32 Comments
Mother Teresa went (or is going)
to heaven. Any God who would make Teresa go to hell just because she was not
vocal about how she saw the Person and Work of Christ is not a Triune God worth
serving. Mother T lived a life "for the other" ---a person can hardly
be more godly/worshipful than that. Some people prefer
to confess their faith through actions rather than verbal proclamation. And God
knows this. Whether or not WE can tell she confessed with her mouth and
believed in her heart that Jesus is Lord is not the bottom line. The bottom
line is that only the Divine Mind of God determines salvation of the
individual---not our interpretation of Scripture in our own life context. God
is bigger than the seemingly limitations of verses in the Scripture that would
appear to deny Teresa entrace into heaven. We do not
put limits on God, He is the one who sets the limits, and he can change them
accordingly (perhaps in the End) so that Love and Grace will win the Day for
the most people in the end.
-JH
Very
revealing column. It showed me that I may not
technically be an "evangelical" --the way I answered the question was
not the traditional Asbury-type evangelical answer. Does this mean a new
definition of "Christian" is emerging that is post-4-laws and
post-evangelical?
* JustKara
My wife tells me that's between Mother Teresa and God, but I'd still like to
extend an opinion :). However, my perspectives on these things are always open
to revision on the basis of a stronger theological case, so that's my caveat
with what I write next.
I believe in a God of infinite grace. The God I know is perfect enough in love,
wisdom and power to pull that miracle off. That really puts me in a fairly
small camp in these days of "suitable justice." So, yes, my opinion
is that Mother Theresa is already enjoying time face to face with her Lord.
My perspective is that this is so not because she has earned it, although even
a lousy lawyer could win that case. Nor is it so because she was sincere,
devoted, compassionate, active in good works, knew she was eternally right with
God, headed in the right direction or believed the "correct" dogma.
She's just there because that's the destination planned for beings created for
relationship with God. If there is a purgative state prepared to get some
people suited for that destiny, I'd say her experience there might be a glance
on the way through, but like my wife said--that would be between God and Mother
Teresa. :)
Contrary to adamant arguments from all over the evangelical spectrum, no one
gets right with God by what they do; they are reconciled with God by what God
HAS DONE. It's a done deal. Persons may either live in the confidence of that
or they must live with ignorance of it. Now THERE"S a compelling motivation to proclaim the good
news!
One of these days soon, I'm going to post a blog on how some Christians have
hijacked the word "evangelical" and turned it into something a whole
lot different than broadcasting the good news of the FACT that we have already
been redeemed by God through Christ and start to live life out of that
confidence.
So many evangelicals have turned a sinner's prayer or their faith into one more
deed that merits eternal salvation. I hope some rigorous theologians begin to
think seriously about the amount of very damaging pride and arrogance that has
been generated in those who have "exercised" their faith over those
who have not yet done so. (Remember... "Not of works,
lest anyone should boast").
I actually do believe that many people are lost. They don't know where they are
and they don't know how to get out of that mess. We have the great opportunity
of sharing the good news about what Christ has already done for them and that
they can live in full assurance of God's acceptance of them of the basis of the
work of Christ. Then they can get to work with the business of following the
teachings and example of the one who accepts them so unreservedly.
I believe that Christianity is the only theological perspective that offers the
POSSIBILITY of a totally inclusive redemption. All the rest split people
between the good and the bad or the wise and the foolish, the "innies" and the "outies".
:) But it is in the action of Jesus Christ alone that anyone may be reconciled.
The God I have come to know never doles out discipline or justice for punitve purposes. Why would God need to prove He can squash
weak human beings like bugs? God's justice and discipline in EVERYONE'S life is
ONLY to redeem, restore and reconcile, not to kill and destroy. Jesus took the
death and destruction in our place.
Does that mean that all thoughts, words and deeds are good and don't result in
consequences. No, it doesn't. There is no such thing as action or inaction
without consequence. And I do think it is real prudence to confine people who
pose a real danger to others, but not as a act of
punishment, but one of protection for others.
That all being said, if we can get the business of our "falling short of
the mark" behind us because of what Christ has done for us, then maybe we
can get more busy about doing good wherever we find the opportunity--probably
something like Mother Teresa did.
Thinking in Ohio said...
Mother Teresa went to heaven (I
believe) not because of anything she has done for God or for others (as
wonderful has her deeds were); but because she trusted in Jesus Christ alone
for her salvation--everytime she took mass.
Not that her deeds did not matter, they only evidenced her sound repentance and
turning fully to Christ. But she was saved through the merit of Jesus Christ
and His atoning sacrifice, if she trusted in Him for salvation and evidenced
that trust in obedient and holy living--she's in, as far as my theology goes.
"MY THEOLOGY", now doesn't that sound authoritative! But hey, it's as
good as anybody elses, right? (sarcastic
smile)
I have rarely been more repulsed
than I was earlier this semester as I sat in chapel at a well-known
fundamentalist university and listened to an entire sermon on why the Pope (and
anyone else espousing Catholic doctrine) are either in Hell or headed there in
a hurry. According to this esteemed bastion of hard-nosed truth, I guess Mother
Teresa wouldn't stand a chance.
I don't believe that good works will get a person to heaven, whether he is Catholic
or Wesleyan or Martian. I do believe that Mother Teresa went to heaven because
she had faith in Christ; a vibrant, challenging faith that exuded the love of
Jesus. "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you
have love for one another" (John 13:35).
Which, unfortunately, is more than can be said of many who
would be shocked to see Teresa in heaven. The question is, will they get that privilege?
If Mother Teresa or any other
person believes and practices the doctrines and teaching of the Roman Catholic
Church, then biblically one would have to assume they believe in a salvation by
works. She would not be in heaven according to an orthodox evangelical view.
The reformation dealt with this issue of salvation by works or by faith alone.
The Roman Catholic Church chose works and the Evangelicals choose faith alone.
As you mentioned in your article – stand on one side or the other – there is no
middle ground here for Evangelicals. It may not be politically correct or
palatable, but we have to look honestly at what the scriptures say and what we
believe about the scripture.
While Mother Teresa and many others (Dali Lama) have contributed much good to
our world – if they stake their eternal destiny on their works or anything
other than Jesus Christ – then they are lost (that is the official position of
historic Evangelicalism).
The AJ
Thomas said...
Yet another
wonderfully provocative post. I have a friend who
is a Catholic youth pastor. I’d like to get his feedback on this whole thing.
My thought is this. The most basic “formula” we have for salvation is “believe
on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and You shall be
saved” I think it’s pretty obvious that Mother Teresa believed in Jesus. I’m
yet to find a Catholic (I’m not saying they are not out there but they may be
more theoretical like Baptists who believe Hitler is in heaven if he said “the
prayer” in Sunday school) who really believes that their works save them. Works
are very important to them but most Catholics I know believe they are saved
through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. I think this discussion
hints at a deeper question which is do you have to
have good theology to be saved or just believe in Jesus. I think the great
danger here is replacing faith with works. Evangelicals have tended to replace
real faith with saying “the prayer”. It doesn’t matter if people have thought
through their decision, it doesn’t matter if they intend to stick it out, it
doesn’t matter if they have felt the spirit calling them, as long as they say
the prayer they are in, their faith will follow. If we were honest this whole
thing of saying the sinners prayer has become as much
salvation by works as anything else. I’m not saying the sinners prayer is bad
I’m just saying we have elevated it to a place where it has somehow become
proof of salvation, is their life changed, no, do they love their brothers, no,
do are they bearing fruit, showing growth in the spirit, no, but don’t worry
they “said the prayer” or “made a decision”. As if that could
ever save you. I think the kind of undue emphasis we think Catholics put
on the Eucharist we put on the sinners prayer and I think if we were both
honest we would say they are both symbolic of something deeper. Jesus invented
communion, I’m not sure he ever lead anyone in the sinners
prayer. Maybe the Catholics have the lesser of two “evils”.
Now for this whole notion that if your theology is bad then you can’t be saved,
if you don’t know exactly how salvation works and don’t clearly state that
understanding publicly you can’t be saved. The bible doesn’t say “fully
understand and you will be saved”. You don’t have to understand to believe. I
have no sweet clue how computers work but I believe that as I write this and
hit post what started as me hitting plastic buttons in my office will wind up
as words that anyone in the world can read. The idea that you have to fully
understand salvation to experience it places the value on our work of study and
understanding. I seem to remember a certain thief on a cross who never said the
sinners prayer, never received the Eucharist, was
never baptized and certainly had no idea about soteriology.
He never repented in any true sense (he acknowledged that he deserved to die
for his crime but that’s hardly repentance). But he did acknowledge that he
seemed to think Jesus could do something for him, that if there was any hope
for him it was in Christ. In short he believed in Jesus (even though he didn’t
fully understand) and he was saved.
I also want to address this issue of repentance. We in the evangelical church
almost universally use the term repentance for what would more accurately be
called confession. Probably because, among other reasons, confession makes us
feel a little to RC. When we say someone repented we mean they admitted they
had sinned and that that was a bad thing and probably made some sort of statement
that they were hoping not to do it again but true repentance is to turn form
something. True repentance is not a statement of words but a turning of the
heart, will and actions. If what you do doesn’t change you have not truly
repented. Repentance is an action, it is a work.. If
repentance is about something we do (even if you believe in the confession
model of repentance where it is a statement not an action it would still be a
work, something we do) then it is a work and therefore cannot be necessary for
salvation unless salvation is by works after all. Repentance is good but… And
let’s say for a moment we did think that turning from our sinful ways and
turning to God’s ways, repentance, is necessary of salvation or is the evidence
of that salvation, or is in anyway connected to ones saved state can anyone on
planet earth think of someone who has shown that idea of leaving self and
embracing God more than Mother Teresa? I’ll quit now. If you
read this far, thanks.
Many evangelicals wonder if
Catholics can get past the works built into their church and truly trust in
Christ.
Did she trust in Christ's finished work or did she trust in her own works for
her salvation? We don't know.
Isaiah 64:6
6 All of us have become like something unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment;
Philippians 3:7-9
But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of
Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the
surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have
suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain
Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law,
but one that is through faith in Christ — the righteousness from God based on
faith.
Nathan Crawford said...
Where does the concept of
prevenient grace come into this discussion? It seems that we have forgot this
very Wesleyan (and also very Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox) concept.
Prevenient grace says that all people have grace to know God on this earth. To
what degree and is saving knowledge and etc is an argument to be had. The fact
is, we believe in prevenient grace.
Second, from doing a Ph.D. at a Roman Catholic institution, I'd say that RCs would really be troubled by this. They would say that
definitely Mother Theresa went to Heaven. She did this because of the
redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The outpouring of that redemptive work in
Mother Theresa's life was the good works. You know, they take seriously that
Bible book that Luther hated - James. At all though, good works for RCs is evidence of the redemptive work of Christ in
someone's life. So, to do good works comes from faith. They go hand in hand.
David Drury said...
IMHO Mother Theresa not only has
a "place" in heaven but will be in an honored place with many crowns.
WHY? Because she appeared to me to be someone living in a balance of the three
key "assesment points" of Christianity: orthopraxy, orthodoxy, and ortho-ousious
(the last word isn't really a word but it works for my paradigm).
1) ORTHOPRAXY - RIGHT ACTIONS
When I reconcile The Way advocated by the New Testament few people alive during
my lifetime lived it out better than MTheresa (you
cite one of those scriptures in your article: the sheep and goats passage.) Her
actions were right in the eyes of God I suspect. Her "orthopraxy"
was righteous.
2) ORTHODOXY - RIGHT DOCTRINE
Furthermore, I believe MTheresa BELIEVED the right
things about who Jesus Christ is and that apparently her faith in a soverign God drove her to live the way she did. Though many
things were added to that core "orthodoxy" that I say go too far (as
with most RCC's) her beliefs were likely righteous in
the eyes of God.
3) ORTHOUIOUS - RIGHT SPIRIT
And finally from statements from MTheresa
and the stories from those who served with her I believe she did these things
in the right SPIRIT. She seems to have had the right motivation to believe the
right things and live in the right way. She did not do them for her own
gain--but the gain of others. Thought I cannot know the heart of another person
(and in this respect this third categorie is most
"grey" for a 3rd party to assess)... I do believe that MTheresa had a righteous 'ortho-ousious."
(right-spirit).
She, in my mind, is a great example of someone in balance of these three
components in The Way.
I hope to be so as well.
What did Mother Teresa believe?
That determined her destiny.
“Jesus Paid It All.” Some of us have sung and loved this
beautiful song of affirmation all of our lives. We have never needed to
doubt the truth of its message, knowing that the Scriptures clearly tell us: “God .. hath in these last days
spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things .. who .. when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high .. “ Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Heb 1:1-3;
Acts 4:12
Do we still believe that Jesus paid it all?
False Christs abound today, just as Jesus foretold.
Ancient heresies, such as the Gnostic “gospels” that plagued first-century
Christians, are now being revived, widely read, and held up as alternatives to orthodoxy
– and equally valid “Jesus” paths from which Christians may freely choose.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church published in 1994 tells us that “nothing
is imparted to us except through Mary,” (paragraph 310), and that we should
entrust ourselves to Mary, surrendering “the hour of our death” wholly to her
care (paragraph 2677).
We are informed on page 3 of the late Pope John Paul II’s
book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope: “The Pope is considered the man on earth
who represents the Son of God, who ‘takes the place’ of the Second Person of
the omnipotent God of the Trinity.”
The first question we must ask is: “What is the Gospel?” The first dictionary
definition of the word “Gospel” is: “The proclamation of the redemption
preached by Jesus and the Apostles, which is the central content of the
Christian revelation.”
We cannot afford to be creative or imaginative or innovative in this area. We
are not given the privilege of concocting our own theology. Either we believe
the Gospel is what God’s Word says it is or we are adrift on shoreless seas, with no more hope of Heaven than pagans who
have never heard the name of Jesus.
_________
Charlene Collins
There are two questions. One is
whether Mother Teresa went to Heaven or Hell. The other question is asking in
general how a person gets to Heaven.
I didn't know Mother Teresa. I heard various reports about her and some of the
things she said, but I can't judge her faith.
One thing I can say is that good works don't save people. Jesus said, "I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through
me."
It's that simple. People get to Heaven through Jesus. Notice that He didn't say
that people get to Heaven by praying the "Sinner's Prayer" or being
confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church, or by being baptized, or by becoming a
nun and ministering in Calcutta. He didn't say that people go to Heaven because
they hold to the teachings of Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, Dwight
L. Moody, Pope John-Paul II, or even Keith Drury! :-)
People get to Heaven through Jesus.
Certainly, my denomination (Nazarene) teaches (and I preach) that if a person
sincerely asks God for forgiveness through the saving work of Jesus Christ on the
cross, and then trusts Christ as Savior and Lord (or perhaps we should say
"boss"), that person will be saved (go to Heaven). I believe that
wholeheartedly.
But there are some people who, as far as we know, can't do that.
Infants don't have, as far as we know, the intelligence to make these kinds of
decisions. Yet most Christian denominations (including the Wesleyans and
Nazarenes) believe that God's Grace covers these little ones who die at too
young of an age to understand their need for salvation, and that these little
ones go to Heaven.
How do they get to Heaven? They get to Heaven through Jesus.
I can't explain it all logically, because God's some of God's ways are beyond
human understanding. All I know is that God is perfectly holy, perfectly just,
perfectly merciful, and perfectly gracious all at the same time.
I trust Him to make the right decision, and trust that He has done so with
Mother Teresa!
Don't know where she went. If
she asked for her sins to be forgiven, by God, through the blood of Jesus, then
she is in heaven. If not, she is in hell.
Salvation is a personal relationship with Jesus. I believe that only God and an
individual knows for certain where they will end up.
You can fool people, but can't fool the creator of the universe.
matthew said...
Keith, you said...
"What your denomination's statements say and what you agreed to when you
joined your church matters far less than how you apply your doctrine in the
real world on questions like this—that is what you really believe"
I think this speaks to the answer. We are known by our fruits. I don't recall
Mother Teresa discussing doctrine all that much. But she sure seems to have
lived like Jesus. Followers of Jesus are called Christians.
We aren't saved by being in the right church/institution. We are saved by being
in Christ.
The evidence points to her salvation. Looks can be deceiving, but that's the
exception not the rule.
Melissa said...
AJ:
weren't you voted 'most likely to start a movement' or something similar in
college? I'll follow you.
Charlene: I'd love to hear your understanding of the word "belief".
Is it intellectual endorsement?
I don't now if she went to
heaven or hell. That's not up to us to decide. However, if she did not repent
of her sins and place her faith in Jesus Christ alone for her salvation, she
went to hell. If she worshipped Mary, she went to hell. It doesn't matter how
many "good" things someone does, if they have sin in their life they
will go to hell. If she was worshipping Mary, she was violating one the 10
Commandments and will pay for her sin. (Now, I know all of the Catholics out
there are claiming you don't worship Mary - try reading the 10 Commandments
again you'll find you're not to bow to graven images)
I visited St. Patricks Cathedral this summer. It
broke my heart to see so many people who were sincere in what they believed,
but they were sincerly wrong. It was one of the
saddest places I have ever been...
I'll make another point here. It is very easy for us to form opinions of what
God is like. If we are not careful we begin to "I believe God is..."
or "My God would never..." and we form a God in our minds that we
worship. If we are not careful the God we form becomes a "god" and
not the God of the Bible. People make comments like 'the God that I serve would
never send someone like Mother Teresa to hell...' This is true because your god
doesn't exist. It is a god which you have created. Most of those who claim to
be Christians today are guilty of violating the 2nd. Commandment
because they create a god to suit themself.
Their god doesn't send people to hell for sin. Their god excuses sin...
It is very easy to be sincere and to be sincerly
wrong. Mother Teresa was a "good" person who did a lot of
"good" things. However, if she didn't believe in
Jesus Christ alone for her salvation, and not her works. And if she did
not confess and turn from her sins, then she is in hell.
Sincerity does not equal Christianity.
JMKendall said...
For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -
not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. -
Eph 2:8-10
I don't know whether Mother Teresa will be in hell or heaven...personally
I would strongly lean towards her being in the latter. What kind of God would
send a woman like that into eternal damnation? Well...a just God - a God who is
full of love and grace, yet one who has set up rules and a way of order.
It is by grace though faith we are saved. From the outside looking in, Mother
Teresa vividly displayed her faith (and what an example of displaying her faith
it was!). But from the heart? Well, only God can
determine that.
I sure hope Mother Teresa is in heaven...I have a lot of questions for a woman
such as her. And if she isn't? Well, I still have a
lot I can learn from her world-changing example.
G.R.
''Scott'' Cundiff said...
I *think* she went to heaven
because she placed her faith in Jesus Christ as her Savior. Evangelical,
holiness, Wesleyan, or Baptist -- that's the only way anyone will get to
heaven.
Lorraine said...
Straight into
God's and Jesus' Love :)
Scott David Hendricks said...
While I am hesitant to feign
judgment in Christ's seat, I think Mother Teresa probably has a really, really
secure place reserved in heaven. I will answer the why by responding to Dr.
Drury's plausible reasons:
# She was a good person. Yup
# She was totally devoted to God. Yup.
# She was a good Roman Catholic and serious about her personal faith in Christ.
Yup.
# She cared for the poor: "As often as you did it to one of these...enter
into the kingdom..." Yup.
# She had prayed the prayer of repentance somewhere in
her life--she must have. Yup--probably quite often.
# She had received Christ and was saved even though
she didn’t know it. This reason sounds too evangelical for me.
# She was headed the right direction--mistakes in your beliefs aren't what gets
you to heaven. Of course she was headed in the right direction! I doubt her
beliefs are any more mistaken than mine.
# She had to be a Christian to be able to do so many
good things. Of course! On what basis would we question her 'Christianhood?' Her Roman Catholicism?
I'm disgusted!
# She was a practicing Christian--she lived a
Christ-like life. Yup, yup, yup!
# She believed the basic truths of the Christian faith
and tried to live like Christ. Again, a resounding,
"Yup!"
I think you'll find that in most
Catholic churches it's Jesus hanging on the big cross
in the middle. That's how they get in. That's how we get in.
Actually, it's harder to tell who died for who's sin
looking at the barren crosses of Protestantism. Do evangelicals even have
crosses in their all-purpose meeting halls anymore, or is it all pastel pews
and paisley carpet?
I apologize for my cynicism. But "Catholics don't go to heaven" was
just one more lie taught to me in Sunday School.
Like any good True WESLEYan I'd say yes. Because, she
responded to the prevenient grace showed to her by God. Not only did she
respond to prevenient grace, she responded to a call on her life to be a
follower of Christ, obviously.
Charlene Collins raises some
interesting points. Certainly I dont believe that Mary has any part in my salvation, nor does
the Pope. I suppose the question is, what does the
average Catholic really believe? I have a friend who is a cradle Catholic, and
who, though now truly born again, still enjoys going to mass. The difference
for her, post conversion, is that there is now no condemnation when she
participates in the liturgy and partakes of communion. Before, she told me,
"I knew that i would not even make it to
purgatory."
I dont know enough about Catholic theology to make
exhaustive critcisms-and I, along with others who
have commented, was raised with the idea that Catholics, being idolators, were not truly "saved"-yet I do wonder
how this woman, now in her late '40's, grew up in a church where the
sacrificial life of Christ is celebrated each week, and never was given an
opportunity to know him personally. I am sure that many Catholics would take
issue with what I have said. That is her personal story, however, although I
certainly have not told it in any depth.
Many Protestant, or even "holiness churches" may not do any better,of course. John Mark Poling
Yes, she met the royal law of
love--love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and
love your neighbor as yourself.
what
a stupid question.
I like your columns but this blows.
I expect you to connect the dots here because i am
not sure how my understanding of another active and faithful Christian's after
life impacts my soteriology.
-- Chris
Gee, whatever happened to the
Proverbs text that says, "study to answer"?
Do we no longer need Scripture to answer all questions?
I'm quite sure that study meant study the word or God and not theology and
religion.
Doulos said...
Paul wrote to the Corinthians in
his first letter,
"Now I make known to yo, brethren, the gospel
which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by
which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what
I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and
that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures" (15:1-4).
Salvation is believing this. If she believed this,
then she's got a good start. There's also that part of Jesus' ministry in which
He said to love God with all of our beings and our neighbor as ourselves.
That's the action carried out in everyday life. She did that too, so she's well
on her way.
I don't know the final answer, but if she believed Jesus was the Messiah that
could save her from her sins, and if she lived her life in obedience to His
teachings, then she very well may be in Heaven.
I thought about when i got saved and wondered how i
could possibly know if Mother Teresa was saved and in heaven, so i started searching scripture for why or why not. I read
John 3:16, John 19:30, Romans 5:8, Eph:2,8 and began
to think we are all going to go to heaven, that no one goes to hell, which is a
foreign thought to me. Then i thought about
predestination, which could be easier to believe as then God is the one who choses. Then i thought why would
the God of Love that i know, who loves even me send
Mother Teresa to hell, just because she was Catholic? Then i
more closely read John 3:16 and the verses that follow.
My summery (so far) is that God loves us so much He sent His Son to die in our
place. If we have faith in God's Son, we will not be condemned to death, if no
faith we are already condemned and do not even know it. If one makes a practice
of evil they stay away from the Light, because their evil deeds will be
exposed. But if we work and live in the truth and welcome God's Light, our work
can be seen that it is God who is working through us.
I am not Catholic, but i think the nuns go through a
ceremony of marriage to Jesus so Mother Teresa must have had faith that Jesus
was Who He said He was; and from what i have seen of
her works, they must have been wrought by God through her. One could see this,
for only God can bring light to such places. I would say "Yes, she went to
heaven" and because now and then i like to think
i know what God would do, since i
certainly would not send her to hell, neither would He. Now, as for me where is
the evidence of my faith? Am i going to heaven?
Dakota ranger said...
Being a nun she would have had
to known that she would have had to have a relationship with Christ. I am sure
with what she was doing in India there were many times she may have wanted to
quit but something or someone had to sustain her.
She remembered the least of these, thus directly was serving Christ.
While works doesn't save anyone, she seams to have lived out her faith the way
that most Christians refuse to do.
The Bible talks about we are known by our love, and from what was said by the
people she served after she died she loved them.
While God can only judge who will get to go home. From what I know of her she
will be there
The AJ
Thomas said...
James 2:14-18 What
good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can
such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily
food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well
fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the
same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your
faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
I think she made it and that James was waiting to say hi when she got there.
DaveGerber
said...
Keith, this is one of the
reasons I like Jesus more then Theology. Theology forces us to ask and answer
these questions. Jesus, on the other hand, lets me rest in who I am in Him and
being human. What was Mother Teresa relationship with God? I have no
idea...Catholic theology aside, she demonstrated a
kind of love that many evangelicals, including me, seem to lack. As a human
being I am limited to the fruit I see. Sure there are people that think works
will get them to heaven, but humanly they seem to limit it to some level way
lower then Mother Teresa. Throw a few coins in the Salvation Army Kettle, or
buy a gift for a local charity. If I were to guess, I would say there was
something deeper then works but a deep and abiding love for Christ. Of course, i could be wrong. Give me Jesus
I hope she's in heaven, but
that's as far as I can go. I can't say she is or if she shouldn't be.
All I can say is what has been said by a few others: if her faith was in Christ
alone, then she is in heaven.
I am a former Catholic, and I can tell you that I am very uncomfortable with
much of Catholic doctrine, especially the hope in and through Mary & the
Pope for salvation.
Someone mentioned she was a good Catholic. Unfortunately, being a good Catholic
means subscribing to the above tenets of faith.
DISCLAIMER: I do believe that some Catholics are saved. If
they come to faith in Christ. Again, that is my hope for Mother Teresa.
As for someone else's comment that she could not do all the good things she did
without being a Christian (at least I think that's what I read...), one of the
young ladies in my church is saying that Ghandi
surely went to heaven because of his good works. Of course, the Bible is very
clear that good works don't do a thing for one's salvation.
Christians are supposed to do good works, not to secure salvation, but rather
to "display" their salvation.
Brian La Croix