Are People Who Arent Christians Going to Hell Is that Fair Tim Keller at Columbia University

well there were number of questions here with people were extremely bothered and think it's very brave thing for you to say especially in kind of multicultural Community right where we supposed to respect everybody and no one's going to hell just because they happen to be Jewish or not Christian or not following the gospels okay but think you need to or just just based on the questions here let's talk about that is that really fair mean it's especially people who are don't have access to the gospels who not even are who don't even reject it they just don't get access to it but even those who do get access to it is it fair to say they're going to hell let's the people who don't have access to it tried to say don't know right all right okay that's that's fine but would say two things this might help everybody's exclusive see this is there is there's an illusion in in the West that if you say all the different religions are kind of equally good or equally valid for you that that's open-minded right the trouble is that's one particular way of looking at religions and what you're saying when when somebody says to me don't tell me your religion Superior to this other religion what you're saying is your view of religions is superior to my view of religions which comes down to the same thing because in other words you have take on spiritual reality and have take on spiritual reality your take is the world would be better place if we believed all religions were okay believe that the world would be better if everybody believe my take on spiritual reality so who's really more exclusive in other words each each person says I've got to take on spiritual reality it's better than the yours the world would be better place if everybody believed it you're evangelizing me I'm evangelizing you you're trying to convert me I'm trying to convert you everybody is equally exclusive everybody's narrow here's what really makes you openminded how do you treat people with the other views see in other words if you look at me as unenlightened and primitive then you're being narrow-minded but presumably God's making these judgments so why what kind of God would say okay you Jewish people you got it wrong right you're not coming into heaven well you see how that would be kind of problem for lot of people of course because because it's it's because it's not by being Jewish mean it's by not following the gospel yeah that's right but even even there even there well CS Lewis in his book on and actually even his even George McDonald who was sort of kind of mentor of Lewis believe that everybody in their soul is moving is moving toward decentered self with God in the middle or centered self with yourself in the middle you can see in this life people who are very self-centered and by the way see this what's interesting to me is see Christians who are self-centered believe in Christians who who believe all my doctrines are self-centered see guy like you even though I've only known you for couple hours now who have got who don't have self-centered life at this point from what can tell there's graciousness there's an other orientation sure there are other people who are disagree you know well mean you know that's two hours three more hours would be different what lwis is trying to say is if we live forever if we live forever this process is is going to take you to he and Hell billion years from now person who is getting God in the center and taking yourself out of the center is going to be an angel person who is living for him or herself is going to be devil how that happens as far as know the only way know it happens is the gospel and not just being Christian saying I'm going to be living good life and you know obey the Ten Commandments and do like Christ that those that produces Pharisees and self-centered people so it's complicated but nevertheless think what has to be just before you go away from this it's just it's chapter one in the book if you can get it is everybody is exclusive people who say all religions are the same let me let me use this illustration because my wife is going to kill me if don't and she's here tonight okay mean she will just criticize me right the tra the traditional understanding of religions in the west is the Blind Men and the Elephant here's an elephant here's six Blind Men everyone's holding on to part of the elephant and describing the part they have as if it's the whole elephant so you know one man is holding the trunk saying elephants are like snakes one man is holding you know you know the leg saying elephants are like tree stump and so the idea is every religion sees part of the spiritual reality but no religion sees all of it and every religion is narrow-minded because it tends to say can see the whole thing and this illustration and Leslie nuban who was you British Theologian says the trouble with this illustration is the only way you could know that all religions are equally good but no none of them have the whole truth the only way you could know that that no blind man has the whole elephant is if you see if you think you see the whole elephant other words the illustration doesn't work unless you believe that and nigan points out if you really think that there's no one religion is superior to any other and no one religion actually gets you to God better than any other you are achieving the superior knowledge that you just said no religion can have and therefore it's impossible for you to really be inclusive nobody's inclusive everybody thinks I've got to take on spiritual reality that's better than everybody else's and and you would say but you don't think I'm you know don't think you're going to hell you think I'm going to hell and well that's just think the consequences of your mistake are more eternal than you think the consequences of my mistake are but that doesn't make me more less more narrow-minded than you okay all right mean it's just yeah if you yeah mean no no just simply say yeah no get it yeah yeah disagree but get it yeah yeah they know that's what the whole point of this thing is about really absolutely for more information about the Veritas Forum including additional recordings and calendar of upcoming events please visit our website at veritas.com