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"Atheists Can Go To Heaven"
Recently the Pope of Rome made such a declaration. This is strange since the
Catholic Church teaches that the Bible is a book of truth. But they do not treat
the Bible as being fully truth, because a Pope can change it whenever he wants
(or at least that is how it appears to those who are not Catholic).
But getting back to our subject of atheists going to heaven. If one reads the
Bible correctly, they will find that there is only one way to heaven. That way
is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Last time I checked, the atheist does not
believe in God. Also since Jesus Christ is God,they do not believe in Jesus
the Son of God (who also does not exist for them).
First of all, why would an atheist want to go to heaven in the first place?
If they do not believe in God, they certainly cannot believe in anything that
God says exists.
Why would the Pope tell these unbelievers that they can still go to heaven if
they do not believe in God? The Pope is just a man and man is not God.
Such thinking is not limited to the Pope. Many other teachers who claim to be
enlightened with the truth of God have also come out and publicly stated that
even atheists can go to heaven. In fact by their reasoning, even a rock can
go to heaven.
The atheist is confronted with the Bible, yet they do not consider it as coming
from God. They call it a myth or some other derogatory name. They certainly
are not going to follow its teachings. This makes them fools. Psalm 14:1: "The
fool hath said in his heart,"there is no God"..." Atheists will
not believe anything written in the Bible even though the Bible has been proven
truthful every time it is challenged.
But just think of all the "Christians" who do not follow the Bible.
They claim to love the Lord, and they sometimes go to church, but they live
just like the atheists by practicing fornication, lying, stealing, getting drunk,
breaking the law, and just being selfish in everything.
In 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8, we read: "...when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing our retribution
to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our
Lord Jesus".
Now, the atheist considers that Jesus (who does not exist) is coming from heaven
(which does not exist) dealing out retribution (which will not happen, because
there is no Jesus to do such) on those who do not believe (themselves) and those
who do not obey the gospel (which does not exist because there was no God to
send it to mankind).
The Lord is coming, and will punish those who do not know God. This is from
the Bible, and the Pope is telling them they can still go to heaven? Something
is not right here.
Someone needs to ask the Pope to stick with the Bible or declare the Bible obsolete.
This is the Bible which Catholics believe to be the word of God. Otherwise they
must reject the Pope as the Vicar of Christ, or they must reject God who gave
us the word that does not fade away. The scripture tells us the word of God
abides forever (1 Peter 1:25).
Those who teach that atheists can go to heaven do not believe the Bible, and
in a way they are rejecting the very words of God when they do so. Those who
teach this will teach anything contrary to God's word. Redefining sin, making
sinful activity acceptable to God, and being non-offensive to everyone who sins
is not what God demands. God demands obedience to His word, and those who do
not obey God, will suffer.
Many will call Jesus Lord, but they do not do what He says (Luke 6:46). This
makes them equal to atheists. The person unwilling to obey God will share the
same spiritual destiny with those who do not believe. Revelation 21:8 includes
in the list of sinners the "unbelievers", and their place will be
in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death. We
must also remember that anytime we do not obey God we are considered to be unbelievers.
The Bible tells us that Moses was not allowed entrance into the Promised Land
because of unbelief. If Moses is not allowed in, certainly no atheists will
be allowed in.
By Carey Scott
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