Do people that have never been exposed to christianity go to hell?

Question

For example, tribes that live in the amazon jungle and the like.

Answer 1

The Bible tells us that hell is where all people go who die, both good and bad. It is the grave and the first person to go there was Abel, because his brother Cain, murdered him. The churches of Christendom teach that God tortures humans forever in a horrible place, but that is not true. God is love and does not torture anyone. In fact when a person dies, they feel nothing and are aware of nothing as these Scriptures assure us:
Ecclesiastes 9:5: " For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing--"
Ecclesiastes 9:10: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."
Psalms 146:4: " His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish."
Satan will be eliminated soon along with death and hell. All will be gone forever.
Revelation 20:13,14: " And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."
Soon, death and hell will be a thing of the past. Satan will eventually be put out of existance also. Earth will be a wonderful, peaceful planet without Satans evil influence. Mankind will then be happy forever.
The good news of God's Kingdom is now being preached in over 235 lands so that basically every person will be given a chance to know and worship the true God. God is merciful,loving and just. He knows what is in a persons heart and will give those who are meek and teachable a chance to live forever.

Answer 2

Well, if you believe the Bible then it's hard to see why they shouldn't. If you ask a Christian you'll get one of two answers:

(1) No - They didn't know. If their good people they'll go to heaven.

This would mean that a person who possibly worshipped other gods, fornicated in good faith, committed any number of the deadly sins in good conscience or perhaps in keeping with his cultural practices, etc. would be accepted into heaven simply because he never heard about Christ. He would also be at liberty to hear and refuse to heed to any/all of several calls to adhere to a certain religious belief and not get punished for it. In fact, he could be exposed to a religion similar in many respects to Christianity or even derivatives of the Christian religion, and still escape hell.



(2) Yes - Doesn't matter if they never heard about Christianity. Christ is the passport to heaven. If you don't know him you don't get in.

This answer is more consistent with the biblical position. However, it gives the impression of the Christian God as a rather petty and small-minded individual. If Christianity was the only true religion why didn't God just say so, write it in the sky, provide a manual or something. In that case, everybody would know about it and nobody would accuse Him of being unfair.


Either way, it doesn't make sense that Christianity is the only true religion.

Answer 3

Here's an interesting idea.

If a native in the Amazon jungle, or someone in the inlands of China, or whatever is never met by missionaries and never exposed to the word of God, then he's judged by his actions and character quality in life, right? So he has an even chance.

If a missionary gets to him, however, his chances of being cast into hell are radically increased. Why? Because he is unlikely to simply give up the beliefs he has lived with his entire life and say "Oh! I see the light now! Bring me home, Jesus!" This being the case, he has rejected the Word and will go to hell.

Conclusion: Since the missionary's job is supposedly to try to "save" souls from hell, they would accomplish their job better by simply leaving them alone. At least that way they'd have a sporting chance. Otherwise, by exposing them to the Word they are sentencing the souls who reject them (and rightly so) to eternal damnation.

How about that? By trying to spread the Word, the missionaries actually accomplish exactly the opposite objective!

Answer 4

Hey BJ,

The Bible does not specifically answer this issue- but does show us that God's character is righteousness- meaning also that he is a fair and just God.

Romans 1 does teach that people can look at Creation and now there is a Creator. And God is also omniscient so he knows people's hearts. i believe for those tribes who have yet to hear the gospel- God will judge them righteously. This would be God's arena and not man's.

Obviously God loves these people and that's why He is sending missionaries to share with them. No one wakes up and just thinks i'm going to go to this tribe in the middle of no-where leaving all my comforts and endangering my life (so God put it on their hearts) and it shows that God loves the tribes in the different jungles throughout the world. He isn't going to be this unfair, unjust God who takes any delight in anyone perishing.

So based on what i know about God- i know that He is just and righteous and will judge in a fair manner.

Hope that helps,

Nickster

Answer 5

According to the teachings of Christianity, yes.

Here's a fun fact though: originally, Christians themselves didn't believe that all Christians would go to Heaven. Only those that God selected for salvation would be allowed in. The idea that all Christians can "choose" Jesus only started about 200 years ago.

Answer 6

Because the Bible is clear that all creation testifies of the glory of God and none will be without excuse.
Every nation came from the same start and they all had a knowledge of God. God warned clearly that one generation of those who do not follow him will eventually lose the truth. You see in all cultures today their versions through folk tales of the flood, of creation and of God.
Within all of us clear to the very core is a more intelligent creator's thumbprint. We, as humans, can not create anything out of nothing.
When we look at all of creation we see that there is something greater than us that created this world and everything in it.

Answer 7

Good question.

No, they don't go to hell. Not necessarily, anyway.

The Catholic Church teaches a concept known as "baptism by desire."

This generally applies to people -- such as the Amazon tribes you mentioned -- who may have never had the chance to hear about Jesus.

They can still reach Heaven, provided that they seek God in good conscience and live a reasonably Christ-like life.

Answer 8

There were different Prophets for different times and period,they all represented God.These messangers of God had one important role to play and that was to educate people about good and bad.In every religion goodness is appreciated and bad deeds are to be prevented through punitive action but that doent mean that a person will be punished by putting him or her in hell,there is a concept of forgiveness in every religion of God.Read history of god by karen armstrong then you will be able to understand that christianity is not the only God religion.

Answer 9

Within every person God has placed the conception of right and wrong. Even those in the jungle who never heard of God had their gods of good and evil. The Bible teaches that according to the conscience that has been placed in each one of us, is how the heathern will be judged.

Answer 10

of path no longer...that's the act of an unjust God. The Bible tells us that no person has excuse for no longer understanding Him...Romans a million:20 says, "For ever as a results of fact the international became into created, human beings have seen the earth and sky. with the aid of each and every thing God made, they might for sure see His invisible traits-His eternal capability and divine nature. so as that they haven't any excuse for no longer understanding God." and that i'm specific that if there is somebody available someplace that for some reason purely had no concept approximately God that He, in His purely awareness, will supply them the prospect to settle for or reject Him.