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Originally Posted by ogrekilleat  But I mean, people who believe in the Rapture are probably Christian anyway. Because why would you believe in that most-difficult-to-believe part of the bible as literal truth and not the rest of it? (Full disclosure: I do not believe in the literal truth of the stuff in revelations) |
The thing is that Jesus talked constantly about the Ascension. He didn't say that people would go to Hell (except by convoluted interpretations) but he did talk non-stop in the gospels about the coming time of ascension.
It doesn't make much sense to call yourself Christian while ignoring the words of Jesus.
He _didn't_ say that you had to "accept him as your personal savior" though. That was a fabrication by the author of John which is widely agreed to have been made up, whereas Matthew, Mark and Luke are based on telling the words of Jesus without distortion or interpretation.
In Matthew, Mark and Luke (the ones considered to be historically accurate by historians) Jesus does not talk about hellfire or evangelism or being the "only son of god" or being saved or being born again. But he does talk about the ascension.