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20101227

Revelations Just a Metaphor of the Afterlife

"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" —(Revelation 21:8, KJV)

Revelations is a metaphor - any modern-day prophecy about 1000 or 2000 years misses the point of the message there. As well, Revelations does not directly state that sinners who don't repent are going to burn in hell forever after they're dead.

Personally, I'm heterodox on this point in the Bible, and take the quote to mean that sinners who repent will be purified like gold in Purgatory. YMMV

In fact, after mentioning the second death briefly, John's vision turns to a new heaven and a new earth, which too is metaphorical about the Afterlife for repenting sinners.

As a new Christian who had not been exposed to church-going as a child but as a teenager, I am uncomfortable with the church setting because it has a cookie-cutter commercial aspect to it. As well, I'm not one to use the Lord's Prayer because it ignores the healthy approach of forgiving oneself for those trespasses and overlooks acceptance of others, too.

Rather, like the repentant sinner in the parable, my favorite prayer is the Sinner's Prayer because it is to the point:

"Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!"

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