The RCC doesn’t consider you need to have been told about Jesus and accepted Him as savior; basically, you have to not have rejected him (being a decent human being is a plus) and you can accept the Infinite Love and Mercy until the latestestest instant. Nowadays there’s theologians who say we can’t even consider Judas as being surely condemned, and he was the classical example.
They celebrate the feasts of Esther, Queen (March 23); Solomon, King (March 13); David, King; a whole slew of prophets…
Jesus is quoted roughly as saying, forgive and be forgiven, condemn and be condemned. To me, this is the whole of the Law and to know oneself forgiven is THE Christian goal.
Imo, this is allegorical. The idea that the Creator could ever condemn a part of Creation is simply silly. But while a person believes condemnation is justified in any situation, he will believe himself condemned, project that on “god” and need forgiveness. The so-called Golden Rule is actually a statement about human psychology … as you do unto others, you do to yourself.
Hmmm. I am a Pratchett fan, but I don’t think I got the idea from him. Seems pretty obvious from that loophole about babies and tribesman getting into heaven.
There was some book that stipulated that you go where other religions think you should go. So, if any religion thought that all people other than them would go to hell, you were doomed if you weren’t in that religion. Then, all it would take is another religion thinking those adherents go, and there you have it – everyone is doomed to an eternity of suffering.
Actually, I love South Park’s take on it. There a scene where pretty much everyone is in hell and all the newly damned were clamoring for answers – “I was a devout Christian…Jew…Buddhist [whatever]…where did I go wrong? What was the answer?” And, there a guy with a clipboard who looks at it and says, “The correct answer was…the Mormons.” That’s about as biblically accurate as anything I’ve seen.
God is love like Dahmer is love. Eat meat on Friday, commit a sin according to his evolving list and you will be charbroiled for eternity. How is a cruel god ,love? This is such a distortion of love. I see a ruthless, cruel, and vengeful god.
I read a book, once, called Only Begotten Daugter, when The devil says that the only way to get into heaven is to have no other group say you’re going to hell. So there are like three people in heaven, cause the bible said they did, everyone else went to hell.
Very generous of you, Tom, to use the multiplayer version of the code, when you could have been selfish, left out the “select”, and just saved yourself.
Personally, the way I see it: OK, so you have to accept Jesus as your Lord to get into Heaven. But what does it mean to accept Jesus as your Lord? Near as I can figure, it means you do what Jesus wants you to do. And what does Jesus want us to do? He wants us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, and otherwise do whatsoever for the least of His people. Now, whether we do those things specifically because Jesus wants us to, or because Buddha or Brahma or whoever wants us to, or just because we think it’s the right thing to do, I don’t see that that matters: If you do what Jesus wants you to do, then you’re accepting Jesus as Lord, whether you know it or not.
Buddhism has a pretty open door policy on this sort of thing. In general, it is better to have a religion than not, don’t become a Buddhist if you already have a religion, and if you continue to follow your version of the moral precepts, eventually you’ll be born a human again, learn about Buddhism, and have a shot at enlightenment. In the meantime, follow the manual you were issued.
That said, in Buddhism heaven is a transitory state as well, so it’s no big deal to be there.