I have a question for christians (not offensive)

Hello ATS christian members, I have had a doubt for a while:
What happens to a person who do not commit sins and/or regret the ones done and tries to repair them, but doesn't believe in your God?
I mean, if a person who is better than many, if not most, of us just doesn't believe, is he or she going to hell?

I'm not a Christian, but here's something I found:

Link to Christian website

I'd rather spend eternity in hell with my friends and fellow humans than in heaven with these sick people.

reply to post by mbartelsm


Heaven, Hell - its all BS. Anyone who believes these fairy tales is a fool.

Hard question. I still believe in the love of God. With that in mind, I don't think he will cast any human being in the 'lake of fire', there is some good in all of us, wether we're sick or not. On the other hand: we are humans with limited knowledge, but we can choose good and evil, we can choose bad while we know there is good. I believe in the good side of people, even if it's a small piece. Jesus knows our heart, he came and died for the scum of society, not just the elite.

reply to post by mbartelsm


i believe in god enough for both of us..

don't worry your protected..

reply to post by mbartelsm


According to most christians you can't do anything without commiting some sort of sin...So according to them you're screwed either way

If you're trying to correct what you believe was your sin, at least you're learning and making whatever corrections you believe is necessary. Thats progress

Hell on the other hand is just a means of control, it doesn't exist... We're all created equal, so you're no better or worse then anyone else regardless of your "sins"....

So if anyone tells you other wise.....tell them to go to hell!

Yes. If you don't believe the bible which you can prove using simple maths then yes you're going to hell. There's a mathematical authentication code in the Bible and anyone who can count to a hundred is capable of proving the bible. Sorry to be so abrupt but unless you see the truth you're going to hell.

reply to post by mbartelsm


I have never met anyone who has not sinned. Sin means short of perfection not wrong doing. ln regards to what happens to "good" people who don't believe, the bible (not people who call themselves Christians and are not) says that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, if you live life that way then you have the heart of Christ and are saved.

I guess my question is, if you are a non-believer, why do you care? If there is no God then the answer does not matter, if you are not a believer then then answer doesn't matter. The answer only matters if you are a believer.

You asked a question of Christians and the first people to respond were anti-Christians. What they don't want you to know is that you matter, and that what you do also matters. All religions believe that. Many people claim to be believers; but, they don't live it. To be a Christian is to accept love and forgiveness not a name. The reason there are so many false Christians is because they think believing Jesus lived saves them, it doesn't. The bible says that many will call to Jesus and he will tell them that he never knew them. He never knew them because they did not have a heart he could know, one of love.

Your question was not offensive; but, the responses from some were. Why don't they want you to even ask your question? Your question was reasonable and respectful. My recomendation is not to listen to people who claim to be Christians or non-believers, read the New Testament and decide for yourself what it says. Same answer I would give to any other question, read the source document and make your own conclusions. Be well.

First, I do not believe, period.

Originally posted by PoorFool
I'm not a Christian, but here's something I found:

Link to Christian website

I'd rather spend eternity in hell with my friends and fellow humans than in heaven with these sick people.

If this if true, its the kind of thing I would rather go to hell than to heaven, I have been trying for a couple of years now (I'm 17) to make this world a better place, to spread happiness, if I'm going to hell then I will be happy there knowing I did good.


reply to post by mydarkpassenger


This is the kind of answer for which the title says "CHRISTIANS"

Originally posted by WeZet
Hard question. I still believe in the love of God. With that in mind, I don't think he will cast any human being in the 'lake of fire', there is some good in all of us, wether we're sick or not. On the other hand: we are humans with limited knowledge, but we can choose good and evil, we can choose bad while we know there is good. I believe in the good side of people, even if it's a small piece. Jesus knows our heart, he came and died for the scum of society, not just the elite.

This on the other hand is a different story, this would be the kind of god I'd like to believe in (but not going to).

Originally posted by darrman
reply to post by mbartelsm

 

i believe in god enough for both of us..
don't worry your protected..

Thanks, not all Christians are morons, there are a few like you who are worthy of your heaven

Originally posted by Akragon
reply to post by mbartelsm

 

According to most christians you can't do anything without commiting some sort of sin...So according to them you're screwed either way

If you're trying to correct what you believe was your sin, at least you're learning and making whatever corrections you believe is necessary. Thats progress

Hell on the other hand is just a means of control, it doesn't exist... We're all created equal, so you're no better or worse then anyone else regardless of your "sins"....

So if anyone tells you other wise.....tell them to go to hell!

edit on 13-3-2011 by Akragon because: (no reason given)

You and I are more similar than I thought, I believe the same you are telling me

Some believe that you have to be saved/baptized in order to get into heaven. It doesn't matter how "good" one is, because everyone sins, and one sin is just as bad as a hundred sin: sin is sin. Plus, again, one has to be saved or else you are screwed, no matter how well you have lived your life (which was a point of discussion for me with those of whom i am speaking many years ago: how can a person who is "evil" all his or her life suddenly "repent" and be "saved" and go to heaven, but a person who is "good" all his or her life, helping people, etc, goes to hell because he or doesn't simply "believe" or hasn't been "saved"). Makes very little sense, of course this a strict literal interpretation of which i am speaking. Of course, to these same people, the concept is sin also entails knowing when one has done something wrong, even if one does not know what "sin" is. Such as, someone who has never heard of Jesus, etc, will at one point do something he or she regrets, which is sin. This same interpretation also implies that since Jesus is the only way to salvation, one who has never heard of jesus is screwed until one gets the chance to repent at the final judgment.


Of course, then there are those who believe that essentially none of that matters because there will be time after death, a judgment or whatever, in which case one will have one last time to "repent" and be "saved." According to this theory, it doesn't really matter what what happens during one's life because one gets a final chance. That doesn't address what happens between death and this judgment, though, as some believe in purgatory, some believe in nonexistence until the "resurrection/judgment," etc.

Guess it boils down to what denomination one follows, because it all boils down to belief and interpretation.

Personally, as a non-religious person, i do not believe in hell because the concept of eternal punishment in the mind of a benevolent conscious god is not logical. If anything, one is simply "cut off" from god and ceases to exist/be conscious; if anything else, everyone goes to heaven, but who wants to be in heaven with a bunch of historical mass murderers?

As someone else said, the whole hellfire thing is simply fear-based method of control.

I neither know nor claim to know what happens after death.

Basically, just live your life the best you can, and be the best you can toward people and do not worry about what happens after death.

Hope this helps.

Originally posted by DanUKphd
Yes. If you don't believe the bible which you can prove using simple maths then yes you're going to hell. There's a mathematical authentication code in the Bible and anyone who can count to a hundred is capable of proving the bible. Sorry to be so abrupt but unless you see the truth you're going to hell.

Perfect example of the brainwashing religion does to you...

I have never met anyone who has not sinned. Sin means short of perfection not wrong doing. ln regards to what happens to "good" people who don't believe, the bible (not people who call themselves Christians and are not) says that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, if you live life that way then you have the heart of Christ and are saved. I guess my question is, if you are a non-believer, why do you care? If there is no God then the answer does not matter, if you are not a believer then then answer doesn't matter. The answer only matters if you are a believer.

No it doesnt knowledge is a beautiful thing, I do not need to believe in order to read the Bible or the Koran, in fact, if I choose not to believe I need arguments to do so, and the only way to get them is reading the other side of the story

You asked a question of Christians and the first people to respond were anti-Christians. What they don't want you to know is that you matter, and that what you do also matters. All religions believe that. Many people claim to be believers; but, they don't live it. To be a Christian is to accept love and forgiveness not a name. The reason there are so many false Christians is because they think believing Jesus lived saves them, it doesn't. The bible says that many will call to Jesus and he will tell them that he never knew them. He never knew them because they did not have a heart he could know, one of love.

This is what I wanted to hear, rather than an atheist, I'm more leaned to the side of agnosticism, so I just wanted to know that if, in case Christian religion is right, will I go to hell for trying to do good?

Your question was not offensive; but, the responses from some were. Why don't they want you to even ask your question? Your question was reasonable and respectful. My recomendation is not to listen to people who claim to be Christians or non-believers, read the New Testament and decide for yourself what it says. Same answer I would give to any other question, read the source document and make your own conclusions. Be well.

I know some atheists, as some religious persons, can be really agressive about their beliefs, but everyone is in right to express and share their beliefs, hell (pardon me) it is even written in the Declaration of Human Rights.
Also, thanks for taking your time to write this.

Originally posted by Liquesence
Basically, just live your life the best you can, and be the best you can toward people and do not worry about what happens after death.

Hope this helps.

edit on 13-3-2011 by Liquesence because: (no reason given)

Thanks, I will.

And thanks to all of those who answered this question in a respectful way.

I believe that the heaven and hell that is written about in the bible is misinterpreted by people as being some sort of "physical" place. When we die our spirits, or souls, have to go somewhere.Our souls are not physical matter, they are something else entirely. To think that something that is not physical will reside in a physical place after our bodies die is just nonsense in my opinion. It would be the same as our spirits hanging around here on earth after we die. I just don't believe it happens.

In my opinion, when we are born we are born with both good and bad within us. We are born with what God and the Devil give us in other words. As we mature and become more capable of taking responsibility for our actions, it is up to us as to how we use what was given us. I believe in reincarnation. If one person dies that did more good in their life than bad, their soul is then transferred into a new body. That body, or person, who receives the soul will have a natural propensity to do more good in their life than bad because of the soul that was transferred into their body.

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be on a whole other level than others? There are people in this world who can do and accomplish good things in this life on a level that others can only dream of. It just comes naturally to them somehow. It's because they are more advanced than the people who either cannot, or find it extremely hard to, do extraordinarily good things. And the reason they are more advanced is because with each new transference of an overly "good" soul, they keep making a daily conscious effort to do even more good.

Now, take the word "good" and replace it with "bad" in the above paragraph, and the same thing applies.

You can be born with a soul that has done more good than bad in its previous life and let it go to waste by doing bad things. And if that keeps happening generation after generation, then it's only a matter of time before that soul, or energy source, is more bad than good. The reason why it is so hard to find genuinely good people in this world is because doing bad is so much easier than doing good. As humans we tend to be more sociable than not. We want to be around other people constantly and we want to feel that we "fit in." It's that whole "Birds of a feather" thing. As a result, we are more apt to be around people who have more bad than good in them because, again, it is easier to do that. And more and more these days people are looking for the easy way out.

So to answer your question, yes. You don't necessarily need to believe in God to do the right thing by yourself and other people in life. Granted, it makes it easier, but I don't think it's a pre-requisite. If you do more good than bad in life you will get to "heaven" regardless. And by heaven I mean you will be re-born into another life where good things tend to happen to you and the people around you. Think about it. As I said before, we are all born with good and bad qualities and the free will to use them as we wish. If a person does more bad than good in his life, on some level he still knows that he or she is not living up to their full potential. And on that level which they recognize that fact, it has to feel like hell.

There are all sorts of analogies and old sayings I can use to help illustrate my point, but I think you get the picture. Heaven and Hell are states of mind, not physical locations. And in my opinion also. I think that the good in us will ultimately have the upper hand over bad. It may not seem that way these days, but I think the tide is about to turn and I think that 2012 may have something to do with that.

reply to post by mbartelsm


Knowledge is a beautiful thing and I have read the writings of other religions to understand where they are coming from, I have even read the writings of Satanists and have spoken with some. In the end it is not about doing good, it is about having a loving and forgiving heart, that is what saves you. No good acts save you (we are not saved by works) and sin does not keep you from salvation (Paul said he was the greatest sinner of all because he knew perfection). We are "saved" by faith, if one has true faith rather than some vague "belief" then they will want to be of service to others because they care about others as they care about themselves. If you do "good" because you want salvation rather than because you want to do right then you do not have the spirit of Christ, the spirit of love. The consequence of not loving others is that we are separated from them by our choice. If all we care about is ourselves then eventually that is all we have.

reply to post by Taupin Desciple


Thanks for taking your time to write this, its are really beautiful way to explain it,. In the end I too believe that good will prevail over bad whether it happens on 2012 or other day, humanity is near its end (or rebirth) and the new human kind will be naturally good.

reply to post by AQuestion


I agree with you, whats worth is the intention and I intend to make this world a better place, I have faith that humanity will some day realize that and become better.

I know I try not commit wrong doings not because of salvation (an advantage of being agnostic-atheist) but because of happiness, and the only way to be happy is to make those around me happy, is to make this world a better place.

I was raised Baptist Christian, and while I don't accept that stuff now, I was told, and have heard other Christians say this, that if you are not "Saved" and accepted Jesus as your personal saviour, then you are damned to eternal hell, and that's that.

Originally posted by tom502
I was raised Baptist Christian, and while I don't accept that stuff now, I was told, and have heard other Christians say this, that if you are not "Saved" and accepted Jesus as your personal saviour, then you are damned to eternal hell, and that's that.

Ya the church always works in definitives...

That way you have no choice but to believe what they tell you, because if you don't you'll BURN!!!

reply to post by Akragon


I have only seen two answers like that, all the others say different, if believing makes them better people then why can't you just let them? they are happy that way.