Do you Have to be Christian to Go to Heaven? Since there are so many religions, which one is right?

Why are there so many religions? Isn’t there only one God? Why didn’t God say the same thing to everyone? How do I know which religion is right?

Perhaps God does speak the same truth to people all around the world. The question is, when God speaks, what do people hear?

Two people can listen to the same story and come away with very different meanings. We hear what we need to hear in order to face our own particular challenges. People of different times and cultures hear God differently, according to their own cultural and spiritual conditions.

It’s not that God is different for different people. God is eternally the same. It’s that we humans are different from one another, and we each see God in our own way. God gives every person and every culture what’s needed to know and love God, and to love and serve their fellow human beings.

It is common for people think theirreligion is the right one. Many Christians say you have to believe in Jesus to go to heaven. Yet the Bible does not focus as much on what we believe as it does on how we live. People who live good, conscientious lives of service to others are living in the spirit of Christ no matter what name they may use for God.

Does God have a multiple personality disorder?

At last count, there were . . . well . . . I won’t even try to count all the different religions in the world! Besides the large, well-known world religions such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism, there are countless smaller religions, including many varieties of traditional, cultural, and nature-based religions, throughout the world. There are also a billion or so people who don’t belong to any particular religion, either because they are atheist or agnostic or because they follow their own personal spiritual beliefs.

All of the religions have some concept of God—although some do not talk much about God. However, if we ask adherents of the various religions what God is like, we will get many different descriptions. Within the different religions God has been pictured as a male or female human being, as various kinds of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and insects, as a being with a human body and the head of an animal, as a tree or a plant, as lightning and thunder, as the sun, moon, or stars, and in many other ways.

When we start talking about the different mental and emotional characteristics of God, things get even more interesting. God loves and hates, is wrathful and merciful, is omniscient and forgetful, is unchanging yet relents from punishments that were planned, is all-forgiving but condemns everyone who doesn’t believe or do certain things.

Does God have a multiple personality disorder? How could one God be so many different things all at once? How could God be so many contradictory things at the same time? After all, if we ask people of the various religions how they know what God is like, most them will say that their beliefs originally came from God.

Are all religions except mine wrong?

Okay, there’s another possibility. Maybeall of those religions got it wrong.

Or maybe there is one that got it right. The religion I believe in! It may be Christianity or Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism, but if it’s my religion, it must be the right one. Otherwise why would I believe it?

It’s funny, isn’t it? No matter what religion we look at, the people who believe in it think they are the ones who have the real truth about God—and that all the other religions are a little bit off . . . or a lot off.

Of course, there are many religious people who take a broader view. But what about all the people who say that if you don’t believe in my religion, God will condemn you? What about all those Christians who say that you can’t be saved and go to heaven unless you believe in Jesus Christ?

If people in every religion claim that theirs is the right one and everyone else’s is wrong, how can we believe any of them? And why didn’t God make it a lot clearer to us humans on earth exactly what we’re supposed to believe about God and heaven?


Who’s confused, anyway? God or humans?

Let’s tackle some of these questions. The first thing to recognize is that God didn’t make all those religions, people did.

“What?” you say, “Didn’t God talk to all those prophets and write all those books for all those religions?” Yes, God has spoken to many prophets, priests, and ordinary people over the ages. Some of them have written down what God said to them, and those books have become the sacred texts of the various religions.

But have you ever had the experience of saying one thing, and having the person you were talking to hear something different? Just because God said something to a priest or prophet, that doesn’t mean the listener heard exactly what God said. In fact, psychologists tell us that we humans always interpret what we hear according to what we have experienced, and according to how we understand the world around us.

Let’s take a simple example: the words “I love you.” We might think these would have the same meaning no matter who we say them to. But think about the different ways this simple, common phrase will be heard by a child, a spouse, a parent, a friend. Now think of how it would be heard by someone who has just screamed in your face, “I hate your guts!” How would it be heard by a child you have just disciplined? How would it be heard by an elderly parent whom you have just moved into a nursing home against her will?

In exactly the same way, although God says the same thing to all people everywhere, each one of us hears it differently according to our own particular culture, experiences, and beliefs. The difference is not in God, but in the listeners. God says “I love you” to people in all times, places, and cultures. Each one hears that message in a unique way. The many and varied sacred texts of humanity are the result.

So which is the best religion?

Mine is, of course!

But seriously, if God is infinitely loving and infinitely wise, as the theologians and mystics of all the major world religions say, don’t you think God would do a good job of providing religion for the people on earth? Don’t you think God would provide a way for all people to experience God’s love and wisdom?

We could argue until the cows come home about which religion is the best or truest, and it would be a monumental waste of breath. God is not concerned about which religion is better than other religions. God is concerned with how well each religion brings its people closer to God, and how well each religion moves its believers to love and serve their fellow human beings.

So the short answer is: Each religion is best for the people who believe in it. If God truly is loving and wise, wouldn’t God provide every person and every culture with the religion that works best for them? Would a loving God really leave vast segments of the world’s population out in the cold? We humans come in all different varieties. And we need a variety of religions to help us find God, faith, and compassion for our fellow human beings, each in our own unique way.


Don’t you have to believe in Jesus to be saved?

Perhaps you really want to believe that God is present in all religions.

But what about all those Christian preachers who say that if you don’t believe in Jesus you’ll go to hell? And what about all the Bible passages they quote? Is it possible to believe the Bible and still think that non-Christians can go to heaven?

First of all, the Bible itself is full of people from different religions. Before Christ came, there was not a single Christian on earth. Everything in the Old Testament was originally about how people could be saved before Christianity even existed. In the New Testament John the Baptist, Jesus, and Jesus’ Apostles preached their message to Jews and non-Jews alike. And though traditional Christian preachers have selected the passages that command us to believe in Jesus, they have pushed aside a far greater number of passages in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that command us to love God, love the neighbor, and obey God’s commandments if we wish to be saved.

The Apostle Paul clearly stated what non-Christians must do to be saved,before he made his famous statements about being saved by faith in Jesus Christ:

God will repay everyone according to what they have done. To those who by patiently doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Gentile; but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. (Romans 2:6–11)

He then goes on to talk about related issues of law and conscience, concluding that all of this will take place “through Jesus Christ” (Romans 2:16).

Paul’s later statements in the same letter about the necessity of faith in Jesus Christ are intended for Christians. His letters are addressed to the groups of Christian believers in various towns and cities. And of course, if you say you’re a Christian but you don’t believe in Jesus Christ, you’re in trouble, because you are rejecting your God.

Is God prejudiced?

It all boils down to this: Is God narrow-minded or broad-minded? Does God provide salvation only for one part of the world’s people who believe the “right” way? Or does God provide salvation for allof the world’s people?

Both the Bible and common sense say that God will accept into heaven those who live good lives according to their own conscience and their own religious laws, while those who selfishly reject the truth and live evil and destructive lives will suffer the consequences.

For Christians, this means believing in Jesus Christ and living according to his teachings in the Gospels. For Jews it means believing in God and living according to the Torah. For Muslims it means believing in Allah and living according to the Qur’an. Those who believe in God, and live a good life according to their beliefs, are showing their faith in God by their actions. And even those who say they don’t believe in God but live a good life according to their conscience are following God’s law.

Jesus taught that action trumps words in this brief tale:

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

“‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered. (Matthew 21:28–31)

And even more directly:

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)

In short, salvation is based, not on mere words, but on action. And those who do the will of God by living good lives according to their beliefs and their conscience are showing their faith in God, whether they call it faith or not.

Then why do we need Jesus Christ?

If people of all religions can be saved, why do we need Jesus Christ? Good question! In fact, it’s such a good question that it needs its own article. See “Who is God? Who is Jesus Christ? What about that Holy Spirit?” But for now, consider this: If Jesus Christ really is God as Christians say he is, doesn’t that mean he is God for all people, and not just for those who call themselves Christians?

It doesn’t matter what name we call God (as long as it’s nice!). No matter what name we use, it is the same God we’re calling on. There’s only one of ’em, you know!

And no matter how many different ways we may hear God’s voice, it is the same message being given through all the religions of the earth: Love God and love your fellow human beings. Live by the truth, live with compassion. Do not do what is evil and say what is false, but follow God’s commandments and engage in good deeds of useful service for others.

All who do these things, no matter what their religion, are part of the spiritual community that is God’s universal church on earth, and will be part of God’s heaven when they pass into the spiritual world.

Because we have different cultures, different traditions. We see live differently, thereby we perceive God differently. But we are united by the acknowledgement of His existence.


An example is the case of 6 blind men who were asked to touch an elephant and describe what and how it is. Each blind man feels a different part of the elephant body, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then describe the elephant based on their partial experience.


One touched the broad and sturdy side and said the elephant was like a wall, feeling of the tusk said the elephant was like a spear and so on...

jezrealgizzy:

But have you ever had the experience of saying one thing, and having the person you were talking to hear something different? Just because God said something to a priest or prophet, that doesn’t mean the listener heard exactly what God said. In fact, psychologists tell us that we humans always interpret what we hear according to what we have experienced, and according to how we understand the world around us.

Let’s take a simple example: the words “I love you.” We might think these would have the same meaning no matter who we say them to. But think about the different ways this simple, common phrase will be heard by a child, a spouse, a parent, a friend. Now think of how it would be heard by someone who has just screamed in your face, “I hate your guts!” How would it be heard by a child you have just disciplined? How would it be heard by an elderly parent whom you have just moved into a nursing home against her will?

In exactly the same way, although God says the same thing to all people everywhere, each one of us hears it differently according to our own particular culture, experiences, and beliefs. The difference is not in God, but in the listeners. God says “I love you” to people in all times, places, and cultures. Each one hears that message in a unique way. The many and varied sacred texts of humanity are the result.

This barely makes any sense!

The main reasons people misunderstand, misconceive and miscomprehend what you say to them are one of three things 1. You didn't make your statement(s) clear enough from your own end 2. You were limited in terms of knowing the level of understanding your listener possesses so they didn't get your message clearly
3. Both

These shouldn't be an issue for a supposed "God" that's sees our hearts Brains (all hearts do is pump blood AFAIK), knows us all down to the most basic of fibres, can do anything and is everywhere
IF SUCH A BEING GOT HIS MESSAGE MISUNDERSTOOD BY HIS CREATIONS IT MEANS HE WANTED HIS MESSAGE MISUNDERSTOOD!!!

reducing such a god idea to the level mere fallible humans to make a point sounds insulting to that supposed god

hhmmm, this is a serious teaching, i like your analysis. hw are you doing?

Munae:
Because we have different cultures, different traditions. We see live differently, thereby we perceive God differently. But we are united by the acknowledgement of His existence.


An example is the case of 6 blind men who were asked to touch an elephant and describe what and how it is. Each blind man feels a different part of the elephant body, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then describe the elephant based on their partial experience.


One touched the broad and sturdy side and said the elephant was like a wall, feeling of the tusk said the elephant was like a spear and so on...

thyzee77:
hhmmm, this is a serious teaching, i like your analysis. hw are you doing?

am fine.. Good afternoon

Munae:


am fine.. Good afternoon

I think he likes you and would like to know you better but probably hasn't gotten around to saying it to you

I may be wrong though but you can give him a shot if you feel the same way

God Almighty, the Highest Consciousness, is not in charge of formation of religions, but the gods who are his creatures are the ones in charge of creating religions to sustain their own philosophies.
That's why you see that the laws of god Yahweh are different from the laws of Vishnu and in turn the laws of god Vishnu are different from those of Allah, Mazda, Baal, Ekron, Enlil, Enki, Eshu, etc. If I god Otem, am to make laws right now, mine will also be far far different from the laws of all the aforementioned gods. That's how we roll.

there are many gods, but to true Christians, there in one God who is Jehovah and one Lord, Jesus.
1 Corinthians 8:6

Good afternoon, how are you doing? am temmy

Munae:


am fine.. Good afternoon

hhhmmm... observer

hopefulLandlord:


I think he likes you and would like to know you better but probably hasn't gotten around to saying it to you

I may be wrong though but you can give him a shot if you feel the same way

thyzee77:
hhhmmm... observer

Don't let your dreams be dreams

am trying to actualize my dreams....

hopefulLandlord:


Don't let your dreams be dreams

1. The truth is that God or the Gods have never written any holy book or created any religion. That is why God or the Gods won't kill you even if you don't worship or believe in It or Them.

2. Religion is a blasphemy against God or the Gods because religion claims to speak for God or the Gods.

3. Humans and other beings were not created or born to worship any God or Gods. We were created or born to live and be alive.

4. Religion will be banished in the future just like slavery was banished in the past. Religion is essentially a tool used to programme consciousness or hypnotize minds in order to make it easier to control people like sheep.

Biko reach out to +234 909 5000 603 to ask more questions and to join our WhatsApp group for debates and discussions about religion and spiritual beliefs.