Quote:
Originally Posted by Manson?
The whole idea of "right and wrong" vis a vis heaven and hell , eternal life eternal damnation are originally Christian ideas. To be more specific, if Christianity comes from Sectarian Judaism, and Islam concedes both, Christianity is the first western religion that brought this element up. In early Hebrew religion the after-life never was mentioned, and even now, isn't a widely accepted aspect of modern Judaism. In Islam of course it exists but not to the 'fire and brimstone suffering' level of Christianity. There really is an in-or-out mentality that is so black and white in CHristianity that is hard to pin-point within any other religion. DIGRESSION(anything put above Allah ie the Christian messiah is shirk which is basically unforgiveable sin. A further digression, it is interesting to note how much devotion Muhammud receives from some Muslims. This could consider be considered shirk for the same reasons, no?)
|
I believe the Zoroastrians(sp) were the first to use the figurative place of Gehenna as a place of punishment. It was literally a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem. The word "hades" is from Greek mythology of course. Yes I agree that "hell" and "hades" wasn't apart of Hebrew religion but this understanding was introduced by Christ. The after-life is a mystery to the Israelites and was much debated. I think within Christianity there are large sects which believe that you can lose your salvation. So I guess they see things as less black and white. The Catholics for instance believe everyone except Saints will spend time in torment refining themselves. You can shorten this time by works before you die and by the family and friends paying to have priests conduct a ceremony called the Eucharist. For baptists it is generally pretty cut and dry, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Manson?
My point if i can remember it now, is that you are viewing (or at least how I have interpreted your post) religion in a predominately Christian manner. Not that I can blame a Christian for having viewpoints within his accepted constraints. But really, do the semantically small differences between say a Mennonite and a Pentecostal Christian or you, the baptist, make the difference between heaven and hell in your eyes??? Or were you using the getting the boot from God example as between you and say a Muslim.
|
God created churches to spread the gospel. The gospel is God's good news that a Saviour(His Son) came and paid the penalty for our sins. And that if a man receives the Messiah as his Lord and Saviour his sins are forever forgiven. This allows one to become an adopted child of God and have a relationship with him. Heaven is certainly a perk but, it is the restored relationship that is the heart of the gospel. Sin had destroyed that relationship. Churches do not administer salvation. One is saved by going to God directly with hat in hand. A Christian's responsibility is to proclaim the good news(Gospel) to the lost and to come together in a church to worship and to build one another up in the Faith. So basically the message has to be right. The shingle on the church doesn't matter because salvation isn't through the church. Now within Christianity there are denominations who teach that Salvation is through an ordinance or sacraments of their particular church. There is also sects who have added works to the free gift of salvation. This can't be done because to do that you are not trusting in the Saviour but rather yourself or church. There are sects which also present a false Christ; Making him an angel or a prophet rather than God. They are in effect trusting in false Christs.
As for the two groups you mentioned: they both present the gospel and the true Christ. Mennonites because of their strict society will struggle with having members who have chosen the life style but never have receive the Saviour. Perhaps being religious they don't see their need. Pentecostals will have members who think that because they came forward in a service and repeated a salvation prayer they are saved. They are trusting in what they experienced at the revival service rather than Christ. Both groups teach you can lose their Salvation which will cause some to work to prove to themselves they are saved instead of having faith in the one who does save. But these problems can all exist in baptist churches as well. One needs to always be willing to examine ones faith in light of scriptures.