Ah, I was raised with the first view - the view that if one believes correctly at the moment of death, one is assured an eternal afterlife, even if one was a raping, torturing, murderous psycho for their entire life up until five minutes before, and that conversely, a person who believed incorrectly would be damned to eternal torment, even if they lived a life filled with charitable deeds, never killed or stole or tormented anyone, and tried to make up any hurts they did to other people.
"The first view tends to encourage adherents to see people as either "saved" or "unsaved." If one holds this view, elitism is inevitable, along with the conviction that others have beliefs which are necessarily in some way "gravely deficient." This divides people instead of bringing them together; and not just Christians from non-Christians. It is inevitable under this view that Christians will divide from one another and debate amongst themselves about which doctrine is necessary for salvation."
THis is a fairly good depiction of the church I grew up in.
The second view is less clear cut and therefore less palatable to the common American black-vs-white way of thinking. It seems pretty obvious to me through my readings of the New Testament that one is supposed to believe in Jesus, yet ones works are a natural outgrowth of that belief. For instance, it becomes hard to swallow the idea that a rich, greedy politician who sleeps with his interns, runs slanderous campaigns about his opponents, and has some shady funding deals going on the side is a good Christian, no matter how much conspicuous church appearances he may make. Then, of course there is always Jesus' speech about "I never knew ye", where he explicity states the only people going to heavan are those who are generous and compassionate towards the less fortunate, no matter who they call God.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2004-03-05 01:19 pm (UTC)"The first view tends to encourage adherents to see people as either "saved" or "unsaved." If one holds this view, elitism is inevitable, along with the conviction that others have beliefs which are necessarily in some way "gravely deficient." This divides people instead of bringing them together; and not just Christians from non-Christians. It is inevitable under this view that Christians will divide from one another and debate amongst themselves about which doctrine is necessary for salvation."
THis is a fairly good depiction of the church I grew up in.
The second view is less clear cut and therefore less palatable to the common American black-vs-white way of thinking. It seems pretty obvious to me through my readings of the New Testament that one is supposed to believe in Jesus, yet ones works are a natural outgrowth of that belief. For instance, it becomes hard to swallow the idea that a rich, greedy politician who sleeps with his interns, runs slanderous campaigns about his opponents, and has some shady funding deals going on the side is a good Christian, no matter how much conspicuous church appearances he may make.
Then, of course there is always Jesus' speech about "I never knew ye", where he explicity states the only people going to heavan are those who are generous and compassionate towards the less fortunate, no matter who they call God.