A friend of mine is afraid she can be convicted and sentenced to hell for her thoughts.

She's a very devout Christian. Super nice person. She goes to church every Sunday and sometimes even in the middle of the week. She also prays to God every morning and night.

The other day, she mentioned something about going to hell. I laughed, because she's the most loyal Christian I know. But she wasn't kidding. She told me she has impure thoughts. She's married, but thinks about relationships with other men. She sometimes wishes bad things on people. Sometimes she's jealous of her sister and wishes something bad would happen to her. Nothing real bad, but like lose her job or something. She would secretly enjoy that. Ditto for some of her coworkers.

My friend also claims she has a form of mental Tourette's syndrome, where she'll just impulsively think something like, "I hate God". She doesn't know why this happens, she doesn't hate God, but she can't stop herself from thinking that and much worse, although she wouldn't tell me what worse things she thought.

Of course, anyone who knows me knows I don't believe in any of this. But she seems genuinely distraught over this and I told her I knew of an online forum where people seem to be knowledgeable about Christianity and sincere about helping people. So I promised I would ask this question for her...

Can you be convicted of thought crimes? My own answer would be most certainly not, but what do I know? It would surpass all the things I already think are barbaric about the bible. It seems appalling to think that your innermost thoughts are under supreme surveillance 24/7. What a way to have to live!

So I'm guessing/hoping you'll say she's ok. Again, she's one of the nicest sweetest people I know. She has to be for me to be posting a question on here for her. Even though I don't believe in any of this, I hate to see her so upset and worried about this. I'll print out some of your answers and show them to her. Thanks.

simoneaugie

Of course God hears all of our thoughts. We are endlessly forgivable no matter what they are. God is our thoughts.

The church she goes to teaches guilt and fear. You can't make her see that the human-created church doctrine is her problem. God is love. There are no conditions or time limit. We all go to heaven, even if our church teaches that we must feel guilty and fearful of God. Sin is mankind not seeing itself as it really is.

Fear is simply the other side of love. God is both, everything and we are part of God.

lobrobster

Many Christians that I know claim that no matter how bad or how much you've sinned, all you have to do is accept Jesus, ask for forgiveness, and you will be cleansed of your sins and can enter heaven. Meanwhile, you cannot get into heaven no matter how good of a life you lived, if you don't accept Jesus as your Savior.

If this is incorrect, please let me know. Maybe I seriously misunderstand the doctrine.

N0help4u

Its sort of like this
Say you love someone and they love you
You are not required to cook, clean and do for them but out of the love you have for each other you do those things for each other.
Same with God we do not do good works to get to heaven
we do what is good and right because of the love for Jesus in our heart.

I hope I explained it good enough.

addition:
You love your wife. She loves you. You come home from work, she is not going to say you can only enter IF you do this, that and obey me to the T.

lobrobster

So you are admitting that doing good good simply out of respect and love for humanity and creation is not enough? That it's not about the rest of humanity, but only your love for God and Jesus?

I am NOT trying to be difficult... I just do not understand how a loving God allows a kind and gentle person to be eternally tortured just because they couldn't bring themselves to believe that which there is no evidence for. This is a big thing with me.

Wondergirl

As NOhelp said, Christians do good works out of reflected love from God. (God loves me, therefore, in thanks, I love others.) You and others do good out of love for others.

Who said a kind and gentle person will be eternally tortured just because he doesn't believe in God?

lobrobster

Uh, Protestants? Muslims? I thought most Christian denominations thought this as well. I was raised Catholic and was told belief in God and accepting Jesus was a pretty important requirement to get into heaven. Has that changed?

N0help4u

scottyv agrees: Read the bible? Hmmn. Yeah why not start with Revelations? C'mon this girls in trouble at least suggest a passage that has lifted you in times of despair, maybe a Psalm or something?
com'on I did! they are at the bottom of this page but I guess you skipped over them.

Fr_Chuck

yes, those that do not accept Christ are not saved and do not go to heaven. Now is hell is torture or it is merely a place without God as the punishment or if it is just death, nothing more for those that don't beleive, what exactly hell will be, is a real debate, but the fact that those who do not accept God goes there, is not a debate for a christian

N0help4u

I hear people asking about people that do not believe in God not going to heaven a lot.
what I can't figure out is if a person chooses to not believe in God then what is their problem about heaven. If they don't want God why do they want heaven? Just something I haven't figured out.

lobrobster

This is what I thought. Perhaps Wondergirl can expound on this. Again, this is a real problem for me and I suspect it's at the heart of my friend's problem as well. She's having doubts. Thought crimes if you will. Can she be saved?