| About this site |
| About us |
| Our beliefs |
| Your first visit? |
| Contact us |
| External links |
| Good books |
| Visitor essays |
| Our forum |
| New essays |
| Other features |
| Buy a CD |
| Vital notes |
| Non-theistic... |
| Atheism |
| Agnosticism |
| Humanism |
| Other |
| About all religions |
| Main topics |
| Basic info. |
| Gods/Goddesses |
| Handling change |
| Doubt/security |
| Quotes |
| Movies |
| Confusing terms |
| Glossary |
| World's end |
| True religion? |
| Seasonal topics |
| Science/Religion |
| More info. |
| Spiritual/ethics |
| Spirituality |
| Morality/ethics |
| Absolute truth |
| Peace/conflict |
| Attaining peace |
| Religious tolerance |
| Religious hatred |
| Religious conflict |
| Religious violence |
| Laws and news |
| Religious laws |
| Religious news |
|
|
 | Salvation is by faith only: Romans 3:28: "... man is justified by faith without the [necessity of] deeds of the law." |
| Salvation is by works and faith: James 2:24: "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." |
| Salvation is by works only: Matthew 25:34-45: "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me...Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels..." |
| Salvation by faith motivated by love: Galatians 5:6: "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love." |
| Salvation is pre-determined; we cannot influence our own salvation: John Calvin: "God preordained...a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation." |
| Salvation is by baptism: Nicene Creed: "We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins." |
| Salvation by special case: The Westminster Confession of Faith: "Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how He pleaseth: so also are all other elect persons who are uncapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word." [The document provides salvation for selected infants who die, and for persons who are sufficiently mentally challenged to not be able to understand the Gospel.] 3 |
| No non-Christians will be saved: Rev 20:15: "And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." |
| All will be saved: "The idea that Jesus is the only way to God or that only those who have been washed in the blood of Christ are ever to be listed among the saved, has become anathema and even dangerous in our shrinking world." Episcopal Bishop John S. Spong. 4 |
| Original Sin: "Each and every one has this contamination
according to the Christians....He, [God]� blames you for something that you
didn't do and he blesses you for what someone else did." [That is, God
blames everyone for the sins of Adam and Eve, and blesses believers for the
sacrifice of Jesus] Ahamed Deedat. 5 |
| See these quotes and many others in our quotes section. |
Overview:
Down through millennia of history, Christian theologians have based many foundational Christian beliefs on their interpretation of biblical passages. Some historical beliefs are:
| When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, it caused their downfall. |
| This sin was transferred to their children, grandchildren etc. even to the present generation. The concept of transferring sin from the innocent to the guilty is seen in many places in the Bible, although it appears immoral to many people today. |
| Because of humanity's downfall, most people's destination after death is Hell, where they will be tortured for all eternity. |
| Through personal salvation, a person can avoid Hell and attain Heaven after death. |
Unfortunately, biblical passages which describe how a person is saved are ambiguous:
| Paul generally wrote that people are saved as a result of believing in the resurrection of Jesus. | ||||
| The author(s) of the Gospel of John said that one must believe that Jesus is the Son of God in order to be saved. | ||||
| Jesus, as reported in the synoptic Gospels, appears to have given two
main paths to salvation:
| ||||
| Other passages say that a person is saved, and her/his sins forgiven, through baptism. |
And so we have a chaotic situation today where some denominations say that salvation is attained by:
| Church rituals (particularly baptism and -- in the Catholic churches -- confession), | ||||||
| Good works, | ||||||
| Belief in:
| ||||||
| Or by some combination of the above. |
One might argue that different faith groups are all equally correct. What they have done is to concentrate on some salvation passages in the Bible, interpreting them as true. Then they either ignore other passages, interpret them symbolically, or attributing unusual meanings to them. And so, diverse faith groups end up with entirely different criteria for salvation.
In addition, Christian faith groups differ on:
| Whether a person, once saved, can lose their salvation, and |
| Whether a non-Christian can be saved. |
Topics covered:
Some related topics:
| What religious groups believe about the afterlife: heaven,hell, purgatory, etc. |
| What does the Bible say about heaven, hell, purgatory, etc.? |
| At what age are people "born-again?" At what age should evangelistic efforts be concentrated? |
| What Christians believe happens to a person immediately after death |
References:
- G.A. Mather & L.A. Nichols, "Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult," Zondervan, (1993), Page 171.
- Associated Press, "Evangelicals Unite on View of Salvation," 1999-JUN-12.
- "Westminster Confession of Faith: Chapter 10, Section 3," 3rd edition, at: http://www.pcanet.org/
- J.S. Spong, "A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith is Dying and How a New Faith is Being Born," HarperSanFrancisco, (2001), Page 179. Read reviews or order this book
- Excerpted from a speech by Ahamed Deedat at: http://www.youtube.com/
|
or Home > Christianity > Christian themes > Beliefs > here |
|
Home > Christianity > History, Beliefs, Trends, etc > Beliefs > Cardinal beliefs > here |
Copyright � 1997 to 2007 by
Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2007-NOV-11
Author: B.A. Robinson
|
|
