What religion has the highest chance of going to Heaven?

[Anonymous]

I'm so glad that I'm Jewish because it's not incompatible with atheism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God doesn’t send people to hell.

But he knows they are going there before they are born, so yes, technically he does.

God does not decide who goes to heaven and hell. Each individual person decides whether they receive Jesus and go to heaven or spend eternity in hell. God is constantly pursuing humanity with his love and kindness. ... God provided salvation as a gift through the crucifixion and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

But does god know what they will do before they are born?

By your definition, yes he does. So there is no free will and he sends them to damnation on purpose.

You can't have it both ways.

Free will means God knows what people will chose before they are born; not that he makes the choice for each person before they are born.

God gives us the freedom to make a choice; we aren’t a rock or a tree. Our freedom of choice is never revoked. It is always left up to the individual to make their choices and decisions in their life. Free will also means God cannot demand our love. God seeks our love and affection, but our love and affection for God is left completely up to us to decide upon. We decide. Without this free will and independent decision making process, we would have no personal relationship with God.

So God doesn’t decide if we go to heaven or hell. He doesn’t send us to either place. We decide as agents of our own lives and through the exercise of our free will.

So by your account:

- He knows what "choices" they will make before they are born
- He knows this will lead to their damnation under rules he created
- He is completely capable of changing the rules or the nature of the person making the damning "choices"
- He allows them to be born anyway and does nothing, ensuring their eternal torment!

Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense! Such love!

God doesn’t want to “make” us love Him and “make” us have a personal relationship with Him. We aren’t His robots or hostages.

He doesn’t require perfection from us; he knows we are incapable of that. He doesn’t demand anything but our love and that we accept the gift His Son so graciously has offered us.

So God would rather that we choose him and if we don't choose him and his gracious gift of his son, whom he sent here to be crucified for our sins, then we go to hell -- our choice. but God set up the whole system -- if you believe it.

Lots of children do, because they are taught it by their parents. But many people reject this at some point as they mature. Some people don't accept it even as children.

Yes. Two sides of the same coin. On the one side, God is absolutely sovereign. On the other side, human beings have free will and are fully responsible for their own actions.

How can God’s sovereignty and human free will be true at the same time? We don’t know. But God does. And we can trust that He’ll explain it to us when we see Him face to face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Atheists have no beliefs about religion or god?

Atheists don't believe in God. That one should be easy to figure out.

With regard to religion we obviously don't believe in God, Heaven or Hell, but as for scripture and teachings there is both good and bad. I personally disagree with being anti-contraception, disagree with things like homophobia, I think women should be treated as equal to men (i.e. Catholic church not allowing female clergy), and there are factually wrong things like whales not being fish, rabbits not being ruminants, the earth not being flat to nitpick over but that's trivial - I also think there are some valuable teachings in the Bible, in Buddhism, the Vedas, and other faiths - however none of those things I find to be valuable are tied to belief in a divine being or the supernatural and if you look across cultural and ethnographic studies there are recurring themes like "do not kill, do not steal, treat others as you would have them treat you" showing up in a huge number of societies and cultures, of varying faiths as well as in communities which do not have organized religion. Much of that is really just human empathy. Granted, some people are sociopaths and lack such empathy, which may be why churches invent the concept of "you'll spend an eternity in hell if you don't behave" to try and rein the sociopaths in - but for many of us who have empathy and humanity, we don't need those kinds of threats.

So if you don’t believe in God, why would you have any thoughts about scripture? Scripture is the Holy, sacred, and authoritative word of God. If you don’t believe in Him, why is the scripture something you consider and critique or agree/disagree with? It’s from an entity you don’t think exists?

Not trying to be argumentative or rude, genuinely curious. I have to go now, will check back later in case you answered. Thank you.

Sorry to bust your bubble but scripture was written by humans. Sure, inspired by some belief in the supernatural and with some insights from people who put thought into what it is that they thought they should be teaching, but ultimately they are still just the words of humans. And that shows in places like all of the minor gaffes like scripture saying whales are fish (they are mammals, not fish) or that rabbits chew their cud (they do not). If it were truly the authoritative word of God those errors would not exist.

Rabbits re-ingest partially digested foods, as do modern ruminants. They just do so without the aid of multiple stomach compartments.

The Greek word that is translated “whale” in the KJV (as well as a few other versions) in a brief look in various respected Greek dictionaries quickly reveals that the word is ketos and is defined broadly as a “large sea creature”, “sea monster,” or “huge fish.” Jesus indicated that Jonah was swallowed by a “large sea creature,” which was not necessarily a whale, but may have been.

The Bible, or any other ancient or modern book, doesn't have to be completely scientifically accurate to be valuable.

The problem arises, I think, when people feel they must defend the bible as completely accurate, or the "Word of God" or whatever for it to be taken seriously. It is an ancient book written by ancient people and translated many times.

You can reject it as a rule book or a holy book while still attributing value to it.

It's also understandable that some people who were forced to think of it as a factual rule book come to reject it completely.

NP: ^^ to be clear, this is a small fraction of faiths that use the Bible, and yet to atheists it seems is might as well be everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God doesn’t send people to hell.

But he knows they are going there before they are born, so yes, technically he does.

God does not decide who goes to heaven and hell. Each individual person decides whether they receive Jesus and go to heaven or spend eternity in hell. God is constantly pursuing humanity with his love and kindness. ... God provided salvation as a gift through the crucifixion and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

But does god know what they will do before they are born?

By your definition, yes he does. So there is no free will and he sends them to damnation on purpose.

You can't have it both ways.

DP: PP never said what you said. Your understanding of what various faiths believe is incomplete and jaded (and grade school level).

[Anonymous]

I'll argue the contrarian view that, among people who do good deeds, atheists have the best chance of getting into heaven, because religious people are only doing good deeds because of their fear of hell. That immediately diminishes the value of the good that they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll argue the contrarian view that, among people who do good deeds, atheists have the best chance of getting into heaven, because religious people are only doing good deeds because of their fear of hell. That immediately diminishes the value of the good that they do.

This, of course, is not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll argue the contrarian view that, among people who do good deeds, atheists have the best chance of getting into heaven, because religious people are only doing good deeds because of their fear of hell. That immediately diminishes the value of the good that they do.

This, of course, is not true.

But it's more likely, among those people who do good deeds. Atheists have no ulterior selfish motives of getting into heaven. Therefore, their goid deeds count more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd guess good Christians, as well as good people from other religions who did not have an opportunity to learn about Jesus and reject him.

So you're better off never hearing about Jesus, than hearing about him and figuring that it's a just a story

Pontius Pilate comes to mind. . But what constitutes rejecting him is certainly up to God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God doesn’t send people to hell.

But he knows they are going there before they are born, so yes, technically he does.

God does not decide who goes to heaven and hell. Each individual person decides whether they receive Jesus and go to heaven or spend eternity in hell. God is constantly pursuing humanity with his love and kindness. ... God provided salvation as a gift through the crucifixion and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

But does god know what they will do before they are born?

By your definition, yes he does. So there is no free will and he sends them to damnation on purpose.

You can't have it both ways.

Free will means God knows what people will chose before they are born; not that he makes the choice for each person before they are born.

God gives us the freedom to make a choice; we aren’t a rock or a tree. Our freedom of choice is never revoked. It is always left up to the individual to make their choices and decisions in their life. Free will also means God cannot demand our love. God seeks our love and affection, but our love and affection for God is left completely up to us to decide upon. We decide. Without this free will and independent decision making process, we would have no personal relationship with God.

So God doesn’t decide if we go to heaven or hell. He doesn’t send us to either place. We decide as agents of our own lives and through the exercise of our free will.

So by your account:

- He knows what "choices" they will make before they are born
- He knows this will lead to their damnation under rules he created
- He is completely capable of changing the rules or the nature of the person making the damning "choices"
- He allows them to be born anyway and does nothing, ensuring their eternal torment!

Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense! Such love!

God doesn’t want to “make” us love Him and “make” us have a personal relationship with Him. We aren’t His robots or hostages.

He doesn’t require perfection from us; he knows we are incapable of that. He doesn’t demand anything but our love and that we accept the gift His Son so graciously has offered us.

But he knows in advance what we will do, which is exactly as he has created us.

Right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God doesn’t send people to hell.

But he knows they are going there before they are born, so yes, technically he does.

God does not decide who goes to heaven and hell. Each individual person decides whether they receive Jesus and go to heaven or spend eternity in hell. God is constantly pursuing humanity with his love and kindness. ... God provided salvation as a gift through the crucifixion and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

But does god know what they will do before they are born?

By your definition, yes he does. So there is no free will and he sends them to damnation on purpose.

You can't have it both ways.

Free will means God knows what people will chose before they are born; not that he makes the choice for each person before they are born.

God gives us the freedom to make a choice; we aren’t a rock or a tree. Our freedom of choice is never revoked. It is always left up to the individual to make their choices and decisions in their life. Free will also means God cannot demand our love. God seeks our love and affection, but our love and affection for God is left completely up to us to decide upon. We decide. Without this free will and independent decision making process, we would have no personal relationship with God.

So God doesn’t decide if we go to heaven or hell. He doesn’t send us to either place. We decide as agents of our own lives and through the exercise of our free will.

So by your account:

- He knows what "choices" they will make before they are born
- He knows this will lead to their damnation under rules he created
- He is completely capable of changing the rules or the nature of the person making the damning "choices"
- He allows them to be born anyway and does nothing, ensuring their eternal torment!

Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense! Such love!

God doesn’t want to “make” us love Him and “make” us have a personal relationship with Him. We aren’t His robots or hostages.

He doesn’t require perfection from us; he knows we are incapable of that. He doesn’t demand anything but our love and that we accept the gift His Son so graciously has offered us.

So God would rather that we choose him and if we don't choose him and his gracious gift of his son, whom he sent here to be crucified for our sins, then we go to hell -- our choice. but God set up the whole system -- if you believe it.

Lots of children do, because they are taught it by their parents. But many people reject this at some point as they mature. Some people don't accept it even as children.

Yes. Two sides of the same coin. On the one side, God is absolutely sovereign. On the other side, human beings have free will and are fully responsible for their own actions.

How can God’s sovereignty and human free will be true at the same time? We don’t know. But God does. And we can trust that He’ll explain it to us when we see Him face to face.

If you don't know, then you don't know that god knows. That's a square circle. More importantly: If you don't know, then stop saying you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God doesn’t send people to hell.

But he knows they are going there before they are born, so yes, technically he does.

God does not decide who goes to heaven and hell. Each individual person decides whether they receive Jesus and go to heaven or spend eternity in hell. God is constantly pursuing humanity with his love and kindness. ... God provided salvation as a gift through the crucifixion and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

But does god know what they will do before they are born?

By your definition, yes he does. So there is no free will and he sends them to damnation on purpose.

You can't have it both ways.

DP: PP never said what you said. Your understanding of what various faiths believe is incomplete and jaded (and grade school level).

Since crucifixion and Jesus was explicitly stated I assumed the Christian god, and I know that religion extremely well. Just because PP didn't say it doesn't make the point false. In fact I mention if specifically BECAUSE he didn't say it, and it needs to be said to comprehend the logical problem.

But go ahead and educate me if I have a "grade school" understanding of my old religion. I promise to thoughtfully read everything you type and respond articulately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God doesn’t send people to hell.

But he knows they are going there before they are born, so yes, technically he does.

God does not decide who goes to heaven and hell. Each individual person decides whether they receive Jesus and go to heaven or spend eternity in hell. God is constantly pursuing humanity with his love and kindness. ... God provided salvation as a gift through the crucifixion and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

But does god know what they will do before they are born?

By your definition, yes he does. So there is no free will and he sends them to damnation on purpose.

You can't have it both ways.

Free will means God knows what people will chose before they are born; not that he makes the choice for each person before they are born.

God gives us the freedom to make a choice; we aren’t a rock or a tree. Our freedom of choice is never revoked. It is always left up to the individual to make their choices and decisions in their life. Free will also means God cannot demand our love. God seeks our love and affection, but our love and affection for God is left completely up to us to decide upon. We decide. Without this free will and independent decision making process, we would have no personal relationship with God.

So God doesn’t decide if we go to heaven or hell. He doesn’t send us to either place. We decide as agents of our own lives and through the exercise of our free will.

So by your account:

- He knows what "choices" they will make before they are born
- He knows this will lead to their damnation under rules he created
- He is completely capable of changing the rules or the nature of the person making the damning "choices"
- He allows them to be born anyway and does nothing, ensuring their eternal torment!

Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense! Such love!

God doesn’t want to “make” us love Him and “make” us have a personal relationship with Him. We aren’t His robots or hostages.

He doesn’t require perfection from us; he knows we are incapable of that. He doesn’t demand anything but our love and that we accept the gift His Son so graciously has offered us.

So God would rather that we choose him and if we don't choose him and his gracious gift of his son, whom he sent here to be crucified for our sins, then we go to hell -- our choice. but God set up the whole system -- if you believe it.

Lots of children do, because they are taught it by their parents. But many people reject this at some point as they mature. Some people don't accept it even as children.

Yes. Two sides of the same coin. On the one side, God is absolutely sovereign. On the other side, human beings have free will and are fully responsible for their own actions.

How can God’s sovereignty and human free will be true at the same time? We don’t know. But God does. And we can trust that He’ll explain it to us when we see Him face to face.

If you don't know, then you don't know that god knows. That's a square circle. More importantly: If you don't know, then stop saying you do.

Nobody knows.

When it comes to the nature of God, human understanding will only take us so far. Beyond that, we have to walk by faith. We can only move forward by trusting in God’s goodness and faithfulness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God doesn’t send people to hell.

But he knows they are going there before they are born, so yes, technically he does.

God does not decide who goes to heaven and hell. Each individual person decides whether they receive Jesus and go to heaven or spend eternity in hell. God is constantly pursuing humanity with his love and kindness. ... God provided salvation as a gift through the crucifixion and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

But does god know what they will do before they are born?

By your definition, yes he does. So there is no free will and he sends them to damnation on purpose.

You can't have it both ways.

Free will means God knows what people will chose before they are born; not that he makes the choice for each person before they are born.

God gives us the freedom to make a choice; we aren’t a rock or a tree. Our freedom of choice is never revoked. It is always left up to the individual to make their choices and decisions in their life. Free will also means God cannot demand our love. God seeks our love and affection, but our love and affection for God is left completely up to us to decide upon. We decide. Without this free will and independent decision making process, we would have no personal relationship with God.

So God doesn’t decide if we go to heaven or hell. He doesn’t send us to either place. We decide as agents of our own lives and through the exercise of our free will.

So by your account:

- He knows what "choices" they will make before they are born
- He knows this will lead to their damnation under rules he created
- He is completely capable of changing the rules or the nature of the person making the damning "choices"
- He allows them to be born anyway and does nothing, ensuring their eternal torment!

Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense! Such love!

God doesn’t want to “make” us love Him and “make” us have a personal relationship with Him. We aren’t His robots or hostages.

He doesn’t require perfection from us; he knows we are incapable of that. He doesn’t demand anything but our love and that we accept the gift His Son so graciously has offered us.

So God would rather that we choose him and if we don't choose him and his gracious gift of his son, whom he sent here to be crucified for our sins, then we go to hell -- our choice. but God set up the whole system -- if you believe it.

Lots of children do, because they are taught it by their parents. But many people reject this at some point as they mature. Some people don't accept it even as children.

Yes. Two sides of the same coin. On the one side, God is absolutely sovereign. On the other side, human beings have free will and are fully responsible for their own actions.

How can God’s sovereignty and human free will be true at the same time? We don’t know. But God does. And we can trust that He’ll explain it to us when we see Him face to face.

If you don't know, then you don't know that god knows. That's a square circle. More importantly: If you don't know, then stop saying you do.

Nobody knows.

When it comes to the nature of God, human understanding will only take us so far. Beyond that, we have to walk by faith. We can only move forward by trusting in God’s goodness and faithfulness.

Then stop saying “god knows” because you admit you don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God doesn’t send people to hell.

But he knows they are going there before they are born, so yes, technically he does.

God does not decide who goes to heaven and hell. Each individual person decides whether they receive Jesus and go to heaven or spend eternity in hell. God is constantly pursuing humanity with his love and kindness. ... God provided salvation as a gift through the crucifixion and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

But does god know what they will do before they are born?

By your definition, yes he does. So there is no free will and he sends them to damnation on purpose.

You can't have it both ways.

Free will means God knows what people will chose before they are born; not that he makes the choice for each person before they are born.

God gives us the freedom to make a choice; we aren’t a rock or a tree. Our freedom of choice is never revoked. It is always left up to the individual to make their choices and decisions in their life. Free will also means God cannot demand our love. God seeks our love and affection, but our love and affection for God is left completely up to us to decide upon. We decide. Without this free will and independent decision making process, we would have no personal relationship with God.

So God doesn’t decide if we go to heaven or hell. He doesn’t send us to either place. We decide as agents of our own lives and through the exercise of our free will.

So by your account:

- He knows what "choices" they will make before they are born
- He knows this will lead to their damnation under rules he created
- He is completely capable of changing the rules or the nature of the person making the damning "choices"
- He allows them to be born anyway and does nothing, ensuring their eternal torment!

Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense! Such love!

God doesn’t want to “make” us love Him and “make” us have a personal relationship with Him. We aren’t His robots or hostages.

He doesn’t require perfection from us; he knows we are incapable of that. He doesn’t demand anything but our love and that we accept the gift His Son so graciously has offered us.

So God would rather that we choose him and if we don't choose him and his gracious gift of his son, whom he sent here to be crucified for our sins, then we go to hell -- our choice. but God set up the whole system -- if you believe it.

Lots of children do, because they are taught it by their parents. But many people reject this at some point as they mature. Some people don't accept it even as children.

Yes. Two sides of the same coin. On the one side, God is absolutely sovereign. On the other side, human beings have free will and are fully responsible for their own actions.

How can God’s sovereignty and human free will be true at the same time? We don’t know. But God does. And we can trust that He’ll explain it to us when we see Him face to face.

If you don't know, then you don't know that god knows. That's a square circle. More importantly: If you don't know, then stop saying you do.

Nobody knows.

When it comes to the nature of God, human understanding will only take us so far. Beyond that, we have to walk by faith. We can only move forward by trusting in God’s goodness and faithfulness.

Then stop saying “god knows” because you admit you don’t know.

I don’t know, nobody knows, but God knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

If you don't know, then you don't know that god knows. That's a square circle. More importantly: If you don't know, then stop saying you do.

Nobody knows.

When it comes to the nature of God, human understanding will only take us so far. Beyond that, we have to walk by faith. We can only move forward by trusting in God’s goodness and faithfulness.

Then stop saying “god knows” because you admit you don’t know.

The book of Job essentially says don't question. Some things he knows, we don't, the end.