Sorry about that Jar, I should have taken a few moments to compose a better OP.
Anyway, the background is this.
Jar’s opinion is that all anyone needs to do to be saved is to follow two commandments, namely, to love God, and to love others as you love yourself.
Jar’s opinion is that when an atheist helps out a fellow human being he is showing love for God at the same time. This is basically the sheep and goats scenario, where Jesus says that when you help someone you are helping Jesus.
As an atheist, I find it difficult to agree with Jar, I do understand completely what he is saying, I just don’t agree with it. This is not to say that Jar is wrong, he may well be correct, but at the moment I feel there are certain difficulties in accepting these two conditions.
For example, Jar cites Matthew’s sheep and goats story to support his stance, which, on the surface, makes sense. However, I believe that Jesus was talking here about people who said they believed in God yet did not help others. I have seen this story used by various ministers and teachers to illustrate that anyone can say that they are a Christian, but to truly be a Christian you have to actually help others. They then go on to say that when you truly love God then the helping others falls naturally into place.
This is what I believe the sheep and the goats story is about. I do not think Jesus was talking about everyone, I believe that he was just speaking about people who professed to love God and yet did not act on it.
I also think that God wants you to show love for Him, and to do so you would have to believe in your heart that you show love for Him through loving others.
A big problem I have with this two commandment salvic path is that by using Jar’s definition you do not actually have a two commandment salvic path. By linking one to the other in this way, there is no need to have the first commandment. If you follow the second commandment, to love others as you love yourself, and by doing so you automatically love God, then the first commandment is redundant.
Jesus didn’t say that you are only required to love others and that love for God is displayed at the same time. He specifically says love God AND love others as you love yourself. I agree that Jar’s description, if true, would fulfil these two criteria. I believe that you have to be conscious about loving God in order to truly show love for God, and an atheist cannot do this.
If Jar’s belief (and others here of course have said the same) is accurate, then Jesus would have had no need to say that you had to love God AND others, if the two were intertwined then loving others would suffice.
I would say then that the main argument of the topic would be, is it possible for an atheist to love others without loving God?
My answer is no.
Brian.
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