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Only One Way To Heaven

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:37 pm
by craigdressler
In our pluralistic world many people think what you believe has little or no bearing on your eternal future. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus made it perfectly clear in the New Testament with these words, "No person comes to the Father(God) except through me." In other words, only faith in what Jesus did on the cross in dying for our sins can give any of us the hope of heaven. :hmm:

Re: Only One Way To Heaven

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:31 pm
by steveb1
craigdressler wrote:In our pluralistic world many people think what you believe has little or no bearing on your eternal future. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus made it perfectly clear in the New Testament with these words, "No person comes to the Father(God) except through me." In other words, only faith in what Jesus did on the cross in dying for our sins can give any of us the hope of heaven. :hmm:
Except, of course, Jesus was only one of hundreds of religious sages. If one thinks that Jesus is "the only Way", one is obligated to examine and refute the "Ways" offered by other spiritual teachers. A colossal task, requiring objectivity and the ability to understand new data and critique it logically and objectively.

Re: Only One Way To Heaven

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:18 pm
by tat tvam asi

Re: Only One Way To Heaven

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:07 pm
by Robert Tulip
Thanks Tat, Alan Watts is great. Hope you are well.

Re: Only One Way To Heaven

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 10:03 am
by Harry Marks
craigdressler wrote:In our pluralistic world many people think
Although many also don't.
craigdressler wrote:many people think what you believe has little or no bearing on your eternal future. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus made it perfectly clear in the New Testament with these words, "No person comes to the Father(God) except through me."
While I respect the concern you have for the eternal souls of other people, I fear that your (mis)understanding of what God was communicating to us through Jesus is deflecting you from actually engaging with the message.

I have a couple of questions for you. First, regarding Matthew 25, verses 31 to 46, about the division between the sheep and the goats, would you say it is possible that those who did kind deeds to the poor, even though they did not recognize that they were doing them to Jesus, were "coming to the Father through me"?
craigdressler wrote: In other words, only faith in what Jesus did on the cross in dying for our sins can give any of us the hope of heaven. :hmm:
Second, if our very eternal souls depended on this "faith in what Jesus did on the cross in dying for our sins", why did Jesus say so little about it? In your opinion, of course.

Re: Only One Way To Heaven

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 12:42 pm
by geo
craigdressler wrote:. . . In other words, only faith in what Jesus did on the cross in dying for our sins can give any of us the hope of heaven. :hmm:
What if a person was born in a remote area of Sudan where the vast majority of people are Muslim and has never been taught anything about Christianity? Seems like a lottery. Only those who happened to be born and raised in the Christian faith get to go to heaven. Your (Christian) God works in mysterious ways.

Re: Only One Way To Heaven

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 11:14 am
by LanDroid
Harry Marks wrote:First, regarding Matthew 25, verses 31 to 46, about the division between the sheep and the goats, would you say it is possible that those who did kind deeds to the poor, even though they did not recognize that they were doing them to Jesus, were "coming to the Father through me"?
Yes, and what about the opposite where Christians of strong faith, who believe Salvation is through Grace not through good works, and therefore do NOT minister to those in prison or feed the hungry? They believe in "what Jesus did on the cross," but wind up in the Eternal Sulphurous Fires of Hell anyway!

Re: Only One Way To Heaven

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:31 pm
by Harry Marks
So I take it craigdressler is basically a troll, out to get a negative response that will confirm his superiority over the heathens?

Sorry, I am trying to clean up my act, to be more understanding and polite, but am not succeeding in this case.

Re: Only One Way To Heaven

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 3:15 pm
by LanDroid
Well I doubt he's a troll - joined in 2012, posted only 24 times, last post was 5 months ago. People come and go, especially those not interested in the science / humanism emphasis on this site.

I would be interested in responses our questions about Matthew 25 though. That chapter is cited frequently, there is even a local charity with international reach named after it. However as we've discussed, those passages seem to contradict much of current dogma. Perhaps someone else will have a crack at it...

Re: Only One Way To Heaven

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 3:57 pm
by Chris OConnor
The title of this thread is Only One Way To Heaven.

I'm in complete agreement. The one and only way to heaven is through a vivid imagination.