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According to Christianity, people who don't accept Jesus as their savior go to Hell?

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Ah, the rules aren't open to interpretation even though Jesus clearly spoke in parables so, we're all going to hell? Calvinist?

Jesus certainly had something in mind when he told his parables. Whether that was what people have extrapolated from them is something else entirely. There's a fine line between "interpretation" and "making shit up". Interpret all you want, but being open to interpretation doesn't mean that the mental acrobatics you've gone through to reach a desired conclusion from a cherry-picked verse is anything close to what is intended by your source. The parables mean something. They may mean several things, but you can't say that they mean anything, though every Christian denomination in existence uses "interpretation" as license to rewrite the bible as they see fit without changing a single word in it.
 
Guess we'll have to see who's interpretation matches more closely. Perhaps in another 40 years. Lol. I try to error on the side of love and forgiveness since that is the over all message of Jesus' teachings. If I have presented another perspective on Christianity to counter the rampant ATOT religion hate fest then, I think I've behaved as a Christian should.
 
Guess we'll have to see who's interpretation matches more closely.

Well that's the problem, there's no way to tell which is why all religion is retarded. Shape it to fit your need and state it as fact and all others who don't believe are going to hell. Yea religion is so awesome.
 
LOL- how can a church founded by Christ not be considered Chirstian? They're like the original Christian church and all the others are offshoots.

The definition of Christian is one who follows the teachings of Christ. Catholicism involves legalistic rituals, observation of law other than Christ's Sermon on the Mount (basically New Testament rules), idol worship, man's elevation of self above god with man's ability to absolve sin, etc.

It doesn't matter what the first church was. Catholicism is not Christianity.
 
The definition of Christian is one who follows the teachings of Christ...

Disagree. The definition of Christian is one who sincerely professes the person of Jesus Christ as lord and savior, no matter how much they fail in following the TEACHINGS of Christ.
 
There is(are) no God(s). There is no Heaven/Hell. It is all metaphor for an Intent. That Intent is the creation of a very real, entirely Earthly construct we call Civilization. Anarchy and Lawlessness is the hell, Law and Order is the heaven.

It is entirely obvious to anyone who takes 15 minutes to consider it. Unfortunately the Institution of Religion only partially succeeds in that endeavor as eventually Civilization no longer needs the Religion and that Religion then tears it all down again in order to please its' non existent "God(s)".
 
Guess we'll have to see who's interpretation matches more closely. Perhaps in another 40 years. Lol. I try to error on the side of love and forgiveness since that is the over all message of Jesus' teachings. If I have presented another perspective on Christianity to counter the rampant ATOT religion hate fest then, I think I've behaved as a Christian should.
40 years? I assume you mean the end of your lifetime?

Thing about that is, if I'm right, and you are as conscious after death as you were before birth, and there is no afterlife or anything of the sort, well, you won't find out much of anything, as acquiring knowledge requires consciousness, and a working brain. Without both of those, it's impossible to "know" anything new. 🙂

Delicious worm food.
 
Disagree. The definition of Christian is one who sincerely professes the person of Jesus Christ as lord and savior, no matter how much they fail in following the TEACHINGS of Christ.

You're splitting hairs.

Plain and simple, Catholics make up their own rules.
 
You're splitting hairs.

Plain and simple, Catholics make up their own rules.

You say splitting hairs but I view this as a critical and major point. I know several people who follow the teachings of Christ and yet are not Christian, admittedly so.

Catholics make up their own rules, sure, but so does every other denomination. Nobody can claim to have THE accurate interpretation of scripture.
 
Gah, I try not to get dragged into this stuff but here goes anyway.

Short answer that makes me sound like a dick: yes.

Long answer that hopefully sheds some light on my perspective:
Christians view heaven/hell like a natural law. When asked if I think nonbelievers are going to hell, it's like asking me if I think someone who jumps off a building is going to hit the ground. The answer is yes whether I want it to be or not. From my viewpoint I'm not judgmental in my answer, I'm just stating a fact.

I have to then often face the follow up question, "so you believe that good people who aren't Christian go to hell?" My answer has to be yes, because I don't believe heaven and hell have anything to do with behavior at all. I don't see the question as bad-to-good on a sliding scale, but perfect-imperfect as an either/or. And we are ALL imperfect. That means no number of good or bad works affects our final destination.

I see Christianity as one of the LEAST judgmental religions (am expecting that to be quoted out of context repeatedly and with slurs) because I don't think God uses our behavior to judge us in the least. Law of nature - we're all hellbound to begin with. God extends his offer of mercy to everyone equally. God also respects our choices; if we choose not to take him up on it he honors that decision.

Does that mean there aren't asshole Christians that take delight in the idea of condemnation, judgment and damnation? No, there are plenty of those. Does it mean that there aren't Christians out there that try to get involved in judging others right now on earth? No, clearly there are plenty of those too. It's unfortunate and I'd rather argue theology with them than non-believers any day. I can't judge any non-believers; God gave everyone free will and it isn't my place to try to take that away from anyone. People who call themselves believers though, THEY place themselves under accountability from other believers, and I have an obligation to try to correct them when I see them off base.

Flame on, OT, flame on. After 9 years here I guess I can take it.

[edit] Just have to add, I have absolutely nothing against anyone of any religion or lack thereof. I absolutely 100% respect everyone's right to believe what they believe. I don't want to see ANYONE go to hell, and so believing what I believe makes me sad quite often. But again, going back to the natural law comparison, I can't simply decide I don't like the idea of people hitting the ground when they jump off buildings and thereby prevent it from happening; the best thing I can do to prevent it from happening is make sure that the jumper has at least heard my understanding of gravity before they make their decision.
Very good post.
I love the amount of rabbit trails you get in any religious debate but for the OP this is the answer to your question. If you dont accept what Jesus did on your behalf by making you righteous then the only other option for you is to try to make yourself righteous and see if you qualified at the time of death. I like knowing that Jesus already did it for me😀
 
You say splitting hairs but I view this as a critical and major point. I know several people who follow the teachings of Christ and yet are not Christian, admittedly so.

Catholics make up their own rules, sure, but so does every other denomination. Nobody can claim to have THE accurate interpretation of scripture.
And so do atheist.
Alot of Christians really do interpret the Bible to allow themselves leeway in their own life, or fit what they want to believe, it doesnt mean its right and the Bible talks about this at length. And if you didnt know, it warns about such practices.
 
Very good post.
I love the amount of rabbit trails you get in any religious debate but for the OP this is the answer to your question. If you dont accept what Jesus did on your behalf by making you righteous then the only other option for you is to try to make yourself righteous and see if you qualified at the time of death. I like knowing that Jesus already did it for me😀

Fail. I suppose it's comforting to think your Salvation is based on Human Sacrifice, I know it was for me at one time. Eventually some realize that Santa Claus is far more plausible than some being requiring Blood for some inane Ancient act.
 
the proposition:

Belief in Jesus Christ is necessary for going to heaven


taken de dicto it would seem the proposition is false. Jesus Christ could have been a tax collector and not the second person of the Trinity.

taken de re it would seem the proposition is true. furthermore, you could believe in the second person of the Trinity and not know Him as "Jesus Christ"--i.e. you could know him as "Buddha", "Mohammed", or not know by name at all.

de re/de dicto wikipedia--this distinction is complex.

sidenote: if God loves us, then He would want those whom we love to be with us in heaven, despite their beliefs about Jesus. this is a stronger challenge to the Christian God.
 
Fail. I suppose it's comforting to think your Salvation is based on Human Sacrifice, I know it was for me at one time. Eventually some realize that Santa Claus is far more plausible than some being requiring Blood for some inane Ancient act.

All salvation is based on sacrifice. At the end of your life, you will have sacrificed even yourself in pursuit of salvation. As will we all.

Bringing up Santa Claus in this context just makes you sound like some ignorant teenager. Because the irony of your post here is that the message of Christ is to get people to stop requiring blood sacrifices and instead look to spiritual sacrifices. You don't have to be a Christian to appreciate this. It was an important historical step in humanity's psychological development.
 
"...hell is simply one’s freely chosen identity apart from God on a trajectory into infinity.”

-Tim Keller, "The Reason for God"
 
what blows my mind is you can live a life of evil. rape, murder whatever you decide but you accept Jesus into your life 10 minutes before you die you get to go to heaven. Yet a man who lives a good life. helping those over himself, giving all that he can and always looking out for others is condemed to hell because he does not believe in jesus.

Thats a fatal assumption...nobody except God knows the mans heart. 🙂
 
All salvation is based on sacrifice. At the end of your life, you will have sacrificed even yourself in pursuit of salvation. As will we all.

Bringing up Santa Claus in this context just makes you sound like some ignorant teenager. Because the irony of your post here is that the message of Christ is to get people to stop requiring blood sacrifices and instead look to spiritual sacrifices. You don't have to be a Christian to appreciate this. It was an important historical step in humanity's psychological development.

I somewhat agree with that, he wasn't really the first to say such a thing though. His words are merely the most popular along those lines. Especially amongst the Monotheist Judeo line of thought.
 
"...hell is simply one’s freely chosen identity apart from God on a trajectory into infinity.”

-Tim Keller, "The Reason for God"
I've lived life thus far "apart" from god. If this is hell, I think someone's doing a pretty lousy job of making it hellish.


Areacode707: We're hellbound by default? (Or rather, by design.) Why? Why create a world of sentient creations who are predestined to an eternity of suffering, and then offer a choice of "mercy" or not? Sounds rather sadistic to me.
 
I've lived life thus far "apart" from god. If this is hell, I think someone's doing a pretty lousy job of making it hellish.

Eh, I look at the world and don't exactly see singing daisies and rainbow-farting unicorns. It's a pretty messed up place. I would argue it is that way because of human selfishness. And I know my life/relationships with other people are marked by that same selfishness, as much as I try to live otherwise.

What I meant by referencing that quote was that "Hell" isn't some kind of cosmic "gotcha" or place you're held against your will. As C.S. Lewis would say, without self-choice there is no Hell.
 
The Buddhists's say we're in Hell, here now, and when you attain enlightenment, that would be the Christian Heaven state the brochure mentions.
 
LOL- how can a church founded by Christ not be considered Chirstian? They're like the original Christian church and all the others are offshoots.

No no.. in around 1050, christianity broke off into orthodox and catholic.

All the protestants broke off from catholicism though... Martin Luther and all that jazz, 500 years later.

I think orthodox is closer to original.
 
According to the Bible, God ultimately chose (predestined) some to salvation before the world was created, and those that He chose are the ones who will ultimately accept Christ and follow after Him.

The question is whether you accept that there is a supreme God who is in control of all things, and then whether or not you accept His sovereignty in choosing whatever He wills. Because if there is a supreme God, then whatever He wills, whether you or I or anyone else likes it, is definitively right and good and perfect, and any lesser being (read: everyone) would not be able to question Him. While humans can of course question humans, we have no right to question (in the interrogative sense, not the sincere asking of questions) God any more than an ant can question us, nor do we have the ability to truly comprehend all things.

What I am describing is the "potter's right", which is essentially covered by Romans 9 (if you want the gospel in a nutshell, read all of Romans; it's not that long a letter).

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%209&version=NASB

By the way, no, I can't reconcile human choice and predestination (aka "fate"), simply because perspective plays a role, and I am limited in time/space unlike God. Both are true, however, though I can't fully comprehend that. There are a lot of things incomprehensible/seemingly paradoxical in this universe, though, and anyone who studies advanced physics can tell you that.
 
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