Will I see Hitler in heaven?

bullshit.

I largely agree, but it isn't in my view so much about doing right or wrong. I believe it to be more about the condition of the heart. The Bible says, (paraphrasing here) that to whom much is given much is expected. A chile who is born with fetal alcohol syndrome and is abused as a child is more likely to make bad choices as opposed to a child who is genuinely loved.However the equaliser is that both children can make a choice between loving others or loving self, even though the first child is more likely to make poor choices about right and wrong in his/her life.CS Lewis writes, (I know I've quoted this before) that "in the end there are those who say to God, 'Thy will be done', and those to whom God says, 'thy will be done'.If our life on Earth is all about looking after number one we will have developed a mind set that will choose hell because we can't give up the things that we cling to. If however we develop an attitude of love for others and a love for all that is good we will have developed a mind set that is not of the self and will gladly choose heaven.So as to Hitler's final home, my guess is that he chose hell and is probably somewhat revered there. I suggest however that he is probably has about as much joy there as he had while he was here, which is darn little. There is far more joy in a life that works at bringing joy to others than there is in a life of trying to garner joy for the self.

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Everybody is entitled to my opinion.

No he isn't... and it's very dangerous to think that way.If we start thinking this a nazi germany situation can happen again

Remember that the Second is a two part command. Love others as you love yourself.You MUST first love yourself, value yourself, respect yourself, what good for yourself, know that you are NOT condemned.Unless you have a high standard for yourself, you will not treat others with respect.The higher the standaard you set for yourself, the better you will treat others.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

But didn't Hitler hold himself to a pretty high standard?ABE:I misread what you posted and my reply isn't really applicable.Edited by Catholic Scientist, : see ABE.

Took me a long time to appreciate this truth, Jar, but it was worth getting there...

Christ's message was all about love. He said to love others as He has loved us. He died for us. There are many, for a variety of reasons, who are unable to love themselves but still can love others.However, I do agree that God wants us to have good self esteem, and know that we as individuals are of infinite value to him. Certainly we should love ourselves in that sense but there is a difference bwtween love of self to the detriment of others, or loving ourselves enough that we can put the interest of others ahead of our own.Look at Mother Theresa. I'm sure she loved herself but she lived a life of joy by putting the needs of others ahead of her own self interest.Edited by GDR, : No reason given.

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Everybody is entitled to my opinion.

brennakimiI am sorry, Brennakimi, for I fail to see the point that you are trying to make here. Could you please elaborate what you are in disagreement about?

i disagree that hitler was himself so innumerably evil. he was simply a man with an incorrect philosophy that he shared with many others at that time. he managed to use this philosophy and psychological manipulation to take power. but he couldn't have and didn't accomplish this philosophy on his own.he was no more or less evil than those who have carried out various atrocities at various levels throughout history. i'm simply sick of the constant demonization of this man who was just that--a man. yes he was a bad man, but he was only a man and was no more or less forgivable than any other man. further, he is no more or less punishable than any other man.

I just meant in regard to a less complicated assignation of blame--due to the situation at that time.

brennakimi I never stated he was. That said, a person who rises to power as he did and then excercises that power the way he did, holds greater responsibility as a consequence of that power than people farther down the food chain.
The point of my tirade was that Hitler should not recieve forgiveness for his actions. Being atheist I can hardly expect such things to occur to a man long dead. I just cannot imagine the notion of release from responsibility that pervades the idea of heaven in christian worldviews. Of course he was not and that is not pertainent to the response I gave cavediver to which you inserted your opinion. I did not include Genghis Khan nor Jim Jones , Lieutenant William Calley, or Moses either but the responsibility is theirs irregardless since actions were commenced upon their orders. If I were to have access to the make believe world of the afterlife these people would be redressed in ways far more in line with the magnitude of their actions.But then I just happen to have the character fault to be that unforgiving.

i see.i suppose that's the importance of mercy in god's character. whether true or not, it is consistent.

The Christian position is that you, arguing about Hitlers relative-to-you evil is the same as one grain of sand on a beach arguing that it is closer to the sun that the grain of sand next to it.Measured against human standards, Hitler was full of evil. Measured against Gods standards we're all full of evil.The only way to heaven for any grain of sand on the beach is to be released from their responsibility. But if you feel one should pay for their own sins then that is your perogative. Insist on the right to do so and you will.Edited by iano, : No reason given.

iano That makes sense in the christian worldview since God is the source of evil though that also makes the standards of God to be somewhat suspect as a morally superior reference to our own. It is also the contention of christian worldview that this is a perfectly reasonable stance for God to take even though it is no different from that of the previous list of historical people.To my view that God has the ultimate responsibility for atrocities and therefore forgiveness of our sins are a ludicrous proposition since we cannot otherwise act out against the nature God instilled.It is a moot point for me to be making though it does serve to show my take on things.

But even relative to the sun, that's true. They only become equidistant when the measuring error is larger than the differential distance.The same with God. God may be so good that the difference between Hitler and you is not very large by comparison, but the difference is still there. The only way that you and Hitler are the same on the evil-ness scale is if God isn't capable of discerning minute differences in evil.Judging from the Bible, and the fervor with which Christians rush to condemn certain acts, particularly sexual ones, under the ageis of God's law, we know that's not the case. And it certainly wouldn't be consistent with an all-powerful, all-percieving God. To suggest that God can't discern something that is obvious to us - that Hitler is a much more evil person than your average human being - diminishes God.It really kind of proves to me that, to believers, concepts like "all-powerful" and "all-knowing" don't really have much meaning. They certainly don't spend a lot of time thinking about the ramifications for their beliefs if those things are true.