DISCLAIMER: Chances are that this post may offend someone. Most people here are familiar with my posting style by now. If you find me to normally be abrasive or aggravating, and you consider yourself to be a fairly devout Christian, you may not want to continue reading this post.
Fair warning. Quote:
| Something I've pondered over my life is, how "Christian" do you have to be to get into Heaven? How much sin can one man make and still be forgiven? Can you not believe, then change your mind and accept the lord as your savior in the end? Was the Bible the work of god, or simply testament by men during that era?
Religion is a tricky subject because of so much that is unknown. |
Unknown? But every single question you just asked is answered in the Bible. According to scripture; the Bible is God's word; there is no maximum amount of sin allotted; despite the tenants the Catholic church has cooked up, there is no degree or level of Christian that one must achieve to get into Heaven.
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None of us were there to be witness to Jesus... all you have is faith.
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None of us witnessed King Henry VIII or Napoleon Bonaparte, but is that a reason to question whether faith in history books is sufficient for belief in these men or their accomplishments? I'd wager none of us has witnessed the North pole with our own eyes either, but do we not have the faith that it is still there, based on what we've been told? (seriously, is there anyone here who has been to the North Pole? I'm not playing devil's advocate, I'm trying to make a point.) Faith, as a justification for belief, should not be underestimated. No, it's not deductive reason for proving something to be true, but it's an extremely powerful rhetorical appeal.
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Then you read articles like this were in this case, you have 70% of Christian America who believes even those that are Atheist will get to Heaven.
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I'm not trying to be rude, but are you intentionally misrepresenting the article, or did you just misread? The article actually said the exact opposite:
"70 percent of Americans said that they believed religions other than theirs could lead to eternal life."
...with the key word there being
religions. Americans are saying they believe that 70 percent of other religious paths,
all of which are denounced by atheists, may lead to heaven.
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Personally, I believe in God, Jesus, and that I am saved... and I can't allow myself to think differently because this is how I was raised...
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...so is this an admission that you are brainwashed? If you are literally unable to make your own conscious decisions about religion and other existential questions simply because you were raised a certain way, you have been completely voided of self-determination and free will, thus rendering you cognitively handicapped.
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that, and the fear of the alternative to Heaven for doubting scares the heck out of me.
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I realize this is your own personal process for coming to your beliefs, but doesn't this type of reasoning
*beg the question? You're asserting the basic foundational warrant (that the Bible is true, that there is a God, that there is a Heaven & Hell, etc) as justification for believing the very same conclusion (that you would go to Hell if you doubted any of this). Right there, you're asserting that Hell even exists. I of course realize how powerful and convincing this type of reasoning can be, but can you not see that it is logically unsound?
*It should be noted that a conclusion that begs the question isn't automatically false, but all possibilities should at least be acknowledged.
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Do I think you can be saved in the end? From what the Bible tells me, yes. If you accept the lord into your life as your savior and ask for forgiveness, and mean it, you will be saved. At the same time (and by no means am I any kind of expert on the Bible, which is probably one of my worst flaws considering this is my life I'm talking about), I've interpreted the opposite... that if I, you, whomever doesn't learn about Jesus, and have a personal relationship with him, that it's just not good enough.
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How exactly is what you've interpreted the opposite of what the Bible tells you? In all seems to follow, at least chronologically. Paraphrasing (obviously) the Bible says you can be saved if you ask for forgiveness and accept Jesus into your heart. It also says that if you
don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you will not go to Heaven.
I'm not seeing a contradiction there....
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So are you (provided you're Christian) in the 70% that believe even those that have lived Godless lives will be saved, or are you the other percentage that thinks those people are headed the opposite direction? Elaborate your thoughts. Don't just say I'm headed to hell... explain why!
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Again, you're invoking this misinterpretation of what the article actually said. The poll said 70% of Americans believe that
other religions can lead to heaven. Other religions would also obviously include the two other Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Islam, which would very inaccurately be described as "Godless", seeing as how they follow the same God of Christianity.
Now for my take on the poll numbers: I think they are the result of some very lazy and irresponsible people who conveniently like to label themselves as "Christians". The article itself quotes scripture saying that following Jesus is the only way into Heaven (again, paraphrasing). For these "Christians" to ignore this, or to just be ignorant of the verse, and to say that there are other religions which lead to Heaven shows me that they either do not take their religion seriously, or are wholly uneducated on the most fundamental of
biblically sourced Christian beliefs and are therefore unqualified to be answering such a question. One shameful thing I see all too often amongst Christians in this country is their tendencies to leave out or flat out ignore relevant parts of the Bible in favor of what is most convenient for them to believe. It's actually quite unsettling.