Eg - what is required to be saved?
Is it solely faith - saying something like the Sinner’s Prayer and “giving your heart to Jesus”? Or do works/sacraments matter? Or is there universal reconciliation?
What about those who die in ignorance of Jesus and don’t get the opportunity?
By the Grace of God essentially. Someone who has truly received God’s Grace through Faith, will display good works, attend Church, receive the Sacraments, etc. A Christian who truly believes won’t need to worry about if they’re going to heaven or not.
Those who die in ignorance - I don’t really think it is entirely possible in this day and age to die in ignorance and not get the opportunity. Those who seek after God will be led by the spirit to find Him. Some even reckon that ShangDi’ism and Tengri’ism were proto Christians in some sense, who were guided purely by the Holy Spirit to reach the conclusion they could reach within physical means. But now, it is entirely simple for someone to hear about Jesus and become a Christian via the internet - and I’ve observed it happening, even people secretly converting in Muslim households
No offense by any of the following:
By the Grace of God essentially. Someone who has truly received God’s Grace through Faith, will display good works, attend Church, receive the Sacraments, etc
This sounds Protestant - the Luther I’ve read is exactly like this.
A Christian who truly believes won’t need to worry about if they’re going to heaven or not.
There’s gotta be a way to impart this lesson in a way to doesn’t impact lead to bad mental health loops. Some people struggle with OCD or similar disorders and get stuck on the idea that their salvation “didn’t stick.”
Those who die in ignorance - I don’t really think it is entirely possible in this day and age to die in ignorance and not get the opportunity.
I taught world history in a public high school in Bible Belt, which makes the news every few years because of a very public school prayer or the state trying to mandate the Ten Commandments in classroom, and I had a student who had no idea who Jesus was or what Christianity was. I explained the concept of communion to a college student who had even attended a Christian church before today.
ShangDi’ism
What do you think of the Chinese rites controversy?
This is Christian belief commonly found in Protestantism. I think works based salvation is worse for mental health loops- you always feel as if you’re not “doing enough”. Christianity offers comfort in the certainty of your salvation.
had no idea sho Jesus was or Christianity was
Yet you taught them- they found out. If God desires for someone to be saved, they could find out, even from someone like you sparking it. If they are even of the elect, this could have been the first step, and the Holy Spirit could have been working through you.
Chinese rites controversy
Ancestor worship is immoral, it’s contrary to Christian doctrine. However I have no problem with using the term 上帝 to refer to God in Chinese. Turkish Christians generally use Tanrı which has similar parallel origins.
100% works. The faith bit only matters because if you truly have faith, works come naturally. But “professing” faith without acting on it is just self-righteous posturing.
Ignorance isn’t a problem if you live by the principles Jesus put forward, it’s not like he invented them and they’re not really mysterious. Love your neighbor as yourself, help people who are struggling, and you’re good.
The faith bit only matters because if you truly have faith, works come naturally.
That’s really interesting, because this is one of the things Luther said to justify his “faith only” position - that if you start with the faith the works must follow.
Do you think most go to Heaven/are saved? Are you affiliated with a mainstream church?
I was raised Catholic, but my beliefs have evolved considerably. I believe everyone is “saved” eventually, but that can take more time for some than others. Anything less than unity and acceptance are incompatible with God, and it takes some people a lot of self-reflection to get there.
Have you ever considered that God is perfectly Just? That anything less than justice and letting sin go unpunished is incompatible with Him?
Why would he need to punish? Seems a bit petty for supreme being
Isn’t Justice a good thing?
How do you define it and what role does punishment play?
Apart from a slightly shorter lifespan, what fid Hitler get for the millions he killed? What about those in more recent times who murdered innocent protesters in the USA? Will they ever face justice? Deep inside, the majority of people feel a wrath against these people, those who senselessly killed and/or hurt other people. Human society from all across the world has always attempted some form of justice or judgment system. Justice is something that we all feel needs to be quenched somehow. It’s the same as how would you define love- it’s not observable, it’s not provable, it’s not material, but you can still see the effects love has on a society. The Bible speaks about God’s wrath a lot- and His craving for Justice. That He will deliver it. A god without Justice is a pushover and not a perfect God at all. If you saw a society where people were hurting each other, and the King presiding over it refused to punish anyone because “I’m a loving King no good loving King would punish his subjects” would you say that was a good King?
What role is Jesus’s death playing in salvation then? Is the idea that his sacrifice is such a powerful gift that it can’t be rejected?
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