While waiting to speak to my professor after a particularly interesting religion class a couple of weeks ago, I witnessed a debate that I have been pondering ever since. During class, we had been discussing the "narrow path" that Jesus spoke of in the Bible - the path in life that leads to God in the afterlife. My professor taught that to reach God, it matters little what one says, does, or believes; what matters is living life with one's heart centered on God. After class, one student approached her to ask if she understood that she was belittling Jesus' important role in the quest for Heaven. She asked what that role is, to clarify exactly what the student was saying. The student responded by saying that of course beliefs matter; one must believe that Jesus is the Lord if one truly plans to go to Heaven. The professor asked him if he was sure. And so the debate began. I listened for an hour and a half, and since that day, I have been unable to stop asking the question posed that day: Does one need to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and died for our sins in order to get to Heaven?
This topic is of particular importance to me because, according to those guidelines, I will not make it. I live the best life I know how to. I believe in God, love God, and pray to God. I believe that Jesus existed and believe in what he had to say. I do not, however, believe that he was the Son of God. According to the fellow student that I spoke of earlier, this condemns me to an eternity without the privilege of experiencing the God I love so much fully. This concerns me; am I going to Hell on a technicality?
Perhaps it is because it is my afterlife on the line, but I refuse to believe that God, being the gracious and compassionate Father that Jesus spoke of, would condemn one of his children, who believes in and loves Him, for not fulfilling one criteria. As one of my friends put it, "Christianity is not an exclusive religion." If that is true, then how can Heaven be an elitist club? I trust God enough to believe wholeheartedly that if I am lacking in one area, He will be understanding. After all, beliefs of this nature are not easily changed; someone could argue that Jesus was the Son of God all day, but at the end of the day, I probably still will not be convinced. Faith is more intrinsic; It would do me no good to simply agree without faith, and I cannot have that faith if I truly do not believe what I would be agreeing with. I believe that God understands this human predicament.
So, yes, the question that I have raised in this paper concerns me, but it does not necessarily frighten me. I am firm in my own beliefs, and my belief system includes an accepting and understanding God. I have many reasons for my belief on this matter of Heaven or Hell, beginning with the fate of others like me who, for one reason or another, do not accept that Jesus was the Son of God. Take babies for instance: children that die in infancy never have the chance to accept Jesus; does God condemn them for not living long enough to make the "right" decision? In order to cohere to the theory that one must embrace the Christian idea of Jesus in order to make it to Heaven, Hell must be full of newborns. And people in countries where there is no access to Christian doctrine or to the teachings of Jesus? One could argue that they, then, do not believe in God either; however, I disagree. I compare God to a multi-faceted diamond. Each different religion, faith, denomination, or personal belief may only glimpse one side of the diamond, and may only be striving for their own respective side, but when they reach it, I believe that they reach the entire entity, as well. Therefore, if those who live in countries where the name of Jesus is not mentioned, much less the beliefs that surround him, believe entirely in their side of the diamond and live their lives in honor of it in an attempt to be closer to that side, I believe that they will reach it. I find it difficult to believe that their journey would be hindered because of a lack of belief in someone that they do not even know existed.
Another group of people who do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God, but who I doubt will end up in Hell, are the Jews. Jews believe, something like I do, that Jesus was a prophet, a teacher, and a great Jewish man, but not the Lord. However, the Bible refers to the Jews as "God's chosen people." I find it extremely difficult to believe that God would condemn his "chosen people." In fact, if taken literally, Rev 7:4, Rev 14:1, and Rev 14:3 imply that only 144,000 people will ever be saved, all of them from the twelve tribes of Israel: Jews.
My next issue with the idea of one having to have Jesus in life in order to have God in death is one that my religion professor, Dr. Judy Skeen, suggested on the day of the conversation that inspired me to question that statement. She suggested that the Christian belief in the trinity, that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all really one entity, implies that if one believes in God, then one naturally believes in Jesus as well because they are one in the same. Therefore, if one lives their life with their heart centered on God but does not consciously believe in the Christian identity of Jesus, when that person dies, if it turns out that it is absolutely necessary to hold Christian beliefs regarding Jesus, they will find Jesus in God.
I tend to completely agree with this theory regarding the trinity. When I die, if I am wrong, and I may well be, I have faith that God will understand that had I known in life that I was wrong, I would not have remained wrong because I would have changed my opinion. That is one of the peculiar things about faith: one can be wrong, but faith, by nature, prevents one from assuming that they are - if faithful people assumed that they were wrong, there would be no faith. So, if my faith turns out to have failed me, I believe that God will understand this human dilemma, recognize my need for assistance, and give it graciously.
Lastly, Jesus taught that God's grace could never be earned, that it was given freely. There is nothing a human being can do to impress or win over God, rather God's grace is a gift, offered to anyone who accepts Him into their life. If this is so, and I believe it to be, then there is no particular set of beliefs one must hold in order to be saved, one must only center their hearts and lives on God. Those who live a life immersed in God will find their afterlife to be even more Godly.
There are, of course, many objections to my position. Many Christians agree with my classmate on the issue, and many other people do not even believe in God or the concept of Heaven. I recognize the second position raised in that statement, however, in order to keep my argument focused, I will concentrate on the questions raised by those who do believe in Heaven and have strong beliefs on the path that leads to it. The first argument from this point of view is that according to the Bible, Jesus himself says that he is the Son of God and instructs others to follow him in order to reach his Father. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (Harper Collins Study Bible, John 3:16), and "Jesus said to him, ?I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" (Harper Collins Study Bible, John 14:6) are the two most highly referenced quotes from the Bible on this matter. I cannot deny that, according to the Bible, Jesus spoke those words. However, those quotes instruct people to believe in Jesus and come to God through Jesus. Jesus does not says that the only way to God is believing that he is his Son. I, personally, believe in Jesus; I believe that he existed and I believe that he taught the guidelines for making the most of our existence. I find it useful to quote Frederick Buechner on this point. "Jesus said, ?I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me' (John 14:6). He didn't say that any particular ethic, doctrine, or religion was the way, the truth, and the life. He said that he was. He didn't say that it was by believing or doing anything in particular that you could ?come to the Father.' He said that it was only by him - by living, participating in, being caught up by the way of life that he embodied, that was his way. Thus, it is possible to be on Christ's way and with his mark upon you without ever having heard of Christ, and for that reason to be on your way to God though maybe you don't even believe in God" (Buechner 16). I agree with Buechner on this matter. It seems obvious to me that what Jesus was instructing people to do in following him was just that: to follow him and live the way he lived - focused solely on God. The difference between my opinion on this subject and the traditional Christian opinion comes down to the simple difference of interpretation.
Another objection to my argument is one of the founding beliefs of Christianity: when Jesus died on the cross, that was the last sacrifice; no longer were animal sacrifices needed to cleanse one of their sins because, from that point on, Jesus' death absolves those who believe in him of sin, thereby cleansing their souls and making it possible for them to be admitted to Heaven. Continuing in the same theme, Christians believe that Jesus was resurrected from death, and that his followers will also be "resurrected" to eternal life with God in Heaven. In the Christian faith, no one can lead a sinless life, and nothing covers up sin in God's eyes. Christians believe that only by accepting Jesus into our hearts will God see us as pure. As for cleansing one's sins, I believe that if anyone can do it, God can. God knows that we have sinned, but He also understands that that is our nature; we are less than perfect beings. I believe that if we are truly repentant, God will have mercy on us. As for the second half of the aforementioned argument, again, I can only argue a difference of interpretation. Following Jesus and the path that he set out for us and accepting Jesus into one's heart are not the same as believing him to be God's Son. Jesus continually reenforced through his teachings that doing, saying, and believing are minimally important; what is important is living a life focused completely on God by turning one self over to Him entirely. If Jesus himself taught that beliefs are minimally important, and he really was the human embodiment of God, how would he and God be in disagreement on that matter? Would not God, also, recognize that beliefs can be, in some cases, just as transient as acts and words? If not, that contradicts the entire belief that Jesus and God are one in the same; if Jesus views specific beliefs to be of little importance, how could God view those beliefs as stipulations for living in his kingdom?
Lastly, I found one more quote from the Bible that would seem to correct my position: "The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life" (Harper Collins Study Bible, John 5:22-24). Again, this statement comes down to interpretation, as does most everything in the Bible. One can honor Jesus without believing that he was the Son of God, as shown in the Jewish faith. As for believing "him who sent me," according to Christianity, God created each and every one of us, so naturally Jesus was sent from God. I believe that each of us is created for a specific purpose, and perhaps Jesus' purpose, as the Jewish faith believes, was to be a great prophet whose teachings would enlighten human beings as to what God really expects, as opposed to the religious ideas of the time. And, again, if Jesus and God are truly the same entity, then "Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him." However, if that statement is true, then would not the opposite be true as well - that one who honors the Father would also honor the Son?
Of course, as with almost every debate, there are strengths and weaknesses to both cases. In this particular debate, oddly enough, the greatest strength of both cases is also the greatest weakness: the entire situation is left up to interpretation of the Bible and one's own beliefs about God. Neither position can be scientifically proven; science cannot even prove that God exists, much less that Heaven exists, and much, much less who gets in and who does not. In the end, this debate is only another way that we separate our beliefs from others' here on Earth. Again, I must mention that funny thing about faith: all of our beliefs differ at least a little, and yet we all know in our hearts that our belief is the truth. It is impossible for millions of different beliefs to all be the truth, that would contradict the essence of what truth is. My belief is that God understands that and welcomes all of his children as long as they have faith in Him and He is the focal point of their lives. The only conclusion that I think most everyone could agree on is that the matter is all completely in God's hands anyway; anything any human being has to say about God's plans for us is mere speculation.
Sources Cited:
1. Buechner, Frederick. Wishful Thinking. New York: Harper Collins, 1973.
2. Harper Collins Study Bible. New revised standard version. New York: Harper Collins, 1993.
© jessica huby, 2003
