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Arielle197 wrote:

Yeah. I have to agree with KJ. Cuz IF that was the case then God would actually be doing people more harm then help by sending his son cuz if they "didn't know" before then they "couldn't sin". So, by teaching the truth he would also be setting people up for distruction.

OK, sorry, that TOTALLY didn't come out the way I intended it to. I hope you got my point. if you didn't I"ll try to explain it better later.

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Drumcheeka wrote:

I have a thought that's mildly off topic and I'm afraid I'll be slaughtered for but I want to say it.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say Jesus's meant nothing, or anything like that, but I was thinking.

Everyone's always talking about His huge sacrifice. And it was a horrible way to die and all that. But I mean...wouldn't most generally "good" people do the same thing? I mean, if I was told that if I was to die, the entire world would have the opportunity to have eternal life and happiness, I'd like to think I'd be willing to sacrifice myself, even if the was horrendus. And it seems that at least a good percentage of the population would be willing to do the same thing. I don't know. I was just thinking about that...

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Post Script wrote:

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LadyGodiva74 wrote:

I do not and cannot believe that a man who has spent his entire life worshiping Allah, Krishna, (insert other non-Christian deity here), etc, pursuing the truth, and living a goood, kind, decent life will die, go to the pearly gates, and Jesus will look at him and say "Well, you tried hard, but you didn't make it. Sorry Charlie, hope you like the tropics."

I'm aware of the fact that this doesn't jive with a lot of what the Bible says, but at some point I also believe that you need to stop trusting what someone else is telling you, and believe what your heart (sometimes a.k.a. God) is telling you.

Jessica, I completely understand what you're getting at.

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I'm glad you understand. In fact, I was thinking about you while I was talking about this with my friend. She agreed.

Honestly, I think that we don't have this whole 'who gets to Heaven' thing figured out entirely. I don't see how we could hope to understand such an entirely divine thing so completely that we know who goes and who doesn't. Until I get to Heaven and see Jews (besides all of them from the OT, who weren't Christians at all) and others or until I don't, I'm just going to trust that Christianity is the way for me, and I'm willing to be open to the idea that it might be a different way for someone else.

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Drumcheeka wrote:

I have a thought that's mildly off topic and I'm afraid I'll be slaughtered for but I want to say it.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say Jesus's death meant nothing, or anything like that, but I was thinking.

Everyone's always talking about His huge sacrifice. And it was a horrible way to die and all that. But I mean...wouldn't most generally "good" people do the same thing? I mean, if I was told that if I was to die, the entire world would have the opportunity to have eternal life and happiness, I'd like to think I'd be willing to sacrifice myself, even if the death was horrendus. And it seems that at least a good percentage of the population would be willing to do the same thing. I don't know. I was just thinking about that...

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Post Script wrote:

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Perpetua wrote:

Christianity is not about us. It's about God. I'm not exactly sure what you're getting at. The word simply means follower of Christ. Are you saying you hope God is not a small as truth?

One the surface, the belief that all religions are equal/valid ways of getting to your desired end (Heaven, afterlife etc.) sounds like a very rosy, harmonious and tolerant view. But you said yourself every religion claims to have objective truth, thus this sort of postmodernism will not tolerate most major religions. The Qur'an has nearly 500 verses related to their belief that "There is no other way than Allah" and describing the eternal damnation of the unbeliever. If all paths lead to the top of the mountain, than Jesus died in vain.

Christianity, I firmly believe, is more than a set of rules and rituals set up by man. Some of the rules stem from the character of God and are the way we must live in order to become more like Christ. Some are to protect us, but none of them will get us to Heaven in lieu of God's saving grace. He judges the heart, not our actions so I would also not be surprised to men who, on earth, called themselves "Muslim" or "Hindi" merely because they'd never heard of anything else or did not have the opportunity. Maybe at the end of world they will also be presented fairly with the truth and given the chance to accept or reject. Maybe that's a heresy, but if I know anything about God’s character, I know He is fair and just.

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'Christianity is not about us. It's about God.'
I haven't done an enormous amount of studying other religons, but from what I have read, they can say the same thing.
To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what I'm getting at either. I guess I'm saying that I hope devout followers of other religons have not lived in vain. According to a few verses in the Bible, they have. But like you said, according to the Qur'an, we have. And so on and so forth. I don't know, I'm not exactly sure how to say what I'm trying to say. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I don't believe everything that my church tells me.

My mind keeps going in circles because I just can't see God, or at least, the God that I know, letting people go to Hell for believing in Him, but not Jesus. And then there's the whole 'Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are one' thing, so if they believe in God, and God is Jesus, then do they believe in Jesus? I don't think so, but I don't know. I don't really know anything, I'm quickly discovering.

I doubt this post made any sense at all. It's just something I've been thinking about.

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