Question for Christians.?

Question

I am not a christian, but i want to understand a couple of things about your faith. Im not trying to be patronising or to disrespect your sincerely held beliefs, I just want some answers to some things.
1. you say Christ died for our sins, but what would have happened if didn't?

2. We are all sinners, apparently, but aren't the sins you talk about essentually human nature and if god hadn't wanted us to behave this way then why did he give us the option to do so.

3.apart from the fact that Islam has Alah and Mohammed and Christianity has god and Jesus what are the main differences between the two?

4. If I live my life like a saint and essentually live by 'christian values' even though I'm not one, why should I be sent to Hell just because I haven't accepted Jesus as my savior.

5. What happened to all the people in the world who died before Christianity was concieved did they all go to hell?

I'm really not trying to offend anyone I just really want to understand. Thanks.

Answer 1

Let me first say that I'm no expert on the bible. I'm not really even a practicing Christian... I just have a lot of religious family and ask a lot of questions.

1. If he hadn't then we'd not get into heaven. Before christ, it is said that when we died, we just "slept eternally" or something like that. Hell was for the truly wicked. Christ's sacrifice was for original sin (the whole Eve ate the apple thing...) so that we can get into heaven without the stain of that sin on us. A clean slate, in other words, from that original sin. So I suppose we'd just sleep eternally.

2. See, that's where the whole 'original sin' part comes in. He didn't mean for us to be tempted, or maybe he thought we were stronger than that; but whatever the case, we didn't really have that part of "human nature" until Eve was tempted, ate from the tree on knowledge and they were thrown out of the garden.

3. From what I understand about Islam (which is very little), their faith differs from ours in that they believe that Mohammed was the only true prophet and that his testament of Allah is the only valid prophecy. Much the same way that Jewish people don't recognize Jesus as a prophet.

4. Because some people interpret the section in the bible that says "there is no way to heaven but through me" to mean that you have to "accept" Jesus into your life. (Whatever that means...) I always believed that it meant you have to emulate his ideal as best as you can to be considered morally good.

5. No, they all were raised up into heaven. It says something in the bible about it. Dante references it in the Divine Comedy when he talks about a number of people in hell disappearing.

Answer 2

"1. you say Christ died for our sins, but what would have happened if didn't? "

If Christ hadn't died for our sins,we would be separated from God.

"2. We are all sinners, apparently, but aren't the sins you talk about essentially human nature and if god hadn't wanted us to behave this way then why did he give us the option to do so."

It comes down to free will-are we robots,or do we have the ability to make choices? We all have a sinful nature-but that does not give a free license to do what we want and claim that it is just human nature.That would mean rape,torture,spouse abuse etc would be perfectly fine.

"3.apart from the fact that Islam has Alah and Mohammed and Christianity has god and Jesus what are the main differences between the two?"

Muslims believe that Jesus was only a prophet and that salvation is by works.That's just two.

"4. If I live my life like a saint and essentually live by 'christian values' even though I'm not one, why should I be sent to Hell just because I haven't accepted Jesus as my savior."

Even one sin is enough to seperate us from God.What I mean is,lusting after a woman is likened to adultery by Jesus.he also said that if you say 'you fool' you are in danger of hell! That's why it's an impossible task to be considered perfect in the eyes of a righteous God.And I fail God's perfection test miserably!

"5. What happened to all the people in the world who died before Christianity was concieved did they all go to hell?"

Believers in God before the time of Jesus were justified by their faith.

Answer 3

First of all, thank you for your sincerity in your questions. They didn't sound at all demeaning, and the fact that you're reading this means you really do want to understand what we believe.

1. We'd go to hell. John 3:16 (pretty famous verse) "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." And the opposite is true, that if we don't believe, or have nothing to believe in, then we can't have eternal life.

2. Everything God does boils down to one thing that many find sick and twisted. God does everything for His glory. Our purpose is to glorify God. Whatever happens to us will glorify God. Even if we go to hell? God can only be in the presence of perfection. He cannot allow a sinner into heaven. That means we have to have Jesus take the penalty of our sins to be seen as perfect. So why would he allow us the option to sin? Because somehow it gives Him glory.

3. Christianity relies solely on Christ to recieve eternal life. Islams believe they work their way to eternal life. This is the distinction between Christianity and every other religion as well.

4. A sin, any sin, bears the weight of death. Romans 3:23 "For the wages of sin is death". It's like poisoning a well. You can add as much good water to it as you want, but that one drop of poison will kill you if it touches that clean water. No amount of good deeds can save you.

5. God made a deal with the people before Christ, and that was that they sacrificed pure animals to Him. It somewhat worked, but the people became lazy. Christianity is merely a label. Love for God and His Words are what really matters.

If I wasn't clear enough about something, or you had more directed questions, my e-mail is [e-mail]

Answer 4

i can't pretend to know the answers to all your questions for definite, but i'll have a go as far as i understnad - but they are good questions, and ones which you've gotta weigh up and decide if you think are right.

1. If Christ hadn't died for people's sins, then i suppose noone really knows what would have happened. Presumably some sort of separatyion of people from God, also known by some as "hell". But He did, according to written records that say Jesus lived and died, and life is as it is now, and so I guess it would probably be different if he hadn't.

2. Of course they're human nature, and that's why Christianity, whether you believe in it's principles or not, has the loophole of forgiveness - either an amazing concept, or a loophole. If God hand't let us sin, then we wouldn't have had free choice - so what would be the point? As it is, sin isn't the be all and end all, 'cause Christians belive God acceps our sin and forgives us if we're sorry. He can't mind that much as long as there is repentance, otherwsie, since He's apparently all powerful and all that jazz, then he could have decided we weren't going to be given the choice. But evidently we are.

3. Islam regards Jesus as just as a prophet, rather than the Son of God. Since Christ is the main point of Christianity, then that's the core difference - some christians believe you can only get to God through Jesus. But, if I'm being honest, that's the thing i struggle with most - say I had been brought up in a Muslim country, maybe I would have been Muslim, with its beliefs and values, and that's one of the main issues i have with my own faith. But, at the minute, for me, it feels right, and im going to trust gut instinct.

4. I don't think you wlil automatically go to hell - God would presumably have a good person who doubted him than someone who professed to believe in Him and sinned and didn't repent. But i guess only God can be the one to judge.

5. I don't think they went to hell, and i could be way off, but i don't think Christianity has to be the only way to know God. Before Jesus, presumably the Jews who followed God went to "heaven" (although what exactly heaven is is a different issue). I'm not cocky enough about my religion to say it is the only way to God - only God can say that. Take that as a lack of convinction if you like, but it's how i see it.


okay, sorry for the essay, and i could be wrong about these. they're just how i see things, and i hope they might be some help with other answers as well...i've tried to be honest to be as much help as possible. :)

Answer 5

1. No one knew when Christ would come. They knew that he would. I think we would be waiting for Him if he didn't come in the past...Besides He did...He died for you-why not live for Him?
2.When God created us, we had our free will. WE chose to leave paradise, ascend into spiritual darkness and fall into a world full of sins.
3. Christians have the Bible, Muslims have the Koran. Christ is the savior for Christians and a part of the Triad God. He is a prophet for Islam and died a natural death. I don't know much about Islamism,but i think these are major differences.
4.If you live like a saint and by christian values, and you don't accept Christ as a savior, you will go to Paradise.
5.They didn't go to hell. If they were good people the would go to paradise.

I hope i helped you. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask...

Answer 6

1. If he hadn't died for our sins, we'd still be under the old covenant like the Jews of the old testament.

2. But where did the sinfulness of human nature originate? The point is that human nature is sinful because of Adam and Eve's original sin. Like pouring poison into a pure stream, everything below that point is affected. He gave us the option because if he didn't give us free will we'd be robots and the whole thing would be pointless. If you remove freedom to hate, you remove freedom to love. And any love that isn't offered because of free will isn't worth anything.

3. Islam's view of God is that he's remote, distant, unconcerned for humanity and doesn't love us. The Christian God loved us so much and so concerned that he came into the world and died for our sins. That's the main difference.

4. This analogy puts it best. Imagine you're in a restaurant and the waiter brings over the bill. Now imagine a guy at the next table offers to pay for it. You have a choice. You pay it or the other guy pays it and you go free. But one of you has to. The Bible says that the wages of sin are death. ie the bill for sin is death. Why? Because God is perfectly righteous and must punish all wrong doing. We know that's right, we punish criminals. So either you let Jesus pay your debt of death or you pay it yourself but one of you has to. It doesn't matter how 'good' you've been in relative terms. If you've done ANYthing wrong, you have a debt of death to pay. The only people who don't need Jesus' offer are those who have lived perfect lives. ie no one.

5. There's a passage in the Bible that I can't remember. But in it, it says that Jesus died for those that came before him as well as those that came after him.

lambo - Out of the 99 names for Allah, not one of them means love. Christianity tells us that God IS love. Also, differentiate between Catholicism and Christianity. Catholicism is a cult and yes, their emphasis on the pope is wrong. Christianity has nothing to do with their man-made nonsense.

Answer 7

To answer question #1, please watch the movie
Terminator 1.
To answer question #2 because He loves us.
To answer question #3 the main difference between the 2 is that Mohammed was a boxer and Jesus wore boxer shorts.
To answer question #4 because this question is of a more serious nature, I will answer this one to the point...I have studied many different religions and essentially they are all the same [not only do christians say that one will go to hell..which i believe is a pile of crap...other religions think the same way, telling people the same thing if they don't believe in ''their'' God]. God created a wide diversity in human
nature on earth, different races, different cultures, different languages and different religions, etc. Why would God do that?...to make life more interesting and full of variety. The mistakes we are making is not accepting other races, cultures, languages and religions and so on. God loves all His Creations as so should we. Jesus who represented the christian faith, was sent down by God to be a loving example of how to live by God's laws just as Budda was sent down by God to be a loving example of God's laws and so on.
To answer question #5 [back to my jokingly ways]...please watch Steven Segall's movie ''Pray for death''.

Answer 8

1.Jesus died for your sins also, if he didn't we would not know that when we pass (die) there is a place prepared for us(Spirit) we would still be ignorant of that fact. indeed many of us still are.

2.God gave us the option after Eve had sinned in the garden of Eden, Adam fell into sin because he didn't know what Eve was doing when she went to collect fruit for food.

When god came to them in the garden god Knew that they had sinned (God know everything) so, god said to them O.K since you have disobeyed me and gone and done your thing
you are on your own show me how well you can handle your affairs on your own. (Does this remind you of your mother and Father at your home?

3.Who is Allah? Doesn't the name Allah mean God? and Mohamed isn't he a similar person to Jesus Christ?

4.If you live by the teaching of Mohamed you have no fear of going to hell My Muslim yahoo friend because I read some where long ago that Jesus really wanted to be born to do what Mohamed was to do for Muslims. (suggesting that they knew each other through God our father and creator)

You asked this same question before all you have done if put in a different way but I will answer it, When we passover(die)
the early Christian didn't know that there was such a place as we will say in this instance "Heaven" they were ignorant of the fact, and no I don't believe they went to hell either.

That the reason our Father sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for us all so that we we can know that we all live after death.
Hope this answers your questions fully

Answer 9

Rule #1, Christians have an answer for everything and usually its based on guilt..to make you feel guilty instead of proud and happy like God intended.
I beleive in Jesus, however, i think he got a bum deal and i am mad that he got killed by the establishment of the time.
If God is as mean and cruel as "Christians" think, then, whats the point? I think its better to just know whats right like you said, and do the right thing and be happy, plus, it doesnt hurt to have a friend in Jesus, he was a cool dude and possibly the actual son of God so hey! However, i dont believe the whole "God of war" God theory, but thats a different story.

Answer 10

1. Would have all died in sin
2. It is for you to choose and you have no obligation to do what your sin full nature urges you to do.
3.God is real and Jesus Christ is His son and Jesus is the only way to heaven
4. Nobody is without sin, if you say you are without sin you are lying according the Bible
5. The Jews was saved by following the Law,,,,see Exodus 20
God Bless