Wow, I must be mistaken about what Christianity teaches and what Christians believe. I thought that Christianity teaches, “Either believe in Jesus or go to hell.” I thought that Christians believe that “either you believe in Jesus or you go to hell.”
Am I wrong about ths?
Apparently so. At least, judging from some of the entries posted in the Comments Section here over the weekend — to which I have my own responses, in bold, below…
As you know, last week I posted a blog about Barack Obama’s beliefs, and about a Newsweek article in which Obama declared both that (a) he is a Christian, and (b) he does not believe that his mother is in hell — despite the fact that she never, as far as Barack knew, embraced Christ.
i then asked…can a person believe that God does NOT send us to hell if we do not accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and still call himself a Christian?
I received this fascinating response from Jim T. …

Neale, I don’t think it is fair to paint all of Christianity with the “accept Jesus or go to hell” label. That is the view of the vocal minority of fundamentalists, but far from a universal Christian belief.
Most mainstream Christian churches long ago rejected the doctrine of eternal damnation because, as you often point out, it is unworthy of a loving God.
Some have even taken the more enlightened step of making a distinction between “Jesus” and “Christ.” Christ is much larger than Jesus. Christ is the infinite spirit that bridges the gap between suffering humanity and God. Christ is as ever-present as God.
Jesus embodied Christ, but Christ is infinitely bigger than Jesus. So when Jesus said “No man cometh unto the father but by me” he was not referring to his personal self, but to the larger Christ he reflected.
Jesus left the Earth two thousand years ago. Christ never left. It predated Jesus as well. Not as the human personality Jesus, but as ther universal spirit of Truth and Love, ready to lead us whenever we are ready. Christ is the spirit behind the CWG books.
Many Christians already accept this more enlightened view. Please don’t lump us in with the noisy fundamentalists who think their spiritual education was finished after first grade.

Wow. Is this true? Can this be accurate? Are you really telling me that “Most mainstream Christian churches long ago rejected the doctrine of eternal damnation because…it is unworthy of a loving God”????
Wow. I never knew that. Then along came a person posting as “karemiss” to add to the discussion…

Personally I think people should stop putting all Christians in one basket. If any one has read Jesus words, they would come to realize, independently of what any doctrine has established, that he puts people’s salvation squarely on their shoulders: forgive, do not judge, help, give, and above all, love. And yes, he did say that he was the way -once. But when his diciples (who obviously at the time had no quite understood the message) asked him if they should destroy a city that did not beleive in him, Jesus rebuked them.
He also clearly says that just to say that you “prohesize” in his name won’t do much. It is your actions and intentions, how much mercy, charity, respect, honor and love you showed towards others which will make you worthy. Jesus himself was accused of being evil, because he did not conform to the rules of a group of people. His answer? Evil does not destroy its domain by doing good.
Not all Christians believe that non-Christians are going straight to hell just because of their believe. We believe God is a loving, just father and we trust him to deal with people as a loving, just father would.

Wow. Is this true? Can this be accurate? Are you really telling me that “Not all Christians believe that non-Christians are going straight to hell just because of their belief”?????
Wow. I never knew that.
Could some Christian ministers or teachers help us here? Does anyone have the scoop on this? Is it true or is it not true that all souls that have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior go to hell? And…if a person does not believe this, can that person call himself a Christian?

Just wondering here, because we’re getting some conflicting understandings…and I thought that the basic Christian doctrine was pretty clear cut on this issue.
Somebody? Anybody? Are Jim T. and karemiss all wrong on this? And if they both really believe what they wrote — and don’t change their mind before they die — are Jim T. and karemiss going to hell?
Inquiring minds want to know.