Can any Christians (or Muslims or Jews) answer a question?

[KenDodd]

For background I'm white British culturally Christian I suppose. Celebrity Christmas and Easter etc but without that much of the religious input. Don't believe in God.

I remember having a conversation with a vicar some years back about christianity and heaven. Basically the vicar said that access to heaven didn't depend on a person leading a good life, it depends on worshiping God and welcoming God into your life and that living by God rules would make you a good person. So, as an extreme example, Hitler could in the last days of his life truly repent and ask God's forgiveness and would be welcomed into heaven, whereas, for example, an atheist doctor could devote their whole life providing medical care for the poorest, most marginalised people in the world for very little personal gain and would be condemned to the fires of hell?

I really struggled to understand this. Perhaps posters could expand upon it for me? Maybe it's not for me to understand, it's just to accept? I believe (perhaps wrongly?) the same view is true of Islam and Judaism?

Thanks

An Alsatian, a doberman and a cat are waiting to see god, to try and get into heaven. They get ushered thru to meet god on his throne and God asks the Alsatian what he believes in. He replies, loyalty, friendship, and obedience to his master. God is impressed and asks him to sit at his right hand.

God asks the doberman what he believes in and the doberman says he believes in protection, loyalty, and obedience to his master. God is impressed and asks him to sit at his left hand.

God asks the cat what he believes. The cat replies " I believe you're sitting in my seat".

My In laws believe what you describe OP, they are Protestants. I was brought up Catholic and believe in a loving God who isn’t looking for ways to punish people. The in laws phoned us once to say they were worried about the fact that we were certainly going to hell because we don’t go to church every Sunday. I explained that they didn’t need to worry as my God was more interested in how I treat others than whether I walk into a certain building once a week.
They were furious!