Most Christians don't believe in hell.

I was all set to enjoy this video clip of the BBC show “Outnumbered”, until the mother began making statements about Satan and hell.

 

Perhaps British television is just as secular as American TV, and the scriptwriters don’t know what Christians really think. Or perhaps I’m wrong in assuming most Christians believe what the bible says about a literal hell and a real Satan?

What do you think?

Heaven and Hell: Who Goes?

So often I’ve heard people say, “I’m a good person–I’m better than Hitler. So I’m pretty sure I’ll go to heaven.” This is a response called moral relativism, a defense mechanism that lets the speaker grade sins according to his/her beliefs, and then make themselves feel good that there is someone else whose sins are greater. This is a disturbing trend, because this mindset allows us to slip away from the uncompromising message of the bible about sin and salvation.

When I hear people talk about how they’re a good person, I’m tempted to start the following conversation: “Who owns Heaven?”

“God.”

“Who made the rules about heaven and hell?”

“God.”

“Then don’t you want to find out what standard HE uses to determine membership in heaven and hell?”

A wise and eloquent blogger, Wintery Knight, has started a series of posts on hell. He’s exploring the mainstream Christian response to hell, and why so many Christians are afraid of the concept or the selection process. Heis ideas are thought-provoking, though they may also provoke you to start thinking about your own beliefs about heaven and hell. You can start the series here: Why do people go to hell?

Is Christianity Sexist?

I have been having a fascinating discussion with the very intellligent and open-minded Heather from Comparative Childhood, and our conversation recently turned to the question of how to explain to our daughters the sexism that’s apparent in the bible – and much Christian dogma.

I don’t have all the answers but I have come to an understanding that gives me peace. If I haven’t considered everything, I’d sure love additions to this conversation. But first, here’s what I tried to teach my daughters.

First, there’s the issue of what some Christian churches teach. They have a ‘tradition’ that goes beyond what the bible says. For a long time, they have accused Eve of committing the “Original Sin” that exiled us from the Garden of Eden. But the actual bible story isn’t written that way. In fact, when Eve was talking to the serpent, Adam was right there with her and didn’t say a word! When she handed him some fruit, he didn’t protest, he just ate it. And then when God questioned him, Eve explained that she had been deceived by the serpent. And what did Adam say? “That woman that you gave me gave me the fruit, so I ate it.” They were equally guilty, but Adam also acted shamefully, don’t you think?

Second, the bible was written within the context of a world-wide culture that subjugated women, and this subjugation continued until modern times (in some places it still exists). Until recently, the world believed in the creed “Might Equals Right”, and since women were the “weaker sex”, they were treated as less important humans. Many of the rules and penalties were devised by Jewish leaders steeped in the culture of the times.

However, the bible was also written by people who did not point out “the moral of the story”, the way we’re used to reading stories today. So when they describe events in which the women are treated badly, you have to follow the story to the conclusion to see that treating women poorly leads to tragic outcomes. For example, Abraham and Sarah (in Genesis) got tired of waiting for a child so Abraham got her servant girl pregnant. This led to some marital strife so Abraham sent her out into the desert with her baby to die. Angels came to the servant girl and saved them; the baby was called Ishmael, and many Muslims consider him the founder of the Middle Eastern race that is now fighting Christians.

By contrast, when Joseph found out that his fiancee Mary was pregnant with Jesus, he was perfectly within his rights to have her stoned to death. Instead, he took care of her, and had the amazing honor of raising the son of God!

The point is, we have to read the bible critically to understand the cause and effect of our human behavior – and how the outcomes can be different if we follow God’s way.

I believe that God does not consider women as second-class humans, because of the way Jesus treated women while he was here on earth. Because of the traditions of the day, he couldn’t pick a woman as an apostle, because they would not have been allowed to travel by themselves and preach to the public. But here’s how he treated them:

- He healed a woman from a life-long gynecological problem, though even by her touching him during menstruation she made him “Unclean”.

- He talked alone to a woman who was gathering water by herself – a sign that she was an outcast – and didn’t condemn her multiple marriages but instead offered her eternal life.

- He saved a woman from stoning because of adultery (even though they weren’t trying to stone the man they caught with her) and defended her – then sent her away after saying, “Don’t commit adultery anymore.”

- He praised his friend Martha for sitting and listening to his teachings, rather then sending her into the kitchen to make the men some dinner.

- He had many women followers and supporters whom he loved as much as his male followers.

I feel that my job is to follow what the bible says, rather than following a specific church’s teachings. It can be helpful to hear interpretations and follow traditions, but we should compare their words to the bible’s teachings. I think God gave us minds to think critically and we should use all our faculties to understand Him. And I don’t believe God wants us to be clueless. If we’re earnestly seeking the truth, He will reveal it to us.

Both of my daughters are now choosing not to follow any religion, but I respect their choices and know I can’t force my beliefs on them. If they were just accepting a religion because of me, I don’t think their faith would have as much meaning. I do hope, though, that if they consider God, they don’t see Him as a deity that values men more than women.

Thoughts?

There Are Many Paths to God

Are there a variety of ways to get to God? Can every religion find their own path to the same heaven? This is a question that’s been hotly debated in blogs recently, and one that my own book club has recently discussed. I have been thinking about these ideas quite a bit. I don’t believe it is my job to decide who goes to heaven and who doesn’t, but I feel compelled to respond when I hear people say there’s more than one way to be saved and that at their core, all religions have the same objectives.

Given my book club’s debate, here’s what I’ve been thinking. I believe that there is always room for discussing our faith and the bible. I also find that talking about my beliefs strengthens them, and in debate it sends me right back to the bible to search for God’s truth.

I believe that my eternal salvation is solely through Christ’s death and resurrection, based on what I have read in the bible. Are there other ways to salvation? I believe that God can do whatever he wants, but I can’t say that he’s revealed any other ways to me. The bible does not talk of any other paths to salvation. Revelation 22:18-19 says we must not add anything to scripture or subtract anything from it. Where scripture is silent, I must be silent, also.

What I can talk about is the salvation that I know to be true and what I know of God’s character. God is a good and just God, so I believe he will treat people in other faiths or no faith at all with goodness and justice. God is a jealous god, and will not share his throne with any other deities.

I’ve been working on learning more about other faiths. The more I explore other religions, the more I see that they have significant differences. Even a broad concept such as “loving God” is far from a universal value. In Buddhism, only the Theravada and Mahayana sects believe in a god at all. Buddha himself spoke against the existence of a god. Confucians, Jainists, and Shintos do not worship a deity, either, although Shintos worship local spirits or natural objects. Jainists and Mormons believe that it is possible to perfect yourself and become a god.

Hindus recognize thousands of gods and goddesses. The major deity, Brahma, is not an omnipotent and all-encompassing deity; he is only the creative force of the universe. People can choose to worship him or one of the other gods and goddesses as they wish.

The New Testament constantly encourages us to love God as a response to his love for us, but in the Koran, the Torah, and the Book of Mormon, Muslims, Jews, and Mormons are taught to be obedient to daily, monthly, yearly, and lifetime requirements.

It is difficult to talk about salvation to people of other faiths because many major religions do not have the same concept. Hindus and Sikhs believe in the cycle of reincarnation that ends when they have achieved completeness and their individual selves merge with Brahma. Buddhists try to reach a state of complete desirelessness and rejection of the natural world, and their reward is Nirvana – cessation of being. Muslims do believe in salvation through works or through martyrdom, but in the Koran, passages 4:49, 24:21, and 57:22 talk about predestination; no Muslim can say for sure that he or she is saved. Confucians and Shintos do not have a concept of salvation or of an afterlife.

There are some broad similarities in religions: all religions have some sort of explanation for the world’s existence, many religions believe in a supreme deity and an afterlife, and they all have something to say about how we should live our lives. What is helpful about these similarities is that we can use familiar concepts when we talk with people of other faiths.

The question though, is whose name will be on our lips? Whom will we witness about? Whom will we declare as Lord, to believers and non-believers alike? What will we tell people about the hope we have? God does not require us to speculate on who’s going to heaven and who’s not, but he does expect us to talk about his good news with everyone we meet.

Christians are brainwashed.

This is a common comment I’ve been hearing in discussions with atheists and agnostics lately. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been working to learn more about other people’s beliefs and faiths so that I can increase my own understanding and the cultivation of peace.

Christians are conditioned to believe what they believe. They are trained from childhood. They repeat the same things over and over until it becomes ingrained in their minds. That’s what I’ve heard. So I had to examine myself and my beliefs. Is there any truth to those statements? Am I a blind follower?

I grew up in a small town where Christianity was the norm and there wasn’t a lot of diversity. When I was growing up my parents took me to church often, and I knew that Christianity was important to my mom. My friends went to a variety of churches and some friends didn’t go to any church. We didn’t really talk about what we believed; faith was pretty far down the priority list of topics to discuss.

I got the sense that Christianity was a huge set of rules that you had to follow to go to heaven. I don’t remember ever learning about the life-changing love and grace of Jesus. What I learned didn’t always make sense, and there never seemed to be a forum in which I could get answers - real answers, not the rote “You just have to believe.” I began to feel like I had to turn off my brain when I went to church. I also felt that I had already screwed up enough that I was never getting into heaven, so I might as well live any way I chose. God and I were quits.

For many years I lived life my own way, and sort of forgot about God or religion. There were a few people who planted seeds in me – my Uncle John, a born-again Christian who patiently answered many questions about his faith, several co-workers, and students from an evangelical university. In each of these people I saw something shining, transcendent, and peaceful.

Eventually I married, had kids, divorced. I was living an okay life, but there wasn’t any sense of eternal significance or transcendence.  I was a voracious reader and so I read about different faiths, but I kept remembering how there was something different about those people who were truly on fire for God. After trying a couple of different denominations, I settled in at a church that felt comfortable and friendly.

Then I started heavily studying the bible. I found out I hadn’t paid much attention in Sunday School, because stories like Noah and the Flood were all mixed up with fairy tales in my mind. I joined discussion groups, religious debates, and bible classes, and read innumerable commentaries, devotions, histories, and bible studies. I also took college classes in comparative religions and the philosophy of religion. I don’t always agree with what my pastor, other believers, or the church in general believes, but God gave me my mind to think critically about issues and make my decisions on his guidance, not human thought.

From all this study, I have learned that although Jesus’s message of grace and salvation is a simple one, our God and our world is complex. It takes study and thought to truly understand Christianity and how we are to behave as followers of Christ; people can study the bible all their lives and still keep learning new things. That’s why the faith is so misunderstood by many people.

I also learned that doubts and confusion are sometimes a part of my faith. Though I won’t ever fully understand God while I’m here on earth, I can either give in to my doubts and toss out my entire belief system, or I can let those doubts push me to a deeper understanding. And if my faith was all in my head, from the book-learnin’ and study, it would make a lot of sense to give it up when I discover pieces that don’t fit my belief system. It would be easier to conclude that my beliefs are to blame.

But I can’t do that, because along with all I’ve learned over the years, there are also my personal experiences with God. Now, I know that no one can ever prove or disprove to someone else that personal spiritual experiences have occurred or that they are proof of God’s existence. But I don’t need to convince anyone else. The times where I’ve heard God speak to me, the times I’ve felt his physical presence, the times I have seen his work before my very eyes, these are all proof for me. The fact is,  since I became a devout Christian, my life has changed for the better. I’m a better person than I used to be. And I see with such an expanded vision, knowing that God has an overall plan for everything and everybody, and the things we do have eternal significance.

For these reasons, I feel assured that my faith is far from the product of brainwashing.

How about you? What has your experience been with religion, faith, and beliefs? How did you come to believe what you believe now?