Hey all, I know I’m new here but…..what great questions/dialouge! I have been on a number of forums and find that they can be tedious and bland….not the case here. I can’t wait to chew on a few more threads.

In line with this thread. The idea of Adam and Eve being eternal in the “here and now” and in “eden” which somehow represents a reality not quite the “here and now” seems very balanced. Their death came in the breaking of their link with God who gave them life. I really must say that as I do some study on ancient Jewish thought I don’t see a lot of evidence for an eternal “soul”. Their concept of death….”sheol” or “the grave” is pretty final. Now add that to their understanding of some sort of post mortem salvation (David speaks alot of this in the Psalms) really points to something quite different than what we often imagine and what has been propegated in greek infulenced “western” christian thought (that was one hell of a run on sentance so you might want to read it twice!!!) Edward Fudge and others (Pinnock?) use the term “conditional mortality”.

I find it interesting that during the canonization of the new testament that books like “The appocalypse of Peter” were left out. That book and a few others like it would have sealed the deal on an eternal concious torment view of the afterlife for the lost…..yet our scriptures do not contain them. Say what you want about the cannon, but I for one don’t think it’s an accident.

Sorry for the stream of concious writing style…..I’m smarter and more coherent in person (at least that’s what my mommy tells me….she says I’m handsom too!…..hahah)

D