Can atheists go to heaven?

[1213]

I recently watched an old debate between Richard Dawkins and Cardinal George Pell and was struck by something the Cardinal mentioned. He was asked whether atheists can go to heaven and not only did he say yes he seemed utterly convinced of it. He didn't elaborate any further.

I thought that accepting Jesus was the only way to be saved and that God would respect the wishes of someone that rejected him. Is there anyone that agrees with the Cardinal and on what is this view based?

In this case I think it is good to know these scriptures that clarify the principle how people will get eternal life.

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Mat. 25:46

For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it isn't the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified (for when Gentiles who don't have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.
Romans 2:12-16

Yahweh, who shall dwell in your sanctuary? Who shall live on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly does what is right, And speaks truth in his heart; He who doesn't slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his friend, Nor casts slurs against his fellow man; In whose eyes a vile man is despised, But who honors those who fear Yahweh; He who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn't change; He who doesn't lend out his money for usury, Nor take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be shaken. A Poem by David.
Ps. 15:1-5

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Matt. 7:21

If atheist is righteous, he gets eternal life, if we believe what Jesus says in the Bible.

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

In this case I think it is good to know these scriptures that clarify the principle how people will get eternal life.

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Mat. 25:46

For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it isn't the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified (for when Gentiles who don't have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of thin the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.e law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.

Romans 2:12-16

Yahweh, who shall dwell in your sanctuary? Who shall live on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly does what is right, And speaks truth in his heart; He who doesn't slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his friend, Nor casts slurs against his fellow man; In whose eyes a vile man is despised, But who honors those who fear Yahweh; He who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn't change; He who doesn't lend out his money for usury, Nor take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be shaken. A Poem by David.
Ps. 15:1-5

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Matt. 7:21

If atheist is righteous, he gets eternal life, if we believe what Jesus says in the Bible.

I`m wondering what you think Romans 2:16 means ``in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.`` God`s gospel is Jesus Christ.
John 5:22, John 5:27, Act 10:42, Act 17:31, 2 Corinthians 5:10, 2 Timothy 4:1,
2 Timothy 4:8
henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing.

 

[Monachikos Lykos]

They can, if God decides that they can. However, I believe he is true to his Word, and his Word says that only faith in Christ Jesus leads to salvation. I will never understand how people can read the New Testament, especially the Pauline Epistles, and come to the conclusion that non-believers can be saved.

 

[Berean777]

If I tell an atheist he can go to a Heaven he doesn't believe in, and he goes to Hell for his disbelief that's partially my fault.
If I tell him what Jesus said, that nobody comes to the Father but through Him, and if the atheist manages to escape destruction because he is deemed outside of the law (Romans 2:12), then I have only quoted Scriptures and the grace of God is exalted. Escaping destruction does not give him access to the Father. Only those who accept Jesus can come to the Father. he might escape Hell, though. Maybe.

Personally, I think anyone who understands and rejects the offer of salvation is damned. There is some question of whether it will be destruction in the lake of fire or eternal damnation. That decision belongs with the Lord.

As watchmen we have to report on the truth of the Lord whether people like it or not and if we conceal his truth and/or paint it in a flowery dressing, then we are found to have the blood of the damned on our hands. This is a very serious charge and one that the Lord has previously covered in Ezekiel 33:6.

We as witnesses of Christ's are not politicians and so we do not take part in flatteries in order to gain the world and what did Jesus say about this conflict of interest that is plaguing all denominations today

Matthew 16:27
What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

The battle lines are been drawn and we as Christians need to assert the truth of Christ, especially in these days and no matter how unbearable it will become.

 

[Berean777]

They can, if God decides that they can. However, I believe he is true to his Word, and his Word says that only faith in Christ Jesus leads to salvation. I will never understand how people can read the New Testament, especially the Pauline Epistles, and come to the conclusion that non-believers can be saved.

It is part and parcel of the strong delusion in those who are declared as follows

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
9The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

Since the lie is, that non believers can be saved has already been introduced, then we need to establish who has introduced this LIE. Once we establish who first introduced and instrumented this LIE, we then can discover that this man is the man of sin and is serving Satan and not God.

Can the enemy come into any Christian denomination and hide behind the pulpit by pretending to be for Christ when they are in fact the enemies of Christ?

Yes, absolutely.

Has this happened?

Yes, absolutely.

So which leader in the world has introduced this lie?

Hmmmmmm...............

I know, do you know? Hmmmmmmmm..................

Riddle to discover who the man of sin is................

The black dragon of apostasy sprout out from the one who sat.

 

[Berean777]

What's the pope got to do with going to heaven? Do you think these people are going to get anywhere near there with all their complicity with their peodophiles?

The hierarchy of all denominations have managed in recent years to do exactly the opposite. That is not to say that there isn't good and upright servants of Christ in every denomination and we must never forget that the Lord continues to work through them today.

As for those who apostatise the faith to the man of sin who sits now in his place, this message from Jesus is to them.

Matthew 23:15
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

 

[Berean777]

So if someone never heard and dies....well, too bad for you?

No it's not too bad for those who have never heard about Christ. If Christ wanted to choose that person then that person would be saved, but that is not for us to know because that is the secret workings of the Lord at work and he will send a witness to that person to preach to him/her, just like Philip was sent to th Eunuch to preach, when he was taken by the chariot. But if Christ chooses that it is too bad for that person who never heard and dies, then that is too bad. Who are we to say that everyone must be saved, is that not the final decision of the Lord at the end of the day.

Is there an obligation for Christ to save everyone?

Absolutely not!

 

[malvina]

Probably also counting all their superiors right on up to and including the Pope.

I am talking about the priests not Catholics in general. Those I have known have been lovely people the prayers of their intercessors are powerful.
However 2% of priests is wrong.
'Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests, said on Sunday that BishopAccountability.org, a website that attempts to document abuse cases and apparent cover-ups, had figures suggesting that the proportion of US priests accused of abuse from 1950 until 2013 was about 5.6%.'

"The real percentage of predator priests is of course much higher," Dorris said. '

 

[As I was saying]

Of course atheists can go to heaven...when they stop being atheists. As the scripture says "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

New birth implies new life so to claim to be christian without a new life in Christ is not possible. Everyone who is born again has to evince new life or it is not a new birth as the two go hand in hand.

All new life comes about with a simple but profound experience. That is to repent and be baptised and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit as the disciples demanded on the day of Pentecost.

Salvation is on God's terms not ours. No one can come to the father except through Jesus Christ the son of the living God. Health, wealth education, good works, kindness, honesty and all the other things won't cut it. Jesus is the ONLY name through whom we can be saved and it is that name that atheists hate with a vengeance.

 

[Albion]

I am talking about the priests not Catholics in general.

I know.

Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests, said on Sunday that BishopAccountability.org, a website that attempts to document abuse cases and apparent cover-ups, had figures suggesting that the proportion of US priests accused of abuse from 1950 until 2013 was about 5.6%.'

"The real percentage of predator priests is of course much higher," Dorris said. '

 

[Light of the East]

No it's not too bad for those who have never heard about Christ. If Christ wanted to choose that person then that person would be saved, but that is not for us to know because that is the secret workings of the Lord at work and he will send a witness to that person to preach to him/her, just like Philip was sent to th Eunuch to preach, when he was taken by the chariot. But if Christ chooses that it is too bad for that person who never heard and dies, then that is too bad. Who are we to say that everyone must be saved, is that not the final decision of the Lord at the end of the day.

Is there an obligation for Christ to save everyone?

Absolutely not!

I always find it interesting to listen to those who think that they are saved say things like this. What a callous and hard-hearted attitude. It's like "I got mine, too bad you don't get yours."

There is, in fact, Scripture that says that God desires to save everyone. Now does God do those things that He desires, or does He not? If He desires to save all, but does not save all, then there is a real problem.

 

[Light of the East]

They can, if God decides that they can. However, I believe he is true to his Word, and his Word says that only faith in Christ Jesus leads to salvation. I will never understand how people can read the New Testament, especially the Pauline Epistles, and come to the conclusion that non-believers can be saved.

Romans 2: 13-15.

No it's not too bad for those who have never heard about Christ. If Christ wanted to choose that person then that person would be saved, but that is not for us to know because that is the secret workings of the Lord at work and he will send a witness to that person to preach to him/her, just like Philip was sent to th Eunuch to preach, when he was taken by the chariot. But if Christ chooses that it is too bad for that person who never heard and dies, then that is too bad. Who are we to say that everyone must be saved, is that not the final decision of the Lord at the end of the day.

Is there an obligation for Christ to save everyone?

Absolutely not!

Of course there is an obligation to save everyone. God is love, and if nothing else, that love constrains Him to save everyone. Scripture states this also, saying that it is not the will of God that any should perish, but that all should be saved. Can God bring His will to pass or not?

Also, is there not a moral imperative to the Creation, i.e., that God is responsible for the creatures whom He has created? I would think that would carry a lot of weight.

 

[Light of the East]

They can, if God decides that they can. However, I believe he is true to his Word, and his Word says that only faith in Christ Jesus leads to salvation. I will never understand how people can read the New Testament, especially the Pauline Epistles, and come to the conclusion that non-believers can be saved.

Romans 2: 13-15.

Maybe you should read your Bible a little more carefully.

 

[Berean777]

I always find it interesting to listen to those who think that they are saved say things like this. What a callous and hard-hearted attitude. It's like "I got mine, too bad you don't get yours."

There is, in fact, Scripture that says that God desires to save everyone. Now does God do those things that He desires, or does He not? If He desires to save all, but does not save all, then there is a real problem.

I repeat that the sovereign Lord will choose who he wishes to choose notwithstanding any preposterous human reasoning. I therefore teach that the only way to the Father is through the Christ and if anyone teaches any other way, then they are preaching another gospel.

Narrow is the way to salvation and broad is the way to destruction. I teach the narrow way and I have no intention of entertaining any flatteries along the lines that those who have no personal relationship with Christ are also saved, this includes Athiests and others not related to the body of Christ.

John 10:27
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

The Wheat and the Tares

The enemy wishes to make the tares (non believers) on par with the wheat (body of Christ).

 

[Light of the East]

I am talking about the priests not Catholics in general. Those I have known have been lovely people the prayers of their intercessors are powerful.
However 2% of priests is wrong.
'Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests, said on Sunday that BishopAccountability.org, a website that attempts to document abuse cases and apparent cover-ups, had figures suggesting that the proportion of US priests accused of abuse from 1950 until 2013 was about 5.6%.'

"The real percentage of predator priests is of course much higher," Dorris said. '

So you quote a disreputed organization who has been shown that the only thing that they are after is $$$ instead of justice. The head of SNAP is a liar and a fraud.

SNAP Exposed

I get the feeling that you are a polite bigot when it comes to Catholicism and the Catholic Church.

 

[Berean777]

Romans 2: 13-15.


Of course there is an obligation to save everyone. God is love, and if nothing else, that love constrains Him to save everyone. Scripture states this also, saying that it is not the will of God that any should perish, but that all should be saved. Can God bring His will to pass or not?

Also, is there not a moral imperative to the Creation, i.e., that God is responsible for the creatures whom He has created? I would think that would carry a lot of weight.

God is Love, but he doesn't need to be loving to those who love not his Son and have absolutely no personal relationship with him.

 

[Light of the East]

I repeat that the sovereign Lord will choose who he wishes to choose notwithstanding any preposterous human reasoning. I therefore teach that the only way to the Father is through the Christ and if anyone teaches any other way, then they are preaching another gospel.

Narrow is the way to salvation and broad is the way to destruction. I teach the narrow way and I have no intention of entertaining any flatteries along the lines that those who have no personal relationship with Christ are also saved, this includes Athiests and others not related to the body of Christ.



The Wheat and the Tares

The enemy wishes to make the tares (non believers) on par with the wheat (body of Christ).

You will believe what you want to believe, and only God will change your mind.

 

[Berean777]

God will always be God and it is in his sovereign will to choose who he desires to choose and that is the end of the matter.

 

[Light of the East]

God is Love, but he doesn't need to be loving to those who love not his Son and have absolutely no personal relationship with him.

Your statement is utterly ignorant and shows you have an inability to think. God IS love. He does not choose to love. He IS love. You need to stop and think about that. You are making God to be like a human being. He is not. He is love, and He loves....that is who and what He is and He does everything in love.

Go think about it for a while and see if you can get your head screwed on straight.

 

[Light of the East]

God will always be God and it is in his sovereign will to choose who he desires to choose and that is the end of the matter.

That word makes me smell the stench of Calvinist heresy. Always fun to see people use the so-called sovereignty of God to advance their particular unbiblical heresy.