Pope Francis and the Good Atheists

So, we've got Pope Francis surprising everyone with his ideas on who's going to Heaven. He uses Mark 9:38-41 to prove his interesting concept. Here's the passage from the NET:

"John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, because no one who does a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say anything bad about me. For whoever is not against us is for us. For I tell you the truth, whoever gives you a cup of water because you bear Christ’s name will never lose his reward."

According to the Huffington Post article, here's what the Pope said in regards to the passage:

“They complain,” the Pope said in his homily, because they say, “If he is not one of us, he cannot do good. If he is not of our party, he cannot do good.” And Jesus corrects them: “Do not hinder him, he says, let him do good.” The disciples, Pope Francis explains, “were a little intolerant,” closed off by the idea of ​​possessing the truth, convinced that “those who do not have the truth, cannot do good.” “This was wrong . . . Jesus broadens the horizon.” Pope Francis said, “The root of this possibility of doing good – that we all have – is in creation . . . The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can... "The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone!".. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”

I do agree with him, to an extent. It is an interesting take on Mark 9:38-41, and I can agree to it as far as saying non-believers and people in differing denominations can equally do good. Here's why I don't fully agree: he doesn't go quite far enough. He's still holding to the Catholic teaching of "Do good works/be good enough, and you'll be redeemed". (Or at least, that's what I understand of Catholicism; if this is incorrect, please feel free to correct me, as the last thing I want to do is misrepresent someone whose beliefs differ from mine, or whose beliefs I don't understand fully.) The principle must go a little deeper; rather than doing good to be redeemed (by being redeemed, I'm assuming he means being able to get to Heaven), one must have an open, loving heart, which we have with us since birth (innocence of a child?).

To counter what the Pope said, even the Pharisees would do good- tithe, pray, fast, worship, memorize Scripture. What was Jesus's problem with them? Not what they were doing per se, but their hearts were filled with evil, and it nullified any good they did. On the other hand, in Luke 19:1-10, take Zacchaeus (who I will refer to as Zach) for example. He was doing evil, namely cheating on taxes and getting himself more money than he should. Then Jesus comes by, and Zach wants to see Him. Why? His heart is open and searching, which was the kind of heart Jesus was attracted to. He goes to Zach's house, and he reveals that he has love in his heart after all, by making the vow to give half of his belongings to the poor and paying back everyone he had cheated four times as much.

One might argue that the Zacchaeus passage supports what the Pope says because it was after Zach decided to do good (namely, repay those he'd cheated and donate half his stuff to the poor) that Jesus said salvation has come to Zach and his household. But I would argue that it was not his decisions to do good that brought him salvation, but the renewed, loving heart he attained from being loved by Jesus. It is the good heart that brings forth the good deeds.

Can Atheists have this heart? Can people who have not even heard of Jesus have this heart? I say yes, and I am leaning towards the position that some- and if some then surely many- do. After all, we are born with such a heart, and usually keep it for some time before we are introduced to laws and judging, which comes from the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is why Jesus said we must be like the little children to get into the Kingdom of Heaven/God. For this reason, I would even go as far as saying that the Atheist with an open, loving heart has a better chance of getting to Heaven than the Christian believer with a closed, hateful heart.

“Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples – if you have love for one another.” -John 13:35 NET

-J-Lindo