what about aborignee tribes and whatnot that have never been taught about jesus? how can they make a choice when they don't know about it?
(i know this question was asked recently, but i wanted more variety of answers)
2007-06-09 12:49:59 · 31 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Missionary: So that;s why you need to accept jesus as your savior.
Eskimo: If I had never heard of Jesus, would I still go to hell if I had never heard of him?
Missionary: No, not if you did not know.
Eskimo: Then why did you tell me?
2007-06-09 12:53:37 · answer #1 · answered by Ares 2 · 6⤊ 4⤋
First, People are not condemned to hell for not believing in Jesus. Rather, they are ALREADY condemned because of their SIN. Thus, the real question is not how can God send someone to hell, but how can God condescend to save any one of us?
Furthermore, if ignorance were a ticket to heven, the greatest evangelistic enterprise would not be a Billy Graham crusade, but a concerted cover up campaign. Such a campaign would focus on ending evangelism, burning bibles, and closing churches. Soon no one will have heard of Christ and everyone will be on their way to heaven.
Finally, it should be emphasized that everyone has the light of both creation and conscience. You cannot look at the heavens, which are his handiwork, and say there is no God. The stars speak of the Creator, and all creation speaks of the creator. God is not capricious!
If we respond to the light we have, God will give us more light. In the words of the apostle Paul: "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, even though he is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:26-27)
2007-06-10 01:37:40 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I enjoy the answers that say they will go to heaven because they don't know. I wish no one told me about him then I could get a free ride. I don't believe a lot of the bible or religions. I think they are all alike and I don't believe Jesus was a special person just a random guy. Also the whole virgin mary birth thing? Yeah not likely. I think if there is something after this world then you'll go to heaven if you believe in something. I don't listen to the bible or anything because it contradicts itself a lot and christians and catholics scare me anyway with their preaching *shudder* Even tribes that don't know about those religions have a god or higher power they worship and so they will go to heaven if there is one.
2007-06-09 21:59:04 · answer #3 · answered by Amber S 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is a very simple answer to your question. It is found at
Acts 24:15. There it says there is going to be a resurrection of "both the righteous and the unrighteous".
The unrighteous are those who never got the chance to hear about God and the Bible and it also includes those who heard about these matters, but lacked sufficient time to make the changes they needed to make.
Upon being resurrected, they will be given a chance to learn of God and his ways, accept and apply what is learned and live forever (Revelation 20:11, 12)
2007-06-09 20:44:11 · answer #4 · answered by catgrl 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I was raised as Catholic, and then Christian, and taught you can't go to Heaven on good works alone, meaning you can't go to Heaven without acknowledging God as your Savior... This is one of the doctrines that confuse me, and I have the same question as you. How can God possibly judge all people equally if everybody has a different situation? If people are indeed judged based on this belief, then how could God possibly judge a person who was born into an extremely religious family and someone who has lived with an indigenous culture, isolated from the rest of the world, on the same set of beliefs?
2007-06-09 20:22:23 · answer #5 · answered by dwong013 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You ask a VERY good question.
Most theologians say that we simply don't know.
To condemn people who have had no opportunity to learn better to Hell is inconsistent with the New Testament teachings of Christ.
After He was crucified and before He was resurrected, Jesus preached to those who lived before His earthly time.
Maybe God has worked out a similar thing for those who, through no fault of their own, have had no chance to hear the Gospel and make their decision, one way or the other.
2007-06-09 19:57:13 · answer #6 · answered by Skooz 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
FredHH, come on, inflation of conflict fallacy. Crystallinectar, do you think that the fall of Adam just applied to him alone? We are all guilty and stand in need of a Savior. If you're looking for God to be "fair," was he fair with the rest of the world in the Old Testament with his "chosen people" Israel? Times have not changed, God has predestined his own before the foundations of the world, and some he saves, and some are left in their sins. We are not in charge of what God has decreed from the beginning. Nor can we claim ourselves as being able to take back fellowship with God when Adam lost it completely for all mankind. The people that think we can, are in my opinion arrogant and humanist, even blasphemous in taking away from God to give His decrees, his prerogative, to themselves. And I see that attitude constantly here.
2007-06-10 00:37:14 · answer #7 · answered by ccrider 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I affirm that Jesus is a way to know God, but not the only way to God. God is loving and just, if God meant for Jesus to be THE only means of salvation, God would surely provide for all people to know that way equally. However, the modern understanding of salvation needs to be examined. Is salvation more than just where we end up when we die? Or is salvation healing and wholeness, being in right relationship with God and others, and being restored to fullness in every sense, after death?
2007-06-09 20:00:53 · answer #8 · answered by keri gee 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The thread title question is essentially the premise behind Christianity.
As for people who have had no opportunity to be told about Jesus... that is something that is argued among different branches of Christianity.
Essentially.. there is no answer to your question... its something that has been debated among theologians for centuries.
It is not something that any man (or woman) can answer in this life.
*************
If there is no afterlife... what you believe does not matter. (nor does your puny existence on this world)
If there is an afterlife there might be a God. If there is not... then what you believe does not matter.
If there is a God and you deny him... you better hope there is not a Hell.
2007-06-09 19:57:57 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
God is seeing to it that everyone (atheists included) at some point will have enough info to make an informed decision as to whether they will accept /Christ or not . Sooner or later everyone will have a decision to make. So either start trying to follow God's rules the best you can or you won't be around to disrupt the family anymore . Simple as that.
2007-06-09 20:16:56 · answer #10 · answered by swindled 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We all know God, no matter what tribe we come from. Aren't the innocent babes under God's protection? Then so will the ones that have no knowledge of Jesus.
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"If you were blind, you wouldn't be guilty," Jesus replied. "But you remain guilty because you claim you can see. Joh 9:41
Then Jesus told him, "I have come to judge the world. I have come to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind."Joh 9:39
God Bless You
2007-06-09 20:04:17 · answer #11 · answered by B Baruk Today 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋