Struggling with my Christian belief

And the queen as head of the church in England should be the first to give up several palaces to follow the teachings of Christ

A vicar once told me that Jesus has said 'those who are not against us are for us'. That is a most encouraging thought; I cannot believe that anyone, of whatever faith, could argue with Jesus' teaching which was to love one another, not fight, and forgive everything. His final commandment was 'Love one another as I have loved you'. Those who are willing to accept those principles are therefore not against Jesus and must be 'for' him, and presumably are not heading for hell.

I also am horrified by the Catholic Church and the terrors of purgatory - invented by that church to frighten the ignorant and make them part with money so that priests would say prayers for those in purgatory to be 'raised up' into heaven. I could hardly believe what I was being told when I learned that very recently, and evidently that was the reason for the bible not being translated into English in the middle ages because the church didn't want the 'masses' to realise that purgatory was an invention and that they were being cheated. Organised religion has a lot to answer for. The clergy berate the government for not doing more for the poor when the Church of England is fabulously rich, and owns acres of land in this country. Why don't the bishops sell their palaces and help those in need? How can they profess to follow the teachings of a carpenter and then live and behave like the worst kind of aristocrats? I did not intend this to be a rant, but can I just say Sheilsue that I cannot imagine your suffering and agree with you so much about the pious who criticise those they disagree with. How DARE anyone tell your gd she will go to hell! None of us have any right to judge others and it's that kind of attitude that empties churches of all but the blinkered and bigoted. Rant over.

Missed that one Caro1954 but as a RC myself I would agree! Some of the people I know who call themselves Christian (mother in law and sister in law to name but 2!) are the most unChristian people I know and they are ardent Catholics always off to mass etc. My sister is lapsed but she is such a good example of a true Christian, a kind and lovely and generous person - so who is more likely to go to heaven? Perhaps heaven is the same place as hell (the many rooms) - it is how you see it when you get there. If I were in a room with MIL and SIL then it would definitely be hell, if I was with my dear sister then it would be heaven!

God is loving and merciful and would not allow good people to go to hell.

I haven't read all the posts so I'm sorry if I repeat what others have said. I'm a practising Catholic but I had to laugh at the lady who said she didn't know if she wanted to gp to heaven if some of the Christians she knows would be there! God loves you and all your family and He wants you all to be with Him. But we can't understand all the ins and outs of faith, that's why it's faith! Don't give up, keep praying for your family and trust God. I feel the same as you but that's what I'm trying to do, maybe we could pray for each other too.

If our God is a loving God, which I deeply believe He is, how can He condemn most of His creation into Hell, if they don't believe in a Christian God?
Do you think that the Dalai Lama will go to hell?, what about someone like Gandhi? If the answer is "No", then you can rest assured that the Lord is merciful and all loving and your family, believing or not, will mos certainly not go to hell!
Hope this is helpful.

Having read your email made we wonder if people think the same as me. I believe we are in hell now, what is going on around the world and in our own country.
My faith is humanism we believe that it is how we treat people in this world, the kindness we show to others and our respect for nature.
I find that a lot of Christians can be very harsh about a lot of things, such as gays, young people etc. They only see one side of things and are blinkered. Sorry to say my gd has been told many times she will go to hell because of her beliefs.
As my son was murdered it also made me think about my beliefs. I know I will never see him again and cling to his memories.
Sorry if I have offended anybody but this is how I feel.

As a child I was terrified of hell, but as an adult I certainly don't believe in it.

"They" do say that the only Hell is the one that we build for ourselves here on earth. I think that's probably right. Worrying about the hereafter this way is colouring everything around you and serving no useful purpose, a kindly Father doesn't want to see you worrying in this way. You can only do your best, as can your grandchildren.My youngest daughter has declared herself a pagan, has taken some kind of exam to do with Druids and dabbled in white witchcraft. But, after all, these are the old religions which Christianity incorporated to make it more palatable to barbarians. She is good, kind to a fault and honest - I have no fears for her in the afterlife. We'll be there together, I have no doubt, God sees her heart and those of your grandchildren, I'm certain. That's what he will judge when the time comes.

Believe in the goodness in humanity and the love of God and Jesus. The rest is just basically man made stories used to control us with fear. After a long struggle with religion I now believe that either: we all die and rot in the ground...end of OR there is a greater being that we can not even begin to comprehend so let's leave the final decisions up to them. There is no way possible that any living person could know or fully understand the enormity of death and the possibility of a life afterwards. Just live your life the best you can and continue to love God and Jesus if you wish but just choose not to believe the ridiculous aspect of heaven and hell.

Happgran, we are not born religious we are brought up in something that is the luck of the draw. I was brought up catholic but to hell with that. I made sure my children were entitled to pick their own path and I don't for one minute believe in hell only that " in my fathers house there are many mansions". So don't worry for one second as long as they turn out good people.

Do not fret! If they adhear to the 10 commandments then they are good people, and will not go to hell, if there is such a place!
I am a baptised Christian, however, I have not been confirmed, as I do not want confirmation just to conform. Does this mean I'll go to hell?
I too have non believing children and grandchildren, and that is their prerogative.

Don't usually post, just lurk, but want to say that there a wide variety of belief in the Christian church and just as many previous doctrines are now being changed ie regarding slavery and the oppression of women to name but two, so many Christians no longer believe in a place of eternal fire and torment in the after-life. You may find it helpful to talk to someone from a different churchmanship. There is very little we can say for certain - I am an Anglican priest with an honours degree and MA in Theology and I still struggle with my beliefs!

I agree with foxie in that, if your religion is so fundamental and has so taken over your life that you believe your DC and little DGC will go to hell if they don't see things just as you do it is time to take a step back and think again.
Time to seek help from a kind and thoughtful vicar or similar person of faith who is not a fundamentalist.

I understand your worry, I went to an alpha meeting, I was told that if one doesn't become a born again Christian, that person won't go to heaven but a murderer or such like who becomes born again just before death will go to heaven:
My dad was as near to a perfect, honest, kind human being that can I imagine but wasn't a born again Christian, I was told, no he won't go to heaven, I was so upset, I walked out and didn't go back ?

My old dad used to say that 'this was hell'.

I am not a Christian but if it is love, then all good people who believe in loving ways will be 'saved'.

You can't quantify belief, you either do or you don't. And preaching hell and damnation to the unbelievers is archaic and a thing of the past to scare uneducated peasants. It's all to easy to become indoctrinated on the negative aspects of any religion and if that is thought to be the reason for questioning your faith, then as a thinking person, just walk away. It's that simple.

I understand what your friend meant and don't think it sad

My thoughts on this are ...... If you are a good person who does good for their fellow man/woman, does not break the law, is kind to animals and everything in general to be an upstanding citizen etc .Then you have a person that goes to church but is mean spirited, beats the spouse, will break the law for their own gain - Who is the better person and deserves their spot in heaven ? I spoke to a very religious friend about heaven and the question of meeting loved ones and being reunited and she said we don't look for the people that went before us as God is the almighty so we are there only to praise and love him. That was a sad thought for me.

What happened to your kindness Dee?

As an atheist I try very hard to respect those who have faith in whatever religion they choose but I am really struggling with some of the illogical claptrap here.
Most of us manage to lead lives of usefulness and kindness with a steady moral compass without the artificial construct of religion, whilst other people purporting to be Christians or Muslims do real harm in the name of their idea of what is right.
I live my life in the best way I can, its the one life I have and when I leave it I hope to have done some good in the world. I will be remembered by those I have met on the way, that's enough for me.
I certainly wouldn't want to be in the Heaven of some of the more sanctimonious posters here, that would be my idea of Hell.

I have never thought of her as a stupid woman and have never, ever heard the church call her insipid. Some woman are capable of having a strong faith , live hard lives, endure grief yet still be loving.

It's your opinion of her, not mine and not the church

Why strange? I'm saying she had to be a strong, active woman not the insipid, submissive creature that the Church would have us believe.

Vampirequeen, your view of the Holy Mother is most strange.

She was married, had no choice but to travel by donkey whilst pregnant, no car! , was a refugee , and she chose to be with her son as he died.

Rather like women in the Middle East

I was brought up as a Methodist and I am grateful for its guidance over right and wrong and treating others as we would be treated ourselves. I always found religious belief difficult, though, and I gave it up after my Mother died when I was a young teenager. I am now an atheist. I just cannot believe that our beliefs at the moment of our death will make any difference to what happens to us after death.

I really don't think we should worry about what happens to our children or grand-children after death. They will find their own way. I strongly suspect that it will be neither to Heaven nor Hell but it's a journey that they, like us, will make themselves.