Hi, I'm Anna, and all my life I've believed in God and been a Christian. Every once and a while I'll go to church. I pray, I believe, and I love God. And that makes me so happy. But I still have questions..
It is believed that if you don't believe in God, and except Jesus Christ as our lord and savior, then you will go to hell. I do believe in god. But on the other hand, I have many loved ones that don't.. Like my brother, Alex. He's my best friend.. And I've begged countless times for him to understand, that God is a big deal to me, and I'd love it if he would just give our lord a chance.. But he won't. He wants proof..
Everyday I pretty much cry at the thought of my brother dying an atheist, and by others belief, going to hell.. I don't know what to do.. What to think.. Do atheist's go to hell? What do you guys think...
Please help..
I'm sure I have a different opinion than most people here, but it's a forum so I'll share anyway. Feel free to agree or disagree, obviously.
Personally, I think if there's a god then he won't condemn a good person to eternity of pain and torture because they couldn't find enough evidence to spend their life devoted to it. It's a big leap of faith, it really is. On one hand Christianity is so popular (in America at least). God is mentioned in our pledge of allegiance, there are churches almost every other block, and I'm sure everyone in this country knows at least one Christian, but probably more. There's very easy access to it.
On the other hand, is that a good reason to believe in it? I don't think so, and I'm sure you guys can agree with me on that. So what do you have to do to believe? Read the Bible. Ok, that's definitely a good step. But what about all the other religious texts out there? Should you pick Christianity just because it's so dominate here? There's the Quran, Buddhist texts, Hindu texts, you can even follow Thor or Zeus or the Egyption gods! So if you're looking for religious answers doesn't it make sense to explore lots of options so you know you're picking the right one?
I know that as Christians most people on here are probably going to say that they have to feel the Holy Spirit. Read the Bible with an open mind. Of course that's a great thing to do! However, from someone who ISN'T a Christian it's all very confusing because all the texts seem to look and be about the same things, and every religion claims to feel god the way christians do. There's no good reason for an atheist to chose to read the Bible over the Quran because to them it's all the same. So if they want to go about it that way it's going to take YEARS to come to Jesus, if they even do.
Well, some will say, look for evidence. All around there is evidence for God. Ok, where? Look at the trees and the birds and the wind, feel the Holy Spirit. To an atheist you just made absolutely no sense. If we want to go on evidence there's so much evidence supporting evolution. There's evidence for the big bang. It's much harder to find evidence supporting the Bible, it really is. And those who find it often use sources that aren't necessarily approved by the scientific community, so an atheist probably won't find them credible.
So how do you go about this? Well, there's pathos, which is emotion. As this is your brother I'm sure this is used a lot, and it's probably quite effective! However, that will probably cause more people to be upset than it will cause your brother to convert, and may just stir up drama. Then there's ethos, ethics. Meh. This is used a lot but it's really not effective because atheists really do have morals (I'm speaking for the whole. There are always exceptions, but atheists aren't notoriously violent or immoral just as christians and jews and muslims aren't) and convincing them they don't is just offensive and rude. Your best bet is logos, but logic isn't really on your side since it's more faith-based.
Ok, this is a long, ranting post. My main point is this: From an outsider looking in, Christianity isn't as obvious as it is for someone who is already a Christian. It isn't obvious that they should share your beliefs. It isn't obvious that Christianity is the answer. In fact, in a lot of ways an outsider is going to think it's much better to not be a Christian. That doesn't make them a bad person.
And that's the point of this post. It's hard to find the meaning of life. It's not easy to devote your life to a belief. It's not common sense to follow the Bible. That's precisely why I can't believe in a god that sends people to hell because they haven't come to Christianity the same way other people have. I understand that it's not easy to see from his point of view but try to be in his shoes. Is he a good person? Does he try? Does he do good deeds and treat others with kindness? If so, do you really think that there's a higher power who is going to torture him forever because he didn't take this leap of faith? I understand that these are your beliefs but personally, if there's a god then he or she is forgiving and understanding. They understand that there are reasons to not believe. They understand that they aren't easy questions to be asking, nor are there easy answers. They understand that we try our best given the circumstances and if some can't come to this answer in this lifetime, that's ok, because they're forgiving and they created us and love us and gave us free will for a reason.
So no, I don't think your brother is going to hell. I think he has his own beliefs and god loves him and won't condemn him to hell just because he doesn't have a certain belief.
