- Anything Else -

Two schools of thought

In Reply to: Question for Biblical Scholars & Enthusiasts posted by MDG on November 19, 1999 at 00:46:43:

: It's always enjoyable to watch people debate the Judeo-Christian bible.
: Here's my question for you: according to the Bible, if man X lives a decent, charitable life but remains an atheist to the day he dies, never having been baptized nor accepted Christ as his saviour, while man Y lives a life of brutality and murder, but on his deathbed accepts Christ and begs for salvation, who goes to Heaven, and who to Hell?

It depends on the denomination and the relative importance of "works." Augustine, in City of God and Confessions argued quite eloquently for the primacy of good works, whereas Luther, in his 99 Theses argued for the primacy of faith.
The Catholic tradition would therefore favor the good atheist over the evil believer, whereas the Protestant tradition would tend to favor the repentant sinner over the unrepentant heathen (see how the words alter the perception?) However, the Catholic Church also proposes a third alternative, in the form of Purgatory, which Lark hilariously described as a "sacred carwash." Purgatory is a state between heaven and hell where people who are too good for hell, but not good enough for heaven get to spend a few eternities absolving themselves.
Of course Augustine had "lived the life of a sinner" before writing, so he probably had a personal stake in the answer, whereas Luther had his revelation while sitting on the toilet, so he was probably predisposed to think of the material world as less than perfect. ;-)
-Floyd

Follow Ups:

• The Hindu tradition Nikhil Jaikumar DSA MA, USA November 21 1999 (0)