Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 11 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 19 years, 5 months ago by
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- You take a person who leads an evil life. He rapes little children, kills his parents, steals from blind people, etc. If this person accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord on his deathbed, he is forgiven and goes to heaven, right?
Now we take another person who leads a very positive life. He gives a third of his income to help feed and clothe starving children, never lies, goes out of his way to do something nice for at least one person every day. This person doesn't happen to believe in Jesus Christ, so he is going to hell when he dies, right?
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Name : Andy, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 33, City : Los Angeles, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' 'None is righteous, not even one'. Read the book of Romans, where these verses can be found. Works (good deeds) in and of themselves cannot save anybody. We believe that it is the atoning sacrifice (crucifixion) and ressurection of Christ that bridges the previously unspannable gap between man and God. This is a hard thing to swallow for the majority of people, but someone who understands what Jesus is all about yet rejects Him nonetheless has rejected God. As for a person who had done much harm in his lifetime... God is their judge. He looks at what is written on their hearts, even if the final chapter is written while on their death beds.User Detail :
Name : Dan, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : na, Race : Chicano, Religion : Pentecostal Christian, Age : 21, City : Los Angeles area, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Social class : Lower middle class,Yes, there are only 3 ways that you can go to hell, and doing those things are NOT any of them. If you are truely sorry for your sins, then the lord forgives you, and you are accepted into heaven.User Detail :
Name : Meghan, Gender : F, City : Rochester Hills, State : MI Country : United States,'A very positive life' is still not perfect, and a Holy God can only accept perfection. Mankind is sinful and cannot be perfect. Jesus who died for us, takes away our sin (upon our acceptance of his sacrifice and decision to allow him to be Lord of our lives) and that allows us to spend eternity with God. The key is that without Christ, we cannot enter heaven. 'Very positive isn't god enough.'User Detail :
Name : David Akers, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Baptist, Age : 41, City : Los Gatos, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,That's why I don't buy this religion crap. Why someone would choose to believe in such a religion is beyond me. One of my best friends became a born-again Christian when she was in high school and recently she told me that her mother was going to hell because her mother is Buddhist. How does one know what God will do, if there's a God to begin with? I think religion is just another way to be exclusive, even in death we have to find some way to divide.User Detail :
Name : Cindy, Gender : F, Age : 25, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,That is correct. Jesus himself used this story to explain it: A man had two sons. He asked them to go work in the field. One son said 'yes' but never went to the field. The second said 'no' but reconsidered and did go to work in the field later. Which followed the father's request? The second of course. In your example the 'evil' person did eventually agree to follow Jesus to paradise. The 'positive' person was doing good work - but not for Jesus/God. If he does not know Jesus then he has no way of following him to paradise. Of course the most rewarding life is in doing good works while following Jesus. The real question is how do we know that following Jesus will lead us to paradise?User Detail :
Name : Craig P., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 40+, City : Somewhere in, State : MO Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Depends how much faith you place in religious dogma. Technically, you are correct, in that those religions which require one to accept Jesus as Saviour before obtaining salvation hold these views. However, comparative examinations of religions show a wide range of requirments to gain access to that religion's paradise. I personally hold a view very similar to what was shown in the film 'What Dreams May Come' in that we each make our own hell or heaven.User Detail :
Name : Doug25619, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : New Age, Age : 36, City : Phoenix, State : AZ Country : United States, Occupation : Administrator, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I am not christian so take my answer with a grain of salt, but my understanding is this: If the bad person truly accepted christ into his heart then he would be so anguished at his bad deeds that the torture he woudl inflict upon himself is enough punishment. Its still stupid in my opinion that some think a generous god would choose to have whether you accept him be the basis for your acension into heaven, when he could actually have the people who were kind and good to each other.User Detail :
Name : Beth, City : anchorage, State : AK Country : United States,I fully agree with your point, which is why I reject any religion that claims to have 'the truth' and says that anyone who doesn't believe in that religion is going to 'hell'.User Detail :
Name : Jillian, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 23, City : Sydney, State : NA Country : Australia, Occupation : Accountant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Although I do not share this belief, my mother-in-law is a fundamentalist Christian and she does believe that acceptance of Jesus Christ as your 'personal savior' is the only way someone can get to Heaven. I asked her this exact same question a few months ago, and her response was that it doesn't matter how commendable your actions on earth are -- if you don't accept Jesus as your personal savior, you are NOT going to Heaven. She did amend this by saying that she doesn't think everyone else is going to Hell -- they just don't get to be in a place where they are 'close to God.' Sort of like the Catholic version of Limbo. She, and others of her belief (Southern Baptist) do feel that even the worst kind of 'sinner' can be redeemed (and go to Heaven where they are close to God) if they truly accept Jesus and try to live by his example. So according to her explanation, your postulate is almost correct ... although the person who lives a positive life and does not accept Jesus is not going to Hell but to to a modified (lesser) version of Heaven. As I said, this response is second-hand and I would be interested to read the reactions of people who do feel this way.User Detail :
Name : Courtney31862, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 25, City : Memphis, State : TN Country : United States, Occupation : Nurse, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,You've answered both of your questions in asking them. Yes. All God requires of us, in order to enter his kingdom, is to truly believe and repent of our sins. If the criminal on his deathbed truly does want God's forgiveness and for the Lord to come into his heart, then as God promises, it shall be so. But he has to be sincere in his doing. And we are not to judge if he really meant it or not. Only God knows what is really in our hearts. Even if we don't. And if the good Samaritan never found it in his heart to repent and believe and accept the Lord and Savior, then he will have to suffer. The Lord does not care about the worldly works we do. He doesn't even care about the bad we do. Granted, he doesn't want us to do bad things, but what really matters the most is what we do with our hearts, and what we do for God.User Detail :
Name : Erin, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 20, City : Fort Lauderdale, State : FL Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Social class : Middle class,This is where we Jews part company with Christians. We believe that the righteous of all nations (all religions) have a place in heaven.User Detail :
Name : Steve27866, Gender : M, Religion : Jewish, Age : 70, City : Hendersonville, State : NC Country : United States, Occupation : Retired, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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