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John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
It was an Episcopalian Priest who first got me to thinking "outside the box" of tradition on this verse. He said something like, "I believe this was intended to be inclusive rather than exclusive." The point being that Jesus was the embodiment of the Way that men come to a right relationship with God and Man, and that the Word was not limited to the life and ministry of Jesus.
To be consistent it must be inclusive. Our time is not Gods time, everyone will get their chance.
actually you dont have to worry about your sunscreen. JW's dont even believe in hell. Also, most of them think that it is the earth that the meek will inherit. not flying around heaven all day long. I think they say only a few will be in heaven. not sure, need to ask them.
You have not to ask anyone, it is written: " Mat 7:14 and few there will be that find it" " Mat 20:16 but few are choosen" Luke 13:23+24: "are there few that be saved?" And He answered: "Strife to enter in at the strait gate: for many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
This are words from Jesus himself, I do not know, if you believe in Him? He warns us that we should strife, because there is an enemy. There is only a strait gate and that is Jesus himself, He said, "I am the door". Without Jesus , no one can enter, He said, He is the way, the life and the truth, no one comes to the Father, but by Jesus. Better we find out how to be saved, the question, who will go to hell is also written, but it is not our bisiness to judge anyone, because the greatest sinner can repent and be saved, only God knows who will make it and who not.
Again the Pharisees in our midst confuse the word of Christ.
Who is he that believes Christ? Is he one who practises his injunctions or is he one that claims his words? Please judge for yourself. And why you are judging ponder why the Almighty made us into different faiths and religion.
What is evident from the acts of the apostle is that an angel of the lord appeared to Cornellius , who later received the Holy Ghost. And Cornellius was not a Christian
Again the Pharisees in our midst confuse the word of Christ.
Who is he that believes Christ? Is he one who practises his injunctions or is he one that claims his words? Please judge for yourself. And why you are judging ponder why the Almighty made us into different faiths and religion.
What is evident from the acts of the apostle is that an angel of the lord appeared to Cornellius , who later received the Holy Ghost. And Cornellius was not a Christian
Cornellius receiving the Holy Ghost was the evidence he had become a Christian. That was the purpose of the angel telling him to send for Peter, so Peter could preach to him the gospel.
It just seems so presumptuous for you Christians to think that what makes sense to YOU is all that exists for the rest of the world. Maybe you should be happy that your heaven awaits you; for the other religions, many have their OWN version of heaven and they feel as strongly about that as you do about yours. Why can't you just have what you have, and allow others to have what they have? And why judge the others? Doesn't your God have something to say about that? Meanwhile, we atheists are trying to be happy with what's here on earth during our lifetime, since we think that's all there is. I would NEVER try to convert you to my way of thinking, and I wish that example would be followed.
BTW -- someone asked me why I'm reading a forum titled "Christianity" if I'm not a Christian. Fair question. Answer: I have a thirst for learning and often read forums and websites that I don't expect to agree with. It expands my mind. I still don't want to convert anyone; faith (or lack thereof) should be personal and private, IMHO.
A man walks up to the pearly gates, where he is greeted by St Peter. After introductions and explainations, St Peter asks Joe his denomination.
Joe replies, I have none. I was just a hard working guy who married, raised a family, enjoy an occasional adult beverage, watched the ball game once in a while, loved my wife and kids, and passed away in my sleep, never having given a thought to religion or spiritualism or anything like that.
Pete say, Well, then, let me give you a tour. Eventually you will find someplace you like, and there you stay forever if you wish.
So Pete leads Joe around, showing him the various many houses of which Jesus spoke. there is a river, and down there the Baptists are singing and dancing and having a great time baptizing eachother. there is a forest, and there the Druids are singing and dancing and praying and living in peace with the animals and the those whom they called spirits but who were really angels. Then there are the Holy Rollers, gathers in a clearing, singing and dancing and falling on the ground rolling around while speaking in tongues. There were many more such places with folk such as Buddhists, Zen practitioners, even New Age spiritualists enjoying the harp playing of the angels and the chants of whomever wanted to join.
Along the way, the pair came upon a high think wall, at the top of a hill overlooking a wide long plain. Pete caution Joe to keep very still as they walked as quietly as possible along the path at the base of the wall. When they had put some distance between themselves and the wall, Joe said to St Peter What's behind that wall?
St Peter replied, That's where all the Fundamentalists live. They dont believe the rest of us are here at all.
It just seems so presumptuous for you Christians to think that what makes sense to YOU is all that exists for the rest of the world. Maybe you should be happy that your heaven awaits you; for the other religions, many have their OWN version of heaven and they feel as strongly about that as you do about yours. Why can't you just have what you have, and allow others to have what they have? And why judge the others? Doesn't your God have something to say about that? Meanwhile, we atheists are trying to be happy with what's here on earth during our lifetime, since we think that's all there is. I would NEVER try to convert you to my way of thinking, and I wish that example would be followed.
I gave you reputation for post #26. You deserved it.
But this post gets a thumbs down. Even if there is no emoticon for it. It strikes me as just another snarky atheist comment that indicates that you think you know more about what God expects and therefore how you think Christians should behave according to beliefs you think Christians have.
In case it hasnt occurred to you, there are many kinds of Christians. Some 30-50 THOUSAND kinds, depending on who's doing the counting.
As an atheist, you probably dont believe that there is a Satan, a great evil being whose sole purpose is to lead us all into sin and therefore to eternal damnation. Guess what. Neither do I. If only because my reading of history is that humankind doesnt need the help. Christian, Muslim, Polytheistic, atheistic kingdoms and governments have all proven over time to be equally capable of great tyranny and cruelty. The common factor to all is great worldly power and the lack of personal liberty to great numbers of citizens.
Atheist Russia, atheist China, have both been tyrannies every bit as evil as the medieval Christian kingdoms. There is no high ground for either. The only high ground is the desire to expand personal liberty to greater numbers of people.
As for what awaits us after death, no one can say, One can only believe. And if there is some wonderful afterlife, or if there is nothing there, nothing there, who of us left behind will ever really know.
So be content with your own beliefs. But dont tell people of faith what they should think, or goad them with suppositions whose premises you do not hold yourself. Same goes to you fundamentalists and other kinds of thumpers.
Re: above -- I don't think I AM telling others what to think. I'm allowing for ALL the many possible variations on faith and lack-of-faith (as are you), and wondering why others can't do the same. If you believe in heaven, fine. Just don't assume others do.
I guess I would include mystics, and all other non-denominational Christian branches and other spiritual paths to the list......including the Bai' Hai's and any other spiritual path that does not involve being a born again Christian......we are talking 1.2 billion Catholics alone....then with the millions more people in all the other spiritual paths on earth......just curious if there is any way these folks can also be candidates for the heavenly realm.
First of all, despite not going to church and kind of lapsing, I still consider myself Catholic.
Now that that's out of the way, I believe people of all faiths can get to heaven as long as they live a good life according to whatever religion they ascribe to. If they do good works and help people while they are alive, they will get to heaven.
While grace may be important I don't believe that will get people to heaven. I've read much of the Bible (not every day and I'm not a big expert or anything) and I've seen a lot more about doing good works.
I can't give you a quote but I think Jesus once said that if a person feeds the poor or clothes the homeless it's the equivalent of feeding him or clothing him. Then there is the whole phrase of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
Anyway, that's my opinion. If you're good in life being helpful and generous you'll be rewarded in the afterlife. Or, if you're an Atheist, if you're good in this life, you will die knowing that you had the chance to make the world better (or something like that).
Okay, I'm ready for people to throw stuff at me.
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