Is Gandhi and my grandpa going to hell?

Question

Its says in the bible that if you do not commit yourself to the Christian faith you will not be allowed into Heaven (The Forth Commandment) So, my grand-father (a Buddhist) was a rightous and moral man yet, he didn't belive in the Christian god so therefore he is not allowed into heaven? Does the same hold true for Gandhi? Please, someone tell me that a rightous and morally just man can still make it into heaven regardless of thier faith. I am right now deciding in my life which faith to follow between Buddhism and Christianity. And if Christianity is so close-minded to not reward men for thier good deeds towards mankind just because they did not worship the Christian god then I think I may have to go the way of the Buddhist because their path to rightousness and Nirvana can be obtained regardless of your faith. (Four Noble Truths, 8-Fold Path)

Answer 1

No ..I am a Christian and I don't for one minute think Gandhi is going to hell.

For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; 13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them

Answer 2

Maybe, but I doubt they will make it to the back seat of my Cadillac.

You raise a fundamental spiritual question here and I am sure you will have plenty of closed mind opinions from Christians who for some reason believe that their gOD is bigger than yours.

Christianity is not the most practiced religion in the world. Why would it be more just than any other?

If your Grandfather lived his life as a decent man than he has achieved more in his time than many gOD loving people. Why would he or you care for a Christian concept of heaven anyway?

There is no afterlife only this life and to carry yourself on this journey with compassion for others is a far harder mission than reaching some idealistic notion of heaven.

If your Grandfather had a favourite and loved pet such as a cat would the cat be in 'heaven' when he got there or would the cat go to cat heaven? What about the cats intestinal worms? Are they going to your Grandfathers heaven, cat heaven or intestinal worm heaven? The more you think about it the weirder the concept of heaven is.

By the way, Gandhi was a great man but he was also a racist. Check the net for his time in South Africa as a soldier and his attitude to Black South Africans.

Answer 3

I personally believe that God doesn't care whether you believe in Jesus or the tooth fairy.

If modern christianity is true, the bible suggests that God will judge us on our own beliefs or reveal the truth to us so we can make an informed choice. We will of course always find ourselves less than perfect so judgeing ourselves by our own beliefs would condem everyone.

I would like to think that if heaven is like christians believe God woud give everyone a last minute sales pitch just after we die. "Yes, Jesus was my son. Do you want his free ticket to heaven or would you rather go to Hell?"

I understand some people might like to keep their vices and might pass on the offer of living in a land where everyone can see you for what you are really like and mischief is not allowed.

There is also the possibility that the bible is mostly true but had a little tampering over the years. If we look at the Old Testament God seemed to like the people who argued with him more than the religious types. If that is still the case their may be more athiests in heaven than people who call themselves "christian". I suspect God would judge people more on what they do or whether they are kind hearted rather than whethert hey say they believe in Jesus or not.

I believe the need for people to "aspouse a particular set of beliefs or burn in Hell" is a man made contrivance to scare people into giving priests more respect and money.

Also there are mixed messages in the bible as to whether there is a Hell or not. There are also suggestions of reincarnation in the bible.

My advice woud be to not believe everything you read in the bible. Our modern bible has Goliath as being over 10 foot tall. The earliest version of the story had him closer to six foot three inches tall. Like the fish that got away the story got taller with each telling.

If you want to believe the bible is true you might take some comfort from the parables. One tells of a boss who promises workers a reward for a set amount of work but also gives the same reward to others who do less work. It is possble that God could reward people for being good christians but also reward others for being good bhudists. Maybe Bhuda and Jesus were the same person reincarnated.

Maybe there is a heaven and maybe there isn't. In either case I find it hard to believe a loving god would punish nice people just because they didn't follow a particular religion.

Answer 4

Honey, the Bible is just a book. It was written by men. It has been revised, edited, changed, translated over and over, chapters added, chapters removed.

It is nothing more than stories told by the writer based on his point of view....and was written during a time when people didn't understand the world around them, naturally occurring events...most thought the world was flat and small.

It can be interesting to read but, use your head. Do you really think there is some "heaven" up in the sky somewhere? If so, why hasn't anyone seen it? Why haven't the satellites and exploration machinery seen it? Do you really think there is a "hell" under the earth where people really go?

Use your head, reason it out. If these two places really existed, there would be no doubt about it - everyone would know.....

Answer 5

Where are all of the fundies in this query? What, are not able to you men keep on with your tough line stance while there used to be a truly, ethical character worried? I bet you men are simply cowards, who do not desire to stand the injustice while it applies to a precise situation, instead than theoretical rhetoric (this isn't addressed on the Christians honestly answering, that have the way more fair perception that a logical God could base hell on earthly movements). I feel I responded too overdue. No subject, you're in poor health folks. God presents us NO tough proof of his lifestyles and but you count on we burn for eternity for now not accepting it...you're all ****** within the head.

Answer 6

We enter heaven by the grace of God.not by our good deeds or morality.So how can u enter heaven if u do not receive that grace given to u?
I dare not say that ur grandpa or Gandhi are going to hell,bcos i'm not God,it's not my authority to judge.Not all christians go to heaven either.Only those who truly believes in Jesus.
By following the 8 fold path,we can be a good person,but we are still sinners.How can a sinner enter such a holy place?Christianity is not only about entering heaven or not.u will take ur whole understand Jesus and ur eternal life enjoying Him.
I believe in Jesus through bible,i dont choose to believe bcos His teaching suits me,it is bcos i cannot deny that He is the true God after i read bible.
My advice is that,do not choose something that suits u,but something that is true.
Remember,Jesus loves you,He really does.

Answer 7

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:43)

In this passage, Jesus pardoned those who did not believe in him and to those who persecuted him. God is a forgiving God.

Yes. Jesus is the way, the truth and the light BUT we must not forget that he has this unconditional love for us.

"See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone." (James 2:24)

And for your grandfather and Gandhi, they may be in heaven.

Answer 8

All his life Gandhi had the opportunity to choose the Lord God, Jesus Christ. He chose not to follow after him. He chose to ignore God's truths and I believe Gandhi probably read the words of Jesus in his search for truth. God gives every man an opportunity to choose him at sometime in their lives. It is like choosing a wife. There are many choices to choose from and if you do not choose Christ you go to Hell. Simple as that.

Answer 9

Great Gandhi was a true Hindu.He followed Hinduism all through his life.

Hinduism, the world’s oldest religion, has no beginning--it precedes recorded history. It has no human founder. It is a mystical religion, leading the devotee to personally experience the Truth within, finally reaching the pinnacle of consciousness where man and God are one.

There is no heaven or Hell in Hinduism.The Hindu scriptures say that the loving God would not punish any person by sending him to Hell or deliver him to satan.Hinduism looks compassionately on all genuine spiritual effort and knows unmistakably that all souls are evolving toward union with the Divine, and all are destined, without exception, to achieve spiritual enlightenment and liberation in this or a future life.


WHAT HAPPENDS AFTER DEATH -ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURES OF HINDUISM

The soul dwells as the inmost body of light and superconscious, universal mind of a series of nested bodies, each more refined than the next: physical, pranic, astral, mental. In our conscious mind we think and feel ourselves to be a physical body with some intangible spirit within it. Yet, right now our real identity is the soul that is sensing through its multiple bodies physical, emotional and mental experience. Recognizing this as reality, we powerfully know that life doesn't end with the death of the biological body. The soul continues to occupy the astral body, a subtle, luminous duplicate of the physical body. This subtle body is made of higher-energy astral matter and dwells in a dimension called the astral plane. If the soul body itself is highly evolved, it will occupy the astral/mental bodies on a very refined plane of the astral known as the Devaloka, "the world of light-shining beings." At death, the soul slowly becomes totally aware in its astral/mental bodies and it predominantly lives through those bodies in the astral dimension.

The soul functions with complete continuity in its astral/mental bodies. It is with these sensitive vehicles that we experience dream or "astral" worlds during sleep every night. The astral world is equally as solid and beautiful, as varied and comprehensive as the earth dimension-if not much more so. Spiritual growth, psychic development, guidance in matters of governance and commerce, artistic cultivation, inventions and discoveries of medicine, science and technology all continue by astral people who are "in-between" earthly lives. Many of the Veda hymns entreat the assistance of devas: advanced astral or mental people. Yet, also in the grey, lower regions of this vast, invisible dimension exist astral people whose present pursuits are base, selfish, even sadistic. Where the person goes in the astral plane at sleep or death is dependent upon his earthly pursuits and the quality of his mind.

Because certain seed karmas can only be resolved in earth consciousness and because the soul's initial realizations of Absolute Reality are only achieved in a physical body, our soul joyously enters another biological body. At the right time, it is reborn into a flesh body that will best fulfill its karmic pattern. In this process, the current astral body-which is a duplicate of the last physical form-is sluffed off as a lifeless shell that in due course disintegrates, and a new astral body develops as the new physical body grows. This entering into another body is called reincarnation: "re-occupying the flesh."

During our thousands of earth lives, a remarkable variety of life patterns are experienced. We exist as male and female, often switching back and forth from life to life as the nature becomes more harmonized into a person exhibiting both feminine nurturing and masculine intrepidness. We come to earth as princesses and presidents, as paupers and pirates, as tribals and scientists, as murderers and healers, as atheists and, ultimately, God-Realized sages. We take bodies of every race and live the many religions, faiths and philosophies as the soul gains more knowledge and evolutionary experience.
Therefore, the Hindu knows that the belief in a single life on earth, followed by eternal joy or pain is utterly wrong and causes great anxiety, confusion and fear. Hindus know that all souls reincarnate, take one body and then another, evolving through experience over long periods of time. Like the caterpillar's metamorphosis into the butterfly, death doesn't end our existence but frees us to pursue an even greater development.

For more info,please visit http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/wih/

Answer 10

We cannot judge only God can do that. Jesus' own words tell us this in Luke 6:37 . Often we judge people according to their beliefs. I always remember That it is not my job to judge others when I am tempted to judge.


"Dear Lord, keep me from judging others. Remind me that only you are able to judge others,. In Jesus most holy name I pray, Amen"