How do we know that God isnt sending the people brave enough to be rational and free to heaven?

Question

Like god wanting those people brave enough to face even hell for what they belive, do you really know for certain?

Answer 1

There is nothing rational about denying God's call to righteousness.

I am a Christian rationalist of the order of Augustine and Calvin. My rational system does not exalt the human mind as autonomous; instead, it affirms Biblical revelation as axiomatic. Divine revelation of Holy Scripture is a rational revelation. This revelation is internally self-consistent, non-contradictory, and non-paradoxical. A rational Christian reasons from revelation, not to revelation or apart from revelation. My Christian faith is intellectually defensible.

As for the doctrine of hell consider the following:

1. Wouldn't everyone repent when faced with hell?
2. Would God let out people who repented?
3. Why was Hell created?

One argument against hell is this: No person in his right mind would choose eternal punishment in hell over heaven. Therefore everyone would repent when sent to hell. If God lets the repentant leave, hell will be empty (and therefore can be disregarded). If God doesn't let the repentant leave, God is unjust for continuing to punish them after they've repented.

The trouble with this line of reasoning is that repentance is not simply a matter of one saying, "Okay, I'll say whatever you want me to, just get me out of here!" Repentance involves acknowledging one's guilt, feeling remorse and the desire to change one's behavior, accepting Christ's sacrifice as substitutionary punishment for one's wrongs and agreeing to love and obey God (including Christ as God the Son). This includes by definition acceptance of eternal punishment in hell as just punishment for one's sins; while the skeptic may still object that continued punishment of the repentant is unjust, the repentant will respond that their continued punishment is deserved and could only end through God's mercy.

However, in reality people in hell won't repent, in particular not any skeptic who makes the above argument. If one thinks God is unjust for punishing people in hell, actually going there isn't going to make one suddenly decide that God is just and deserves one's love and worship after all. People are given their entire lives on Earth as an opportunity to repent and accept God; if they refuse each day of their lives to repent and believe they're justified in doing so, it's hardly conceivable that punishment in hell would change their minds. In other words, the gates of hell are actually locked from the inside.

Since hell is comprised of those who would never repent, the second question, “Would God let out people who repented?” is only a hypothetical one; it could be argued either way. In practice, someone who would repent in hell would be given the opportunity to repent on Earth and would presumably repent before they died, not after.

As for eternal punishment for finite life of sin, the answer is that our sin bears an eternal consequence because it is ultimately against an eternal God. When King David committed the sins of adultery and murder he stated, Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight (Psalm 51:4). David had sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, how could David claim to have only sinned against God? David understood that all sin is ultimately against God. God is an eternal and infinite Being. As a result, all sin is worthy of an eternal punishment.

An earthly example of this would be comparing attacking your neighbor and attacking the President of the United States. Yes, both are crimes, but attacking the President would result in far greater consequences. How much more does sin against a holy and infinite God warrant a terrible consequence?

In short, hell and heaven were created out of God's love for mankind as a consequence of free will. God could not have created a morally free creature who could not possess the potentiality to choose to sin. God, being perfectly righteous will righteously respect the choices a person makes and grant them the eternal life they sought through the exercise of their own free will. In short, we choose the behavior, and thus we have chosen the consequences.

Answer 2

Of course we don't know; that's one of the refutations of pascal's wager.

As far as we know, there could be four gods, one sending everybody to heaven, one flipping a coin, one sending to heaven only artists, and one sending to heaven only vegetarians, and when you die you get assigned one of these four at random. How can you risk everything by not becoming a vegetarian artist?

Answer 3

Sounds like wishful thinking. However even as an Atheist, if there were a god I wouldn't want it to be a deceiver.

Answer 4

We don't know for sure!

It's a possibility worth considering.

Answer 5

how do we know the flying spaghetti monster isnt living in the center of the earth? can you prove it?

Answer 6

Who are these people that face hell for what they believe? You are a very idiotic women.

Answer 7

we dont know one knows for certain

Answer 8

No, we don't.

That's why it is called "faith".