Relativism and salvation
Upvote:-1
Jeff, a third position (other than "Damn him!" or "He's cool.") might be "We don't know." or "I don't know." personally, i think it's a big waste of time for believers, while on Earth, parsing out who's going where for eternity. i might feel safe saying "Adolf Hitler is going (or has gone) to hell fer sher" but it seems to me that, since i am not in a position to actually make that decision (as is no other human being in history, save one) that it might be a waste of time to act as if i am.
God is more merciful than any of us can articulate. this also means (in my opinion) that any mortal that articulates a specific limit to God's mercy is walking on thin ice. it's silly. so why bother with it?
doesn't mean that everyone goes to Heaven. even so, if someone thinks they would rather rule in hell than serve in heaven, God loves them enough to accept that rejection.
there are enough issues of discipleship, mercy, and justice in this life and on this planet to deal with; without worrying about the same in the next life. let God worry about it.
just my $0.02 .
Upvote:2
I'd say that anyone who says that you do not need Christ in order to be saved is, by definition, not a Christian. I suppose it's possible that he is a very confused or ignorant Christian.
Perhaps what you're asking hits on a question that I've pondered for many years: If we understand Christianity to essentially say that in order to be saved you must adhere to certain beliefs, or make certain affirmations, then: What is the absolute minimum that someone could believe and still be saved? Or to put it the other way around, How wrong can someone be and still be saved?
For example, Christians routinely debate different theories about the second coming of Christ, pre-tribulation rapture versus post-tribulation rapture, etc. I think very few Christians suppose that if a person is wrong about the nature or timing of the rapture that this means that he is not saved.
On the other hand, if someone says that he believes that Jesus Christ was an insane person who just thought he was God and that neither his death nor his teachings have any value, I think almost any Christian would say that person is not saved.
But what's the minimum set of correct beliefs? I don't know.
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