Is the concept of heaven & hell ways of reward, justice, & comeuppance which is embedded in
the human psyche & consciousness?
I think it goes back to keeping the people in line. Heaven, Hell, and Prison and Freedom. The religion and criminal law both target the person, and in their way try to keep them in line.
Someone, once said that, even if there wasn't a God, the people would create one.
I believe that is what they did. The criminal law takes action while you are alive, but the religion puts the fear of God until you die. Not that either one of these restraints on free will have worked very well. but it would get worse if there were none.
If I didn't answer the ?, the please delete this.
Grace, thanks for picking my comment. I am surprised.
Heaven is really a spitual domain for the creation of Angels or spirit body creatures This has always been their home.
But the earth was created for Man or humans who need the resources of earth to live in the flesh
Psalms 115: 16 " the earth he has given to the sons of men"
The word hell was a expression used by King James of the 1600s hell back then meant to cover over or store in a cave " expression was helling potatoes. There is no such place of torture. The scriptutes are clear when you die you are not conscious of anything all memory is forgotten.
Ecc 9:5.
The lie that people burn there was created by men and became a tradition of belief.
From a psychological perspective, after conception, an embryo takes on the stressor and relaxation hormones of the mother through the umbilical cord. This prepares the newborn to handle the mother's environment when it is born.
Then the baby takes on the behaviors and beliefs of the caregivers. That includes the Zoroastrian idea of the light versus the darkness. (which later became the idea of heaven and hell).
So depending on where a person is born, the local governing ideas are learned.
Babies are pliable, able to adapt to any environment. A baby born to a family practicing Zen would not learn the conception of heaven and hell.
Very true the circumstances/culture one is born in effects their belief system. As noted someone practicing Zen may subscribe to the belief that "heaven" is within you.
(Ala Luke 17:21)
The belief of a heaven and hell, or the law of karma are man made.
No other animal on the planet lives their life in accordance with these principles in mind. Their instincts dictate their behavior.
Prehistoric man lived in an era of "Eat what you kill" and "Every man or woman for them self." Upon making the decision to become "civilized" structure was created religions/laws to rein in behavior.
Laws are created when a majority agree a behavior is wrong. Essentially what was legal can suddenly become illegal.
Nevertheless love, empathy, and guilt has to be taught during our formative years. Those of us who don't have those traits ingrained in us eventually become known as sociopaths and psychopaths.
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