Quote:
Originally Posted by il Padrino Ute
I'll take it a step further and comment that it seems the born again view on salvation accepts death bed repentance as a valid way to enter heaven.
IMO, that is rather ridiculous.
Of course, perhaps born agains don't really believe it and I just don't understand their belief on it.
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One coworker I had soon after the Tsunami hit SE Asia was a very devout Christian and definitely believed most of the people who died were not saved because the percentage of Christians in those countries is pretty low. I think he felt sad about that idea, but it was definitely what he believed. I don't think that's uncommon among the more hard core evangelicals. The problem is their theology makes no provision for those who don't know they're supposed to believe in Christ. We're all sinners, and the only way to heaven is through belief in Christ. So everyone else is toast. If you want to be a biblical literalist, the Calvinist idea actually makes the best argument. If it really is only about grace, then saying a prayer or trying to have faith is not relevant either, since God can decide to accept you or reject you, despite your efforts. Otherwise you do believe in certain works, at least.
What really seems unfair to me about that is that God would provide a savior who is only going to be able to save a very small percentage of those who have lived on earth. Most born agains I know either don't want to address that question and prefer not to think about it. A few, (and usually the hard core anti mormons come from this camp) have no problem with believing it and don't care much about those who don't get the opportunity to accept Christ.