I had a christian tell me last week that according to christian belief, those afflicted with mental illness go to hell. I felt this was seriously out of line and informed the christian of a mental health clinic not far away that would accept his insurance. Of course he won't go because that would almost certainly damn his soul for all eternity. Is this really in their bible?
While Bible does not explicitly mention "mental illness" - frankly that concept was foreign to the authors - a fundamental premise of Christianity is that belief is required to be saved.
John3:3-5 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
If the above means that acceptance of Christ's divinity is needed to be saved, what happens to a schizophrenic who believes he's Vishnu (thus rejecting Christ)? Or, what if he believes in Christ because of delusion? Is such a person freely accepting Christ ("born of the Spirit")? Or, what if he is so retarded as to preclude understanding the concept Christ?
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
3:18 and many other passages are absolute, you believe or burn.
This single point invalidates Christianity.
Reply by Ron Handlon on March 13, 2012 at 8:52pm
I looked this up and found that 'the Bible does not specifically say whether or not mentally ill people go to heaven. However, there is some biblical evidence that anyone who is not able to make a decision for salvation is covered by Christ’s death. This is similar to how it is commonly believed that children are automatically taken to heaven when they die until they reach the point in which they are able to make a decision for or against Christ.'
This was on a christian site - otherwise, it does sound reasonable... So you can tell your mentally ill christian friend that he can stop worrying... ;>}
I looked this up and found that 'the Bible does not specifically say whether or not mentally ill people go to heaven. However, there is some biblical evidence that anyone who is not able to make a decision for salvation is covered by Christ’s death. This is similar to how it is commonly believed that children are automatically taken to heaven when they die until they reach the point in which they are able to make a decision for or against Christ.'
This was on a christian site - otherwise, it does sound reasonable... So you can tell your mentally ill christian friend that he can stop worrying... ;>}
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