Dear OzSpen,

To spend either eternal life or eternal damnation, you must at least be eternal, but the human body is not, it goes to the worms. By God's grace, nor is one's unrighteousness eternal either.

The world is an illusion, or more accurately not-the-truth: the only Truth is God. It doesn't, however, help to tell this to accident-victims who are in great physical pain: at this time they have no ears to hear this highest truth.

Yuyutsu,

<<To spend either eternal life or eternal damnation, you must at least be eternal, but the human body is not, it goes to the worms. By God's grace, nor is one's unrighteousness eternal either.>>

You again are giving me your Hindu worldview. You contradict the Judeo-Christian Scriptures, which match reality. Human beings are body and soul/spirit.

I agree with you that the body goes to dust, whether in the ground or through a crematorium fire. However, the reality is that human beings are not an illusion but have a spirit/soul that continues beyond the grave.

The apostle Paul put it this way: 'For me to live is Christ, to die is gain'. How can it be gain if we only are human bodies that are eaten by worms.

Eternal life or eternal damnation is given to human beings on the basis of how they respond to Christ's offer of salvation (Matthew 25:46).

<<The world is an illusion, or more accurately not-the-truth>>

That is not true again! You regularly make statements that don't match reality. In this world, I sit on an actual office chair as I type this message on the keyboard of a real computer. I'm about to go to an appointment and I drive a real car down an actual freeway. There are real trees on either side of the freeway.

The appointment is with a real professional who is not an illusion. By the way, this lawyer is not God, either. He's a professional solicitor who is really a man to whom I speak - not an illusion.

Your worldview whistles in the wind of unreality.

Dear OzSpen,

«You contradict the Judeo-Christian Scriptures»

Regarding the Christian Scriptures, it is yet to be seen, but at least the Jewish Kabbalah agrees with me. As I mentioned earlier, Christian Scriptures also consist of the accounts of Christian mystics and saints, though I only glimpsed some, so I am not in a position to comment.

Now even if there are contradictions with Christian Scriptures, this does not necessarily imply a contradiction with Jesus Christ's teachings.

«Human beings are body and soul/spirit.»

True. The spirit lasts longer than the body, the soul lasts longer than the spirit, but neither lasts forever.

«Eternal life or eternal damnation is given to human beings»

Fine, but you are not a human being, nor do human beings last for eternity. I agree that both life and damnation can last a VERY long time.

«In this world, I sit on an actual office chair»

The chair is only relatively true, relative to the world, yet the world itself once never existed and eventually will no longer exist. Only that with is eternal and immutable can rightly be called "Truth".

Yuyutsu,

<<Christian Scriptures also consist of the accounts of Christian mystics and saints>>

Please state who they are and in which books of the Bible they are located (giving chapters and verses).

<<Now even if there are contradictions with Christian Scriptures>>

You hypothesis again, with no evidence to support your claims.

<<The spirit lasts longer than the body, the soul lasts longer than the spirit, but neither lasts forever.>>

You didn't get that teaching from the biblical Scriptures. There you'll find 'soul' and 'spirit' are interchangeable descriptions of the immaterial part of human beings.

The Christian Scriptures sometimes describe a human being as “body and soul” (Matt. 6:25; 10:28). Other times a person is “body and spirit” (Eccl. 12:7; 1 Cor. 5:3, 5).

At death, sometimes it is described as the soul departing (Gen. 35:18; 1 Kings 17:21; Acts 15:26). At other times, it is the spirit that is given up (Ps. 31:5; Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59).

When it comes to explaining the immaterial element of the dead, it is called both soul and spirit (1 Peter 3:19; Heb. 12:23; Rev. 6:9; 20:4). The terms are used interchangeably.

(continued)

Yuyutsu,

(continued)

<<You are not a human being, nor do human beings last for eternity. I agree that both life and damnation can last a VERY long time.>>

Telling me over and over that I am not a human being doesn't reinforce your claim. I've repeated examples to you of how your human beings as illusions come from a Hindu philosophy that doesn't match reality.

I am a physical being with a soul who has a conscience and I can engage in rational thinking. It seems like your worldview prevents your accepting the reality that every person is a human being.

How do I know I'm a real human being? The surgeons operated on my real, pumping heart and replaced mitral and aortic valves with artificial ones. My cardiac surgeon did not operate on an illusion. He cut open a real chest bone to replace real, leaking valves with artificial ones.

Have a guess what? I was in a real hospital theatre in which I was operated on. There were real nurses and other attendants in the theatre. Domestic staff assisted me in hospital.

I wrote: "In this world, I sit on an actual office chair."

You responded: <<The chair is only relatively true, relative to the world, yet the world itself once never existed and eventually will no longer exist. Only that with is eternal and immutable can rightly be called "Truth".>>

That is nonsense. I bought my real chair from Officeworks, not because it was 'relatively true' but because it actually existed. I roll an actual office chair on a plastic office mat to and from my PC keyboard. I have a mug for tea in front of me. My CPU is so real I can touch it. Same with my printer. It broke down at the weekend and I took it to my IT professional son who fixed a real printer.

It's time for you to come out of the world of illusion and into the world of reality.

Your comments do not give credence to your philosophy of life.

Dear OzSpen,

«Please state who they are and in which books of the Bible they are located»

I referred to other Christian Scriptures, though as mentioned, I'm not familiar enough with all Christian Scriptures. My Christian friends tell me that there is vast mystical literature of Christian saints. I was recommended Saint Augustine's "City of God" and the writings of Thomas Aquinas, but regrettably they still sit fresh and new on my bookshelf as I never got around to read them. I know much more about Judaism and Hinduism, but sorry, one never has enough time to study everything.

«There you'll find 'soul' and 'spirit' are interchangeable descriptions of the immaterial part of human beings.»

The bible uses three different Hebrew words: "Nefesh", "Ruach" and "Neshamah": three out of five levels of the soul: http://www.rabbidavidcooper.com/cooper-print-index/2010/11/8/2358-five-dimensions-of-the-soul.html

«I've repeated examples to you of how your human beings as illusions come from a Hindu philosophy that doesn't match reality.»

It is the world which Hindu philosophy considers an illusion, rather than human-beings in particular, for that which is transient cannot be the real. Whether Hindu philosophy matches at least some of the Christian schools of thought is yet to be investigated, but the ancient Hindu seers only observed the reality and used sharp logic to analyse it. Our senses are not designed to capture reality, but only to support the physical survival of our bodies. Our minds too are biased and distort the reality.

«He cut open a real chest bone»

Science tells that what seems as chest bone is just a collection of molecules and that matter itself is only a concentrated form of energy. The Upanishads predicted this finding and teach further that energy itself is only a concentrated form of thought (would it perhaps correspond with the biblical concept that "In the beginning was the word"?). Anyway, there are several layers of this "onion" and if you peel them all away to examine what they truly are, all you find is God.

Logically there cannot be anything/anyone but God, for otherwise God would have been limited and subject to competition.