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Could an atheist go to heaven?

tooldtocare

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Could an atheist go to heaven?

He/She is already in heaven
from my point of view
poll:
%agreeing
% not agreeing
note: you have your life time to decide, but not a second afterwards
those are the
rules :)-

I already have 0.00001% on my side and rising :)-
 
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Winken

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Could an atheist go to heaven?

He/She is already in heaven
from my point of view
poll:
%agreeing
% not agreeing
note: you have your life time to decide, but not a second afterwards
those are the
rules :)-

I already have 0.00001% on my side and rising :)-

No, not already in Heaven. Not agreeing.
A lifetime to decide? Since none of us know how far along in life that decision must be made, is it not possible that unknowing, one will wait too long? Poof! Not one one-zillionth of a second. Poof!
 
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Daniel9v9

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I thought they kelled the lamb during Passover-?

Revelation 5:12
In a loud voice they were saying: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

This is our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
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Basil the Great

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Friends - Do not discount the outside chance that there could be an atheist somewhere whose former belief in God has been wiped out by a series of events causing him/her unbelieveable pain and suffering, that few of us can begin to imagine. Is it not possible that God might look upon said person with compassion, considering the overwhelming hardships that has caused said person to lose their faith. Again, despite losing their faith in God, I am speaking here of someone who has continued to live a life of love and service to their family, their friends and especially to the less fortunate.

I think it best that we do not put God in a box and pin Him down on what He will or will not do when it comes to choosing who will or will not make it into Heaven. After all, none of us know the mind of God. I have no problem with saying that the odds that an atheist will make it to Heaven are slim, but I think to shut that door completely is ill advised.
 
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Emmy

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Dear Wolfe. Could an atheist go to heaven? Heaven is a Christian`s home, and why would atheists want to join them? God our Heavenly Father is there and Jesus our Saviour. To go to Heaven we have to follow Jesus, we have to become like Jesus, loving and caring. In Heaven there is no room for selfish behaviour, and any unloving deed.
Unless the atheist changes his, or her way of life, there is no room for any unloving or selfish being.
But the atheist can change while still on Earth, in Matthew 7: 7-10: we are told: " ask and you shall receive,"
just ask for Love and Compassion, then thank God and share all love and compassion with a neighbour. (neighbour is all we know and all we meet, friend and not friend) Love is very catching, and love will change all who know love and use it, into the person which heaven will receive. God gave us two Commandments to follow: Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself. That and to follow Jesus, will take all who want to go to Heaven. I say this with love, Wolfe. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.
 
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LionL

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In Heaven there is no room for selfish behaviour, and any unloving deed...
Unless the atheist changes his, or her way of life, there is no room for any unloving or selfish being.
Atheists are no more 'unloving' or 'selfish' than many self-professed Christians. That's the whole point...
 
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dqhall

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Where is heaven? The kingdom of heaven is within a believer (Luke 17). What is the kingdom of heaven like? It is like a fisherman who hauls in his net and separates the good fish from the bad (Matt. 13).

If one repents and does the will of God, one might find heaven.
 
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2Timothy2:15

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How do you know what God says about it?


He did tell us, it is not a mystery.

John 14:
6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really know me, you will knowb my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

John 10: 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.


1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
 
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2Timothy2:15

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The real answer is.... only God knows. My personal belief is "yes", if someone truly lives a life of love and service to their fellow man, especially the less fortunate.

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Sorry, being a "good" person is not enough. What is good? One person can think they are good and another not so good, human morality is shifting, the LORD never changes...there is nothing "good" about any of us, this is why we need a perfect savior - Jesus.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
 
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2Timothy2:15

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Friends - Do not discount the outside chance that there could be an atheist somewhere whose former belief in God has been wiped out by a series of events causing him/her unbelieveable pain and suffering, that few of us can begin to imagine. Is it not possible that God might look upon said person with compassion, considering the overwhelming hardships that has caused said person to lose their faith. Again, despite losing their faith in God, I am speaking here of someone who has continued to live a life of love and service to their family, their friends and especially to the less fortunate.

I think it best that we do not put God in a box and pin Him down on what He will or will not do when it comes to choosing who will or will not make it into Heaven. After all, none of us know the mind of God. I have no problem with saying that the odds that an atheist will make it to Heaven are slim, but I think to shut that door completely is ill advised.


That is something you have made up in your mind. The old "don't put God in a box line is straight from the pit". The Lord put himself in a box, the box of sound doctrine as given to us by his Holy Word.

Please read your bible. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Hebrews 6: 4For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 7For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
 
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Wolfe

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Atheists are no more 'unloving' or 'selfish' than many self-professed Christians. That's the whole point...
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Sorry, being a "good" person is not enough. What is good? One person can think they are good and another not so good, human morality is shifting, the LORD never changes...there is nothing "good" about any of us, this is why we need a perfect savior - Jesus.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Dear Wolfe. Could an atheist go to heaven? Heaven is a Christian`s home, and why would atheists want to join them? God our Heavenly Father is there and Jesus our Saviour. To go to Heaven we have to follow Jesus, we have to become like Jesus, loving and caring. In Heaven there is no room for selfish behaviour, and any unloving deed.
Unless the atheist changes his, or her way of life, there is no room for any unloving or selfish being.
But the atheist can change while still on Earth, in Matthew 7: 7-10: we are told: " ask and you shall receive,"
just ask for Love and Compassion, then thank God and share all love and compassion with a neighbour. (neighbour is all we know and all we meet, friend and not friend) Love is very catching, and love will change all who know love and use it, into the person which heaven will receive. God gave us two Commandments to follow: Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself. That and to follow Jesus, will take all who want to go to Heaven. I say this with love, Wolfe. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

I think these have answered my question, thanks for taking the time to reply :)

And for LionL, I think the point of her post was saying that an unbeliever by nature can't be loving or unselfish, because he does his own will. And if God is a love, and you don't know God, how could you know love?
In no way am I saying an atheist couldn't be a decent person, but as timothy quoted, Romans 3:23 and Isaiah 64:6 , being 'good' isn't good enough.
 
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Light of the East

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To answer your question, God says no.

And you would be wrong - according to the Bible.

I do have to say that this is kind of a trick question. It is not nuanced enough.

Unbelievers can go to heaven according to Romans 2: 13-16. Scripture there speaks of the mysterious working of the Holy Spirit in the conscience of the one who has not heard, and if the one who has not heard obeys that voice of the Holy Spirit in his conscience, the mercy of God extends to him also.

But they are unbelievers who have never heard of Christ, His work on the Cross, and the love of God.

However, there is another class of unbelievers, those who have been given the message and who have and continue to reject it. For them, there is neither excuse nor hope.

Honestly, I do wish our Holy Father would be a little more precise in his public discourses.
 
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Light of the East

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Those that do not receive Jesus as their personal saviour will not go to heaven.

There is no such language in the Bible. I find no such wording as "accept Jesus as personal Lord and Savior." A man-made construct which began in the 1850's.
 
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Light of the East

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Not only would an atheist not go to heaven (assuming there was no deathbed repentance), but I doubt that they'd want to go there. Can you imagine an atheist having to put up with God and the billions of people who worship Him? Seems to me that an atheist chooses to remain distant from God, and that's the judgment God bestows on him/her.

Uhhhhhhh.........guess what? You just described hell!

The fact of the matter is that God has succeeded in saving all mankind - that is, everyone who ever lived or shall live - from death.

But there will be those who will find the presence of God to be utter torment because in their hardness of heart, they are unrepentant and want nothing to do with Him.
 
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VanillaSunflowers

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And you would be wrong - according to the Bible.

I do have to say that this is kind of a trick question. It is not nuanced enough.

Unbelievers can go to heaven according to Romans 2: 13-16. Scripture there speaks of the mysterious working of the Holy Spirit in the conscience of the one who has not heard, and if the one who has not heard obeys that voice of the Holy Spirit in his conscience, the mercy of God extends to him also.

But they are unbelievers who have never heard of Christ, His work on the Cross, and the love of God.

However, there is another class of unbelievers, those who have been given the message and who have and continue to reject it. For them, there is neither excuse nor hope.

Honestly, I do wish our Holy Father would be a little more precise in his public discourses.
Frank will answer to God.

Meanwhile, we have the truth of God in Christ to answer the question completely. If unbelievers could go to Heaven, Jesus wouldn't have come to life.
 
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Light of the East

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Except that no such person has ever existed:

Romans 3:10-12 as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; (11) no one understands; no one seeks for God. (12) All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

And you would be ..... wrong.

You have taken those verses out of context. Go back and read them in the context in which they were written. St. Paul is quoting Psalm 14, which is talking about the wicked. When you read Psalm 14, you will see a contrast made between the wicked (described in Romans 3) and the righteous.

Now go find a concordance and look up all the times in the OT and NT that God declares certain people righteous. Abel was righteous. (Heb. 11:4) Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous (Luke 1:5).

Plenty of people existed whom God declared righteous in the Bible, so there must be a different meaning to what you have taken out of context there.
 
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Light of the East

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Frank will answer to God.

Meanwhile, we have the truth of God in Christ to answer the question completely. If unbelievers could go to Heaven, Jesus wouldn't have come to life.


Wow! Way to entirely miss the point I said. Did you even bother to look up the verses I quoted?

Unbelievers can go to heaven. St. Paul said so. Those who have not heard the Gospel and yet have followed the dictates of the Law of God as placed in their conscience by the Holy Spirit, will receive mercy.

Your argument is not with me. It is with Scripture.

Oh, and BTW - Your first sentence is RUDE! He is Pope Francis. Even if you disagree with him, common courtesy would be to address him by his title.
 
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