Reply to Faith and the Reward of Heaven

Forum Index » Religion

Reply to "Faith and the Reward of Heaven"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]That is the attitude of most religions with belief in an afterlife.

What seems disturbing to me about the most prevalent belief in Christianity, is that you accept Jesus as your lord and savior and all your prior sins are cleared. You could have murdered children and raped women, and stolen from the destitute, abused the helpless... and you're clear because you repent? That is not a God I could ever, ever believe in.

I was raised Muslim, and was taught that it's more about tipping the scales. Whether or not you get to heaven is about the actions overall. You don't repent, and then the slate is wiped clean - the scale is always calculating. You have to be conscientious, always. Everything matters every minute of every day, and all your deeds will be weighed when you die.

That said, I no longer believe in religion or any Gods, but the latter seemed like a much more palatable, just and fair pill to swallow.   [/quote]

I think it is beautiful that God gives the opportunity of redemption to even a hardened sinner.

Think of Jesus on the cross. The sinner at His side who repented and believed was told by Christ that today he woukd be with Jesus in paradise.

That hopefulness that even the most worthless soul can be redeemed by good and through God's love and mercy is a wonderful and beautiful thing and far better than a god who is al about vengeance, punishment and an eye for an eye.[/quote]

I don't find it beautiful.[b] I think it tends to attract a corrupt person who isn't really conscientious of their actions, and doesn't care about others, because they'll be "saved." I think it appeals to certain people who are more selfishly minded, and I understand the appeal. [/b]But I don't understand it from perspective of respect for your fellow humanity.

[/quote]

All religions tend to "attract" broken people who are looking for answers or want to feel better.  Inevitably people are going to fall below our standards.  But it's not like a scammer can "fool" God.  God theoretically created the universe.

I do not know what role redemption plays in Islam if any, so I can't speak to that.  However, redemption is a very important part of the Christian story.  Paul was a fanatic who supported the killing of Christians, and was someone who today would have been an ISIS supporter or something like that, that was the depths of his fanaticism.  But he redeemed himself and became a pillar of the Church.  Peter was a lowly fisherman and made a big show about telling Jesus he was God, but when Jesus was captured by the Romans he turned his back on him and he denied he ever knew him.  IE he was a coward.  But he redeemed himself as well, and became another pillar of the church.  The thief on the cross also redeemed himself when he showed compassion to Jesus.  Redemption just comes up over and over and over.  There are no scales, no weighing of your good actions vs. your bad (an ancient concept that even the ancient Egyptians believed in).  There is only an understanding that we are all sinners, and nobody is truly "good."

But this is very important: redemption in Christianity is not a freebie get out of jail free card.  There needs to be a genuine feeling of repentance and an understanding of your past sins, and an effort to correct what you have done wrong.  There is also an understanding that no person, no matter how hard they try, is perfect.  Evangelicals say that if you accept Jesus your sins are cleared (I am not an Evangelical and do not subscribe to their theology), but it is never the end of the story.  With that faith in Jesus should also come a love for Jesus, and a love for the people around you.  And if you genuinely love the people around you, you will feel real sorrow over the hurt you have caused.  In other words, a murderer can be redeemed, but if his faith is real he is going to feel a great amount of sorrow over what he has done.  If he is shallow or just "using" Christianity, it's not like you can fool God.  Only God will judge.

My belief is that we are here to create Heaven on Earth through our relationship with Jesus.  What happens after I die is somewhat secondary, because I can never know exactly what happens after I die.  I don't know what Heaven is like or whether there is a purgatory or whatever.  My responsibility is to live my life and do the best I can.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics