Pope Francis Assures Atheists - You Don't Have To Believe in God To Go To Heaven - Europe - News - The Independent

4/17/2016
PopeFrancisassuresatheists:YoudonthavetobelieveinGodtogotoheaven|Europe|News|TheIndependent
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Pope Francis assures atheists: You dont

have to believe in God to go to heaven
Michael Day | @michael2day | Wednesday 11 September 2013 | 262 comments
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Pope Francis gestures upon his arrival in St Peter's square Getty Images
In comments likely to enhance his progressive reputation, Pope

Francis has written a long, open letter to the founder of La
Repubblica newspaper, Eugenio Scalfari, stating that nonbelievers would be forgiven by God if they followed their
consciences.
Responding to a list of questions published in the paper by Mr
Scalfari, who is not a Roman Catholic, Francis wrote: You ask
me if the God of the Christians forgives those who dont believe
and who dont seek the faith. I start by saying and this is the
fundamental thing that Gods mercy has no limits if you go to
him with a sincere and contrite heart. The issue for those who do
not believe in God is to obey their conscience.
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Sin, even for those who have no faith, exists when people
disobey their conscience.
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More about: | Catholicism | Catholic Pope | Christianity | Churches |

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Rethink: Thailand
262 Comments
Sergeant564
The dialogue rocks with
fabulous one-liners
www.godisimaginary.com
youll ache to try out in
Reply the
Sharepub
1 reply
yitsheyzeus
Subscribe RSS
107 days ago
+1 likes
52 days ago
re.whenistheapocalypse.com
Reply Share
dropzonedelta
0 likes
109 days ago
Alarm bells should be going o. Eternal life is not rewarded

for good living; that would contradict many other Scriptures
which clearly state that salvation is not by works, but is all of
Gods grace to those who BELIEVE (e.g., Rom 6:23; 10:9-10;
11:6; Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5. Furthermore, Conscience is an
important part of human nature, but it is not an absolutely
trustworthy indicator of what is right. Ones conscience can be
good (Acts 23:1; 1 Tim 1:5, 19) and clear (Acts 24:16; 1 Tim
3:9; 2 Tim 1:3; Heb 13:18), but it can also be guilty (Heb
10:22), corrupted (Titus 1:15), weak (1 Cor 8:7, 10, 12), and
seared (1 Tim 4:2). All people need to trust the Lord Jesus
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Christ so that the blood of Christ might cleanse [their]

consciences (Heb 9:14).)
Reply Share 4 replies
Duncan
+4 likes
71 days ago
You're going up against the Pope eh? Good luck with

that.
Reply Share 1 reply
susan511
+1 likes
57 days ago
the pope is going up against Jesus and God. Jesus

said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. NO
ONE comes to the Father but through ME." Jesus
also said that small is the gate and narrow is the
road that leads to heaven and few nd it. while
wide is the road and broad is the way that leads to
hell and everyone who does not nd the narrow
way is on the broad way.
Reply Share
Rommel
+1 likes
69 days ago
Very well said. Very well done. Do you know who he

really is.
Reply Share 1 reply
derek
0 likes
69 days ago
He's just a bloke. Have I missed the point?

Reply Share
Frank
+1 likes
110 days ago
So let me get this straight - The Pope says you dont have to
believe in God to go to Heaven - But you must go to him with a
sincere and contrite heart . So- who that dosent believe in God
is ever going to do this - You either believe or you dont - is this
guy smoking something
0 likes
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Andrew
110 days ago
How about any non-believer who chooses to be good for

its own sake, not out of fear of Hell or out of obedience
to an omnipotent deity?
That seems to t the bill.
Reply Share 1 reply
susan511
0 likes
57 days ago
the problem with that is

There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.
Psalms 14
Reply Share
Ncrdbl1
0 likes
111 days ago
To put it as bluntly as can be. The Pope has basically called

Jesus a liar. "No man comes to the father but through me."
Kind of blows a hole into what the pope claims. Also if it is
possible for man to get to heaven through his deeds then Jesus'
death on the cross was meaningless. This man needs to be
removed from his position as leader of the church. The
Cardinals need to wake up and do what is needed.
Bruce
+2 likes
111 days ago
As world renowned theologian Bart Ehrman put it in his

groundbreaking book "Misquoting Jesus" no one knows
what Jesus really said. We don't have any rst or second
or even third hand witnessed accounts of anything he
did or said. All we have are copies of copies of copies of
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copies of anonymously authored stories about him that

were not even written down until decades after he died
in a language he didn't even speak. But that doesn't stop
ignorant fools who know almost nothing about the
origin, evolution, and transmission of the bible from
"authoritatively" misquoting Jesus. They naively believe
because the King James Bible says something it must be
true. The Pope hasn't made a liar out of Jesus because
no one has any assurance they even know what he did or
said, it's all a bunch of hearsay stories. Of the 40 or so
discovered ancient Gospels only 4 have been accepted as
"authentic" by church authorities the rest are deemed to
be fraudulent. Amazing how they were able to pick out
all the "real accounts" from the false ones don't you
think?
Reply Share 1 reply
derek
0 likes
111 days ago
If no one knows what Jesus said or if the bible is

just a book of errors then the pope still has no
business telling humanity who is going to heaven.
Because he could not possibly be sure. I am
always suspicious of these books you mentioned. I
wonder how many copies he would have sold if he
had written a book on how everything in the bible
was correct. Not many I suggest. I may be
disingenuous here because not knowing is no
reason to sco. It's just that I have seen it so many
times before. For your information the bible text
has been copied many times but it seems well
documented that it was always copied with 4
onlookers checking every syllable. Each mistake
was not only corrected but noted in the margins.
Checked again and again. Also there is nothing in
the bible that disagrees with science. Quite a
coincidence if it is just a book of mistakes.
Reply Share
Andrew
+1 likes
110 days ago
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4/17/2016
Not at all. Jesus says, constantly, that the way is to

emulate his example and actions, not to give lip service.
Someone can state their non-belief, but still be kind and
giving to their fellow humans.
I love that you think you have a stronger grasp on
Scripture, what it says and what it means than the Pope.
Reply Share 1 reply
derek
0 likes
71 days ago
As the popes comment proves you need to read

the bible to speak the truth. If he has read it he is
not quoting it. it's that simple
Reply Share
Klemtonius
0 likes
73 days ago
You don't have to be devoted christian in order to

acknowledge the existence of jesus. But in that case he
would've just been a man who wanted to do good, stories
about whom have been exaggerated by a church who
needed a pivot prophet to reinvigorate a religion. And
there's the problem with taking the bible as an absolute
truth; you become blind to the clarity and soundness of
the pope's comment, that the most important thing is to
just do good. If you were god, wouldn't you welcome a
person who in all his might loved and cared for the
people around him, regardless of his faith in you? I dare
you to answer with a simple yes or no.
Reply Share 1 reply
derek
0 likes
72 days ago
Yes I would. But why would god set out his rules
and then on judgement day ignore them. How
would he justify accepting someone unruly as well
as someone who obeyed his rules. What you say is
really nice but I have to disagree with the logic.
God will not accept homosexuals into his new
kingdom. Doesn't stop a homosexual from loving
people and doing good stu. I guess the rules are
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the rules.
Reply Share
getmyextip
0 likes
111 days ago
Darn, this is pretty sad... Now I can't get rid of the damn
heaven even if I am an atheist...
Reply Share 1 reply
derek
+1 likes
72 days ago
God has stated that the righteous will inhabit the earth
and abide upon it forever. For us there is no heaven. It is
all just invented by religions to obtain power over the
masses. And just to make sure that no one read the bible
(which states otherwise) up until 300 ad people would be
executed for just possessing a bible. So you have no
worries there is no heaven for us.
Reply Share
Maitreya
+1 likes
111 days ago
Likewise believers who don't follow their conscience may not

be forgiven. There is a dierence between presuming true and
being true, possibility and actuality. A real atheist doesn't want
to be forgiven and go to heaven. His rejection is respected, just
as in the case of the German who was forgiven by his boss for
making a minor mistake and insisted on being punished. That
is rational, it marks our career. Wouldn't you think that the
procedure of work and reward, crime and punishment hasn't
been much farther aggravated in our economic structure that is
projected in eternity?
sharefun
+1 likes
111 days ago
a real athesist doesn't believe there's a heaven. He may

be open to it if there is convincing evidence ... but he
looks at heaven no dierent than wanting to get gifts
from santa claus or a pet unicorn. provide solid and
convincing evidence (other than a book written by men
2000 years ago) and then an atheist may believe there's a
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heaven to go to.....
Ncrdbl1
+1 likes
111 days ago
An agnostic is open to the idea of God and heaven

if evidence is presented. An atheist does not
believe period evidence or not.
Reply Share 1 reply
Andrew
+1 likes
110 days ago
Ummm, no. An agnostic is open to the

possibility despite it being something for
which concrete evidence can not exist.
An atheist is not open to the possibility
without actual evidence, which, by
denition, is impossible to obtain.
Reply Share
Andrew
0 likes
110 days ago
The people who are really struggling with this are the
authoritarians, who think being a Christian is about lip
service and obedience to those who are ocally "above"
them.
They're the modern example of the Pharisees and their
followers that Jesus regularly confronted in the New
Testament.
Reply Share
RedRoseAndy
0 likes
111 days ago
Likewise, you can believe in God and not get to Heaven.

Churches are full of hypocrites that refuse to give their wealth
to the poor.
Reply Share
Marcos Marcotron
+2 likes
111 days ago
if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart. The issue for
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those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience."

Yes that's all very nice, but how can someone 'go to him with
sincere and contrite heart' if they don't believe in him in the
rst place?
Or is he talking about a moment after we die, and we meet
him...well of course, if suddenly plonked in front of him, who
is going to say 'up yours god!' to someone who could torture us
forever?
Sin, even for those who have no faith, exists when people
disobey their conscience.
The trouble is the 'conscience' is what makes people feel bad if
they've done something wrong...if someone doesn't feel bad
for doing something 'wrong', then that's hardly disobeying
their conscience by continuing to do it, is it?
Basically - if God created everyone - and some people have no
empathy, then who is the being that created those people
without empathy (or created the enviroment that caused them
to have no empathy)? - God.
If 'everything' was created by god, then 'everything' is god's
fault. It's pretty simple.
bobi6192
+1 likes
111 days ago
Christians believe that your conscience will guide you

toward the right action and that everyone has one. Plus
that there is an objective moral standard, which your
conscience follows. If you assume these things than his
comments make sense, since what he is basically saying
is that you did no wrong in the eyes of God if you
followed your conscience, so he will accept you.
There are people which seemingly possess no
conscience, or any human feelings at all in some cases.
Also conscience does not seem to be the objective guide
Christians believe it is, because what a persons
conscience tells them about a certain situation, changes
across people. For example, both pro-choice and pro-life
people in the abortion debate can be driven by
conscience in their support for the position.
But if you believe conscience is an objective guide to
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moral truth, it makes sense.

Reply Share
0 likes
Andrew
110 days ago
Being sincere and humble is, in no way, dependent on

belief in Christianity.
You're conundrum is completely articial.
Reply Share 1 reply
Andrew
0 likes
110 days ago
Sorry, wrong "your"

Reply Share
exasperated
0 likes
111 days ago
well given that I don't believe in god, or heaven, or that this

man has any sort of authoritative voice I really am happy that
he is giving me permission to join his mythical party. Where's
my harp.
Reply Share
+3 likes
LedZep5
111 days ago
That this article oends on quite so many levels with such

succinctity, is in itself remarkable. Other than that, though:
piss o. And take your bizarre concept of forgiveness with you.
Reply Share
+1 likes
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News World Europe

Pope Francis assures atheists: You dont

In comments likely to enhance his progressive reputation, Pope

Here's how to uncook an

Women have explained

journal e Tablet, said the pontis comments were further

Everyone loves this

two women singing on a

In a welcoming response to the letter, Mr Scalfari said the Popes

In July, Francis signalled a more progressive attitude on sexuality,

More about: | Catholicism | Catholic Pope | Christianity | Churches |

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Log in or register to comment

109 days ago

Alarm bells should be going o. Eternal life is not rewarded

Christ so that the blood of Christ might cleanse [their]

You're going up against the Pope eh? Good luck with

the pope is going up against Jesus and God. Jesus

Very well said. Very well done. Do you know who he

He's just a bloke. Have I missed the point?

110 days ago

110 days ago

How about any non-believer who chooses to be good for

the problem with that is

111 days ago

To put it as bluntly as can be. The Pope has basically called

111 days ago

As world renowned theologian Bart Ehrman put it in his

copies of anonymously authored stories about him that

111 days ago

If no one knows what Jesus said or if the bible is

110 days ago

Not at all. Jesus says, constantly, that the way is to

As the popes comment proves you need to read

You don't have to be devoted christian in order to

111 days ago

111 days ago

Likewise believers who don't follow their conscience may not

111 days ago

a real athesist doesn't believe there's a heaven. He may

111 days ago

An agnostic is open to the idea of God and heaven

110 days ago

Ummm, no. An agnostic is open to the

110 days ago

111 days ago

Likewise, you can believe in God and not get to Heaven.

111 days ago

those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience."

111 days ago