Is this what Christians believe? I'm kind of confused...?

Question

A Christian who goes to church weekly and has read the bible could kill twenty people. In the end, if he begs God for forgiveness, and is sorry, he can die and go to Heaven.

An Atheist, Pagan, etc. can be the kindest person in the world. They can give money to charities, adopt homeless children, give free food to the homeless, and be a perfectly kind person... and will go to Hell?

I can't take it. I have no idea what religion I am, but because of this, I'm afraid to look into anything. Since I was little I was taught the bible was true, and now I'm afraid I'm going to Hell for every little thing.

Honestly, I have no idea what to do. There are so many religions I want to look into, but I'm afraid.

And, honestly, I can hardly call myself a Christian, because I never looked into anything, and don't know what I believe. So now I'm stuck confused and annoyed.

For those who say I'm "rejecting Christ"...

I'm rejecting him by making the wrong guess? D:

Gah...

Answer 1

Yes, you are right. The only thing that matters, in the end, is whether you asked for forgiveness before you die.

It's a main reason why many people reject Christianity - if the only thing that matters is SAYING you believe in God, then the religion isn't worth anything. Good people shouldn't go to hell for believing the "wrong" thing.

Answer 2

Yes, Protestant Christians believe that only those who "accept" their God will go to Heaven - and it does not matter at all what kind of life that person lives. Believe and you are "saved". Catholic Christians also need to do good works, so at least there is SOME sense there.

Other religions believe in universal salvation. Some don't believe that hell even exists because no loving God would allow such a place to be.

Christians will tell you that only they are right and all others follow "false" religions or cults. The truth is, no one knows. No one. Because no one COULD know. they will say "It says so right in the Bible, but they have no proof that the Bible has anything at all to do with God. I personally think that God is horrified by his Bible portrayal.

All you can do is search for a belief system that feels right o you. That may be no religion at all. In the end, a real God will not punish you for picking the "wrong" way to perceive him - even if you choose not to perceive him at all.

There are peaceful, loving religions. Try the questionnaire at http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html It's generally pretty good at lining you up with religions that may be comforting to you.

Answer 3

Those who want to spend an eternity with God will, those that don't want won't. I personally don't believe that the bible supports eternal torment for non-believers but rather that they will be punished and then cease to exist. And by the way, though she often listed on atheist lists Angelina Jolie is not an atheist. If you read interviews with her talking about it she is more agnostic. I don't think you should be using extremely rich celebrities as an example anyway. There are plenty of people in the world who can hardly afford to support themselves but still do what they can to help others, meanwhile movie stars still have their mansions and ridiculously priced wardrobes and could be doing significantly more to help.

Answer 4

First: Yes, this is what Christians believe. They may hedge and hem and haw but in the end, that's what they believe. All of them.

Second: You seem to assume that you must, or should, profess a religion of some kind, that you must believe something. Here's my question: Why make that assumption? What's it based on?

If it's based on what others have told you -- explicitly or otherwise -- then you should ask: Why do they insist on this? What's their agenda?

Hint: You've heard what they say. Now look at what they do. Behavior is the surest indicator of what people genuinely believe, regardless of what they may claim to believe.

Finally: Believe it or not (!), "confused and annoyed" is a good place to be, if you consider it a starting point. From here, you can go anywhere, if you will only go and get yourself an education first.

Good luck.

Answer 5

Yeah, that is pretty much the gist of it, which is why many folks here are non-Christian - it's a poor deal, when you look at it that way.

My $0.02 - do some research anyway. Simply learning about other religions won't turn anyone away from any particular religion, unless they were already moving away from that religion in the first place. And, learning a little bit about other's beliefs will help you understand them a little better.

Answer 6

Why do you insist on being afraid to by pass your religion of birth when it isn't something that makes sense to you? If the Christian God did what they say he did in the Bible, and because they say that it is all true, then you should be able to see that he sacraficed nothing for the Christian people since Jesus eventually went back to be with his father, rather than be sacraficed and lost forever to his father. This religion teaches very little good and a lot bad. So why stick with it? Why do any good people stick with it?

Answer 7

The bible is very clear. It doesn't matter how many times you go to church or how many times you have read the bible. The bottom line is: You have to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior to receive eternal life. Jesus died a horrible death on that cross for our sins. That does not mean that there will not be consequences for our actions. We cannot kill someone or anything else and get off scott free. But, what it means is: we have been forgiven. Think of it this way. I have a six year old. He may do something very wrong, like steal money out of my purse for ice cream. I will forgive him and still love him, but I will still have to punish him so that he will learn that stealing is wrong. In the bible it says that God is our Father in heaven and we are His children. It also says very clearly that "by grace you are saved, it is not of works, lest any man should boast" We do not get to heaven by our good works. That does not mean do not do good works. When we have Jesus living in us, we want to do good things, we want to serve in certain areas of mankind, but we are not going to heaven by that alone.

Answer 8

The particular beliefs or doctrine of any religion have very little bearing on where you spend eternity.
The Bible is very blunt and just as clear.
None come to the Father but through me.
The words of Jesus Christ.
The type of life you live is naturally important but your acceptance of Jesus Christ is the first step to that life.

Answer 9

You need to kick yourself because it's kind of disgusting to see that someone is being such a coward. Wake up dude! What's going to happen if you look into religions? What can be so bad about about it. Are you living your life in such fear because someone has a gun to you head if you just look? What's the worst that can happen to you if you begin learning about what's out there, and why people are believing what they believe?

I promise, that unless there is someone with you that can kill you, you will not die by reading this:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201;&version=9;

Stop making such a wimp out of yourself, it's disgusting.

Answer 10

The answer to this question is very simple. There is only one way to receive salvation and have eternal fellowship with God in heaven. That way is to believe in His son, Jesus Christ. No one can "earn" their way into heaven by works. That means one could be a very nice person and still lose their salvation by not believing in Christ. Salvation is a free gift and all one has to do is accept it by believing in Christ.