Picture this: A man volunteers to help orphans on his off-days from work where he just found the cure for cancer last week. He saved a baby from a burning building on the way home from his work and then went home to his wife whom he honors and is faithful to even in thought. At dinner, he chokes on his food and dies.
Will this man go to heaven?
Does the fact that he is an atheist change your opinion?
(Interested to see answers for this one)
2006-06-07 15:49:11 · 27 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
God only knows
2006-06-07 16:10:46 · answer #1 · answered by Punker 1 · 2⤊ 1⤋
If this question is towards the Christian faith... Him being an atheist does play a role in him not going to heaven. according to the Bible man can only be saved by Jesus. Romans 10:13 Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved. One cannot call someone he or she does not know. Salvation is not based on works but through God's grace and mercy. You cannot seek your own form of righteousness cause what man comes up with is fallible. What God gives is eternal and everlasting and true. Man does this things to satisfy his own ego. That is why heaven is not for sale to the highest bidder, because our motives are wrong. if we are sincere about what we do we need not boast about it. so taking care of homeless folks and orphans does not mean heaven is your final destination. Jesus is the way to the Father... no man can come to the Father but through Jesus. So if you say God does not exist how can you say you will go to heaven. God is the one who established heaven.... You can bad mouth the owner of a house and expect to enter into it.
2006-06-07 23:05:09 · answer #2 · answered by D_Nice_4Life 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off, my answer before I knew he was atheist is this: only God knows his heart, however, God doesn't let people into heaven just because they've lived a good life. you have to believe in the diety of christ and that he was sent as a ransom for all men. after I found out that this man is atheist: to get in to heaven, you have to be cleansed of sin, which you can accomplish by asking for forgiveness from God, but since he is an atheist, he is denying the existence of God, so its impossible for what he does not believe in to clean him of his sins, and since God can't live with sin, I would have to say, no. I don't think he would go to heaven.
2006-06-07 23:11:18 · answer #3 · answered by roxyl_13 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No man goes to Heaven because of his good deeds. He would go to Heaven because of his faith in Jesus Christ who died for him and paid the penalty of his sins and made him pure by the his blood He poured out at the cross. All the good work of men are nothing but a dirty rag no matter how good it sounds. If any man had done any good deed in his life, he may be rewarded but he wouldn't deserve to go to Heaven for his work. If man goes to heaven for his good deeds then Christ died in vain, and there was no reason that he should die to pay for the sins of mankind. This is the teaching of the Bible, and I believe it is the ultimate truth. If man goes to heaven for the good work he is doing, then Muslims would be the first that might set foot in it.
2006-06-07 23:10:59 · answer #4 · answered by lonelyspirit 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All go to heaven, that's where judgment is.
Ecc 12:6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
2006-06-07 22:53:38 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Heaven is for people who worship God and want to have a relationship with His Son Jesus Christ. Only God knows whether that person will decide to join Him in heaven or not. Heaven is a free gift You just have to take it. Do you want God in your life or not, you have to choose.
If a man died without ever knowing who God is, there might be a chance for Him to accept Christ or reject Him in the moment of death but nobody knows. Do you really want to take that chance?
2006-06-07 23:04:48 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, he will not. Works without faith is dead, it will not yield anything. God cannot be with sin, and the only way our sins can be washed away from us is by confessing that Jesus Christ is the risen Lord and ask Him for forgiveness.
Oh, and Mainworry is right. I was referring to this man's ultimate destination, though yes, he would be in heaven temporarily for judgment.
2006-06-07 22:53:21 · answer #7 · answered by Soga 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No man gets to heaven by their own (Romans 3:27). It is only by faith in God; accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior that you will recieve eternal life in Heaven. It is not by works, but by the grace of God when you accept Jesus. Hope this helps, God bless!
2006-06-07 23:09:29 · answer #8 · answered by eefen 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your ask amiss, and from unbelief. This man will neither go heaven or hell. He is not real...and only exits in order to provide you with a mechanism to entangle Christians with their own theology. If you believed, you would present your concerns to the One who could answer them, instead of fishing for more evidence not to believe. Cute, though.
2006-06-07 23:09:20 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, the bible states clearly that a relationship with Jesus is the only way to get to heaven. It's not by works, but by faith.
2006-06-07 23:07:33 · answer #10 · answered by FrmVegas 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Doing good works doesn't get you to heaven. It's believing in Jesus Christ, that he is Lord and God raised him from the dead. Noone goes to heaven, but through Jesus only. The good works come from experiencing Christs love.
2006-06-07 22:53:20 · answer #11 · answered by lees girl 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋