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Genesis
Christianity and Other Faiths: Will Non-Christians go to Hell?
Slide of religious symbols
Here’s a joke I heard many years ago in India, a land of many religions. A Hindu
priest, a Christian priest and a Sikh priest were discussing what they do with the
money the temple or church receives from the people. The Hindu priest said, ‘I
draw a big circle on the floor, and I throw the money in the air. Whatever lands in
the circle is mine, and whatever lands outside the circle is God’s.’ The Christian
priest said, ‘I do the same, but whatever lands in the circle is God’s, and whatever
lands outside the circle is mine.’ The Sikh priest smiled, and said ‘I throw all the
money up in the air. Whatever goes up in the air is God’s and whatever comes
down is mine.’
What should a Christian think about other religions, other faiths?
For many Christians today, and in past times, the answer is quite simple.
Christianity is right, and other religions are wrong. Christianity says that Jesus was
the Son of God, and since other religions don’t believe that, then they are wrong.
Worse than that, they are deceiving people, because they are leading them away
from the truth. I am sure there are plenty of churches in Hong Kong and around the
world that will give you this kind of teaching.
But there are also many Christians in Hong Kong and around the world who
approach other religions in a different way.
Interfaith celebration of peace poster
Here at St John’s Cathedral for several years in the past we have hosted an annual
Interfaith Celebration of Peace. I believe this is important because people often say
that many of the world’s conflicts past and present have been caused by religion:
 Christians against Moslems
 Moslems against Jews
 And in Europe, Catholics against Protestants
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So it’s important to show that people of different religions can come together in
peace, without conflict.
Here is a photo from our last Celebration of Peace.
Interfaith Celebration of Peace in the Li Hall
And I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine.
Arshad
This is Imam Arshad, the Chief Imam of Kowloon Mosque. Several times I have
taken groups from St John’s Cathedral, and interfaith groups, to visit the mosque
and talk with Arshad. He talks about Islam, and answers any questions that people
ask. He’s very honest and open.
Twice Arshad has brought a group of Moslem students from the mosque to visit
the cathedral. They wanted to learn what Christians believe, how we pray, and
what the bible says, and they asked all kinds of questions. Moslems don’t believe
that Jesus was the Son of God, but they do believe he was a prophet. On one of
Arshad’s visits, I told two stories from the gospels - the story of the Woman taken
in adultery, who is saved from death by Jesus; and the story of the Prodigal Son to show what I think are some of the most important teachings of Jesus. When I
finished, Arshad said, ‘This man was indeed a great prophet.’
I count Arshad as a friend, and he calls me brother.
Here’s another of my friends.
Asher
Rabbi Asher, from the Orthodox Synagogue on Robinson Road. Asher is full of
fun and humour, and with it he’s also quite tough and uncompromising about his
faith. Although I sometimes think he takes it all with a pinch of salt. It’s not always
good to take religion too seriously. A bit of humour can help!
I can meet with Imam Arshad and Rabbi Asher, and we can discuss religion
without conflict, and we learn from each other. We can respect each other’s faith,
while holding fast to our own. I’m not planning to become a Moslem or a Jew!
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Let’s move on. Perhaps it’s not so difficult to be friends with people of other faiths.
But where is truth? If Christianity is true, then surely other religions must be
wrong?
It’s very easy to think this way. If I am right, and you think differently, then you
must be wrong. But think about where this path of religious intolerance leads.
900 years ago it led to this:
Crusades
The Crusades – wars between Christians and Moslems for control of the Holy
Land. With consequences that are still felt in the Middle East and around the world
today.
American troops in Iraq
Former US President Bush foolishly spoke about the war against Sadam Hussein in
2003 as a Crusade. In the eyes of the Arab World, that changed it from being a war
to overthrow a brutal dictator. Instead, it became a war between Christians and
Moslems. In the Arab World, the word ‘Crusade’ sparks the same kind of hostile
reaction as ‘Jihad’ does in the Western World.
We have to talk about Islam.
Remember 9/11. The world changed on that day in 2001, when Muslim jihadis
flew the hijacked planes into the twin towers in New York, killing over 2000
people. That was the start of America’s ‘War on Terror’ proclaimed by President
George W Bush. It was the first time we ever heard of Moslem suicide bombers,
Osama Bin Laden, and Al Qaeda.
More than a decade later we see the rise of violent Moslem fundamentalism in
Nigeria, where the terrorist group called ‘Boko Haram’, which is violently opposed
to all Western ideas, has kidnapped 200 girls from a boarding school, because girls
should not be educated.
‘Bring back the girls’
Malala
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Two years ago another schoolgirl, Malala, was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan
because she criticised the Taliban for preventing Pakistani girls from going to
school. What kind of religion is this that is so repressive and so violent? Would we
want to live in that kind of society?
Closer to us, China is also experiencing Islamic terrorism in the recent savage
attacks in railway stations across the country. Last time it was in Guangzhou, not
very far from here.
How should Christians respond to the threat of Moslem fundamentalism and
violent attacks?
We have two choices.
One is to decide that Islam is the enemy that we have to resist, otherwise Islam is
going to take over the world. I have Christian friends who think this way.
But treating Islam as the enemy is a self-fulfilling prophesy. It just makes the
conflict worse. The real enemy is not the whole of Islam, it’s an extremist version
of Islam. I believe that we have to engage with Moslems who are people of peace,
build bridges that can connect us, and work to create good relations. That’s why I
work with Imam Arshad.
If we are going to continue with intolerance of others, saying ‘My way is right,
your way is wrong’, it will only ever lead to more conflict. There must be a
different path.
Elephant
You may know the story of the blind men who encountered an elephant. They
didn’t know what it was.
One grabbed hold of a leg, and shouted ‘It’s like a tree!’
Another found the trunk, and called out,’ Run! It’s like a great snake!’
A third man felt the sharp point of a tusk, and said ‘It’s like a spear!’
And the fourth found the elephant’s ear, and said ‘It has the wings of a huge bird!’
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Each of them was convinced that he was right. But none of them had anything but
a partial understanding.
If we apply this story to our own faith, then it should make us beware of selfrighteousness.
Although we strive to understand God, we know that in a deep sense, God is
beyond our limited human understanding. We cannot fully comprehend God. If
that is true, then a God beyond our understanding cannot belong only to Christians.
Christians believe that all people are made in the image of God. Each human being
carries the divine spark, something of God. We believe that God speaks to us
through our faith. Why should God not speak to others through their faith?
You may think, but we don’t believe in the same God. For example, Christians
believe in God, Moslems believe in Allah.
St George’s Cathedral Jerusalem
When I visited the Holy Land a few years ago, I learnt that a minority, about 20%
of Palestinians are Christians. Their native language is Arabic, so naturally their
church services are in Arabic. And as I listened to their prayers I heard that these
Christians were praying to Allah. At first I could hardly believe my ears. But of
course Palestinian Christians pray to Allah. Why? Because Allah is the Arabic
word for God.
There’s an argument about this in Malaysia, where Moslems want to prevent
Christians from calling God ‘Allah’. They don’t understand that Allah is not the
Moslem God. Allah is simply God.
But doesn’t the bible say that you have to believe in Jesus?
We can find bible texts that seem to claim that Christianity is exclusively true. For
example, in the gospel of John, chapter 14, Jesus says
Slide - I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except
through me.
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But we have to be careful with the text, what it says and what it doesn’t say. A
former Dean of St John’s Cathedral pointed out that Jesus says ‘No-one comes to
the Father except through me.’ In other words, Jesus is the only way that we can
come to an understanding of God as our Father. Jesus doesn’t say ‘No-one comes
to God except through me.’
What I’m trying to do here is to create a space. I’m not trying to knock Christianity
down, and I’m certainly not saying that all religions are the same. I’m trying to
create a space where we can meet with our non-Christian neighbours as friends,
without claiming that we have an exclusive truth. Once we start claiming
superiority over others, we just create the conditions for conflict.
I’ve talked a lot about Christianity and Islam. I want to bring this discussion closer
to Hong Kong and Chinese culture.
Wong Tai Sin Temple
The question of how we regard our non-Christian neighbours is extremely
important to all of us in Hong Kong. You may be in a family where others are not
Christians, where they believe in Buddhism and the traditional Chinese religions.
You may find your family supports you in becoming a Christian. On the other hand
you may encounter lack of understanding and even hostility.
You may also face some practical issues about what you should do in different
situations. As a Christian, should you go to a Chinese temple with your family
members, should you even take part in any non-Christian Chinese religious
ceremonies or rituals?
Some Christians would say that if you are a Christian you should take no part in
any Chinese religious ceremonies. That means that in becoming a Christian, you
would be creating a barrier, a division between yourself and your family.
The previous Dean of St John’s Cathedral, Andrew Chan, who is now the Bishop
of West Kowloon, is a Hong Kong Chinese Christian. He says that some of the
traditional Chinese religious acts are not worship. For example, what we often call
ancestor worship is not really worshipping your ancestors. It’s not so different
from the way that many people in England visit the graves of their parents and
family members every year and put fresh flowers there. It is a way of remembering
and showing respect to the ancestors. It’s not the same as worship.
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In Taiwan, the Episcopal Church (which is part of the Anglican Church) has an
annual church service for honouring the ancestors.
Big Buddha
I’m not saying there’s no difference between Christianity and Chinese religions.
I’m not suggesting that you can go to the temple and worship Buddha one day, and
go to church and worship Jesus the next day. I visit Chinese temples, I’ve visited
the Big Buddha on Lantau, but I don’t pray to Buddha or other gods or deities,
because I’m a Christian.
This session was entitled ‘Christianity and other faiths: will non-Christians go to
Hell?
I often find that one question leads on to another. ‘Will non-Christians go to Hell?’
leads to the question ‘What is Hell?’ I talked a little bit about this in the session on
Suffering a few weeks ago, but now I want to say more.
Dives & Lazarus
Jesus talked about Hell as being like a place of torment. In the gospel of Luke
chapter 16, he told the story of a rich man who feasted every day and a beggar
covered in sores who lay outside the rich man’s gate. The beggar died and was
taken to heaven. The rich man died and was taken to the place of torment, because
he had enjoyed his wealth on earth without giving any thought for the beggar at his
gate.
The final judgement
Also in the gospel of Matthew chapter 25, Jesus told of the time of judgement,
when people will be divided into sheep and goats. The sheep in Jesus’ story are
those who feed the hungry, welcome strangers, care for the sick, and visit
prisoners. They are welcomed into the kingdom of heaven. The goats are those
who have done none of these things, and they are condemned to the eternal fire.
However, there is an issue here for Christians. If we believe, as St John says, that
‘God is Love’, then would such a God condemn anyone to eternal punishment?
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What would that say about God? And isn’t that just scaring people into becoming
Christians?
Many Christians now think of Hell not as a place of physical torment, but as a state
of being separated from God, being so distant from God that we can’t get back to
God again, where we have cut ourselves off from God’s love.
In the 1990s the Church of England produced a statement on ‘The Mystery of
Salvation’, including these words:
Slide - It is incompatible with the essential Christian affirmation that God is love
to say that God brings millions of people into the world to damn them.
Hell is not eternal torment, but it is the final and irrevocable choosing of that
which is opposed to God so completely and so absolutely that the only end is total
non-being.
So where does this leave us?
Perhaps it leaves us re-imagining Hell. Because let’s face it – nobody knows.
So who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell?
The answer is, we don’t know. The Bible tells us that God is the judge.
But it’s also true to say that we judge ourselves.
Going back to the bible story of the rich man and the beggar, the rich man made
his choice to ignore the beggar. He judged himself by his behaviour. He could have
done something to help the beggar, but he did nothing. And the result, Jesus says,
is that he went to hell.
In the story of the sheep and the goats, we have all passed judgement on ourselves
by whether we responded to others in need or not.
And remember the Prodigal Son, who separated himself from his Father – but later
came to his senses and returned. He didn’t destroy himself.
Jesus seems to be saying that what counts is the choices we make and the paths we
tread here on earth. We make our own eternal judgement by the way we live our
lives.
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So how about non-Christians? Could they be in heaven?
The traditional Christian teaching says no, you have to be a Christian to go to
heaven. But I’m not so sure.
Jesus said, ‘Not everyone who calls me “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven.’
If the choice between heaven and hell is a choice we make for ourselves by the
way we live and the way we behave towards others, then there must be plenty of
non-Christians there. Because Christians are not the only people who care for
others in need. And maybe some people who call themselves Christians won’t be
there, because they only say the words, but in their life they did nothing to really
follow the teaching of Jesus and do the will of God.