Do non-Christians go to Hell?

[HoneyBee]

Just curious, what are your thoughts on non-Christians and the afterlife? Do you personally believe that all non-Christians are going to Hell, and if so then why?

 

[TuxAme]

Not all non-Christians will be in Hell. Neither will all Christians be in Heaven. It all depends on the state you die in. If two people die right after committing the same sin, the Christian may be judged more harshly than the non-Christian, because the Christian certainly knows that they shouldn't have done what they did, whereas the non-Christian may not have known that. God can give more "lenience" to someone who is ignorant of having committed a sin, than someone who recognized a sin and committed it anyways.

 

[ewq1938]

Just curious, what are your thoughts on non-Christians and the afterlife? Do you personally believe that all non-Christians are going to Hell, and if so then why?

According to various scriptures, non-Christians go to "hell" which is more commonly known as the lake of fire at the day of judgment.

Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

 

[PollyJetix]

2 Thessalonians 1:6-10
6 ...God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints...

Do you believe the Bible?

 

[HoneyBee]

Do you believe the Bible?

Hmm... I'm not sure yet, but I'm getting there I think.

 

[TuxAme]

Certainly no one believes that every non-Christian without exception will go to Hell... right?

 

[PollyJetix]

Certainly no one believes that every non-Christian without exception will go to Hell... right?

Depends on your definition of non-Christian.
There is no way to God except through Jesus. That's the crux of christianity.
If there is another way, the torturous death He went through was completely unnecessary. In fact, if it was unnecessary, then the Father would have been evil, to give His Son to die such a death.

 

[ewq1938]

Certainly no one believes that every non-Christian without exception will go to Hell... right?

Those that believe what the bible says do believe that. Two verses posted already make that quite clear.

 

[TuxAme]

Let me rephrase that, then:

Does anyone here believe that God won't give some non-Christians the opportunity to repent just before their judgement? I think it's obvious that you have to believe in Jesus and what He taught to enter Heaven- what I'm doubting is that God won't allow some to repent before their judgement upon believing.

I think you're going to believe in Christianity, finally, before you're judged. Won't everyone know which God it is that's judging them?

 

[thesunisout]

Just curious, what are your thoughts on non-Christians and the afterlife? Do you personally believe that all non-Christians are going to Hell, and if so then why?

Hello, this is what the bible teaches. What may surprise you is that Jesus had more to say about hell than any other person in the bible. If we are going to accept and receive His words about eternal life, we must also accept and receive His warnings about hell. You can read some of what Jesus said about hell in Matthew chapter 13, Matthew chapter 25, and Mark chapter 9

 

[R. Hartono]

what are your thoughts on non-Christians and the afterlife?

The world is fulled with killers, liars, thieves/corruptors, drunkards, jealousy, traitors, bullying, greed, human trafficing, porns, ignoring the poor, conceited, demon worshipper, black magic, voodoo, ungrateful people, genocides, wars, merciless, ...

How do you expect these people to enter heaven if they do not repent and follow Jesus ?

 

[HoneyBee]

The world is fulled with killers, liars, thieves/corruptors, drunkards, jealousy, traitors, bullying, greed, human trafficing, porns, ignoring the poor, conceited, demon worshipper, black magic, voodoo, ungrateful people, genocides, wars, merciless, ...

How do you expect these people to enter heaven if they do not repent and follow Jesus ?

Well, not everyone who isn't Christian is evil like that...

 

[R. Hartono]

Well, not everyone who isn't Christian is evil like that...

Arent those evil done by the 'good people' ?

 

[DW1980]

This is an issue I really struggle with. My dad died when I was 11, and he wasn't a Christian. So this one is personal.

My understanding of the Bible is that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. If we accept him then we will get to be with him. If we reject him we won't.

But to me this leaves a grey area... what of those who never understood, or never had the opportunity to hear? Romans 2:14-15 says, "Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them."

So if a person (say a little old lady in one of the uncontacted peoples) has followed her conscience all her life, always tried to do the right thing, will God still send her to hell? Is it her fault she never knew of Jesus? That to me seems cruel. If God will let her into Heaven, then it would have to be because of Jesus too, there's no escaping that. But does God's mercy extend to those who couldn't make a choice to trust Jesus?

Or what of an atheist who does know something of Christianity - but has been indoctrinated from childhood with atheism, and it's flawed assumptions. When he dies, for the first time in his life he will know he was wrong. It's our fault as Christians that we have not always lived as God would have us live, in fact much of what we do puts people off. I know that from colleagues and friends. So when they die, that may be the first time they say, "I was wrong, I'm so sorry". But then it's too late. Yet, if they said that 2 minutes earlier, they're in. Where is the justice and mercy? That confuses me.

I don't know if my dad ever heard the Gospel. I trust that God is good, what else can I do?

 

[Phil 1:21]

I understand it's tempting to interject loopholes into the exclusivity of salvation through Jesus Christ (John 14:6) and judgment immediately upon death without any second chances (Hebrews 9:27, Luke 16:19-31). Cafeteria Christianity is all the rage. But in doing so we put our will above His will, our way above His way, our word above His work. Either we believe in Him or we do not. Either we follow Him or we do not. Either we put our faith in Him or we do not.

There is no middle ground.

 

[sdowney717]

Well, not everyone who isn't Christian is evil like that...

True according to your standard or the world's standard. most people are not so bad.
God commands everyone to repent and believe as it says here. So if they are disobeying what God commands, then that is evil. In other places the scriptures call this an evil heart of unbelief.

Acts 17
30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” 33 So Paul departed from among them. 34 However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

 

[Mustaphile]

Just curious, what are your thoughts on non-Christians and the afterlife? Do you personally believe that all non-Christians are going to Hell, and if so then why?

No. I don't believe that all non-Christians are going to Hell.

I think people concentrate too much on the idea of Hell as some place in an afterlife. I think people rely too much on Scripture to make up their minds and not enough on the mind God gave them to think with. Scripture is the base from which we begin, but it is not the end of all revelation. To confine revelation to what was written in the past is to be constrained by past.

A living and dynamic God is revealing himself in our present moment. We just require the courage to listen to what is in our heart and to strengthen our reason so that it can guide us into our own self-actualized understanding.

We shouldn't act in a certain way because of the threat of damnation. God is the judge of all. The only fair judge at that. I would certainly prefer an all powerful, all knowing judge than to be judged by a small-minded person of limited perception. Our human judgment is fallible. Leave the final judgment to the infallible.

We should respond to the love of God with a reciprocal love. Grateful for the blessing he has brought to us in our fragile existence. Explore God and the life of Jesus Christ for the valuable wisdom contained in what they symbolize.

There are certain people in this world that may become malicious and destructive through resentment towards their circumstance. Even in this case, God is the judge of all.

 

[justhere1]

Not only do I believe that all non-Christians go to Hell, but that many people who would even claim the name of Christ will go to Hell as well.

 

[Phil 1:21]

Not only do I believe that all non-Christians go to Hell, but that many people who would even claim the name of Christ will go to Hell as well.

Matthew 7:21-23

 

[hedrick]

Why do I resist the obvious literal understanding of passages such as John 14:6? Two reasons:
* It would say that God rejects people such as Abraham
* It contradicts God's love for the whole world, which is stated many times.
In the Synoptics, Jesus isn't so concerned whether people follow him as whether they follow what he teaches. That's why we have passages like Mat 7:21. In Mat 12:32, Jesus says people who speak against him will be forgiven. But those who reject the Spirit will not.

[I've edited the posting, after reading through John.]

Most of the statements quoted by sites advocating exclusivism come from John. E.g. "No one comes to the Father except through me." The traditional reading is that this means explicit faith in Jesus. The problem is that Jesus never explicitly deals with the question of today's non-Christians. However I think John 12:47 can reasonably be used as the basis for an answer: "I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak." This passage agrees with the view we'd get from the Synoptics. When Jesus talks about rejecting him, he means rejecting the message that the Father gave him.

Of course in John, Jesus is seen more clearly than in the Synoptics as the Word itself. The Synoptics tend to portray him from the point of view of ordinary viewers, while John gives an "insider" view. If you see not a human but the Word that he represents, rejecting the Word is deadly. But in fact John 12:47 does show some recognition that there's a distinction between Jesus as a human and the Word. (This is consistent with Chalcedon, which maintains that Christ is both, and they shouldn't be confused.)