Just wanted to add something. One of the things that bothers me the most is what I perceive as the injustice of God....let me explain.
No one can enter heaven unless they accept Jesus as their Savior. My father dismissed God and religion completely, so he will not be saved. Yet, my father was a very good man. My father commanded my respect and obedience by his presence and intelligence. He never once struck us, but guided us with his example and strength of character. He is why I became an atheist.
He came from Italy in 1930 not being able to speak English and became moderately successful without ever cheating his customers. His rejection of God started much earlier
When he was 12, the local priest approached my grandmother. The small town in Italy they lived in only provided up to a grade 6 education. The priest saw potential in my dad and convinced my grandmother to send him to the provincial capital to attend the Roman Catholic monastery. He would be educated and become a priest. My grandmother was torn about needing her son to help support the family ( my grandfather had died years earlier), and the honor of having her son become a priest. She decided to send him to the monastery.
After the third day at the monastery, my Dad waited until nightfall, scaled the walls and walked 40 km home in the dark. The story he told was that people at the monastery had stolen the socks my grandmother had knit for him. Plus he was unhappy and wanted to come home. My Dad told me this when I was a child of 10 or 11 when I asked him why we did not attend church. His message was, “ There are bad people in churches”
In retrospect, it is highly likely he had been sexually molested. The “men of God” he trusted had violated that trust....and God had not protected him. For a boy of 12, it was devastating. I now understand his feelings about the Roman Catholic Church and God.
He passed 40 years ago of cancer I did not weep until 10 years ago. I was at the Grand American. A severe storm rolled in and the shoot was suspended. My two best friends (both Christians that helped me find Christ) and I took refuge in the motor coach and a TV show about cancer came on. Started talking about my Dad and I lost it. Had to get out and I sat in the downpour for 20 minutes crying like a baby. Decades of loss poured out of me.
It bothers me that my Dad will not be granted eternal life. He is the best man I have ever known