was indeed in
existence outside of Eden. That is why Adam and Eve were sent out.
The high energy source of life is still in the Eden and especially on the Tree of life. That is still a
gated community, entrance to which is conditional. What was the process of redemption for Adam
and Eve and their children - the Adamic race - who were thrown out in to the world outside of Eden
with a fixed tendency for evil - the yetser ha Ra? Were they given the power to overcome that with
their own freedom during the day of their life time or were they to find it beyond death.
Judaism had no solution for it when and how they could return to the Garden of Eden. Their
theology was only for this life outside of Eden, before death, here and now in this age. At least it
was so until their captivity and return. It was only during the time of the Prophets the thought of a
life beyond the grave, the resurrection back with their own physical body and the grant of the entry
into the Garden of Eden or Paradise came into focus. Even then it was limited only to a limited
few to enter the Paradise based on their own ability to choose righteousness. Karma was the
only way. What happened to the other children of Adam who failed in their Karma to keep the law
of God remained an unanswered question. Three solutions were proposed -
5