I’ll jsut say that, as an atheist myself, if it turns out there really is a God, I hope my salvation doesn’t hang on the validity of that argument. If it does, I’m gonna need me a real good lawyer come the Judgement Day!
If you’re an atheist, it’s all good. If you don’t believe in God, you’re not rejecting Him. It’s only if you believe in God and Christ and nonetheless choose to reject them that you’re screwed.
Well, that’s just in terms of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. We’re still deniers, which is often not the best thing in the world.
Exactly. And you think that dude ever, like, washes?
He washes with you.
Actually, I did briefly make a point of “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” in my youth. I wasn’t a Satanist. I just decided (or feared) that the monotheism I was raised on was a put-on, & denounced “God” as one of many spirits, & a fraud.
Apparently, by some of your lights, I’m not actually guilty of the unforgivable after all. Well, that’s something.
What if you’re an atheist who believes that the God described in the Old/New Testaments, if real, is guilty of crimes against humanity and deserves a place at the Hague? That’s my own view - if God poofed down onto Earth and proved his existence beyond a doubt, I’d call for the ICC to charge him with genocide. (Amalek, the 10 Plagues, etc.) So, I’m not actively “rejecting” God right now, because I don’t believe in him - but if I did, then I most assuredly would reject him. Where do I fit in?
What if you’re quite certain that God/Jesus is fictional, and also have deeply considered what you’d do if God/Jesus were real and have decided that you’d reject them and their corrupt methods and systems whole cloth? Obviously, the atheism’s going to have vanished by the time I’m dragged before God for judgement, leaving me only with the rejection.
(Eh, like Mr. Excellent said.)
Is that NSFC?
Nah, not necessarily.
You don’t have to belong to a specific label to be doing “God’s works.” Someone who rejects the idea of the existence of God but does good works is, in some people’s theology, better than the whitened sepulchres who perform every ritual of their label but do it incorrectly. Whether this translates into “whatever reward there is, if any” or not, and the form of said reward, is another animal.
For Christian views on this, see the stories about the tithes from the poor widow and the rich man; the brother who said he would and didn’t, the brother who said he wouldn’t and did; etc.
If you’re an atheist like a friend of mine who can’t believe any more than he can become a woman overnight, then there is no sin. If you can believe but refuse to, then that would be a sin (assuming there is a God and He cares).
The essence of Christianity, if you look what has been definitely kept over the years, is the path to eprfection. That is, as sinful and indeed, monstrous creatures, we are damned. However, by the grace of God, we can and will be saved if only we allow it. He is acting upon at all times and places. However, as Goodness Incarnate He canot force us to do anything. He can only ask, invite, cajole. And we have to take the steps toward him.
<bernard pivot>
“If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?”
“We don’t hold that atheism thing against you.”
</bp>
That’s not what the bible says. At least five times in Exodus, god acted to harden the heart of Pharaoh, causing him to act in evil ways towards the Hebrews:
Exodus 9:12
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses.
Exodus 10:20
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
Exodus 10:27
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go.
Exodus 11:10
Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.
Exodus 14:8
The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly.
If he can force men to do evil, why can he not force men to do good?
Does the ability to repent for sins and seek forgiveness end at death of your physical body, or can your spirit take care of that just after death?
Can your spirit commit sin once in Heaven and then gent sent to Hell? I would think so, since this can apparently happen to angels.
Can your spirit sin in Heaven and then seek forgiveness, thus avoiding further trouble with Him?
I guess my point is that if your spirit is eternal, then death of the physical body seems like a pretty arbitrary cut-off time for deciding when someone can repent and be forgiven.