True, but I still agree with Jay.
There's just something about this telling me I shouldn't be messing with it too much...

In my stories, even the allegory I started (although I didn't work it out as much as I could have, so maybe it shouldn't count...), I didn't change anything about heaven or hell. I've always just used the same Christian beliefs that I have when I write my stories. I do anything I want otherwise, as long as there's nothing wrong with it, but I don't mess with the Christianity part.

Why that paragraph was so hard to put together, I do not know... my grammar stinks today...

Actually, that was Tantis, not me. But I agree for the most part.

I think the thing to remember when writing about a Heaven/Hell for your fantasy worlds is that they're fantasy worlds. I have heard/read several people saying that some things you don't mess with, but if the ultimate goal in your writing is to honor God,then I think there is freedom to creatively portray even Heaven & Hell as best fits your purpose.

Hmmmm

God is of course present in my world, but Christ isn't (though there are many allegorical things which point to him). Like Tolkien, I prefer to see this as our world but in a long ago era. So Christ hasn't come... yet.

The problem is that heaven and hell are spiritual locations, not physical. They transcend our reality and further more, when the Bible says something is a certain way, who are we to add, change, or take away from it?

But these were sprites, not humans so it didn't contradict Scripture.
In Christ,
Jordan

So you see, while the effect evil has on different creature will be different, the consequences are the same for all. The new heaven and the lake of fire are the ultimate judgments: all souls but God will be subjected to them.

I disagree for two reasons. One, the fictitious element of our work gives us more freedom when working out the cosmology of our worlds than this. To treat speculative souls on the same level as the actual souls that actual rules are made for is a bit of a stretch. We have no way of knowing how God would handle the souls of our worlds were they real, and saying that the rules applied to our world would likewise be applied to any and all worlds seems like a bit of a hasty assumption.

The Second reason, well it's more like an alternate perspective really, is that there is nothing that says we have to even address the issue of heaven or hell definitively when worldbuilding. Unless a story requires a portrayal of the afterlife (beyond the description of the inhabitants' beliefs on the matter), this is a subject that can be left unexplored if desired. But to say that all souls in all worlds are ultimately destined for either heaven or hell...I feel as if that puts an unnecessary limit on the rights of others to imagine otherwise.

I'm not disagreeing with your theology, on the contrary I think it's very sound theology; but I do disagree with the idea that this logical understanding of reality must apply to fantasy, which is by definition not reality. Basically, I believe that a God-fearing, Bible-believing Christian can honor God in their writing/worldbuilding without saying that their characters ultimately go to either heaven or hell.

in Christ,
Jordan

We don't know how he would treat souls in an other world, and so, in my opinion, we should not speculate.

there are a few things we know for sure:

1. Heaven and Hell are the ultimate destinations of all souls other than God. You see, Heaven and Hell are the only eternal destinations, and souls are eternal. Not only this, but there can be no other destination even in an otherworld. Heaven is in actuality the only eternal place: Hell is simply the lack of all the Heaven is. They are the only and fully opposed eternal "locations" if you will.

2. All souls go to one or the other. Scripture supports this in that both angels and man will inhabit either one space or the other in the end. We can't speak of things beyond our experience, and so it is wise to not travel beyond our experience.

Heaven and Hell are spiritual absolutes, and therefor override and are over all realities, real or imagined.

We do have to explore it: After all, if there is no heaven and hell, to what end is service for the Lord? Christ's sacrifice would mean nothing if our souls were purified only to be destroyed. Why serve Him in any world if service ends in the same manner as dis-service? God doesn't ask us to do good for goodness sake, or he wouldn't be handing out rewards and punishments. Take away the consequences, and it would be better that we had never existed.

Fantasy is firmly rooted in reality.

You bring up a good point: Let me answer it in my way.

The sin occurred when Eve chose to eat the fruit: It was not eating the fruit itself, it was disobeying the command. The fruit gave her knowledge of good and evil, as a consequence of eating it. This was our first experience of evil.

Angels, however appear to have always possessed the understanding of evil, but remained perfect. Therefor: when they chose between good and evil, they were educated enough that their choice would have eternal consequences. Because we sinned without the same knowledge (the concept of evil), we are offered a chance to be redeemed. However, it should be noticed that we receive the same reward as angels. Angels dwell in heaven, we one day will. Demons are ultimately destined for the lake of fire, and so are all unrepentant sinners.

So you see, while the effect evil has on different creature will be different, the consequences are the same for all. The new heaven and the lake of fire are the ultimate judgments: all souls but God will be subjected to them.

In my opinion, we are free to speculate.

With me, the people are judged on their deeds, and either put into the dark realm, or the spirit realm. The dark realm (obviously ) is Hell, a place of torment in a different realm where you spend an eternity of pain and suffering for every cruel deed you have done. In the spirit realm (Heaven) you live forever with all the other souls that have passed on to the great beyond, and it's a good place.

Moderator's Note: Corrected minor spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors.

Adam and Eve did not sin because they gained a knowledge of good and evil. They sinned because Adam blatantly disobeyed the command God gave him. You said that, but the rest sounded like you were saying that they sinned in gaining knowledge of good and evil. In heaven Adam and Eve will have a knowledge of good and evil and not sin.

I have no idea what I meant there, so lets put that aside for the moment.

I think it comes down to this:

The spiritual world transcends our reality. But what if the spiritual world is the framework, the support structure, the container, for all space-time continuums? There is Biblical (and scientific) evidence of this. Heaven and Hell exist in the spiritual world. So if my idea is correct, then they supersede all realities: And they are absolutes, for all realities.

The Bible never paints these as absolutely as you seem to think it does. You give no mention at all to "the Grave" mentioned several times throughout the OT, and even a few times in the NT which is neither Heaven nor Hell but something else altogether (the Hebrew is Sheol).

I think there are many ways to write Christian Fantasy without delving into the issue of Heaven/Hell.