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Christian concepts of salvation

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26 views

Christian concepts of salvation

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Smile Kent
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Christian concepts of salvation:An introduction to ancient & modern beliefs.

Salvation in the Bible:The


Bible appears to teach clearly that most people -- the unsaved -- will go toHellfor eternal punishment
after death. A minority will be saved and go toHeaven. Whether one is saved or unsaved is obviously of
paramount important to all those who accept the existence of heaven and hell. Unfortunately, although
various Christian faith groupsdefine a specific path to salvation, the Bible appears ambiguous on the
matter:Various of its passages indicate that a person will be saved and go to Heaven if they:are
baptized,repent of their sins,trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior,do good works,follow church rituals,
and/oravoid certain specific behaviors -- activities that are often not clearly defined.But there is no
consensus on what precise minimum combination of these six factors are required to guarantee a
person's salvation.Teachings vary throughout the Christian Scriptures(New Testament):The synoptic
gospels seem to teach that salvation is dependent upon one's works.The Gospel of John mostly teaches
that only thosewho accept that Jesus is the Son of God will be saved.Paul teaches that only those who
believe in Jesus' resurrection will be saved.Other passages seem to require that the Christianmust be
baptized in order to be saved.Various faith groups have attempted to make sense out of these
inconsistencies by emphasizing their ownselection of passages, while largely ignoring conflicting
passages.Concerning those who have never learned of Christianity:There are continuing debates about
the after-death destination of those who have never had a chance to hear the Gospel. Each side
supports their beliefs by quoting their selection of biblical verses.Is salvation permanent?Some teach:
"Once saved, always saved." Other believe that one's salvation can be lost through future sinful action.
Again, each side "proves" that their beliefs are true by quoting favorite biblical verses.Exclusion from
Heaven due to specific acts:Various passages in some English translations of the Christian scriptures
indicate that certain behaviors will keep people out of heaven: e.g. gossiping, murdering, stealing,
sexually abusing children, engaging in same-gender sexual behavior, etc. But the Bible is unclear
whether these behaviors cancel the salvation of a person who has already been saved. Also,
Englishtranslations vary in their description of what the sins are.Sponsored linkundefinedHow did the
early Christians resolve this ambiguity? What did they believe?Since the primitive Christian movement
was only decades away from the direct teachings of Jesus, some theologians believe that the early
Churches' beliefs more accurately reflect Christ's message. However, Christianity has been hopelessly
divided about salvation even from its earliest years.The early Christian movement was mainly composed
of three separate movements. They had three diametrically opposed paths to salvation:Jewish
Christians:This was the group founded and led byJesus' disciples and led by his brother James.2Being a
reform movement within Judaism, they believed that salvation was achievedby performing temple
sacrifices and by following the dietary and behavioral rules of the Torah -- the first five books of the
Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). The Jewish Christians were almost wiped out in 70 CE when the
Roman Army attacked Jerusalem.Gnostic Christiansbelieved that Jesus was sent by God to impart special
knowledge to save humanity. With this knowledge, one can attain heaven; without it, one is lost.
Although they formed a very prominent part of early Christianity, they were almost completely wiped
out by the Catholic Church. A small group of Gnostics survived persecution to the present day; their
group is now rapidly expanding.Pauline Christiansformed the movement that later became the Roman
Catholic church. In the first and second centuriesCE, the movement emphasized the necessity of good
works and baptism to attain salvation, forgiveness of sins, and heaven. For example:Justin Martyr(110 -
165) was a Christian philosopher who lived from 110 to 165 CE. He wrote that "if men by their works
show themselves worthy of His design, they are deemed worthy of reigning in company with
Him."TheNicene Creedwas written and approved by 318 leaders of the early Catholic church at theFirst
Ecumenical Council at Nicea, in 325 CE. It linked salvation to baptism: "We acknowledge one baptism for
the forgiveness of sins."What do the Christian churches believe now?In recent centuries, the
conservative wings of Christianity have generally taught that the vast majority of individuals are
"unsaved". Such people are isolated from God, and lost in their sins. Althougheveryone has eternal life
after death, only those who are "saved" eventually go toHeaven, where they receive rewards beyond
our imagination. The vast majority of humans end up in Hell where they are tortured endlessly without
hope of mercy or relief from their pain. The losers would presumably includeall Agnostics, Atheists,
Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Neopagans, and followers of other non-Christian religions. To this list of the
"lost" are added many Christians who had not met certain specific criteria for salvation. During the 20th
century, there has beenconsiderable softening about the teachings on hell and salvation within many
denominations.

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