Atheists can be in heaven?

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I don’t believe that. I feel that being raised is the most likely reason for being a Christian though. I was turned to the religion which I believe in and chose to accept it. I had my parents to turn me there though. These people find no reason to turn their attention to this religion over other ones. Vanitas, can you be sure that you would be a Catholic if it weren’t for your parents?

Also, science has a plethora of physical evidence. It isn’t the same thing.
 
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You basically have to be a Christian to believe those reasons. Not a lot of science.
 
Your friends probably believe in all sorts of things that aren’t proved by science like people have value.
 
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That is also morally believed though. It just to me doesn’t seem too fair that they are told that out of the thousands of religions they are forced to choose the right one.

Buddhism has many great ideas about morality. Why would they choose this one not that one?
 
VanitasVanitatum said:
They have access to that knowledge and they are culpable for not finding out.
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But do they have enough knowledge to know they should investigate further? That’s my point. Simply being aware that Christianity exists hardly seems like enough.
 
That’s up to God to decide, but I wouldn’t be betting on it.
 
I think you sent that reply to the wrong person, I’m not Vanitas. I’ll reply to both.
Dourbest said:
I feel that being raised is the most likely reason for being a Christian though.
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You realize, first of all, that this website has a high concentration of people who converted to Catholicism from multiple faith backgrounds? I’ll agree that the majority of them were already Christians, but as @Bonaventurian said, he was most certainly not Christian when he converted, and here he is.
Dourbest said:
These people find no reason to turn their attention to this religion over other ones.
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Obviously not. Here’s one website with a plethora of conversion stories from multiple religious backgrounds:

Dourbest said:
can you be sure that you would be a Catholic if it weren’t for your parents?
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Yes I can, because I am a Catholic convert. My parents raised me as a nominal non-denom/Baptist. We were not a religious family.
Dourbest said:
Also, science has a plethora of physical evidence. It isn’t the same thing.
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Science has a ton of physical evidence because it is the study of the physical world. It can make no claims on the metaphysical world, and yet Atheists believe it disproves Christianity.
 
VanitasVanitatum said:
That’s up to God to decide, but I wouldn’t be betting on it.
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I mean, I’m a Catholic. I’m not making a case for atheism here. I just think if you define the “knowledge” requirement so loosely it basically becomes meaningless.
 
Dourbest said:
I have plenty of atheist/agnostic/non-religous friends who are good people. I find it difficult to believe this is insta-hell for them. Any thoughts?
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Of course atheists can go to Heaven. 🙂
Also of course they won’t be Atheists any more.
 
VanitasVanitatum said:
Fair enough.
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I could be way off. I just have a hard time imagining every Jew/Muslim/Hindu/whatever is in Hell, even if that person was sincerely trying to follow God in their life, even if their understanding of God was flawed or incomplete. Obviously it would have been better for them to have been Christians, but if they were just sincerely and honestly mistaken, I have a hard time imagining God not judging them by their good intentions.
 
I’ve heard two different sermons on this topic, one by a modern conservative priest, one by a traditionalist. The first priest said, “It is impossible to know this, but I believe that Jesus can and will save everyone.” This took me by complete surprise because this priest is usually very conservative and I believe he holds himself to a very strict code of conduct etc.
The other more traditionally minded priest preached on the subject of the words of transubstantiation, whether the Precious Blood of Our Lord is shed for "all " or for “many”, with his conclusion more in line with salvation being reserved for true believers.
The answer to this issue has been less direct since Vatican II and Dignitatis Humanae, I believe. It really opened up the definition of what “Salvation through the Church alone” means.
I also want to point to Pope Francis’ answer to this question to a little boy. It sure leaves hope for optimism. Hope this helps a little. 🙏❤️
 
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We don’t presume to know who individually goes to Hell. However, the Book of Revelation is clear that the faithless will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.
 
Once in heaven they are not atheists.

At the end of the day, an atheist will believe in God.
 
looskanal said:
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LateranBasilica:
Once in heaven they are not atheists.

At the end of the day, an atheist will believe in God.
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Actually, you can never, ever, ever, know that there’s a God. Belief in God will ALWAYS be a matter of faith, even in heaven.

So there could indeed be atheists in heaven.
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There is no faith in heaven because saints see God face to face. So no, there will not be atheists in heaven.
 
Dourbest said:
I have plenty of atheist/agnostic/non-religous friends who are good people. I find it difficult to believe this is insta-hell for them. Any thoughts?
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There is such a thing as invincible ignorance, and since we are not born with knowledge of our eternal destiny, it would be tyrannical to put somebody in eternal suffering for what they do not know. What is to become of all those generations that never even encountered the concept of God?

Invincible ignorance would save them, and so in a sense for them ignorance is bliss.
However there is a caveat to that situation.

God judges the heart. Thus when an atheist encounters the truth at the moment of death, and in encountering that truth his or her heart is exposed to it, then how that person responds to the truth will ultimately define a persons final destination.

In any case, while God wants us to follow a very narrow and specific path in life in terms of how we ought to approach Christ, It really is up to God in the end who is saved and who is not.

Thus we must be very humble when judging the destiny of others, for a person may do all the right things in terms of good works and following the legal requirement of a Christian life, but still end up in hell because there was no love in their hearts.

Pray for God’s love and pray for the salvation of others, and as controversial and uncomfortable as it might be to hear, pray for your worst enemy; even if it’s Hitler.

The goal of the Church is to save souls, not condemn them. The entire human race is sick.
 
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