Chad Holtz brought controversy among evangelical Christians with his book Love Wins: “A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. He couldn’t fathom the idea that even the most peaceful human had to spend eternity in hell just because he didn’t claim Jesus as his Lord. Mr. Holtz was startled one day when at a Christian art show, someone wrote beneath the quote of Mahatma Gandhi, “Reality check: He’s in hell.”
Reverend Todd Wagner believes if Gandhi did not accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior, then he is indeed in hell. (see http://www.rickross.com/reference/fundamentalists/fund211.html for his exact quote and more on this subject.)
John 3:18 reads: Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
So is Gandhi in hell?
I don’t know. That’s God’s judgment, not mine. I would like to think Gandhi’s afterlife went something like this:
Gandhi is sitting in a waiting room. (I always picture a waiting room between Heaven and hell. It might be something I got from “Beetlejuice”.). But Gandhi’s waiting and Jesus walks in.
Gandhi looks up, surprised. “You are the Messiah?”
Jesus says, “I am.”
Gandhi smacks his forehead. “I wish I had known. Forgive me.”
Jesus touches Gandhi’s cheek. “You are.”
He guides Gandhi through a door and they go for a drink. If you’re from the south you would imagine it was sweet tea they drank. I think it was a glass of wine. After all Jesus turned water into wine. I assume he still drinks it.
There’s no way anyone could know where Gandhi ended up in eternity. The best we can do, is be the best we can be. When it comes to salvation and grace, let God be in control.
Please take the following poll on this issue.
I think you’re correct. No one except the Lord and Ghandi know where he is now. However, I don’t think his location was determined in the “afterlife.” (Read the account of Lazarus and the rich man). The decision is made here as to whether we accept Christ or not. No one knows if Ghandi accepted Christ. He is known to have said he liked Christ, but he didn’t like Christians because of their behavior, which at that point shows a lack of knowledge on Ghandi’s behalf. It is our personal relationship with Christ that counts.
I understand what you’re saying, but it’s hard to fathom that someone who was as gentle and non-violent as Gandhi ended up in hell. I also understand what Gandhi was saying about Christians. Some are arrogant, they claim to believe, then don’t follow. So was Gandhi a non-believer because he saw others who claimed to be Christian behaving in a way that caused his doubt. There’s interesting argument for both sides. Once I get up there, I’ll let everyone know.
Ghandi cannot be in either heaven nor hell. Jesus has not returned for the final judgement. That leaves Ghandi still in the grave waiting………and we do not know what Ghandi’s last thoughts were – after all Jesus tries until the last breath is exhausted for us to accept HIM as Savior and surrender to God.
Good point Darlene.