A question for these staunch christian believers...?

Question

Why is it that christians feel they need to blackmail people into believing? By threatening non-believers with a fate of Hell? Do they not take into account that there is a portion of this planet that will never hear of the Bible or of God just because they are not in contact with our Western culture, or because they are blind and deaf, etc... According to christians, even though these are God's people and He loves them, they are automatically condemned to Hell when they die. How silly! How selfish, to think that only people who are acquainted with Western religion have a hope at an afterlife!

What an antiquated and self-centered way of thinking. Hell must be packed with so many millions of people who never encountered christianity, from the center of the Pacific or deep in the hills of China. Why do christians refuse to think through these things and insist that only their view is correct?

Answer 1

You are suffering from some gross misconceptions:

First, everyone's name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, therefore everyone is going to Heaven from the second they are conceived (knit together by God). It is only after they have rejected (died without accepting Christ as their savior) his Free gift of eternal life that their name is "blotted out"!

Second, it totally takes as much faith to believe that their is not a God or Jesus as their is to believe.

Third, self-centered? I don't think so............ It is you that are self centered in thinking that you my friend can save yourself from eternity in hell. I on the other hand know that I can do nothing by myself to keep myself from an eternity in Hell except accepting that Christ paid the full price for my sin. Therefore I try to return His gift the best way I know how by living my life the best that I can by keeping Him first and considering others as I do myself.

Fourth, I don't appreciate your stereo typing any group of people. You seem to be steeped in bigotry in an attempt to force your faith on those around you.

I honestly wish you well with your beliefs. In the end one of us will be right, I personally believe that it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Answer 2

Hello,

Nobody has ever come back from the "real" dead other than Jesus or Lazarus supposedly to tell us what is on the other side. The same applies for all the worlds religions from Islam to Hindu and Bhuddism. And people who have thought to have been really reincarnated choke on past details when brought back to their past families or lives that a great cloud of doubt is also shed there.

All religion and spirituality cannot be proven by by empirical scientific means so we are all essentially taking a gamble when we choose one or must decide to gamble on whether to stay or not if we are born into a particular faith.

No one other than God says who is condemned and who is not but there are a few passages in the New Testament where Jesus makes it very clear that you only get to the father by him. There are some Christian theologians who say it may be possible to make it to heaven as a non Christian through a baptism of desire where you have been born into a different religion but acted like a saint doing many things for your fellow man but again this is only speculation on their part.
I will be the first to admit that only getting to the Father through Jesus is a hard pill to swallow since I have friends and one family member who are not Christian.

So that said, here is what I come up with:

1) This Christianity for many is a 50/50 bet. Perhaps all the religions of the west are big lies and when you die you just cease to exist and all conciousness is gone forvever. You won't think, oh I missed the great hedonistic life of Riley all my life because your thoughts are gone and you know nothing. On the other hand, this all could be true with grim consequences if you haven't listened.

I guess the best analogy is would you get on a plane flying from Vegas to New York for 100 million dollars if there is a 50/50 chance a bomb is on board detonated to go off mid flight? 50/50 ods are extraordinary even by Vegas standards.

2) Some Christians overdo this hellfire and damnation threat but I have found in many cases they are only asking you to be cautious and not saying you are damned for sure. Maybe that can be regarded as courteous and caring at times rather than confrontational.

So again, if you were planning to travel from New York City to Toronto by car and I here there is the blizzard of the century on its way as you are leaving then I will caution you that it will be a better idea to wait and not risk the icy roads and dangerous white outs. You don't have to take my advice and you decide to go anyway. You may well make it without incident; then again perhaps not.


Mike K

Answer 3

Christianity isn't just a "western culture"
Everyone aren't God's people. Only those who love Him and follow Him. There are those who belong to satan.
Jesus isn't coming back until the "GOSPEL IS SPREAD TO ALL NATIONS." That's what He's waiting for. So all will have a chance to come to repentance and be saved.
And as for Hell, it's a REAL PLACE. The Bible tells us so, and the Bible is the WORD OF GOD. We didn't make this up ourselves to condemn people, believe me.
God doesn't wish for anyone to perish, but that all would come to repentance and be saved by His wonderful grace. That's why there are so many CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES all over the world, spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what He's called us to do. We are just OBEYING HIS COMMAND. If we didn't, then no one would know about Jesus, and would not be saved and they would go to Hell. That's a Christian's purpose on this earth. You just don't understand. We don't condemn anyone to hell, we try to keep them from going there. Why in the world would you be angry about that? It is out of Love that we do this, not hate.

Answer 4

I agree with Kait and byhisgrace.

We don't blackmail people, we warn them. We believe that hell(eternal separation from God) is real. We want everyone to find the truth. We are called to spread the gospel and be an example through our lives. God will reveal himself to everyone if they have an open heart. Christian missionaries go into the world to reach out to everyone. Christ will return once all the world has heard the truth and had a chance to accept it or refuse it.

We believe that God is the only one that can bring life. We are dead with sin until we have accepted him into our hearts. Once we have accepted him, our real life begins.

*I exclude liberal and universalist "Christians" when I say we. I believe there is no such thing as a liberal or universalist Christian because they are not truly following Christ or his teachings. They are deceiving themselves to believe they can remain in the sins of the world and still be saved or that there is more than one path to God...the only path to God is through Christ Jesus(true Christianity.)

EDIT:
I wanted to add that nobody is perfect and I'm sorry if any Christian or person who calls themselves Christian, has come to you threatening damnation or being aggressive toward you. We are called by Christ to show love and share the gospel but we are not perfect and all still sometimes sin.

Answer 5

Christians can't blackmail anybody and Christians don't send people to Hell, neither does God for that matter, Human beings send their ownselves to hell when the refuse to serve a living God, His name is Jesus Christ, you have free will, you can make that decision for yourself, it is a Christians job to warn you of the consequences of rejecting Christ as your Lord and Saviour, Jesus said to go out into the whole world and preach the Gospel. Also, no one is going to Hell if they never had the chance to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour, The Bible says to Him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him it is sin. God is the only good thing, Matthew 19:17, so you see to send someone to Hell who has not had a chance to believe is against the Bible, now please take some time and read the Gospel of Matthew and Luke, they tell of the Birth of Jesus, and think about that during this Christmas season, you seem to have alot of anger towards Christians or God, only you know, but rest assured, Jesus does Love you, and He died for you on that cross as he did for me also, and I can tell you Jesus does forgive because for a long time I was not a nice person to put it mildly but by the grace of God He slowly brought me around and I know that His love is unconditional or He would have disowned me years ago. We are all sinners, and even thou I am a Christian I still sin, but I can ask for forgiveness and get because I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour, I have been Born Again, If you any questions about all this send me an email, I will be glad to try and answer any questions you have, God Bless You this Christmas.

Answer 6

Sir, the problem with your question is that you are painting all Christians with the same brush. There are millions of Christians who hold moderate or liberal theological views. They would tend to say that a loving God would not condemn a soul to Hell just because they never heard the Gospel. The last thing on God's mind is to see you go to Hell. Hell exists, but its for truly evil and unrepentant people.Liberal Christians also spend very little time worrying about the ongoing issue of Homosexuality, knowing that all fall short of God's expectations, and that sin (which we all com mitt) takes many forms.

Answer 7

I can love God as I walk this earth also. I have family, children, grandchildren, etc. that I want to be with as long as possible.\ I certainly love God more than my family, and if God called me home early for some reason, Gods will be done. Yes, heaven is good, & if I had an experience of heavens gates & had to come back, I would probably be disappointed. But I can get a taste of heaven on earth everytime I am abiding in His love & His Word. And also, some of my family still need salvation, and many in the world need to be witnessed to about Gods redeeming grace.

Answer 8

I believe you have been speaking to the wrong Christians. True Christians don't bully you into making a decision because they know you won't keep it if you were forced into it. I'm a Christian and would suggest that you accept Christianity, but I'm not forcing it on you. Most people force it when they are new because they are feeling so good that they want everyone happy like them!

Hope I cleared things up ---and I hope you take a chance at Christianity. :)

Answer 9

My dear,

You have been listening to the wrong person. They are misguided. Find out for yourself what the Bible really has to say by doing the following:

Read and learn God's Word, here is a day by day outline on how to read and study the Bible:
http://kcm.org/studycenter/bible/january.php

Answer 10

I absolutely agree with Danielle. One should not push their religion that far. Plain and simple. You can believe in God, and be Christian, but you should not push others into believing in anything.. although it is right to spread word of the Lord...