Many conflicting views of personal salvation exist. They are intimately
linked to beliefs about life after death. There is essentially no
agreement among conservative Protestants, Roman Catholics and liberal
Christians on these
matters. They approach the Bible with different assumptions, interpret
the Bible differently and derive very different beliefs from it. By and
large, they agree on what the Bible says; they do not agree on what it means.
Most conservative Christian faith groups believe that Hell exists as a place of
unending torment, and that Heaven is a place of
unimaginable eternal rewards. Christianity has traditionally taught that a
person is judged after death and assigned to either heaven or hell as their
final destination. Catholics teach that most people who are destined for Heaven
after death must first spend time being tortured in Purgatory until
they are sufficiently purified. Purgatory is now viewed as both a place and a
condition. Different Christian faith groups also have
diverse beliefs concerning the criteria that are used during the final
judgment. i.e. what one must do (or not do) during their life on earth in order
to be sent to Hell. Some beliefs are:
Repent and trust: Conservative Protestants generally believe that
the natural destination for most of the human race is Hell. However, a
person may be "saved" by repenting of their sins and trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior.
If they are saved, they will go to Heaven.
Confession: Roman Catholics believe that baptism initially
saves a person. If a responsible person
subsequently commits a mortal (serious) sin they can have it forgiven by
confession to a priest. If it is commiteed between their last valid confession (if any) and
their death, that they will go to Hell directly.
Do good works: Many Christians hold the simple belief that an individual
avoids Hell if the sum of their good deeds outweigh the bad. This is also
the official position of Islam.
But many North Americans do not believe that Hell is a place of punishment
after death:
Hell doesn't exist: They look upon Hell as a concept, not a
location. Some see Hell as a process that some people go through on earth because of
their life decisions.
This essay compares the strengths and weaknesses of each of the above
salvation belief systems.
"Repent and trust Jesus" belief:
Salvation by repenting of sins and trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior is
central to conservative Christianity. They do not believe that people are saved
by performing good deeds. Another central belief is that Heaven and Hell are
distinct and permanent destinations.
This concept has strong arguments in its favor:
The Protestant movement has traditionally taught the principle of "Sola
Fide" (justification by faith alone) ever since the early days of
the Reformation. Martin Luther went so far as demoting the status of the
Biblical book of James because he felt that it taught that good deeds
influenced a person's salvation. He called the book "an epistle of
straw."
The Gospel of John and the various
writings of Paul teach that salvation and
reception into Heaven can only be achieved through faith and not through
actions. John 3:16 is perhaps the most commonly recited passage that
supports this belief.
There are also strong arguments that weigh against this theory:
Only 39% of Americans believe that "All
who do not accept Christ as savior will go to hell." (However, it
is important to realize that the
reality of the afterlife is hardly dependent on a majority vote of humans on
Earth.)
The Synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke)
teach that the final judgment is based on a person's actions and good works,
not on beliefs about Jesus.
The theory seems fundamentally unjust. Consider the following:
A profoundly evil person person like Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, etc. can
cause the deaths of millions of innocent humans. But if the perpetrator
genuinely repented and trusted Jesus 1 minute before they died, they
would go to heaven.
Some of the greatest of humanitarians like Albert Schweitzer and
Ghandi apparently were not saved during their lifetime, and so would go
to Hell for an eternity of torture.
A significant percentage of the human race has never heard the gospel.
According to traditional conservative Christian belief, since they had
not trusted in Jesus, they would be destined for Hell. Under this belief
system, the vast majority of the population of India would be
Hell-bound; only in Christian countries would a significant percentage
of people attain Heaven. It seems fundamentally unfair that one's
destination after death is largely determined by one's place of birth.
"Confession" belief:
The Catholic church teaches that certain serious sins, if they are performed
by a responsible person who is aware of the seriousness of the sin, are called
mortal sins. They have the power to send a person immediately to Hell at death.
However, certain Church sacraments have the power to absolve the
sin.
This concept has strong arguments in its favor:
The New Testament consistently teaches that sin will cause a person
to go to Hell. The gospel of Matthew is particularly clear on this.
The Church has traditionally taught the power of sin to cause eternal
damnation, and the power of the church sacraments to absolve sin.
But there are strong arguments that weigh against this theory:
There are New Testament passages that say that if a Christian confesses
their sin that they will be healed and forgiven. (e.g. James 5:16 & 1
John 1:8-9). But the former refers to believers confessing to each other;
the latter implies that Christians are to confess to God. We have been
unable to find a New Testament reference to forgiveness of sin through a
formal church sacrament with a priest. That is to be expected, because priests and sacraments only appeared
within Christianity after the last book in the Bible was written circa 130
CE.
The theory seems unjust. Consider a man who commits a moral sin one
morning. Perhaps he intentionally and with advance planning, murders a bank
teller. Then he went to confession. Still later in the day, he died of a heart attack. His
initial destination would be Purgatory, but he would eventually attain Heaven. A second person might to go confession, then
commit a similar moral sin, and die of a heart attack later that day. He would go immediately to Hell for
eternal torture. It seems to violate elementary principles of justice for
two people who engaged in the same three events on the same day to receive such massively
different "rewards."
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"Do good works" belief:
Many North Americans visualize judgment being performed by a kind of cosmic
weigh scale: one's good
deeds are placed on one side and one's evil deeds are placed on the other. If
the good outweighs the bad, then the person is sent to Heaven; otherwise they go
to Hell.
This concept has many strong arguments in its favor:
Most Americans (53%) believe that "A
person who does good can earn a place in heaven." However, the reality
of Heaven does not depend upon a majority vote.
The legal systems in North America are designed to punish people
for their bad deeds. People are not arrested or tried on the basis of their
beliefs. Only in pariah nations are people imprisoned for thought crimes. It seems reasonable to many people that individuals would be sent
to Hell solely because of an excess of evil actions; their belief systems
should not matter.
But there are strong arguments that weigh against this theory:
The Gospel of John teaches that one goes
to Hell unless they believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Bad and good deeds
do not matter.
Paul wrote that one goes to hell if they
do not believe that Jesus was resurrected. Bad and good deeds do not
determine one's destination.
This belief It is based on the assumption that at death, an individual's
good and bad deeds are weighed and compared
against a passing grade. Those with a high enough grade go to
heaven and those under that grade go to hell. This concept is morally indefensible. Imagine two
fairly typical people. They have done some good and some bad during their lives. One
gets a barely passing rating, say, of 50.00% and gets to enjoy the infinite
glories of Heaven. The other was almost as good. But
she/he was missing one good deed or had one bad deed too many. Their rating is 49.99%,
which earns them a ticket to Hell. This concept is untenable for two
reasons:
The overall difference between the two individual's lifetime accomplishments
is miniscule. Yet one goes to a permanent reward in heaven and the other is eternally tortured
in Hell without any hope of mercy or relief. The latter is being punished
severely, for all time, because of one little sin too many, or one minor good deed too
few. If that sinful act had not been committed, or if they had done one
additional good deed, the person would have gone to heaven. The punishment does
not match the crime: an infinitely long torture session because of a single, minor sin.
If the second individual had the opportunity to live a few minutes longer,
they might have performed an additional good deed, received a
rating of 50.00% or more, and go to heaven. Thus, in essence, he/she is
being punished for dying too early, something that may have been out of their
personal control.
"Hell doesn't exist" belief:
Many liberal Christians do not believe that Hell exists. They feel that a
loving God is incapable of creating a place of eternal punishment. God is viewed
as a loving father. What evil could a child commit that is so serious that their
father would choose to have them tortured forever?
This concept has some strong arguments in its favor:
Many nations of the world subscribe to United Nations declarations on
human rights, treatment of prisoners, treatment of prisoners of war, etc.
None allow torture. None allow unending punishment. None allow punishment
for thought crimes. Our attempts at
fundamental justice are limited. Since God is all knowing, and loving and
forgiving, it is inconceivable to many that God would create a Hell.
Hell is described in the Bible as being under the earth. However, in spite of numerous
deep drilling projects, it has never been located.
But there are strong arguments that weigh against this theory. The Bible is
abundantly clear about God's anger and wrath, and the existence of Hell:
The New Testament is filled with references to Hell as a place where
punishment occurs. People are thrown into a fiery pit. Passages mention
wailing and gnashing of teeth, of worms, of flogging, unbearable thirst,
intolerable heat, darkness,
fire, etc. The gospel of Matthew in particular has many such references.
The Bible talks extensively about God as both a loving and a just
deity. God pursues humans with both his love and his wrath. Many
Christians believe that because of his love for humanity, God longs for
every person to attain heaven. But the just component of his nature
requires eternal hideous punishment for anyone who dies with unforgiving
sin on his record.
Implications:
Within Christianity there are many criteria taught for salvation. A
person might follow the criteria taught by one wing of Christianity in order
to attain Heaven. But if one of the other wings is correct, then the person
might end up in Hell. If one considers the criteria taught by other
religions, then matters become even more confusing.
