As promised I will reply to questions that were posted as comments on my previous entry.
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"Suppose there are two guys. One's nice old Mr Lim. Mr Lim has been a devout Buddhist all his life. He works as a maths teacher in primary school and loves nurturing young minds. He is a vegetarian, he is a devout husband to his wife and a caring father to his children. He also helps other less fortunate people through charities in his free time.
Now supposed that the other guy is Adolf Hitler. He murdered millions of innocent people and he allowed his army to rape and pillage at will. However, let's say that on his death bed, Hitler suddenly and truly saw the errors in his way and repented for all his sins and embraced God, Jesus Christ, and Christianity with all his heart. And I don't mean some desperate bid for salvation, I mean he REALLY and TRULY believed in Jesus and God.
Now my question is, based on Christianity, who goes to heaven and who to hell when both of them dies here? According to my religious Protestant friend, it's gonna be Hitler. All is forgiven. Disbelievers are condemned to hell, no matter what their other attributes and past actions were.
And I definately cannot see the fairness in this."
Dear Cypher,
Thank you for taking the time to post the comment above. I am Catholic and I will do my best to answer your question from the stance of the Catholic Church.
According to the Dogmatic Constituition on the Church: Lumen Gentium, non-Christians can go to heaven if they fulfill these conditions:
- "[T]hrough no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church"
- "[S]incerely seek God"
- Doing God's will "as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience"
However the third condition is a tricky one to fulfill, because "often men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator". What's more Pope Benedict XVI warned that religions which "depend on superstitions or other errors, constitute an obstacle to salvation" (Dominus Iesus, Ratzinger). That is why it is important for us Catholics to proclaim the Gospel to fulfill Christ's Great Commission to us ("Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you...", Matthew 28:19-20) as well as to help others receive God's salvation. As followers of Christ we must pray for St. Paul's spirit to evangelize, and remind ourselves with his words: "Woe to me, if I do not preach the Gospel" (1 Corinthians 9:16) Having said all these, the Catholic Church does recognize "[w]hatever good or truth..." that is found in other religions.
As for the question whether "Mr. Lim" goes to heaven or hell? I cannot answer that; for who am I to judge one's conscience? I'll leave that up to God. ;) But if "Mr. Lim" does get to heaven, he did so only through the favour and mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)
God bless.
As for the question whether "Mr. Lim" goes to heaven or hell? I cannot answer that; for who am I to judge one's conscience? I'll leave that up to God. ;) But if "Mr. Lim" does get to heaven, he did so only through the favour and mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)
God bless.
12 comments:
Hey I'm a Protestant.. yea, hard question.
We've always believed that accepting Jesus, you'll get into heaven right?
Come to think about it, it's hard for someone to repent after killing so many people without mercy.
Forgiveness is the perfume that the violet lets out after being crushed, afterall.
What I know is dear GOD killed more than Hitler did.
Ok he is the Creator and he is the Lord...
But i dun give a damn...
he is still a murderer for me...
and i dun praise murderer
hmmm.. no need to argue so much la...
about How are people judged by God?
1.) By their words and deeds
Mt.12:37
"For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
Lk.10:26-28
"He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live."
Jn.5:29
"And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
2.) By their beliefs
Mk.16:16
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."
Jn.3:3
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Jn.3:18, 36
"He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already .... He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him
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there are tonnes of contradiction in the bible...
just do well in our own part la...
ps: i m not a christian... but a buddhist,,,
Well, I for one, think that we're all headed for hell.
Hear me out.
Most religions state that their god is the ONE true god. And to enter paradise/heaven, one must be a believer.
Now seeing as how these same religions also forbid the worship of other gods, it's only logical that we are all disbelievers of those other gods.
And that should be enough to condemn everyone to hell many times over.
Whethere we (Buddhist) will condemn to eternal damnation coz we're atheist/agnostic is not the matter to me. Just do good and serve ourselves to humanity. That's the most important thing in my life. I"'m sure we will rewarded by god(s), if only he exist.
james:
you're absolutely right... most of us are going to hell...
as Jesus told us in
Matthew
7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.
grace:
bible is full of contradictions...
sometimes u read how jesus loves u this and that... sometimes you read something like
Matthew
10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
and a long one in Luke 12:51 to 53
Anonymous:
i agree with u 100%... if i came to this world doing all good things and still i shall be condemn to Hell bcoz not believing in Jesus...
just let me go there.
ono:
as far as i know...
God did killed more than A.Hitler. :)
I guess this example will not work this way. First of all, we are not in position to determine who's saved and who's not. It's God who will determine. Second of all, is any person LIKE Aldolf Hitler in this world? If there is one LIKE Aldolf Hitler, DID he accepted Christ as his personal savior? The whole point is, it's difficult to even get a person like Hitler, not even pol-pot can be comparitative. then it's even more difficult to find hitler the 2nd who accepted Christ. So... the logic is good, but might not, most probably will not be a fact.
and anyone who argues this point to be true, is merely just pointless, as this is just a mere assumption, most probably just probable, and not plausible.
just my 2 cents :)
what many christians fail to understand and grasp is the fact that others of other faiths may not value the afterlife as dearly. in their belief systems, 'where i go after death' doesn't really matter as much.
it is this fundamental that often confuses those of differing faiths. where christianity preaches that life on earth is temporary, and a preparation towards eternity, other faiths do not place that much towards 'heaven and hell'...
Hi. I was surfing the Net and came across your blog. Very nice work.
I am a Christian (supposedly Protestant, but first of all and above all, a Christian. I don’t care about labels they put on us).
This sort of questions might look interesting, but the truth is that they divert us fro m the main issue: our correct relationship to God and our standing before Him.
The Bible says that because sin (I know that some don’t believe in sin, but the sun shines even for blind people…) man cannot have a straight relation with God. And that is something that everybody feels it is true, even if they change the terminology. But this is a fact: there is gap, a very large gap between our immanence and the transcendent. For us, Christians, this Transcendent is God. God as a person wants to have fellowship with us, His beloved creatures, whom He wants to transform into His children. So, man must repent and come close to God. Now, the Bible says that in fact the only way to succeed in this effort is through Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life. You can try other ways. Maybe, just maybe, you can succeed, because the mercy of God is unfathomable. But as Christians, we must do like Paul: preach the good news, preach the good way and let God judge in the end. Let us not be concerned about the way He will deal with our «difficult» questions that for Him are really silly.
Sometimes we forget what is written in Acts 17:30: «And the times of this ignorance, God winked at; but now commendeth all men everywhere to repent». I Love the Portuguese version: «But God took in no consideration the times of the ignorance and proclaims now to every men and in every place that they shall repent». This is our job: proclaim repentance and let God be God. To Him be the glory.
Keep on, Celestine, doing the good job, Catholic or not. Just be a good Christian, reading the Bible, loving your Savior and doing well to your neighbour.
Why don’t take a look toi may blog? http://www.tradestudos.blogspot.com
Love from Portugal.
Jorge Pinheiro
Hmmm...
I think as Christians, they should live a life of good example.
As for who goes to Heaven, that only God has the final decision. Although the verses in the Bible states taht only those who believes in Christ will go, but, even then, Christ himself said that there were those who called Him Lord, yet He will not acknowledge.
So seriously, a difficult question in all.
Reverend Shin says " As long as they feel comfortable with any of the practices or any of the beliefs and it is good for the society, good for them and good for the family, that is the most important thing. Whether they decide to become Buddhists or not - that is not our concern".
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