If Christ is the way.......?

Question

If Christ is the way, and the only way, to gain an eternity in Heaven, then what happened to all those whom lived and died before the Christ was born? Were they all doomed, inherently, to an eternity in Hell?

Answer 1

Here is the official teaching of the Catholic Church on your question.

632
The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was "raised from the dead" presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there.479

633
Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell"—Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek—because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into "Abraham's bosom": "It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell." Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.

634
"The gospel was preached even to the dead." The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfillment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption.

635
Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." Jesus, "the Author of life," by dying destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage." Henceforth the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and Hades," so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."

I hope the above helped clarify things for you.
Peace and every blessing!

Answer 2

I believed that those who died before Christ's redemptive death and resurrection were in the underworld or Sheol or place of the dead and were then set free by Jesus. There is an old ancient homily which touches base in that Jesus had died and went to Sheol to look for our first parents or if you like Adam and Eve . At the end of the meeting Jesus relates to them that they and all who came after them was coming home to a place where they were destined to go from all eternity.

Answer 3

First, Christ IS the ONLY way.
Next, the cross is the dividing line between when time on earth began and when the last person takes their last breath
at the end of all time on earth.

Everyone before the cross who opened their heart to the true God, set their spiritual sights looking forward to the cross. They may never have even heard about a cross, and they didn't have to. They simply trusted in God whom they knew was able to see them through.

Then came the cross.
"It is finished"

Everyone after the cross who puts their faith and trust in the same God who gave His life for the sin of the world, all
look back to the finished sacrifice of Jesus on that cross.

Christ indeed is the way.

Believe it if you will, reject it if you choose.
It is true either way and where you go for Eternity rests on whether or not you give your heart to the One who thought Calvary, wrought Calvary and brought Calvary to an undeserving world who He loved enough to die for.

Answer 4

All those before Christ received the same opportunity to be saved also. Remember Cain was wicked and refused to do what was right, but still God punished him in hopes he would repent. All those who came before Christ had insight to the fact that He was coming. God gave Eve a prophecy about the coming of Christ. Enoch prophesied of the coming of Christ. Jacob prophesied about the coming of Christ. And Moses also spoke about Christ along with the other prophets. The whole point of the prophets prophesying about Christ was to point to the fact that He was the son of God. And that He would be Lord over all God's possessions.

Answer 5

No they were taken to a holding place, and when Christ died, in Ephesians it speaks about him descending into the lower parts of the earth-- to set the captives free. Which means anyone before Christ who belived in His coming and followed God, they were saved once Christ finished His work on the cross- and they were taken to Heaven!

Answer 6

The Bible teaches that Christ is the only way revealed to man by which man is saved. That does not mean that God cannot work it out some other way. It's like this. Pretend a drug is developed which cures cancer. That doesn't mean another drug cannot be developed which will cure cancer, it simply means that if you have cancer, why not take the one that works. Christ works. So what is your excuse?

Answer 7

I believe that Christ's sacrifice worked retroactively, back to the beginning of time, saving all the righteous who lived before His birth and freeing them from hell...

Answer 8

You and everybody else has the Spirit of truth within you. The Spirit is there so you can understand the difference between good and evil. When you realize how much better your life is when you reject the evil and do good it will become as natural to you as being bad used to be. The Spirit of truth will teach you what you need to know about yourself, Jesus, and God.

Answer 9

I believe they were ministered to by Jesus when he was in the grave. If you read Matthew, it says the graves of the saints were opened, and many went into the city and appeared to many. I believe they were going from Paradise to Heaven at that time.
They had the hope of Jesus, and then he took captivity captive, and released them.

Answer 10

No, you only go to hell if you know about christianity and don't beleive in it. Therefore, people didn't start going to hell untill about a hundred years after Jesus died. Now, most people go to hell. (according to Christianity)