Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: x7mx@vax5.cit.cornell.edu Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: One way to Heaven Message-ID: Date: 11 May 91 02:56:35 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: CIT, Cornell University Lines: 25 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , jbaird@bbn.com (Janet Baird) writes: > I am a born again Christian and believe that Christ is the only way to > Heaven. This is understandibly an unpopular belief with many people > because that means that everyone else is going to hell (whether you are a > good person or not). I find this belief is probably one of the most > difficult things about being a Christian. I exchanged some email with Janet, and now I think I'll open my question to the net: for those who think so, why *exactly* is being a Christian neccessary for salvation? As far as I can tell, the Bible is silent on this. If anything, I can find references that state: follow Jesus ==> saved ... or something to that effect. I have not seen anything that explicitly states not follow Jesus (explicitly ie by name) ==> not saved My stand: I personally do not think it plausible that God would condemn good-intentioned people who do not invoke Jesus' name (lower case "n" ie the letters JESUS) but who follow his commandments nevertheless "Love one another ... ". These are people who do not label themselves Christian. Chris