[LCposter]

Even though I believe in reincarnation, I would like to understand the Christian perspective a little better. So the main assumption is that each individual has a single finite life, after which he/she spends an eternity in heaven or hell.

Presumably, the original critera was good=heaven, bad=hell. This model suffers from the problem of quantification. How many "goods" are needed to cancel out beating your kids or cheating on your wife?

Christian theology solves this problem - Do you accept Jesus Christ as your savior? Yes=heaven, no=hell. Now let me state my objections to this model. I'd be interested to hear a Christian (or even a non-Christian) rebut these points.

1) Heaven/hell seems too binary (like a legal system where for every trial, the only options would be to acquit or execute). It seems that fairness would require a nearly infinitely continuous spectrum of outcomes.

2) Being committed to an eternal fate for actions/decisions reached in a finite lifespan seems disproportionate.

3) By accepting the "believe in Jesus" criteria for entry into heaven one is condemning the majority of one's fellow earthlings to hell, which seems like a decidedly un-Christian thing to do.

4) Basing eternal fate on a single decision is tantamount to saying the sole purpose of life is to decide whether one accepts Christ or not. If that is the case, why would a benevolent and fair God give some people (those born into a Christian household) such a huge "advantage" over others (those born into a non-Christian household). This doesn't even account for those born before Christ, who we have to say are judged by different criteria or go to a different heaven/hell.

If you accept the single life hypothesis and presume a fair and benevolent God and an eternal afterlife, it seems like a fairer model would be that everyone eventually reaches heaven, but they spend some finite amount of time in purgatory to "cleanse them of their sins" so they are fit to enter heaven. It occurred to me that maybe a good way to implement purgatory would be that your life is replayed, but you now experience that life from the perspective of the people you interacted with. Thus, in a very direct way, you would feel pleasure when you did good to others, and pain when you did bad to others.

Anyway, I'd love to hear thoughts if people agree or disagree. This may all be basic stuff for someone who went to Sunday school or attends church, but the answers aren't apparent to me.