According to the Christian faith:

1- Will those who consider Jesus an imposter go to heaven?

2- Will those who consider him a prophet but not the son of Lord enter heaven?

No.

But also maybe yes.

The general rule is that you have to accept and receive Christ in order to go to heaven.

But most Christians consider it a possibility that you might do that anonymously, without understanding that you are doing that.

If a Muslim loved God and was trying his best to understand and obey God, repented his sins and depended on God's mercy, He might be in fact encountering and receiving the grace of Christ without knowing it. And when he gets to Heaven, he will realize Who it was who was in that relationship with him.

But only if he really did not know and was not in a position to know that Christ and His Church were necessary for salvation. This is called "Invincible Ignorance".

If he knew it or if he was in a position to know it and pushed that knowledge away with full consciousness, he could not be saved.

How many such "Christians by desire" will be saved? No one knows. It could be very many. It could be very few. Opinions differ.

But if someone asks, "What must I do to be saved?" the answer is straightforward. You must accept Christ, become a member of His Church, and live a life faithful to His teachings, dying in a state of grace.

"I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father but through Me."

Another point: Just because you are Catholic doesn't mean you will be saved either. You have to be faithful; you must die in what's called "a state of grace" without any major unrepented sins. If you have turned away from God in your life, you can't be saved just because you are a member of the Church.

This is Catholic doctrine.

Some Protestants have similar teachings, but they have no central teaching authority, so they differ. Many Evangelicals believe that if you confess Christ, you will be saved. If you don't, you will be damned. As simple as that.

By the way, this is not all that different from the Muslim idea, I think.

Many Muslims--perhaps most--just say, "If you are a Muslim, you might go to paradise. If not, not." I'm guessing this is what Ice Tea would say, for example.

Some leave an escape hatch, especially for monotheists who do good works. Braiki does this, I believe.

But even the second group would probably think that if a Christian knew clearly that Muhammed was God's prophet and the Quran was God's final word and refused to accept and obey, he would not be saved.

Or so I would assume.

That's what I believe Jeff, you got it right 100%
In my very humble opinion, you are saved if you don't know yet still try to follow, but if you know yet block your eyes and ears then you will not be saved. This matter is between you and God only.

I have read that in the Catholic faith non-believers (including those who are not Catholic but practice the Christian faith) first go to purgatory then Heaven.

This is interesting, what type of purgatory though?
Can you link it please?

I believe Everyone goes to Heaven its not really there fault that there religion is wrong in some ways ^_^

same as what different sectors believe :cute:

40 most frequent questions asked to the Catholic Church (interesting):

http://mafg.home.isp-direct.com/que4033.htm

http://mafg.home.isp-direct.com/cques19.htm

Non believers and Purgatory:

http://www.cephas-library.com/catholic/catholic_pope_says_nonbelievers_can_be_saved.html

that whoever "seeks peace and the good of the community with a pure conscience and keeps alive the desire for the transcendent," will be saved even if he lacks biblical faith ("Nonbelievers Too Can Be Saved, Says Pope," Zenit, Nov. 30).

The Pope quoted Augustine, one of the "fathers" of the Catholic Church, who claimed that even pagan Babylonians would be saved if "they have a spark of desire for the unknown, for the greatest, for the transcendent, for a genuine redemption." This, of course, is pure heretical nonsense.

The Lord Jesus Christ taught that men are condemned already because they are born estranged from God because of sin and that the only way to heaven is to be born again through faith in Him (John 3). The apostles taught the same thing. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

I think at least from my own viewpoint as a Catholic that even those who are not of my faith will find their way to Heaven unlike some religions where if you are a Heretic of their faith you will go to hell.

http://www.cephas-library.com/catholic/catholic_pope_says_nonbelievers_can_be_saved.html



This is an interesting cite, but you cited to a Protestant source that is criticizing the Pope for saying this!

Here is the cite of the Pope's talk from the Vatican website:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20051130_en.html

It's important to see that the Pope is talking about SOME not all of the "inhabitants of Babylon". And that he says that the reality of hope to which they aspire must be "unknown" to them. That is what makes the quotation fit with what Vatican Two taught that you cannot just CHOOSE to remain non-Catholic if you know the Truth of the Church and expect to get to heaven:

Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html

(Paragraph 14)

Purgatory is for every believer who does not die perfectly pure. Assumedly for most of us.

If a non-believer was, as the Pope said in his talk, honest and truly striving for the reality of which he was not fully aware, then he could be saved. And probably in most cases go to purgatory.

But it is only those of us who are saved who go to Purgatory. Purgatory is not a cure for non-belief.

And Purgatory is not a temporary hell. It is more painful than anything on this earth. But those who are there know that they are to be united with God and they suffer terribly, but with great joy.

Here is what our official manual of doctrine, The Catholic Catechism, says about Purgatory:

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire: As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.

http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/art12.html

Okay thanks. The Catholic Church does not believe non-believers all go to Hell. It is comforting to know that.