Group 2: if Hitler had true faith, could he have gotten in?
As I understand it, yes. Note please that I do not agree in the least with this line of reasoning. I find it nutty.
There may be a caveat in there saying that Hitler couldn't have "true belief" (by however they choose to define that) and still do what he did. I'm not sure.
Group 3: would a person with true faith but little application (who nevertheless did nothing sinful) not make it in?
Yup, they'd be left out, presumably. The way I understand "salvation by works" is that it's still not possible to be sinless, but it doesn't matter how much faith you have if you don't go out and act.
I've heard some interesting arguments by this crowd, such as that a non-believer (non-Christian) who did good works their whole life would be more welcome in Heaven than a believer who does nothing. So, for example, Gandhi before a lazy priest. Note, though, that I've never heard such a thing preached. Just discussed by layfolk.
Group 4: do believers who committed an atrocious sin and died before they had a chance to repent get in or not?
Depends on who you ask. Catholics at this point would be the most likely to tell you "no, they're out" since confession is still very important to many of them. However, many of them (my better half, for example) would not be so automatically condemning.
A sect that doesn't believe in confessing to clergy would likely say that a person of faith will not go around intentionally doing the wrong thing without repenting for it internally, thus somewhat dismissing the issue.
Personally, I fall somewhere between groups 3 and 4. I am not opposed to the idea that people outside the Christian faith can be just as tied to God as those within it - before or after death - which is more "salvation by works", I guess. In my own life, though, I try to follow a behavior of faith + works. |
