Why would an atheist come to Christ, if not to avoid hell?

[JGG]

"If Hell is not eternal and not a place of punishment eternally, then Jesus dying on the cross was in vain. There was no reason for Him to take away the sins of the world.

Why then would an atheist come to Christ if there was no punishment, no penalty for breaking God's law?"

This is a question among many, put forth by a Christian elsewhere on the board.

Discuss...

 

[Scott1979]

I believe an atheist would come to Christ when they start believing He exists. I don't think they would come to Him for a fear of Hell because to me an atheist is someone who doesn't beleive in any form of religion and since the Bible speaks of Hell, why would an atheist fear it?

 

[bling]

There are degrees of punishment prior to annihilation.

You have to believe in the Christian God before “hell” becomes any motivation for the nonbeliever, but hell can help motivate the new believer to swift action in their life to accept God’s help in the form of accepting God’s forgiveness.

What I have found is the nonbeliever is mostly motivated by to remove the burden in his conscience over the bad decisions he has made that have hurt others in the past. He may have tried lots of other ways but nothing has worked, so showing how Christianity has worked helps him to see what it could do for him.

 

[Notedstrangeperson]

Keep in mind only three modern religions have a concept of hell - Christianity, Islam and possibly Zoroastrianism.

Surprisingly, the concept of hell does not appear in the Old Testament. Even more surprising, the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) hardly talks about the afterlife at all. The Jewish concept of hell is pretty mixed - the closest they have is a place called Sheol, the abyss. Either they atone for their sins and enter heaven later or they cease to exist altogether. Others, just as in Christianity, say they are punished for all eternity.

Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists all believe in a place where bad souls are punished after they die, but this place (or state) is not permanent. Buddhists also believe that heaven is not permanent either.

I know it's annoying when people answer your question with another question but if you were going to convert, what would make you choose Christianity when, in theory, there are less daunting religions?

 

[Theofane]

If an atheist came to Christ, it would be for the love of Christ and not simply the fear of hell. Fear is not the correct motivation.

 

[razeontherock]

Why then would an atheist come to Christ if there was no punishment, no penalty for breaking God's law?"

Good to see you asking this question! I'm hoping there is more than just this much, in your own mind? There are reasons to Love God, and not merely to escape punishment, or seek our own reward. When He took me to hell and showed it to me, this is what He was trying to instill in me. It ... took a while to take hold. (Probably the understatement in my tone there was lost)

Personally, I fell in Love with God because I found He is perfect. That's not at all what I was expecting!

Also, it's not God's punishment that draws us to Him, but His Goodness. (Romans 2:4) That would seem to be a rather stark contrast?

 

[drich0150]

Why do you believe hell is without punishment?

 

[JGG]

I know it's annoying when people answer your question with another question but if you were going to convert, what would make you choose Christianity when, in theory, there are less daunting religions?

In all honesty, I do not forsee a reasonable scenario in which I would convert to Christianity. However, I'm not sure why you see Christianity as a particularly daunting religion.

Why do you believe hell is without punishment?

I don't believe in hell at all. The quote is from a thread that I'm not even a part of. I'm just curious if Christianity can function without the threat of hell. The poster I quoted says that it can't. If not, isn't that a little sad?

 

[Notedstrangeperson]

In all honesty, I do not forsee a reasonable scenario in which I would convert to Christianity. However, I'm not sure why you see Christianity as a particularly daunting religion.

It's daunting in that it's one of the few modern religions which promotes an afterlife of everlasting punishment. In Hinduism or Buddhism, no matter how terrible you are, hell is not permanent.

I'm just curious if Christianity can function without the threat of hell.

I'm not sure. The two most successful religions today (Islam and Christianity) have a hell. The third most successful religion (Hinduism) doesn't. The smallest "major" religion which advocate a place like hell is Zoroastrianism, which has less than 1 million followers.

Another thing to remember is that most ancient religions also had a hell - a place you went to not if you were bad, but if you weren't brave enough. The Vikings and the Aztecs believed you only went to heaven if you died in battle. Dying of disease or old age was shameful.

So is telling people they'll go to hell if they don't join a good way of promoting your religion? Maybe not as much as you think. As the other users already said, convertion shouldn't be motivated by fear.

 

[Faulty]

"Why would an atheist come to Christ, if not to avoid hell?"


Seems to me a lot like asking, "Why would a man get married, if not to avoid laundry?"

Jesus isn't fire insurance any more than marriage is laundry insurance.

In Matt 7:21-23, Jesus tells us that even among professing followers of His, there will be many who call Him Lord who will be thrown into hell because their profession was surface only, declaring "I never knew you". If this happens among those claiming to fllow Him, the weeding out of the good and the bad, what chance does any other have on that day who do not even outwardly profess Him as Lord?

No chance at all. God doesn't honor lip service. He examines the heart.

 

[Timothew]

"Why would a man get married, if not to avoid laundry?"

 

[JGG]

"Why would an atheist come to Christ, if not to avoid hell?"


Seems to me a lot like asking, "Why would a man get married, if not to avoid laundry?"

Jesus isn't fire insurance any more than marriage is laundry insurance.

In Matt 7:21-23, Jesus tells us that even among professing followers of His, there will be many who call Him Lord who will be thrown into hell because their profession was surface only, declaring "I never knew you". If this happens among those claiming to fllow Him, the weeding out of the good and the bad, what chance does any other have on that day who do not even outwardly profess Him as Lord?

No chance at all. God doesn't honor lip service. He examines the heart.

I think this misses the point of the question on two counts:

1) It doesn't change the legitimacy of the question. You essentially say, if one fears hell, while it's not insurance against it, conversion is still a better bet than to remain an atheist. The question remains. If it's not 100% it's still hedging your bets.

2) While we may sit and say all Christians do not escape hell, it's a pretty good bet that the individual believes that they themselves are escaping hell. How many Christians do not declare themselves "saved?" How many even question whether they are among the elect? It's always "those Christians" who are preaching false doctrine, or not acting Christian, or destroying the church from within. I don't think I've ever come across one who would consider that they might still be hellbound once they've "accepted Christ." So on the grand scale you may be right about not having "insurance," but I'm pretty sure the individual will tell you that they're 100% covered anyway. Isn't that what faith is all about?


Which brings me back to the question: If not to avoid hell, what reason would an atheist have for belief?

 

[razeontherock]

Which brings me back to the question: If not to avoid hell, what reason would an atheist have for belief?

Not logically, it doesn't. The only way you can go back to that, is this:

 

[JGG]

It's daunting in that it's one of the few modern religions which promotes an afterlife of everlasting punishment. In Hinduism or Buddhism, no matter how terrible you are, hell is not permanent.

I don't see that as being particularly "daunting" really. Afterall, as I suggested above, once you believe in hell, what typically follows is that you convert to Christianity (if you have not already) and you are "saved" from it.

I'm not sure. The two most successful religions today (Islam and Christianity) have a hell. The third most successful religion (Hinduism) doesn't. The smallest "major" religion which advocate a place like hell is Zoroastrianism, which has less than 1 million followers.

Another thing to remember is that most ancient religions also had a hell - a place you went to not if you were bad, but if you weren't brave enough. The Vikings and the Aztecs believed you only went to heaven if you died in battle. Dying of disease or old age was shameful.

So is telling people they'll go to hell if they don't join a good way of promoting your religion? Maybe not as much as you think. As the other users already said, convertion shouldn't be motivated by fear.

I agree. However, that begs the question: What is a good, and effective motivator to convert atheists to Christ, if not fear of hell?

 

[Theofane]

What is a good, and effective motivator to convert atheists to Christ, if not fear of hell?

The love of Christ. The bride goes to the bridegroom out of love, never out of fear of being alone.

But can an atheist love Christ?

 

[razeontherock]

There's also the hatred of sin, for it's own sake. I think an atheist can do that, but we need to be flexible with the terms, so it is expressed in ways that are relevant.

 

[Timothew]

A person could come to Christ in order to receive eternal life from him, even if they don't believe in the false doctrine of eternal torture.

 

[Theofane]

An atheist can't love Christ while still remaining an atheist. Since God is not fooled or mocked, I don't see any way around that.

 

[Theofane]

A person could come to Christ in order to receive eternal life from him, even if they don't believe in the false doctrine of eternal torture.

Eternal life doesn't mean anything if separated from the possibility of eternal torture. Don't belittle the cross!

 

[Theofane]

There's also the hatred of sin, for it's own sake. I think an atheist can do that, but we need to be flexible with the terms, so it is expressed in ways that are relevant.

If an atheist has no reason to believe sin exists, why would he hate it?