"Do you believe in the existence of a soul?" Elvin asked.

It was Friday night. College sophomores and roommates Elvin Abrams and Craig Morgan, were hanging out at the dorm lobby discussing Elvin's favorite pastime- theology. Joining them were their suitemates Burt Judge and Rick Washington.

"I mean, there are hundreds of people who claim to have had out of body experiences in which they floated out of their bodies and were later pulled back into them when they awoke." Burt said.

"There's that guy. Bill Weiss, was it?" Rick asked. "Didn't he say that he died for 30 minutes and went to hell?"

"Bill Wiese. Yes. He claims that his soul was pulled out of his body and that he went to hell for 23 minutes. He said he had a body that felt pain, but did not bleed when attacked, and couldn't die. Then Jesus told him that he would be coming very soon, to warn more people that hell was real because not enough people believed in its existence. This was in 1998. Right now, it is 2010." Elvin elaborated at length.

"That reminded me. Isn't there another woman named Mary Baxter who also said that Jesus gave her a tour of the different levels of hell?" Burt asked.

"I think so, yes. She died, though. Bill is still alive, though, and still preaches."

"If the soul is immortal, that means, humans never die." Burt said.

"Wait a minute, guys. What about the Tree of Life in the Book of Genesis?" Rick remembered.

"Well, what about it?" Craig asked.

"Didn't God kick Adam and Eve out of Eden after they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil so that they can't eat from the fruit of the tree of life and live forever like God?" Rick followed up.

"Yes. He did. Why do you ask?" Elvin asked.

"Well, God didn't want them eating from the fruit of the tree of life because they would live forever in a sinful, fallen state." Rick continued. "But if everyone has a soul that goes to either Heaven or Hell and never dies, that means everyone is immortal. So, wouldn't that make it pointless for there to be a Tree of Life to exist?"

"That's actually an excellent point." Burt complimented. "Does the Old Testament even say that the soul can live apart from the body after death?"

"The Old Testament mentions Sheol, a shadowy underworld deep in the earth itself where all the dead go to. The souls retain their memories of who they once were while on earth. There are other verses that say Sheol is a place of pain and sorrow and that it enlarges itself to accommodate more and more souls. There verses that suggest a future judgment, especially in the Book of Daniel, in which every human will be resurrected, stand trial before God, and that some will be glorified while others will live in shame. But the New Testament is when hell takes center stage as a horrifying dungeon of fire, brimstone, and undying worms. It is compared to Gehenna in the Valley of the Sons of Hinom, a burning trash dump where people once worshipped an evil pagan god named Molech by sacrificing their children into the flames. The fire doesn't die because people kept throwing refuse into the fire to keep it burning. That is what Jesus said hell would be like. Revelations says the smoke of the torment of the wicked goes on forever and that they will not know a moment of rest, those that received the Mark of the Beast and worshipped its image."

"Then there is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus went to Paradise to Abraham's bosom where Father Abraham comforted the man who was a beggar in life. The rich man lived and ate luxuriously and behaved selfishly to the poor, so he went to Hades. The rich man in Hades remembered who he was, was in agony from the flames, and was also extremely thirsty. He asked Abraham for permission to be let out of Hades so he can warn his brothers. Abraham said that people have the prophets to listen to and that if they will not hear them, then they will not listen even to someone back from the dead. The people in Paradise, the temporary Heaven, stay there until Jesus resurrects them back to life with glorified immortal bodies and returns to earth to make war against the Beast, the False Prophet, and their worshippers. The Beast and False Prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire while their followers are killed with a sword coming out of the mouth of Jesus. Satan is tied up and sealed in the Abyss. Then Jesus sets up his kingdom in Jerusalem. He judges people who are still alive, admitting the sheep into the kingdom, and the goats into the Lake of Fire. Then he rules for 1000 years with all the saints. Earth enjoys a golden age of peace."

"Then at the end of the 1000 years, Satan is let loose and leads a last rebellion against Jesus, but he and his followers are destroyed by fire from the Heavens. Then the universe is destroyed with a massive explosion and every human finds himself standing before God the Father. Hades and the sea give up all the dead who were buried in them. Then they are cast into the Lake of Fire. God checks the Book of Life for names. Those in the book go to the New Jerusalem in the New Earth and the New Heaven. Those not in the book go to the Lake of Fire with the Devil, his angels, the Beast, the False Prophet, the worshippers of the Beast, and every other unsaved person who ever lived. Those admitted into the New Jerusalem eat from the Tree of Life and spend eternity with one another and with God while the majority screams in agony in the Lake of Fire. Then the Bible ends. A few lived happily ever after. Most do not."

Craig, Burt, and Rick just stared in silence for a few minutes.

"So, ultimately, everyone does get eternal life. Just not with Jesus."

"That's what the church believed. It's relatively recently that you started to get doctrines like annihilationism or universalism. Annihilation is one where the unsaved are incinerated and burnt up in the Lake of Fire, ceasing to exist. Universalism is where all get saved and go to Heaven. Both have been considered heretical by the church, but the former still has some adherents whereas the latter is extremely easy to debunk."

"It makes me wonder why Genesis doesn't talk about Hell. God said Adam would die and that his body would return to the dust. It doesn't say Adam eternally damned himself and all his progeny to hell based on original sin." Rick said.

"Like I said, it's supposed to be progressive revelation." Elvin said.

"Did death exist prior to Adam sinning? I mean, you already had the talking snake, the devil, and the angels who sided with the devil against God." Burt said. "The fact that the Tree of Life exists seems to suggest Adam wasn't immortal, but had to eat from the tree to become so. It'd make no sense for the tree to exist, otherwise."

"Saint Paul says death entered into the earth and cursed creation because of Adam's sin and that Jesus came to undo it." Elvin said.

"What about Satan? He sinned before Adam." Craig said.

"True." Elvin nodded.

"Why was Adam's sin worse than Satan's sin?" Craig asked. "Adam disobeyed God by eating a fruit, but Satan wanted to kill God and take his throne."

"I think the notion is that Adam is made in God's image and is the peak of God's creation. So, Adam sinning is an insult to God's image. Angels were not made in God's image. It'd be like how a president committing a crime brings shame on the whole nation since he represents the entire country." Elvin reasoned.

"Does original sin mean that everyone is guilty of Adam's sin or just that people suffer bad consequences as a result of what Adam did?" Rick asked.

"Depends who you ask. But the Westminster Confession of Faith will tell you that it is both. People are immediately guilty of Adam's sin upon birth and in danger of hell regardless of age, unless they are converted. The babies of elect people are presumably saved if they die in infancy because they can't hear the Gospel. But the babies of non-elect people may or may not go to hell. The Bible doesn't dogmatically say so. But then again, God didn't spare infants and small children when he sent the flood or destroyed Sodom with fire or when he commanded Israel to go war against the Canaanites and to spare no one- not women, children, babies, or livestock. So, who knows? Perhaps they are in hell. Perhaps they are not. It's definitely a divisive topic and a pretty disturbing one if you consider all the implications. If babies go to Heaven, then abortion clinics are doing God's work by sending people to Heaven, as horrible as that sounds. But if babies can and do go to hell? That ought to be discourage anyone from having kids in the first place because of the danger they will be damned."

"Would that baby even understand why it is there?" Craig shuddered a little.

"Bible doesn't say. Maybe." Elvin said.

"Wouldn't the baby hate God for creating him?" Burt asked.

"I'd imagine so." Elvin said. "But like I said, Bible doesn't say if babies go to Heaven or to Hell."

"What happens to an aborted fetus if it goes to Heaven? Does it stay an aborted fetus or is it a fully formed human? For that matter, what ages are people in Heaven? If my grandfather died and went to Heaven, would he still be an old man?"

"Again, Bible doesn't say. It does say that people in Heaven won't be getting married or having sex. The Christian Heaven, that is. Muslim Heaven does have sex."

"What are you guys talking about?" Someone interrupted. It was their dorm RA and senior Kurt Hyles.

"The weather." Elvin lied.

"Didn't sound like it." Kurt chuckled. "Mind if I join? I'm from a pastor's family. I think I may a thing or two to add."

"Suit yourself." Craig patted the back of the sofa.