Val Venis has a pretty wild take on who can make it into heaven. The former WWE star says that under his Christian beliefs, even murderers and child molesters can ultimately be saved — as long as their acceptance of Jesus Christ is actually genuine.
Speaking to Monte and the Pharaoh, Venis was asked point-blank whether someone responsible for horrific crimes could still go to heaven. He admitted that even he struggles with the idea on a human level, but his answer was still yes.
“Yep. Yep. Absolutely. And as humans — and I agree with you — as humans, it’s hard for me to accept that a child molester or a murderer could go to heaven. But the reality is, yeah, they can.”
That doesn’t mean Venis thinks somebody can simply say a few words at the last second and automatically wipe the slate clean. He believes there has to be genuine belief and repentance behind it.
“Will the majority of them go to heaven? Probably not. Even if they say they accept Jesus Christ as their savior as a last-ditch effort, I don’t think really in their heart they truly believe that.”
Venis believes there are still people who have committed horrific crimes who could eventually look back at what they’ve done, genuinely regret it and turn to Christ. In his view, that’s where salvation could still come into the picture.
“But there are some — yeah, I truly believe that there are some child molesters, there are some murderers, that at some point in their life, they look back and they’re like, ‘Wow, I did all these sins, horrific sins, and I don’t want to do that anymore. And I’m going to live forever outside of the kingdom of God, and I don’t want to do that. I want to be inside the kingdom of God.’”
For Venis, none of this depends on how ugly someone’s past might be. His belief is that Christ’s sacrifice applies to everyone, including people responsible for crimes most people would find impossible to forgive.
“And they turn to the only man that cares about them ever — Jesus Christ. That is the only man that will love everybody that accepts his gift. He died on the cross for every human being’s sins, not just the child molester’s sins or the murderer’s sins.”
Still, Venis kept coming back to one condition — he believes the person actually has to mean it. Simply claiming to have accepted Christ isn’t the same thing as genuinely believing it.
“But you really — I mean, you really have to accept Jesus Christ. You really have to understand that he was real. You have to understand that he really suffered on that cross in that time to pay for our sins. And that’s the tough thing for, I think, a lot of people to do.”
Naturally, that conversation eventually brought Chris Benoit into the picture. Benoit killed his wife Nancy and their seven-year-old son Daniel before dying by suicide in 2007, and Venis was asked whether he believed his former WWE colleague would be in hell.
Venis wouldn’t give a definite answer. He said Benoit had presented himself as a Christian when they knew each other and regularly talked about Christ, but acknowledged that he couldn’t possibly know what Benoit truly believed before his death.
“Only Chris Benoit could answer that question. You know, I know Chris Benoit was a believer — at least that’s the way he portrayed himself. You know, anytime we hung out — we hung out a lot — and, you know, he would talk about Christ a lot.”
Venis then questioned what Benoit’s mental state may have been during the killings, while admitting he doesn’t actually know the answer. Ultimately, he said only Benoit and God could know whether his faith was genuine.
“And then you look at whatever happened in that house. I mean, it’s one of those things where, was it out of his control? Was he out of his mind with drugs and alcohol? Or what was the case? I don’t know. Only Chris Benoit can truly answer the question.”
Venis even said it’s possible, according to his religious beliefs, that Benoit could be in heaven with Nancy and Daniel. He stressed that there’s no way for him to actually know that.
“Did he give his soul to Jesus Christ before he died? He claimed he did. Only he knows for sure, and Jesus Christ knows. So, he could be in heaven. He could be there with Nancy and his son Daniel.”
Venis later made his own hope pretty clear. He said he hopes Benoit genuinely turned to Christ during the final moments of his life because, under Venis’ beliefs, that would have been his only path to salvation.
“I pray and I hope that Chris Benoit, especially in those last minutes of his life, I pray and hope that he really did give his entire soul to Jesus Christ, because that is the only way he would have entered the kingdom of God.”
When asked if he’d personally forgiven Benoit, Venis said that wasn’t his call to make. As he sees it, Nancy and Daniel were the victims, while ultimate forgiveness comes from Christ under his faith.
“It’s not my place to forgive Benoit because it’s one of those things — there’s only three people that can forgive Chris Benoit, and two are the victims, right? Nancy and Daniel. But the most important one of all three is Jesus Christ.”
Venis knows the idea of murderers or child molesters being allowed into heaven is going to be difficult for plenty of people to hear. But from his religious perspective, even the worst crimes don’t automatically put salvation off the table if someone genuinely repents and accepts Christ.
Do you agree with Val Venis’ take on whether people responsible for horrific crimes can still receive salvation? Let us know in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
