Question mainly for Catholics, but all Christians....?

Question

I don't know much about religion, but this confuses me.

Repenting for your sins and accepting Jesus Christ as your savior is you ticket into heaven right? So, does that mean that Hitler, who was Catholic and therefore accepted Jesus Christ as savior, could repent and go to heaven.....while the thousands upon thousands of Jews that he slaughtered, that do not accept Jesus, went to h**l? See, that all seems a bit backward to me...I guess that is why I am not very religious. Could someone please explain : )

Answer 1

Well, seeing the way Hitler is I highly doubt he repented at all. If you want to be a good Catholic, not only do you have to believe in God, go to Church etc. You need to do good works and lead by example. You have to be a good person. It's a solid rumor that Hitler killed himself, which damns a soul to h**l. I can't say who is in Heaven or h**l. But if you were truly contrite which means:

1. You are sorry for every mortally sinful thing you did (murder for example).

2. You are upset for offending God in all His goodness.

3. You desire to go to confession.

4. You amend your life and will never try to sin again.

I hope this helps.  

Answer 2

Hitler publicly renounced Christianity after his rise to power.

The Church made deals with Hitler to they could retain their own power.

Whether Hitler ever repented I don't know. None of us do.

Answer 3

You're making the same "Once saved, always saved" mistake that a lot of Protestants make. The Catholic Church rightly rejects that particular fallacy as unscriptural and for exactly the reason that you mention.

The Church teaches that salvation is a three part process: we *were* saved by the Precious Blood of Jesus, shed on the Cross as the perfect sacrifice for sin. We *are* saved through obedience to God's commandments, including performing acts of mercy and charity. We *will be* saved through God's grace and the gift of final perserverance.

Hitler did not obey God's commandments and was, in all likelihood, not granted God's mercy or the gift of final perserverance. No one can say for sure except God, but there is no reason to believe that he fulfilled all that is necessary for salvation.

As far as the Jews are concerned, they are still God's chosen people. That has never changed, even though we Gentile believers have been joined with them. God loves His people, and you can be sure that He will be merciful when He deals with them.

These are the teachings of the Church as I understand them, and I hope this clears up the confusion. God is a merciful and loving Father, not a monster or a cosmic bully ready to send everyone to h**l.

Answer 4

Catholics recognize that the Jews are still God's Chosen People. He didn't "unchoose" them at any point, you know. Catholics also believe that people of non-Christian faiths can go to heaven because it's up to Jesus, not to us or any standard that any of us can create.

IMHO, there are plenty of Jewish people in heaven and all the Jews killed by Hitler's orders are martyrs for their faith.

As for whether Hitler is in heaven or not, none of us have any way of knowing whether or not he truly understood his crimes and repented of his sinful attitudes.

What I do know is that God doesn't make mistakes and He is not careless with salvation. Everybody who is supposed to be in heaven is there, and anybody who is NOT supposed to be in heaven is not. There are no loopholes other that Jesus' death on the cross.  

Answer 5

Repenting to Jesus will save anyone no matter how evil they were and what actions they did, and even saved Christians can fall from Christ and do horrible things.

The thing is, in God's eyes, a sin is a sin, not to say that murdering is as weak of a sin as, say, stealing, but it's the other way around;  stealing, in God's eyes is as horrible of a sin as murder. So Hitler killed millions of people, but someone else may have stolen or lied or something else.  It's not how much you sin, it's not what the sin is, what matters in God's eyes is that you sinned in the first place.

Answer 6

Yes, even hitler could have at the last moment sincerly repented and een saved, it is unlikely though since he commited suiced.  as to the individual memebrs of the holocast, they are each judged individually, I think it is just as wrong for you to lum them togther.  I am sure that with all large groups somemade it and some didn't based on the sate of their indivdual sols at the time of their death, the means of their death while horrblie, tragic, not to be forogattena nd not to be tolerated has no baring ontheir salvation.  Therfore, your logic is flawed as is you premises about hitler and thus you conclusion.

Answer 7

The Bible tells us it is God who weighs the heart, therefore God knows who truly belonged to Him and who did not before they died. Jesus tells us we will know other christians by their "fruit" this is the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5) Hitler OBVIOUSLY produced NO fruit. He lived his life completely opposite of what God wills for us. He was against God in all aspects even if he said he was of God, he was greatly deceived. We know because of what God's word tells us. Read John 8:44 to see who Hitler was of.

Many catholics do not believe in being saved by grace- which is what Ephesians 2:8-9 explains. They do not follow God's word. We can say we believe, but if our faith is only based on our works, that is not what is going to save us. The bible says that faith without works is dead- so you see it is because of our faith we WANT to do works. Not the other way around. One must fully understand why they need Jesus. Because we are all sinners- everyone of us, and it is only through Jesus we can be saved- (Acts 4:12) When we confess and repent of sin, turn to Him we live- forgiven, and made clean through His Holy Spirit and sealed with His Holy Spirit. (Romans 10, Acts 22:16, Ephesians 1)

Many do not live their lives for the Lord- they may talk the talk but it is God who weighs the heart- who sees and knows our thoughts, and knows who truly belong to Him, who truly love Him and want to follow Him.....Jesus says: John 10:27

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Answer 8

Hitler like all of us must face judgment for his actions. We Catholics do not believe that just asking Jesus to be our Savior guarantees salvation. One must follow Him and cooperate with that Grace. Also we do not believe that damnation is guaranteed to all non Catholics or non Christians.  By the way Hitler excommunicated himself. He was no longer a Catholic no matter what he called himself.

Answer 9

I don't fully understand Catholicism but I understand humans to an extent.   Anyone can say they are a Christian and yet not in any way have come to know my Christ.  In the Bible it says that only God Himself truly knows our hearts but that we can know a true believer in Jesus Christ by their fruit, or their actions, what they do.  Not just what they say.  

Being truly 'saved' is a heart condition, it changes the heart.  I cannot believe that Hitler was truly a Christian because of his actions.  I can say I'm the President but that doesn't mean the rest of you agree...  It's just harder to prove a spiritual condition.  

The key word you used is repentance.  It means that we turn from our old ways.  Sometimes we don't realize things we're doing are wrong and sometimes we just have to learn what's right, that may take time and we may hurt people in the process, like by gossip, etc.  But Hitler was simply evil.  He said things that made the crowds love him and follow him, but that's all that was.  Talk.  By the time they realized what was truly going on he had already begun the killing and then the war really began.  

Answer 10

The proof, they say, is in the pudding.

One might claim to be Christian (or a Catholic specifically) and not actually have accepted Christ as a savior. That is largely an issue between them and God, though others can often tell by the individuals behavior. Therefore, repentance aught result in changed action.

So in a hypothetical world where Hitler did truly repent, his actions would have changed appropriately and, as far as we living would know, yes, he would go to heaven.

In turn, the Jews (and gypsies, and so forth) he killed might "go to h**l," but again that is a matter that is largely between them and God. It is indicated that those who lived before Jesus did could be saved (Abraham, for example, was said to be saved through his faith in God, which would thus include a faith and belief in Jesus, even if he didn't formally know Jesus as a modern person might). Therefore, we cannot say which of those who died would have been likewise saved and those who were not. Indeed, nor can we save that death is the end of the matter. It is certainly the end for us as far as we know, but there is no indication that God could not yet work out the salvation of any and all willing who have died.

It has been said, after all (though not in the bible), that the gates of h**l are locked from the inside.

By "that all seems a bit backward" I suspect you mean that it doesn't seem fair (the "bad guy" gets saved and the "good guys" get damned). However, to note, Christianity is not a religion about fairness; if one believes it, then one would also believe that no one, on their own merit, deserves to be saved. That is, everyone is a bad guy. Christianity is unfair because those bad guys who believe get to be turned into good guys and saved. If it was fair, they'd still be damned.

Answer 11

My only explanation is that you are not as brainwashed as some people.

Answer 12

anyone can talk the talk..does it mean they walk it? personally, i do not believe that Hitler followed God nor His word. just his own green and hate. to be a Christan, on must live and breath the word of God. being obedient to His word. anyone can say that their a christian, living by the word is a different thing.

Answer 13

Believers must be baptized for the removal of sins or there is no entrance to Heaven according to Biblical authority of Jesus, Himself in Matthew 28 and Mark 16.

Answer 14

Your question is not an easy one, of course, mostly because no one on earth can be a judge of who gets into heaven or not.

However, from a Christian understanding, there are 2 things to consider:

1) "Repent" - this means to not only ask forgiveness for what you've done (which requires understanding that what you did is truly WRONG), but also that you TURN around from what you had been doing.  Like a U-turn, true repentance will mean that you will do as much as you can to reverse the consequences of what you have done, not just to ask forgiveness because you want all your bases covered.

and

2) The Bible still clearly states that it is your relationship with God that determines your final place in heaven (Jesus said that the most important commandment was to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength).  Personally, I believe that since both Jews and Christians believe in the same God, that it is your relationship with God that will determine your salvation. And that relationship is not anything that can be judged by anyone else but you and God.

Answer 15

First of, Hitler was not a Catholic.  He was a pagan (see Dinesh D'Souza for a more in-depth explanation).  He said he was a Catholic, but in reality he wasn't.  He also said he was a Christian, but his actions betrayed him (Jesus said: "By their fruits you shall know them").

Second, Catholic teaching is to do good deeds and obey the dictates of the Vatican and enter heaven b/c of deserving it, not to accept Jesus Christ into their hearts as Lord and Savior and obey Him above all others.  That is more the realm of Evangelical Christian teaching as a result of the Reformation.

What you said is partly true.  In order to go to heaven, one must only believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and accept His payment for all our sins.  This requires true repentance, something only God Himself can judge b/c He Himself works in our hearts to repent (by His Holy Spirit).

So, in theory, Hitler (and any other sinner for that matter) would have gone to heaven if they had truly repented over any of the MILLIONS of Jews who died.  God made the way, His only way through Jesus Christ.  When we sin, we offend Him first and foremost.  Look at the example of the thief on the cross next to Jesus (starting w/verse 40): http://bible1.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyB...

Like Hitler, he didn't deserve to go to heaven.  None of us do.  God Himself established that Jesus is "the way, the truth and the life".  The thief on the cross believed in Jesus and despite his sinful life (he was after all being crucified for not being a good person), Jesus told him: "Today you will be with me in paradise" AFTER the thief believed in Him and confessed Him as Lord and Savior.

What about Saul?  Prior to becoming the apostle Paul, he killed Jesus' followers.  However, God had mercy on him and transformed him into the greatest Christian that ever lived.

God said: "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy".  Who are we to tell Him whom He should save or not?  In his infite wisdom, God has chosen to extend grace (unmerited favor) to us through His Son, Jesus Christ.  None of us deserve heaven and yet, God offers it to us through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross.  John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life".  Whosoever means you, me, ANYONE who chooses to put their faith and trust in the perfect Sacrifice for our sins.

Feel free to ask more direct questions by writing to my address.

In the meantime, if you want to know more about Jesus in a non-threatening, fun way, visit and listen to the messages here (you can listen for FREE): http://www.rtpulpit.com/sermons/TSCvideo...

God bless you with faith to believe.

Answer 16

Where are the Once Saved Always Saved people?

Catholics believe that we need to accept the Grace of God, and in doing that we have some responsibility for staying in the Grace of God.

Practicing Catholics observe the Sacraments, I don't think that Hitler went to Mass or Confession, so that would put his soul in trouble, (along with his actions)

While it is not for us to judge, (Only God can) I suspect that Hitler is in a very warm place grinding his teeth, and that follows the beliefs of Catholics.

Now the Once Saved always saved people would not agree with this.  Where is Chris?  This would be a good question for him.