Mandate of Heaven

1. The conflicting conditions of human life A hero “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matthew 16:26 NIV) Every story has a main character. The troubles the main character goes through constitute the plot of the story. He, the hero, will eventually solve the conflict the story centers upon. The main character of many of Jesus’ teachings is the human soul. The existence of the immortal soul is…

Hell is confusing. One of the greatest preachers in American history, Jonathan Edwards, proclaimed, “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire” (Edwards 97). Yet, another great theologian Jürgen Moltmann stated, “In hell the trumpet signalling liberation has already been…

Chapter Three In chapter three of, After you Believe, N.T Wrights explains the human calling to reign over creation and ultimately achieve God’s vocation and intended image for humankind. In the creation account found in Genesis, humans are given reign and dominion over creation. What does the word ‘reign’ imply in this context. It is unlikely that God gave us ‘reign’ to destroy his beautiful world. Nature is a project that humans should protect and maintain. As humans, we need to enable…

Surviving Death Death is not really something that most people like to talk about. Which is understandable, why would we, as the human species, talk about our own mortality. Most of us like to experience life in the now rather then think about the future and what will happen when our time runs out. Though as much as we do not like to talk about death at the same time we are fascinated with it. Humans really do seem fascinated with death at times. Along with this fascination there is also a…

therefore placed in limbo. It confirms his human reasoning. Virgil carries all the characteristics of limbo. It makes him the best guide for hell, but also justifies the justice of god. He is wise, but without faith in Jesus, he is not allowed to enter heaven. Satan represents Treachery. It is the last circle of hell and is the worst place within hell. Satan is the one who committed the worst sin of betraying god. Treachery is the worst of hell and Satan is the one who committed the worst sin.…

If someone has done multiple major sins, where would they be positioned in the inferno according to Dante? Dante’s greatest work, The Inferno, tells the story of many individuals who have sinned, and it categorizes them into different levels depending on what they did. Using his guidelines, many stories of people could be placed into the inferno. Sometimes it is quite easy to see where someone would be placed, for instance, if they committed a murder, they would be drowning in a river of blood.…

In many places in his Inferno, the reason for Dante the poet’s placement of certain souls is murky at best. Nowhere is this problem so compounded as in Canto IV, where Dante the pilgrim meets the souls in Limbo. Dante the poet’s choice of whom to include among the “virtuous pagans” seems inconsistent and his removal of the pre-Christian monotheists from Limbo leaves questions about what it means, in his mind, to believe in God and to live a righteous life by His laws and the rules of the church,…

Dante, in the Inferno, gives us a visual imagination of hell while teaching us the meaning of justice. He illustrates how the sin you commit during your lifetime, will prefigure your punishment in hell. We don’t only see this in the story, we also see this now; however, we perceive it as karma. If you do something bad, it will eventually come back at you. Dante goes through this journey to give us an illustration of the different sinners in hell and what their punishment is. Dante is halfway…

Lay theologian, C.S. Lewis, projects his own conception of Heaven and Hell most prominently in his work, The Great Divorce. Here, he depicts Hell as being a place that is not necessarily eternal, but a place where one chooses to be and has the option to leave. Lewis states, “They lead you to expect red fire and devils and all sorts of interesting people sizzling on grids… but when you get there it’s just like any other town” (53). Hell is not this fiery furnace that society often depicts, thus…

Alexander Pope once said, “To err is human; to forgive, divine.” (PhraseFinder). An adage many are familiar with, Alexander Pope’s thoughts on forgiveness reveal that everyone makes mistakes. We all sin. And eventually, we seek redemption to find peace. Khaled Hosseini delves deeper into this aspect of human nature in his novel The Kite Runner. A story about two inseparable friends, Amir and Hassan, growing up in pre-revolutionary Kabul, and experiencing a harrowing journey in the midst of…