Hell and the mercy of God
Many Christians hold that God’s love rules out eternal torment, and read hell as the Bible’s picture-language for judgment on wrongdoing.
Salvation, heaven, and hell
Sin, grace, forgiveness, death, and the life to come, from Scripture and from the long Christian hope, held by teachers from Gregory of Nyssa to C. S. Lewis, that God's love has the last word.
Salvation and people of other faiths
Most mainline theologians hold that Christ’s saving love reaches far beyond the church, because God “desires all people to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4).
Life after death
Christians hope that those who die are with Christ, and that God will one day raise the dead. Scripture is sure of the hope and modest about details.
The assurance of God’s grace
Churches disagree on losing salvation: some say true believers always persevere, others that one can turn away. All agree God receives anyone who returns.
The unforgivable sin
The unforgivable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, is calling God’s healing work evil and refusing mercy. A heart that fears it still longs for God.
Pets, animals, and heaven
Scripture does not say whether pets go to heaven, but it gives grounds for hope: God saves “humans and animals alike” and will set the whole creation free.
Reunion with those we love
Christians hope to see their loved ones again in heaven. Paul comforted mourners with that hope; Scripture is sure of it but says little about details.
God’s forgiveness
God will forgive you if you turn to God and ask. “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9).
Jesus and the world’s religions
Christians confess Jesus as the only way to God. Many trust that his saving love reaches further than the church, to people who never learned his name.
Becoming a Christian
You become a Christian by turning to Jesus in trust: pray, read a Gospel such as Mark or Luke, find a church, and be baptized. No special words are needed.
Jews, Christians, and Muslims
Many churches teach that Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the one God of Abraham while understanding God differently, above all on the Trinity.
The rapture
Christians hope for Christ’s return. A secret rapture before a tribulation is a reading first spread in the 1830s, and most historic churches do not teach it.
Faith, works, and grace
Christians are saved by grace through faith, and real faith bears fruit in works of love, as Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican, and Reformed churches affirm.
Predestination and free will
The Bible speaks of God choosing people in Christ. The mainline churches teach that God chooses people for life and wills all people to be saved.
Heaven
Scripture pictures heaven as life with God: a feast, a city, a renewed creation with no more death or tears. At its heart is knowing and loving God.
Salvation
To be saved is to be rescued and made whole by God through Jesus Christ: freed from sin and death and brought into eternal life, which begins now.
The mainline churches on heaven and hell
The mainline churches confess Christ’s judgment and eternal life with God. Some older confessions teach endless punishment; recent statements stress grace.
Purgatory and prayers for the dead
Purgatory is not named in the Bible. Catholics cite 2 Maccabees 12 and 1 Corinthians 3:15. Orthodox and Anglicans reject it but pray for the dead.
Sin
Sin is turning away from God and from love. The Bible’s main words for it, Hebrew chata and Greek hamartia, mean missing the mark.
Original sin
Original sin is the Christian teaching that every person is born into a condition of sin and needs God’s grace. Churches explain how in different ways.
