Do other religions still go to heaven?

[Rand_Al_Thor]

i think that anyone can go to heaven if they live their life the way that God wants us to. unless they simply refuse to accept even the possibility of there being a God. i’ve got some friends who are not religious, and one of them no longer believes in God after first not believing, then becoming christian, and now not believing again. but he’s still a good person and helps out with charities and he just says that he doesnt know if there’s a God anymore.

that line “the only way to the Father is through me” was something i was talking with a couple of friends of mine who are lutheran (and amazingly, they dont like it when people interpret the bible literally, word for word; they do what we do and think about what it actually means). we talked about what this line could mean, because we didnt think it could mean ONLY christians could go to Heaven because that would be excluding everyone else, even the jews who are God’s chosen people and ghandi. we decided it most likely means that because of what Jesus did for us (dying for our sins) that we are able to go to Heaven. or it could even mean something as simple as Jesus being at the gates of Heaven instead of St. Peter.

 

[baltobetsy]

“No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus is the door to heaven. By His death and resurrection, He made it possible for us to enter heaven. But where is the door? Must one enter the door here on earth, through baptism and official membership in the One, Holy Catholic Church? Surely, that is, as an earlier poster said, the safest way. But are there other paths to the door, less safe and less certain, but still ending at the door to heaven?

Here’s how I picture it: Jesus said, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” To me, the narrow gate is the Catholic Church. If one lives a good life, obeying the laws of Christ and His Church, receiving the Sacraments, praying, trying to bring others along with him to heaven, then he is on the path to the narrow gate that leads to eternal life. He can always fall off the path due to sin, but the Sacraments give him a hand up right back to the path. Some things, like devotion to Our Lady, and living a childlike faith, as taught by St. Therese of Lisieux, doctor of the church, turn the path into an escalator or even an elevator on which the trip is even safer and more direct.

But the love of God is so much broader than this narrow path. He desires the salvation of everyone whom He has created in love. So it is possible that many other paths will end up at the door to heaven. Jesus is still the door, but the door is at the end of the path instead of at the beginning. Good people of all religions or no religion at all (the invicibly ignorant) can travel these paths, albeit with more difficulty and less safety, and still end up going through Jesus, the door, to heaven. Many people will be surprised at their individual judgement - yes, there is a God - yes, Jesus is the Way - yes the Catholic Church has the fullness of the truth - and so on. But God is the perfect balance of justice and mercy, and many will be saved who did not use the narrow gate.

So I picture many ways to the door, which is Christ. There are elevators, escalators, staircases with and without railings, ramps, rickety ladders and treacherous mountain paths. Surely, many are lost from all the ways - nothing is certain until death. But some ways are safer than others. If a person well aware of a safe path to heaven were to reject it in order to choose a more dangerous way, his stupidity would certainly have dire consequences. Conversely, we on the safer paths are obligated to invite others to join us there, out of love.

Many, many souls are on a more or less dangerous path to Christ, purposely or not. Our Protestant brothers and sisters are consciously going toward Christ, without the benefits of membership in the Catholic Church. Jews, Muslims, Hindus and others who believe in God strive to reach whatever heaven they believe in, and may find Jesus at the end. Atheists and agnostics of good will may be surprised and delighted to find that they were wrong and that God is merciful. This is what I understand by Baptism of Desire. There is no salvation outside the Church, but many are in the Church unknowingly by virtue of Baptism of Desire.

In no way do I mean to diminish the value of the Catholic Church as the definitive path to heaven. I do mean to praise the merciful love of God for all His creatures in opening the way of salvation to those of good will.

Betsy