Lets say a Pagan or an Atheist volunteers for a food drive, donates to respectable charity organizations, helps rebuild homes devastated by natural disasters, helps an elderly man or woman up if they just so happen to fall down?
What if the Pagan or Atheist tries to be the best person they can be their entire lives and helps out in the world TREMENDOUSLY.
Are you telling me that they will burn in hell after they die because they didn't accept Jesus as their savior because they felt that it wasn't neccessary?
Are you telling me that after all the GOOD that they did, they will be rewarded with fire and brimstone?
I mean COME ON!!! What IS that? Do you REALLY think that the divine will care what religion you practiced? Wouldn't it make more SENSE that the divine would judge you on your good deeds and services toward the Earth and all its inhabitants?
Look - I believe in Jesus the man.
I am Pagan, and I do follow SOME of the teachings...but THAT is something that will NEVER make sense.
2007-09-27 23:04:33 · 23 answers · asked by iColorz 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
it has never made sense to me...that is one of the reasons i became pagan. (among many)
a persons heart and intent should matter.
bright blessings to you
2007-09-27 23:36:12 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Sounds like your mind is closed on this subject, so why ask? What you are saying would imply that if a person did a real lot of good things they could earn-merit their way into Heaven. If that were the case, then Jesus died for nothing. No matter how much or how little, everyone sins and something had to be done to take the sins away. Not cover them up, but take them away. And that's what Jesus did. Jesus died to save us from our sins and offers us eternal life in Heaven. To do a lot of really good things is great. Such a person should be congratulated, thanked, honored, etc. But, EVERYBODY sins. A persons good deeds don't nullify and cover up their sins. The Apostle Paul put it this way "It is by grace we are saved through faith and not of works...." We are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus and NOT because we do a lot of good things. When a person has faith in Christ, their good deeds should automatically follow. Like they say "actions speak louder than words." A person may have faith and their actions should show it. But salvation comes by one way and through one person/God-and that's Jesus Christ. I assume you know who Billy Graham is. If not, look him up on your computer. You'll find a lot of info. about him. Billy is a Christian and does all sorts of good things. I'm 100% SURE that Billy Graham would tell you that his good works aren't enough to save him. He'd tell you that salvation is through Jesus and Jesus alone. Sin is what sends a person to hell. Just committing a few sins is still sinning. Can anybody not ever even once not sin? No. That sin, all sins, need to be forgiven and good works don't forgive sin. If a mass murderer that kills like 50 people might think a person that only murders one or two people is a pretty good person. Are they? They killed fewer people than he did, so I guess they are a nice person and should go to Heaven. You know that isn't true and so do I. His committing fewer sins won't save him. Even if he did a ton of very good things but still murdered two people, do you feel he should go to Heaven with the best of them? I don't think so and neither would the families of those he murdered. Maybe he could, but it would take faith in God, genuine sorrow, repentance, asking forgiveness, a change of heart, becoming a changed person and living like it. Trying to help the family that he took a loved one from would be a good idea too. Please read the Bible and see what Jesus had to say and what He did. Read what Paul wrote in the Bible books of Romans and Ephesians and see the way it works. PS-Lucid Interrogator is out in left field. WAY out in left field. Sorry old Lucid. Just calling it the way I see it.
2007-09-27 23:53:07 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a Catholic Christian, I look at it this way..
Ultimately God decides.. In this world there are wonderful holy kind charitable people of many religions who undoutedly will make it to heaven.
One of the most kind and holy people I have ever met in my entire life was a Muslim lady who was the mother of a childhood friend.
On the other side of it, during my life I have met strident Christians who memorize the Bible but miss many of the points in the New Testament (not all do miss the points as some anti-religion posters in Yahoo Answers try to depict).
God made/makes everyone and ultimately admission to heaven would be God's choice. Man does not choose for God. Any very narrow interpretations of the Bible which pretend to speak for God would be incorrect in my opinion. There are so many gaps in the Bible, unfortunately sometimes people overreach in their analyses of the Bible.
Having typed this, now for my own personal overreaching Biblical analysis.. (An important part of living is to keep a sense of humor.)
To heaven through Christ has an internal and separate external meaning in my view..
The external meaning could be that: Christ could swing the gate open to allow anyone in. "Through" as in "through the gate" to heaven. In the New Testament the way to heaven is described as a "narrow gate" and I ascribe this to Christ being a "gatekeeper"/Christ literally being the Gate..
Catholics see the Bible as some history, some fable, some poetry.
In the New Testament Christ spoke in parables which sometimes even confounded the apostles around Him.
The 11th commmandment to love one another (as given by Christ) and the sermon on the Mount are powerful lessons in love and mercy - these Biblical sections are some of my favorites..
2007-09-27 23:30:00 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
This has never made sense to me either. I do all I can to do good and to be there for others. I do not believe in organized religion of any kind. Church people have told me that if you dont except Jesus then your sins are not forgiven and that is why you go to hell. I dont believe in heaven or hell. I believe in reincarnation. So NO burnin in my world. Take care and do the best you can. Live, Love, And Laugh.
2007-09-27 23:28:57 · answer #4 · answered by Rebecca S 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Forgive the overly scientific answer, it's how I like to deal with things... Romance is the natural extension of biological impulses for reproduction etc. These impulses are being worn down by the complex intellect of modern humans, which I think is why romance, at least at times, "makes no sense" to you. We now possess minds that want to expand farther than mere survival and species preservation, so we create art (you with poetry, me with music)... I think we are in highly confusing times of great change. In this world a lot doesn't seem to "make sense" (an expression we seem to use when things aren't working out how we'd like them to), so the best you can do is figure out how things are and work with them best from there.
2016-04-06 04:53:42 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The problem with all 'religion' is that we make it very complicated. God bless your questions. You are a very intelligent young man and it is not this complicated. What you are doing is great and gods work, no matter who or what you 'call' god. No one will judge your belief, only yourself. Do you really want to know the answer or just debate? There is only one God and all religions have him. It is US who make it so terrible and fight, kill, and argue about how to serve him. The answer dear is only LOVE. That's it learn all you can about various religions and you will see the common thread. Then let your heart find that core belief and let love lead your life.
2007-09-28 00:26:15 · answer #6 · answered by luteachris 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Why would they have felt that it wasn't necessary to accept Jesus as their savior?
Would they not have had any sin to be saved from?
How much good works do people have to do in order to outweigh their sin?
Does God arbitrarily send people to hell because the hypothetical scale doesn't tip the right way?
2007-09-27 23:31:00 · answer #7 · answered by hisgloryisgreat 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The way I see it good deeds honor God but that is not enough. The suffering is not so much like suffering is on earth. It is like being poor when you had the chance to be rich, like being in the dark when you could have been in the light, like knowing some when you could have known all. Good deeds is like a pet owner that feeds the pet but never pets it. It is not the full definition.
2007-09-27 23:31:32 · answer #8 · answered by Heart of man 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
the God concept that some christians belive in is simply really quite evil
hell some basically belive that heaven basically means getting your mind sucked out and becoming a mindless, free-will-less automoton.... its horrible!
what I find especially amusing is when people call the Old Testament concept of God to be all punishing and vengeful and whatnot,...
theres no eternal hell in the old testament, no devil, no evil demigod, just God, in absolute loving, forgiving, just and complete infinity of infinitys God.
one thing I do not understand is why so many people trust the disciples's account so completely, even if it was perfectly reliable as to their view... how can they trust them to have completely understood it?
if you look at jesus's teachings from a metaphysical point of view, what he taught was rephrased simplified kabbalah. it seems obvious to me he was trying to bring the wisdom he had gained from those things, to the average person by simplifying it.... and failed.
I also personally like the theory that mary magdelen was a disciple and one of the only ones to *truly* understand it.
2007-09-27 23:25:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Well there is no Hell but that is what some of these religious people believe,my dad who was a non believer but was kind and gentle is now burning in everlasting torture?,these people are mentally ill to even think think this stuff is correct.But there is no hell or heaven.
2007-09-27 23:10:39 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
This is what happens when you take one reasonably smart man..... give him a load of totally retarded disciples.... and then kill the man before the obsessed lackeys have really got the gist of what he is trying to tell them.
They rampage, assured in their arrogance that they understand.... and twist those beliefs around their already overstoked instinctual urges.... manipulating it into a form of control and enforced indoctrination.
They don't care for the details. They're just a bunch of primitive apes shrieking and hitting things they don't understand with sticks.
2007-09-27 23:08:55 · answer #11 · answered by Lucid Interrogator 5 · 6⤊ 1⤋