At least according to Protestantism, all you need to get salvation is to believe in God/Jesus Christ/whatever. So what happened to EVERY, SINGLE, non-Christian person in the history of the world? Like...what happened to 99% of the world? (Even Europe didn't become Christian until a few thousands years ago). So what about...everywhere? (I was going to list countries but...You name it and there was a place that wasn't Christian!)
So did they all go to hell because they didn't (couldn't?) believe in God/Jesus Christ/whatever?
2006-11-12 11:14:28 · 13 answers · asked by Freeson W 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Doesn't it seem kinda...not fair...for someone to be punished not having known the rules of the game (...of life?)
Aztecs, for example, practiced human sacrifice. The Chinese had ancestor worship. Greeks had...well the very interesting Greek Mythology stuff. What happened to all those people? (What about all the famous classical philosophers? Plato? Aristotle? Mencius? Socrates? Confucius? If all of those guys are in hell...well...hell must be a very intelligent, diversified place. I would rather go there than to some whitewashed...cloud.
2006-11-12 11:26:03 · update #1
How hard is it to understand this question? Do you honestly think people in Ancient China/America/Europe even (Celtics, anyone?) knew about Christianity? Ok. You can stretch it a BIT with Europe (maybe). But the best example is China. What happened to the people in Ancient China when they died? And don't give me crap about how "they might have known". I'm talking the general public - aka farmers and village people that were illiterate and were not exposed to any sort of Western culture. What happened to the trillions of people from the Xia all the way to the Ming/Qing dynasties? And, mind you, this is only the history of one country. Choose any country and it would have not had exposure to Christianity at one point. Even Europe wasn't Christian until the Byzantine Empire mandated it to be so.
Is it hard to understand this question?
2006-11-12 13:30:06 · update #2
Those who died without accepting Jesus as their savior went to hell and not to heaven. Jesus is the only way to get to the Father, which is in heaven.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Before Jesus, if a person lived according to the laws of God, but died before Jesus was born, lived, and was crucifed. They went to, and are still in the bosom of Abraham, waiting until Jesus returns for His Chruch. They will be the dead in Christ that shall rise before those who are Christians and are alive during the rapture. Praise the Lord!!
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
2006-11-12 11:20:29 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The Bible says God is just and fair... So, He has made a provision just for the scenario you describe:
Romans 2:11~
"For there is no respect of persons with God.
12) For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
13) (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
14) For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15) Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
16) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
2006-11-12 11:22:33 · answer #2 · answered by Bobby Jim 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
bobby Jim hit it right in his answer. God has put right and wrong in man's heart from the pasage in Romans in the New testament. Our consciences tell us when we do right and wrong and God will judge us that way also. Also there have been cases where a person or people were living in an isolated place away from any Christian influence and in their serious pursuit of wanting to know more about a God they knew had to exist, the Gospel message found it's way to them someway. Seek and you will find. Hell is populated with those who were rich, mighty, intelligent, good-looking, "good", powerful ect.. but without wanting to seek righteousness or Jesus there is no hope. Even a "good" person commits sin so "good" is not good enough if that person keeps commiting those sins in his life.
2006-11-19 16:58:35 · answer #3 · answered by Ernesto 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the one before Jesus came to the earth were all judged by the law of moses and if you failed to live up to the law and didn't offer sacrifice to god for your sins you went to hell and the ones after Jesus died on the cross and didn't accept him and his ways went to hell if they weren't saved( if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is lord and believe in you heart that god raised Jesus from the dead you are saved.) They are waiting for the end when all will be judge and will end up in hell. Salvation and life in heaven comes only through believing in Christ I know what I have felt and the miracles I have seen this isn't fake stuff so really ask god to show himself to you and except an answer he will give you one to anyone who asks him
2006-11-12 11:24:45 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Those who worshipped the one true God, before the death of Jesus on the cross, were saved. As the bible says about Abraham, he believed in God "and it was accounted to him as righteousness".
And what do you mean someone "couldn't" believe in the one true God or Jesus? There is no such thing. One either does, or they do not.
2006-11-12 11:53:38 · answer #5 · answered by Esther 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
that's the thing I don't get. The typical Christian answer is that they will be Judged by G-d if they did not know Jesus. But now if they do the exact same thing they will spend eternity in hell.
keeping that in mind is Jesus such a good thing?
2006-11-12 11:21:40 · answer #6 · answered by Gamla Joe 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No i know that everyone hears abotu the Gospel no matter what before they died! Everyone had to know! ChristiaNITY started in Jerusalem i think around there but I know that Paul the apostal wet to rome and EUROPE! He got arrested and he went to those places, i know he spread the gospel!
2006-11-12 11:34:20 · answer #7 · answered by Gdschild 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not ALL protestant people or churches believe that. However, there ae more good peopld from thepast who are going to wind up in God's sight than there are so-called christians today going to
2006-11-12 11:17:52 · answer #8 · answered by judy_r8 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Theres more than believing. The way you live.
The devil believes in God. Look where he is.
2006-11-12 11:18:34 · answer #9 · answered by robert m 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
hard to say what happened
2006-11-12 11:52:13 · answer #10 · answered by george p 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋