Please describe your god's loyalty reward scheme.

[Catholic_Lady]

Also, I want to be clear about your answer to CL.  You do not think most people who are not exposed to the word of Jesus still get into heaven.  Is that correct?

(I know this was meant for AM but I will answer as well lol)

I don't know if it's "most" or "few" or "some..." Can't really put a number on it. But I do think that people of other faiths or no faith at all can go to Heaven. My beliefs of Heaven and Hell are that they are not physical places, but a state of being constructed by our acceptance or rejection of God. So if a person goes through life genuinely not believing in God/Jesus for whatever reason, but they see Him when they die and choose to accept Him, I would say that acceptance puts them in a state of Heaven. Perhaps it'll take some transitioning to finally get to the point of full grace after a lifetime of not knowing God, which is where Purgatory comes in. (But I assume everyone goes through that state of transition before reaching the perfect grace of Heaven.)

Now, how often that happens, whether it's most of the time or rarely or almost always, I don't know.

Lastly, is it your belief that only belief matters, and not other actions/choices in this life? What about harmful acts to others, or even the 10 commandments? 

For instance, if there is a man in Nepal who is a Buddhist for life, and he spends his life taking care of the poor street children, finding them food and medicine, even going without himself sometimes so they are taken care of, he does not accept Jesus (or God), he's destined for hell.  But a person who truly accepts Jesus, but gets drunk and kills a whole family driving, or beats his wife because he has temper issues he can't seem to deal with, he's destined for heaven?

No, definitely not. While I believe that Heaven is the state of ultimate acceptance of God, that acceptance of God actually means something. It isn't just saying "I believe in Jesus as my savior." Since I believe God is goodness and love, "accepting Him" means accepting goodness and love. It means having a desire to do good, to love, to feel remorse for wrongdoings. A person who doesn't believe God exists but who acts out the corporal works of mercy, does good for others, and desires goodness and love, is much closer to God than the person who says they believe in Jesus but then goes home and beats his wife and treats people with hate. I believe the first person, even though they don't believe God exists, will be drawn to Him and want to be with Him when they die and see Him. Because that person has a good heart, and God is goodness. The second person, while it is possible for them to feel true remorse and completely change their heart, I think it is less likely.

It doesn't bother you that other people who call themselves Christian, for instance, would entirely reverse that...and would you still consider those people true Christians?

(Reminds me of a boy I dated in my late teens.  His gran was evangelical, and she did not like him dating me because I was Catholic, which she viewed as basically pagan as we have Mary and all those Saints put just a step below Jesus.  I was not a true Christian in her eyes.)

Well, I am one of those people lol. So no.

One of the things I'm most fascinated by is how different groups of believers rarely agree on anything.
Is life a test?  Some adamantly yes, some adamantly no.  Some not sure.
Is there a literal heaven and hell?  Same, some yes, some no, some not sure.
How to get into heaven?  Depends on who you ask.
Can non-believers get into heaven?  Yes, no, maybe.
Are parts of the bible allegorical or factual?  Some parts, maybe all parts, dependson who you ask.  
And all of this can vary even within sects, because people feel more free nowadays to reject some parts of their own faith, insert what makes the most sense to them personally, then claim it with any confidence at all.  "Well, I think...." That's nice, but that is't what your faith teaches, what's in the bible, etc.
And on and on and on.

And these are all people who band together and claim to believe in the same God.  They have no more in common with each other, belief wise, than we do with them. /Ironic

Yeah, Christianity is very diverse in certain details. But at the end of the day, the fundamental principles of Christianity are mostly still the same throughout most denominations worldwide (unless we're talking about a fringe group like the Westboros, etc).

So long as Christians live out the corporal works of mercy and try to follow the teachings of Christ, the smaller details like whether the OT is allegory vs historical fact, who goes to Heaven, etc, doesn't bother me.

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Are you only OK with the different possible paths all because you believe you have chosen the correct path, though?  

Not sure what you mean by "OK with."

Also, I want to be clear about your answer to CL.  You do not think most people who are not exposed to the word of Jesus still get into heaven.  Is that correct?

Since I believe that life begins at conception and I subscribe to an age of accountability doctrine, most people go to heaven. You're only considering adults.

My question then is, why are they going to be punished when they didn't get the same choice, just for "inventing a false religion?"

First, they're not punished for just inventing a false religion. As the Romans 2 passage shows, they're punished for all their sins.

Second, you're using a general sense of fairness. When you consider it as matters of justice and grace, there's no need for God to offer the same grace to everyone, as grace is by definition unmerited.

Third, it can be argued that everyone gets a final shot at accepting salvation after death. I haven't studied it enough to have a firm opinion. Check 1 Peter 3: 18-20 if you're interested.

Lastly, is it your belief that only belief matters, and not other actions/choices in this life? What about harmful acts to others, or even the 10 commandments? 

Nope.
We're condemned for our sins, which include both actions and thoughts.
We're saved by confession and belief.
We earn eternal rewards through our actions here in this life.

For instance, if there is a man in Nepal who is a Buddhist for life, and he spends his life taking care of the poor street children, finding them food and medicine, even going without himself sometimes so they are taken care of, he does not accept Jesus (or God), he's destined for hell.  But a person who truly accepts Jesus, but gets drunk and kills a whole family driving, or beats his wife because he has temper issues he can't seem to deal with, he's destined for heaven?

If the man in Nepal has heard of Jesus and rejected him, then yes, that's correct.

It doesn't bother you that other people who call themselves Christian, for instance, would entirely reverse that...and would you still consider those people true Christians?

Bad theology bothers me, but no one's theology is perfect. Mine is different than it was 30 years ago. I basically go by the Apostle's Creed as the minimum shared beliefs necessary for me to consider someone a Christian. I also distinguish between leaders (more responsibility for truth) and lay people (less responsibility).

(Reminds me of a boy I dated in my late teens.  His gran was evangelical, and she did not like him dating me because I was Catholic, which she viewed as basically pagan as we have Mary and all those Saints put just a step below Jesus.  I was not a true Christian in her eyes.)

---

One of the things I'm most fascinated by is how different groups of believers rarely agree on anything.
Is life a test?  Some adamantly yes, some adamantly no.  Some not sure.
Is there a literal heaven and hell?  Same, some yes, some no, some not sure.
How to get into heaven?  Depends on who you ask.
Can non-believers get into heaven?  Yes, no, maybe.
Are parts of the bible allegorical or factual?  Some parts, maybe all parts, dependson who you ask.  
And all of this can vary even within sects, because people feel more free nowadays to reject some parts of their own faith, insert what makes the most sense to them personally, then claim it with any confidence at all.  "Well, I think...." That's nice, but that is't what your faith teaches, what's in the bible, etc.
And on and on and on.

And these are all people who band together and claim to believe in the same God.  They have no more in common with each other, belief wise, than we do with them. /Ironic

See above on Apostle's Creed.

I thought the Apostle's Creed was Catholic??