do you have to go to church to go to heaven?

ultraman | 23:32 Wed 03rd Feb 2010 | Religion & Spirituality

39 Answers

i have always been told ever sense i was a kid that you should always go to church and read the bible in order to go to heaven. I do believe in god and i do believe that god does take care of everyone in his own way. Sometimes I often wonder about gods intentions for some of us. i will use myself for an example about three years ago i had to leave a job that gave me full time made good money it was hard but I had found a job three days later it was good hours somewhat good pay but i was thankful to have a job. About sometime after that i had a friend that was working in a store next to the supermarket that i worked at He told me that they were cutting his hours and he needed a another job so i told him that if he needed a job I would help him get one at the store i worked at. and that is what i did I put in a good word for him and he got hired shortly after. that is just one example but I often wonder why this happened sometimes i think god used me to help someone else find a better job not use me in a bad way but i think god made certain events happen to me in order to help my friend out. What does it mean

do you have to go to church to go to heaven?

samson the strongest of the judges

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bibblebub

it means that either you have the mental capacity of a child or you have been brainwashed

darcydark

It`s a big question?
I do believe that God has plans for us all, though I also believe we may not know them or always understand them.

lslowry

i got my brother a job where i worked after the colliery closed, it had nothing to do with god, just an obliging works manager!

snags

ultraman... can you get me a job?

sanndwich

'god' a fan of altruism!

-- answer removed --

darcydark

Religon isn`t being a christian, if you believe in God, trust in him, ask him into your heart you will be going to heaven whatever church or religon you belong to.

Ankou

"god used me to help someone else find a better job not use me in a bad way but i think god made certain events happen to me in order to help my friend out. What does it mean"

you are inappropriately crediting god with the work that should be merited to lady luck, your fairy godmother, the spirit of your ancestors, father christma, the wish your mate made when he blew his candles out, crossing fingers and the sight of two magpies.

i would plump for 'chance' being right place right time an all that.

wildwood

When you meet his Lordship, could you please ask him why he lets innocent little children die, not just the ones in Western society but especially the millions in the third world who die of starvation and terrible diseases and parasites.

Rev Sermon

I have a much harder time undertanding why people believe in holy books or believe their specific religion is right than I do undertanding why they believe in god in the first place.

All books, holy or otherwise, were written by people with personal predjudices, biases, goal and ambitions. How can they be taken as literal and accurate? If their is one god why would he choose one group of people to be "special" or tell everybody a different version of events to set them at each other. Perhaps there is one true god - Mars, the god of war. That would explain a few of life's mysteries.

mibn2cweus

For me, being coerced into going to church was always H E double hockey sticks.

I’ve always found myself rather adept at screwing up my own mind without the need to seek the assistance of some idiot who had obviously achieved that objective with complete and resounding success.

naomi24

The Rev might have something there. I think of Abraham and the 'test' that God set for him by telling him to slaughter his beloved son in order to prove his faith - only to give him a last minute reprieve.

Think about it. This God knows everything (apparently). Therefore when he set the test, he knew that Abraham, although reluctant, had faith enough to kill his son, and God also knew that he was, at the last minute, going to stop the slaughter. What sort of twisted, evil, mind, that already knows the outcome, would take pleasure in tormenting a human being like that?

I think you have to think very seriously about the sort of character you are giving your allegiance to. Going on this God's track record, he isn't something that anyone in their right mind would worship, or seek to emulate. In fact, in this day and age he would be considered dangerously mentally deranged. He was often incredibly cruel, he was rarely kind, and he is long gone, so he doesn't use you to do kind deeds. You do them because you're a thoughtful and caring person. It's as simple as that.

grannie39

once or twice a year, your church you should visit,
than when you arrive at the gates, God won't say who is it?

MarkRae

The thought of spending eternity in the company of Christians sends shivers up my spine! As the song says:

Even if there is heaven when we die
Endless bliss would be as meaningless as the lie

keyplus90

Naomi – you are right about Abraham (Ibrahim – pbuh), and you are right again about saying that God knew all along what was going to happen. But did Abraham know that what was going to happen? No, so he was tested, still his son survived and he passed the test too.

Just imagine that you ask your son or daughter to do something not as serious of course as in the case of Abraham. And if they do that you would be happy with him/her and would reward him/her say by just buying a toy or two. I am sure there are several things we do every day where we ask our kids to do few things which will benefit them in the long run. Would you tell your Son/daughter that even if they don’t do it still you would reward them. I am sure you would not otherwise your kids will never do what you want them to do for their own sake. But I am sure you would not understand it because you would never try.

Rev – You are right in saying that every religion believes that they are right and the others wrong. As you are aware that I am Muslim. I think that your question has been answered in Holy Quran. God says in Quran that “Ask the believers of the other books to come to common terms among us and that is worship only one God my lord and your lord”. Now core concept of only one God is in every major religion’s scriptures of the world including Hinduism which is known as polytheistic religion. So if people can’t believe their own books and then they say that our religion is different from the others then who is at mistake?

Have a good night.

MarkRae

> So if people can’t believe their own books and then they say that our religion is
> different from the others then who is at mistake?

All of you.

I remember many years ago when I was in my rebellious teens a vicar friend of the family trying to persuade me to be a Christian "just in case it's true". It took me a long time to stop laughing. That's not religion - it's an insurance policy.