Where does an atheist go?

[saxy_jag]

If an atheist dies and discovers that, after all, there is a heaven and a hell, and if the only thing he's ever done wrong is not believe in God (if indeed non-belief is a sin), where does he end up?

Also, would it matter whether he was someone who had just never known about God (therefore couldn't have believed in it), or was someone who had been told about God and rejected the idea?

[sandyRoe]

He, or she, would go to Limbo to be purged of their sin. In due course they would be admitted to Heaven.

[Mosaic]

The essence of the New Testament message is that the ethical goodness of a person counts above adherence to a specific faith. So if the god in question is the Yahweh of the New Testament then your in luck. Course, if it's Father Odinn, then you might be toast.

[evedawn]

As far as I am aware the bible teaches that in the abscence of hearing about the Christian faith then they will be judged on the inherent nature of their conscience...(which we all have). I aso think that the the bible says that the only unforgivable sin is "blaspheming against / or denying" the Holy Spirit. Thus an atheist who has always denied the existence of God, therefore denies the existence of His Holy Spirit and is an unforgiavable sin and therefore won't get to heaven....theologians pls feel free to put me right if I am wrong.

[saxy_jag]

Thank you all.

For the record, my personal belief matches Ellieee's.

However, there was a 'thought for the day' type piece in my local rag the other day by a local religious man. It was mainly around the 'free will' issue.

This man believes that hell is a 'guarantee' of free will, because if there were no choice (i.e. no hell = 'not God' = atheist) then you couldn't actively choose it. As it is, the good Christian chooses God over 'not god' and so is given free will by God. Otherwise God would effectively force people to choose 'him' by sheer dominance of will, and that, says this man, is certainly not the loving God that most Christians sign up for.

Basically, it seems as though he's saying (correct me if I've misunderstood) that we only have free will because of God and if we choose to reject God then we choose hell.

But the way I see it, as an atheist, is that if there's no spiritual life after death (I believe we go back to dust and become other, physical life), then I'm not going to be disappointed. But if it turns out I'm wrong, then it looks as though, I'm going to be OK anyway, as long as I continue to be good whilst I'm alive.

Either way, it looks as though I can't lose.

[saxy_jag]

Full article here: http://www.thisisleic...2-detail/article.html

Your ideas would be welcome.

[tamborine]

in the memories of those known to you

[McMouse]

You can be atheist and be without sin. Therefore you should be neither rewarded nor punished for not believing in God. When you die your mortal remains get disposed of and your existance remains in the memory of those who knew or knew about you. In my view.

[keyplus90]

Very intelligent question this one is. But the only problem is, this has been asked so many times before. But you still have two very valid points in the second paragraph.

First point is about being informed about god. Being a Muslim I believe it is my duty to tell people around me (for that specific reason) about God (at least once). Now if he/she takes that as intrusion into his/her life then in the hereafter they would not be able to blame others for not informing them. And I would not be held responsible for not having done so. For that very reason God says in Holy Quran that no human would be punished until he/she got the message and then decided not to believe in that. And that was the only reason for sending around 125K messengers (from Adam to Muhammad) with all giving the same message.

Second point about being informed but not accepted at time is more interesting. Few people believe that they are so clever to listen to others especially with words from old outdated books. Obviously you can’t do much about them as according to them they are aware of everything and are willing (I hope) to come across the situation you described in your question. But others are confused because if I am telling them about Islam then someone else is telling them about Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, or many other isms’. But for only that reason God has given people ability to see, listen, think and compare with open mind. However if I can’t convince someone else that Islam is the truth and he/she can’t convince me either then it come to the point where we just wait and see.

[naomi24]

//You can be atheist and be without sin.//

Not sure what you mean by that, McMouse, but if you're saying that the concept of sin is alien to an atheist, you'd be right. The word has been long stricken from my dictionary - and rightly so.

Ellieee, if you get there first, chill the champagne - I'll see you wherever. ;o)

Keyplus, most questions have been asked before in one way or another - but some people weren't here at the time so they missed the discussions.

[saxy_jag]

Not that I'm too worried. If there does, by some remote chance, turn out to be a heaven and a hell, I think I'm going to head downstairs whatever St Peter says. Couldn't stand all those ambrosia parties and harp concerts for a start - and all that white! I'd be scared to set foot in the place for fear or dirtying the carpet. At least in basement, all my mates will be there and I can just chuck the rubbish on the fire when I've done.

Naomi/Ellieee - shall I bring the sausage rolls?

[sara3]

where ever I end up, I assume most of my friends will be there too.. or we'll all be nowhere at all :o)

[naomi24]

Good thinking Saxy. :o)))

[mibn2cweus]

I wasted far too much precious time pondering and worrying over where my corpse will ultimately end up when the only obvious conclusion one can draw from such an investigation is . . . you're missing out on the journey.

[saxy_jag]

At the risk of hijacking my own thread, someone posted this to Facebook this afternoon:
http://www.godblock.com/

[naomi24]

Saxy-jag, when you have something like that to post, I'd say it's legitimate to hijack any thread. If that's genuine, every home should have one.

[WaldoMcFroog]

According to their followers, rejecting Abrahamic gods is enough to get you sent to the burny place in and of itself, therefore, answering the question accurately, the atheist concerned would go to hell.

I realise that some people have problems grasping this, but knowing the answer to this question no more makes it an issue about real things than knowing Sauron's mum's bra size would make Lord of the Rings real.