If Jesus Christ, the one and only true way to heaven, didn't come around until 2000 years ago...?

Question

Where did everyone go (heaven or hell) up until that point? The cave men, who did believe in an after life, knew nothing of Christ, so what was their fate? The bible doesn't go into detail about dinosaurs and cave men...just curious as to how this one will be answered? oh, oh, oh.....and..... what about societies that white man had never touched before, you know the ones that worshipped stone heads or cow skulls - did they go to hell, too? Things that make you go, hmmmmm......
And I am not trying to disprove God or Jesus. I believe that Jesus existed and was more enlightened than most, like Buddha and Muhammad (spelling?) who were all very much in touch with a higher power, who does not sit on a golden throne and point his finger and destroy cities. No, my higher power pushes universal love on everyone - just like Jesus did. J.C. was all about the love. What loving GOD would punish/destroy his beautiful creation and keep them out of his home?

Answer 1

If you read Luke 16:19-31, the Bible gives a picture of Hades, or Sheol, the realm of departed spirits at the time of Jesus' life. The Bible teaches that none could enter heaven until their sins had been atoned for by Christ. The picture in Hades is of a place of torment and of a place of comfort. The latter is referred to as Abraham's bosom, and this is where those who looked for a Redeemer, who lived righteous lives by faith, awaited the appearing of Messiah (Christ).
Several passages in the New Testament; specifically Ephesians 4:8-10; I Peter 3:18-20 and 4:6 make reference to Christ's descent into Hades where He did 2 things - announced His victory over Satan to the departed wicked spirits, and took with him the spirits of the faithful departed when He ascended into heaven.

Answer 2

#1..because he was not prophesied to be born , until he was. It is in the old testament several times .
#2..there is no heaven or hell until after the second coming.
#3..Do you think that if everything was written, it would be a book that would fit in a mans hand ? It states in there, that not everything is written.
#4.. It tells us that the earth was RECREATED. What makes you think Adam and Eve didnt have to live in caves when they were booted out of the garden of eden ?
#5..muhammade was just a criminal, go read the koran and study the prophetofdoom.net
#6..Those that were there before Jesus were saved from sins, by sacrificing animals. All others will be resurrected to be given a chance to know.
#7..Humans are destroying creation. God says he will destroy those ,that hurt the earth,,like space games, nuclear stuff, intentional damage, etc.
#8.. if you were God, would you let evil people into Heaven ??
Its his strange act, but he destroys sinners that do not believe forever, according to scripture.

Answer 3

Josephus, a Jewish historian, mentioned Jesus in his writings toward the end of the first century C.E., roughly 60 years after Jesus' death.
As a non-Christian, Josephus would have no reason to accept the historical reality of Jesus unless there was some sound basis for it.
In one of his works, Josephus discusses disturbances that were caused by the Jews during the time Pontius Pilate was governor of the region of Judea (26-36 C.E,) The disturbance centered around a man named Jesuss and his followers, Josephus identifies Jesus as "a wise man....a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of men who received the truth with pleasure," and he notes that Jesus was later condemned by Pilate to crucifixion. While this mention of Jesu does not suggest that Josephus himself accepted Jesus or the claim made about Jesus by his followers, it does seem clear that Josephus recognized Jesus to be a historical person who had a profound impact on the people he encountered.

Read also about Tacitus, a Roman historian.....Pliny the Younger another Roman source and Suetonius a Roman historian and lawyer.
All these writers prove the historical existence of Jesus......rather than biblical sources.

Answer 4

The Bible says Jesus died on the cross.He had all of mans sins on His back.When Jesus died He then went to hell.Crushed the devils head and when Jesus did that the Bible says Jesus bruised His heel.Then He released the captives which is every person that lived before Jesus died.You have to read in all parts of the Bible.And yes God is love.Our choice is to choose Jesus which is love or The devil which hates humans because there is still a fight going on between good and evil.This is the way I interpret the Bible.I Know Jesus is real because when i asked Jesus to forgive my sins and come into my heart i really had a physical feeling of peace and love it happened in my house not in some church.I hope this helps you.

Answer 5

Answers from within the Christian mythos that say "Jesus went to Hell and saved all the deserving Pagans" don't work for me, for the following reason:

Let's say you're in Hell, or the "bosom of Abraham" if you prefer. It's reasonable to assume that at that point, having entered the afterlife, you have SEEN the reality of the afterlife and of Hell/God.

Therefore, when Jesus comes to ask you to come with Him, any sensible person, presented with that evidence, would agree to follow Him.

Now let's compare that to the state of affairs with human beings today. We are in a world where the the proof of Hell/God is obviously NOT as evident as it was to those pre-Christian Pagans who were already in the afterlife when Jesus came to them. How can it be fair to ask us to make that same choice and come to the "right" decision, based on our relative lack of evidence?

What it amounts to is that the Pagans in Hell/the bosom of Abraham had a monstrous advantage over us, the people of the modern era. Therefore, God is at best unfair, at worst capricious.

That's my opinion, anyway, and by the way, excellent question. It's one of the reasons why I can't embrace Christianity as my own religion.

Answer 6

Well technically (I'm going to paraphrase from what I know of God's Word to your questions) no has gone to hell or heaven yet (except for the Old Testament saints, i know this going to be complicated but bear with me) because those that have died are still in the grave. You know that there are three parts of the body right? Spirit, soul, and physical body... ok, well when you die your spirit goes to the Lord, but you are not there for eternity though. No one is going to heaven or hell until after judgment. And when judgment comes everyone rises from the grave and is judged by Jesus, whether they go to heave or hell by their acceptance of Christ.

I personally don't think there were cavemen. Why would God (almighty and powerful, not to mention smarter and more creative than anything) make humans who were inept, only to leave them to become smarter and better humans?? it doesn't make sense. He would have made them already smart, and ready for this world. Besides God's Word said He made man in His own image. Why would God create man as an imbacile? I'm sure God would consider Himself an imbacile.

oh, almost forgot, he did create dinosaurs, but they probably died in the flood of Noah, and the ones that were taken on the boat probably died because there wasn't enough food for them.

(sorry this is really long...) As for the other societies that white men did not minister too, I'm sure that there were many that worshipped Idols, but alot of them probably worshipped Jesus (or God) as well. I bet alot of them knew that God existed, and loved them. Besides who could deny that everything around was created. So they probably did worship God, just not by our name. anyway they'll be judged with the rest of us.

(I liked your question, and agains sorry for my longwinded writing, lol)

Answer 7

a loving God that gave u a free will and wanted u to choose the right way all on ur own ... and the theory ive heard is that those that died before Christ were also given the chance to believe the truth ... and they were, or are, in a holding place ... not heaven or hell ...

Answer 8

I'll give you a clue.....
what was Jesus doing from the time He was crucified until the time He arose again from the dead?
oh, by the way, Jesus Christ IS God!!

Answer 9

Who are you to question God and when and what He does? Just be thankful that Jesus did come so that if you believe you will be saved from Hell.

Answer 10

They went to the Limbo of the Fathers, aka Abraham's bosom. After Jesus was crucified, He retrieved them and took them to Heaven.