For a Chirstian bible scholar?

Question

Can someone go to heaven without ever being part of any religious ritual? Never accepted Jesus, no baptism, no communion, no nothing. If not an adult, what about a child? How young would the child have to be?

If you could quote text from the bible, I'd appreciate it. I'm looking for people speaking from education, not emotion.

Crossroads brings up the point of B'nai Mitzvot as a marker, which makes sense. This is the time when you become a full, committed member to the congregation. But if we're going to go by Judaism, what about the contract signed in foreskin 8 days after birth? Would lacking that be cause enough for trouble?

Answer 1

I hold postgraduate degrees in theology, and I hope I can give you some information that will be helpful to you.

First of all, you may be surprised to know that the Bible does not speak much about going to heaven, and when the afterlife is mentioned, it seems to give various viewpoints....a few already have gone to heaven, some seem to be sleeping in their graves awaiting resurrection, there are mentions of a first and second resurrection, some verses portray the afterlife as the kingdom of God on earth.

So, even the Biblical writers had different ideas, and through the years various denominations have looked at this question of the afterlife and have tried to make scriptures fit a view of heaven as a reward of salvation. This is why you are encountering so many different and confusing understandings of heaven and salvation.

But again, salvation as well seems to have different meanings in the scriptures, and the New Testament understanding of salvation is really more about liberation from oppressive systems. So, it these various interpretations give rise to confliting ideas about how the plan of salvation actually works.

Many of the verses that people quote to support one view or another themselves are ambiguous and can be taken several ways.

I do not mean all this to be discouraging to you, but rather to help you see that God is not a divinity of rigid technicalities, age cut-offs, quotas, or whatever. I think it is very hard for us as humans to understand how God operates, but one parable might be helpful -- the one where the workers in the vineyard who arrive at the end of the day and do hardly any work are paid the same amount as those who came first thing in the morning and worked all day long. To those who grumble about the way the reward system is working in this paricular vineyard, the owner reasons, "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?"

This suggests that there may be many ways to get into heaven, paradise, the kingdom, the dimension of spirit, where ever it is that we go after death. It also suggests a loving God who is generous, compassionate, and has wide open arms.

As humans we are very black and white in our thinking --it's either saved or not saved, baptized or not baptized, in or out--but God who sees forwards and backwards and in all directions all at the same time is capable of seeing clearly what appears as paradox or impossible to us. Thus the righteous upright person who keeps to the straight and narrow may enter into the realm of God just as the baby, child and those who had no opportunity to experience a formal religious conversion.

You question actually is the subject of many books and essays that have been written through the centuries and is impossible to address fully here. While people have many views on the parable of the vineyard workers, for me it is the best understanding of how God works -- in ways that are outside of human logic and thinking.

As well you might also look to the view that you hold of God and ask whether a being that encompasses perfect love is a being who operates by humanly contrived technicalities and ecclesiatical regulations? Is God paying attention to all the rulings that have taken place in denominational doctrinal conferences and updating the heavenly entrance policies to match?

I think that you can feel confident that whatever loved ones have died are now held in God's love in some way that we do not understand fully, whether that is a place called heaven, a dimension that we cannot access physically, or in a time/space location awaiting resurrection -- and in that all-encompassing love of God which makes no sense according to human reason, we all will be re-united in spirit at some point in time.

Answer 2

I believe that babies who die immediately go to heaven. Do I have scripture? No. The closest I came come to it is when Jesus is using a child as an example to His apostles, and He says, unless you become like this little child, you will not even enter the kingdom of heaven.

That leaves another question. How about an adult who has never heard the gospel? Perhaps knows absolutely nothing about God or the bible? There are tribes out in jungles, after all, even to this day. Then I would consider this verse "all of creation speaks of the existence of God, that no man has excuse". I believe God judges the person on the information available to them. If he has never heard of Jesus, how could a just God hold this person accountable to believe in Jesus?

I don't know all the answers, but there is one thing I know for sure: God is the perfection of every fine thing, and that includes perfect justice and mercy.

Answer 3

Romans is the book that you want when asking if you have never heard of the law or of Jesus, how is it that you instintively know that you do not do certain things, or that you know that there is something bigger than ourselves.

As for children, there is an age of accountability. The only scripture that I can find that even aludes to it is in the story of David. When King Davids little baby dies, he asks why people want him to pray and fast for the infant, when he is dead and nothing more can be done for him now. I will go to him, but he will not again come unto me.
This shows us that the baby is in heaven, but not at what age that would stop.

Sorry, not that I do not quote scripture, but Romans is not a long book and the verses that you are looking for are towards the beginning of the letter, and Paul repeats himself a lot, giving the same thought in many different ways.

Answer 4

God Judged Sin from sin's existence and therefore every one that sinned and all have sinned for none is perfect however there comes a point in each ones life, if they live long enough, that is a point where they know right from wrong and can make a reasonable decision about spiritual matters and Christians call this the point or age of accountability which would differ from person to person depending upon their own understanding and intelligence. If a person reaches that point and does not accept God's appointed and Prue-ordained method for salvation then we have no excuse or hope and will certainly face Judgment one day.

Answer 5

The bible states in Romans 10:9 that anyone who calls upon Christ will be saved. It is the only bible-approved method of accepting of person going to heaven, by accepting Jesus as their personal saviour.

A child who knows what is right and wrong and choses to do what is wrong or a sin, is henceforth a sinner. Romans 6:36 states that the wage of sin is death. A spiritual death that would be separation from heaven forever in hell. If the child has sinned, no matter the age, and consiously choses sin over the correct thing to do, the child will go to hell if and only if they do not repent and accept Jesus as their personal saviour.

I'm not exactly a bible scholar. I'm a christian teenager who studies their bible and helps people repent and accept Christ as their saviour.

Any more questions?

Answer 6

If by ritual you include accepting Jesus Christ of Nazareth as Lord and Savior then the answer would be no for an adult. However; to make a decision even in the spiritual realms you must be at the age of consent or as it is more commonly called the age of accountability. I'm not sure what it is for certain; but, those of us who made it a point to both study Christianity as well as it Judaic roots it is generally accepted as 13 years of age.

Answer 7

The truth is all children go directly to heaven. Matthew 19:14-15, Mark 10:13-15, Luke 18:15-17.

Answer 8

Belonging to an organized religion is not necessary, but the Bible does tell us that our belief in Jesus is a requirement to gain enternal life. The Bible promotes relationship with Jesus, rather than religion.

For children, it has long been a church tradition that children under "the age of reason" would go immediately to heaven.
But the age of reason may be different from one child to the next.

Answer 9

The concept of "going to heaven" is never found in the Old Testament at all, except for Elijah who went there in a magic chariot of fire. In the Old Testament, death = death.

In the New Testament, there are numerous passages regarding salvation by faith. It never comes out and says that people who don't have faith go to hell, but that is certainly the implication.

Biblically, it doesn't matter WHY you don't believe in Jesus. Whether you never heard of him, or just didn't find it convincing, you don't go to heaven. That's why the Catholic church had the concept of limbo for over 1000 years, because the Bible is silent about what happens to those who do not fall in the explicit categories of the hell bound (drunkards, fornicators, liars, etc), but who also don't believe in Jesus.

Answer 10

Hello friend,
Please read 2nd Samuel chapter 12:13-23 with emphasis on verse 23. (but read it all it'll do you good.)
You will find a very sad account of adultery that led to a child's death.

Yet in this account, you also will find a broken king David who (as the adulterer), makes a very profound statement that says :

"But now he has died ; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me". 12:23

The point is this, David believed that his child went to Heaven, and that he would be united with him there when he died.

God's Word records David's words as true, and without correction or contradiction. That leads me to believe that in God's Grace, this infant, who never had a chance to grow old enough to
be "religious, be baptized, or reach the age of accountability", He allowed to into enter into His Presence.

Whether the child went to Heaven or not, I can not prove, but this I know, as many of your answerer's have correctly pointed out, Jesus said "I am the Way"... and for a person with adequate mental acumen they will choose to accept and obey Christ, or experience the Eternity God gave them free will to choose.

I pray that this answer is based not so much on my intellect or education, but rather based on God's Book which I hold as factual historically and Truthful Eternally.

God bless you for your question.

2 Tim. 2:7