A question for Christians

Post Reply New Topic

First of all, I mean no disrespect to anyone here, I'm not trolling, and I'm not trying to start arguments. And, if a thread like this has already been on here, I apologize.
My question for Christians here is: Do you think all non-Christians go to Hell?

As a spiritual agnostic, I try to read every sort of religious text I can get my hands on, and do so with an open mind. I know that many biblical verses have been interpreted in many different ways by those who follow them. I know that some take them more literally than others. Do you think that if a person reads the Bible with an open mind and is still unsure of what to believe (while being a truly kind and ethical person), they're certainly facing eternal damnation? Or, for another example, what about someone who lives in a foreign culture in which they never even hear much (or anything) about Christianity?

Thanks in advance for your answers. Peace.

I believe our salvation is entirely in God's hands - that is, by his grace- and not caused by anything that we ourselves do. So it's not for me to say who's in hell and who isn't. Rather, it's up to God who's saved, and God is all loving and merciful.
Also, I should add, while I don't believe works earn us our way into heaven, the bible makes it clear that those who are in God's grace will do good works simply out of love for their neighbor. I know goodhearted unbelievers, so I take heart in this.
I don't know if this answers your question, but it's the best I can do.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

You can get different answers,and this is one of the areas where there is not - I would maintain - a clear and unambiguous statement.

My faith and insights tend to agree with C S Lewis as expressed in The Last Battle. Which is not uninteresting to read.

Check Matthew 7:21-27 and Matthew 25:31-46.

There are those who know and follow God without knowing, and those who think they do but do not.

NO, I do not believe that all non-Christians go to Hell, nor was I ever taught that in all those years of religion class.

The reasons get a little complex, so I'm not going to dive into it.

And I do realize some denominations teach differently, I just don't agree with them.

This is an inter-faith dialog/debate between representatives of Judaism and Christianity, and Dennis Prager(Reform Jew) summarizes my position on this issue: (Forward the video to 4:02)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PKPfV2BbPI[/youtube]


For those who won't view it, basically, his case is that a kind and ethically sound Pagan has just as much a chance of getting into heaven as the most observant and righteous Jew because God measures people by their behavior. That is under the assumption that God is a Just God.( a side note: I don't think christianity has a good response to this issue)

Last edited by MarketAndChurch on 28 Apr 2011, 5:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

No, but I do qualify that answer a bit by saying the person should also probably be willing to take a little "investigate action" from time to time (depending upon what s/he had been reading and "learning") as well as willing to make any adjustments he or she might begin believing could be be necessary ... and all of that while being cautious about becoming merely "religious", as such.


One of the neatest stories I have ever heard is about the people who had never heard of "God",
but then they were found to be believing in and praying to "the god that made the opposable thumb".
Within their line of reckoning, and having realized how little they would have ever been able to do if they did *not* have thumbs,
the god they assumed must have made them that way must have been the smartest god of all.

Does that mean they were all "saved" in the way many people think about "saved from sin"?
No, but it sure does mean they were not living in worship of anything or anyone other than the god they believed created them!

Note: I am not sure whether that story is factual or merely an illustration, but I do believe it conveys something Philogos has posted:

"There are those who know and follow God without knowing"!

Last edited by leejosepho on 28 Apr 2011, 5:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

Simple answer: I don't know.

Longer answer: I think a lot of Christian doctrine says that unbelievers go to hell but I think this is man's understanding of what happens and it's rather presumptuous of us to think we understand the workings of God. To my knowledge, God loves every single one of his children absolutely and perfectly. Therefore I cannot accept that he would condemn his child to eternal hell. It doesn't fit with the nature of God as I know it. So I think he has a cunning plan tucked up his sleeve and that we mere mortals have no idea what that is.

MarketAndChurch [a location? a socioeconomic statement?]

:Thou hast said:

I don't think christianity has a good response to this issue.

I think, as I said, Christianity has - the basis differs but the principle the same as Friend Prager's.

That there are individuals and groups who would proclaim otherwise, as per MotherKnowsBest, I should say this represents either a failure to examine closely the evidence in the scriptures they claim to accept or a serious misunderstanding of "nonbeliever".

The same query needs to be put to professed Muslimiin.

Note also Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons [at least], like Islam suckers [biological term, not intended to be derogatory], which I believe offer more than simply heaven / hell as options. Not sure about Baha'i and Unitarians.

lol, my nickname was a street intersection in the Castro District of San Francisco that I used to meet friends at before going out at night.

I too am probably in that category because I have not found a good Christian rebuttal to the issue, nor have I seen it reading the scriptures. I only brought it up that christians don't have a good answer to the subject because either they reaffirm that faith in Christ is the only way to heaven or say that they've struggled with the issue as well.

I do not like the mormon concept view of heaven, or at least in the way that it was taught to me by the missionaries who spent 9 wooing me to their religion.... good people though.

I think the LDS and the JWs each have some interesting thoughts to consider there, and I will not be surprised to eventually see at least some of those ideas are actually close to reality ... but then, and while still meaning to be respectful here: I find much of the stuff about who either does or does not go wherever and/or for whatever reason or reasons to be just a bit "convenient" in the sense of helping to hope the others guys are actually all wrong!

At least twice I have tried sitting and listening to the LDS missionaries, but we never got through the second session because its content was dependent upon still-unresolved issues we had talked about during the first. Overall, I find LDS folks much easier to "just talk to" than JWs, but I think that is only because the LDS folks already know they do not have to either convince you or else keep coming back to try again (since they actually do keep a "no-call list" and then adhere to it). The very last time two young LDS men came around to talk with me, one of them seemed quite "new" ... and then the other guy seemed a bit "Oh s**t!" bothered by the fact he (the "new" guy) was paying more attention to things I was saying than I was paying to anything they were saying ...

... and I personally consider that to have been one of the very best visits I had ever had with either group!

I don't doubt that. In my opinion, and based on my experiences, Mormons have slightly better people skills then JW's (but JW's, though annoyingly persistent, were pleasant to interact with as well). I feel the JW looks to his faith in God for help and guidance in pursuing a non-believer. The Mormon uses his faith for courage, but are far more dependent on "Works" then "Faith" to deliver results. I know that Stephen Covey, author of the book: "7 Habits of highly affective people" is a visiting professor at BYU and is a mormon, and know that Mormons do extremely well in management and business, which requires good interpersonal skills.

I'd love for some mormons who have been on their mission to weight in as well. When training for your mission, what are you taught with regards to approaching people...

Yes. One of the first I ever met was "top-shelf" in each of those categories ... but then he did seem just a bit uneasy during an employment interview followed by his not hiring me for a "perfect fit" position from within which he would have then received all of my undying "Aspie loyalty" and so on!
However, maybe he had also picked up on some of my seeming "obstinate-defiant" tendencies.


Yes, that would be interesting to hear a little about, but I suspect they would feel like they are breaking some kind of "confidentiality" dynamic within.

Actually in a high school religion class I was told the Catholic Church has the same view about non-Catholics. It was a long time ago so I do not remember the source but I KNOW it was said.

Last I heard / read that was the position. Not that one has not met Catholics who don't get that.

But it was only from the Conservative Baptists in 1965 [their official name for themselves] that I ever actually heard that one cannot be saved without being a Conservative Baptist.

Still - that was one pastor and is not necessarily official CB stance. I have not dealt with any of them since.

yea thats what the video said too. I think it's slightly different for mainstream christianity in America, particularly protestants or evangelicals.

I've never heard of evangelicals being classed as mainline Christians.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer