Why don't Lutherans believe people go to hell?

Question

My father-in-law was a lutheran pastor. When his daughter commited suicide the congregation and the whole family acted like she was in heaven with god and jesus and all of that. Lutherans are a sect of christianity...and christians believe that if you commit suicide you go to hell. When I asked him if lutherans believe in hell he said yes, but that they don't believe anyone actually goes there after they die. If that is true, what is the point of living a good life if everyone gets to go to heaven afterwords?

Someone please explain this to me?

Oh, by the way...I'm not an athiest...but I'm darn close. I believe in a supreme being (God) but I have no faith in religion. I'm not sure if there is a heaven or a hell but I'm hoping both exist. God created all that is, that stuff he made created the universe, the univers created us, and somewhere along the way we screwed it all up and created religion. I just was taken aback by how someone I saw as being so religious in a culture that believes in heaven and hell that he believed that no one actually went there. Where's the "I told you so"? Where's the gold at the end of the rainbow? What's so good about being right if you can't laugh at the people who got it wrong?

I hate it when people just copy/paste pages of the bible or some other book. I don't care what the book says...I want to know what you think. Copy/paste something from your brain next time dude.

Answer 1

The Catholic Church established the concept of hell. At the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., the Catholic church fathers invented Christianity as we know it. Martin Luther questioned the authority of the pope and Catholic Church to interpret the myths that they invented. He petitioned for the right to reinterpret these myths in his own way, and created his own religion based on the fake stories cobbled into a religion by the Catholic Church. I don't know why he didn't just go all the way and pull the curtain off the whole sham and state that the stories themselves were fakes designed to keep people gullible and in line, but he had his angle too; we now have a little subreligion called Lutheranism and him to thank for it. His success in cornering a little bit of the Church's action by reinterpreting the fake stories in his own way grew to be so popular that we now have hundreds (thousands) of little Christian subreligions and individual interpretations too.

Your analysis seems to fall into the category of individual interpretations of these mythical tales. The point of living a good life has nothing to do with heaven or hell for most people on this planet, so how the Lutherans handle it makes as much sense as any of the other interpretations. In fact, being in mortal fear for their immortal souls doesn't seem to stop those people with self-control problems from raping, killing, lying or stealing; in Christianity (and Lutheranism) all they have to do is confess or call on Jesus and they are 'forgiven' so there is no moral basis for either religion.

A good moral code doesn't have anything to do with religion. Seek a rational way to lead your life, and ignore the religious mumbo-jumbo.

Answer 2

I have received many phone calls from old ladies who attend Lutheran churches who have personally told me that I will go to hell if I don't accept Jesus and my lord and savior.

This is funny though, because when Lutheranism started, Martin Luther was even unsure about his salvation. At the time (and since the beginning of Christianity) it was not believed that an individual could "choose" salvation. They believed that only God could elect people for salvation. The only debate that occurred was if God made his election before or after the Fall of Man.

Anyway, traditionally, Lutherans knew that just because one was Christian didn't mean that she or he was going to heaven. There was actually a lot of anxiety at the time about this. Only God could elect people for salvation, and he would give them grace. After receiving grace, as Martin Luther stated: a good tree bears good fruit!

Anyway, the Catholics believed that if a person dies with sin that wasn't confessed, there would be trouble. This may tie into the suicide because Lutherans don't do confession, and they don't have mortal and venial sins. Also, it's terribly hateful to tell a grieving family that their child is in hell. No one knows that for certain except for god, the suicide victim, and others in the afterlife.

Answer 3

This is so untrue I'm a Lutheran and we believe people go to hell especially if you commit suicide because you wouldn't be able to ask for forgiveness after you do that and we believe that we have to ask before we get in heaven or else we would no be admitting are crimes. probably the congregation was just trying to make the pastor and family feel better because what else are you going to say to him. look up your statements next time

Answer 4

I was originally brought up Lutheran and I wasn t taught Hell. Yes I attended many churches, even an Evangelical Lutheran church in 1 town over from where I currently live until the pastor at the time was replaced with a woman pastor. Then I stopped going to church period unless it was for really special events, like my Mom s Step-Husband s Moms Funeral Anniversary and the like... I am agnostic now as fundamentalist evangelicals keep shoving Lake of Fire and Hellfire crap down my throat constantly and forcing me to believe out of fear!

Answer 5

Im Lutheran, Missouri Synod. The Bible speaks a lot about Hell. Jesus spoke a lot about Hell. Some people think of God as some big Santa Clause/grandpa figure who would never subject His creation to harm. He isnt. He is a holy and righteous God who sets boundaries not to be crossed but, He does provide a way for us to legally enter Heaven. That way is through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no other Name under Heaven by which we may attain eternal life in paradise. Jesus said that on judgment day, many will claim to have done works in Gods name but because of their lack of true faith they will be told to depart from Him into the place of everlasting torment which was prepared for the devil and his angels. There will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Jesus loves the whole world and desires all to be saved but, when the Holy Spirit draws us to Him, we must chose whether or not to follow Christ with faith and love. In rejecting Him we choose Hell. The Bible is absolutely clear on this.

Answer 6

as an ELCA Lutheran we don't believe that people go to Hell. This is one of the fundamental differences between baptist and Lutherans. The baptist believe that you to accept God's love, you have to have some sort or revelation and be baptized. Lutherans believe that because Jesus died for your sins it means that God's love is there for you whether or not you want to accept it. But yeah, we believe everyone goes to Heaven. And personally, I don't believe in Hell because if I truly believe in an all loving God, who loves people even if they deny him, why would he send someone to burn in all eternity ?

Answer 7

Hell is probably similar to a training camp of Al Qaeda, where the devils are taught the most advanced techniques to bring and distribute evil on the earth. They do not need to increase the number of devils recruiting newcomers. The existing number of devils is surely sufficient to counterbalance the good actions instigated by the angels.

Answer 8

Lutherans most certainly believe that people go the Hell. Although their beliefs have been changing over the past few years, historically Luther and the church that bears is name have always believed the Biblical answer.

Answer 9

If you are God and you created beings, would you let them burn in hell for eternity? So, its a nice belief that everyone will go in heaven and thats what will happen eventually. But make sure you live a good life.. there are nasty surprises round the corner when life meets death.

Answer 10

That's especially interesting since Jesus, Himself, talked about Hell more than any other person in the Bible.