If Christianity was the only way for all people, why weren't there more Jesus' spread throughout the world?

Question

Every culture on the planet had it's own set of religious beliefs, and only one of them involved the deity known by the generic term "God." Every other religion had specific names for their deities, sometimes multiple names for those deities. Yet none of them were named Jesus, and none of them foretold of the arrival of a man named Jesus that would change their religion.

People like to argue that everyone is worshipping the same god under different names, but this can't be since only Christianity has the deity it proclaims as the world's savior. If the world really was worshipping the same deity, and Christianity was this deity's only approved path, then why wouldn't this deity send a Jesus to each and every nation at the time that it decided to make Christianity it's official religion? Why wouldn't it decide to focus on a subset of a particular geographical region, instead of making sure everyone was aware of the change at the same time?

Christians, I understand your need to defend your theology, but you are missing the point. If the change occured 2000 years ago, then all people should have been informed 2000 years ago. There should be no need to send out missionaries today, as even 1 week is sufficient to let the world know that Barry Bonds has been indicted on steriod charges or the United States has invaded Iraq.

Be realistic for a moment, wouldn't it make more sense to bring about a religious change for the whole world at a time when the whole world could communicate with eachother simultaneously? If it had to be 2000 years ago, shouldn't there have been a representative in all the places affected BEFORE people started dying without that knowledge?

Answer 1

God likes some people more than others. That's when he sends souls down to embryos, he puts the ones he likes best in areas where they can be raised Christian and never have any problems with faith or culture.

And that's why the kids born in India who remain Hindu even after the Christians warn them of Hell are really just people that God didn't want in Heaven anyway... Being all-loving doesn't mean he has to love or treat everyone equally, after all.

Answer 2

Great question, as always. (Btw, why did you change your user name? I'd just gotten used to your old name!)

As I've said innumerable times here before, the Bible does NOT support the notion that people who have never heard of Jesus or the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will go to Hell. The Adamic and Noahide covenants introduce God to the world and provide basic guidelines for those who wish to approach God by faith. There is every reason to believe that these people, having died in faith and obedience, are in Heaven now.

HOWEVER, the Bible makes it abundantly clear that only God can save humanity. Why God chose to appear in one place, in one body and at one time is His decision. As Creator and Ruler of all that was created, that's His prerogative. It's also His prerogative to set a time when the playing field will be leveled with no prior notification to the Gentiles -- and He did that when He sent His Son to the earth (the Jews had abundant prior notice). All those who hear the Gospel, whether Jew or Gentile, are on a level field; none are preferred over the other. The only difference is that, once the Gospel is heard by a person, the rules of the game are expanded.

Answer 3

Christian thought began with Essenic Judaism and other philosophical trends that predated the classical beginning of what we today think of as Christianity. Many different spiritual groups shared similar and yet unique beliefs--and some were in rivalry against each other because of differences in beliefs. In about the 3rd or 4th century, the Roman emperor Constantine and his wife decided that a certain form of Christianity was "the truth." Constantine then criminalized all other forms of religious thought and spirituality--including various sects of Christianity-- and set about enforcing his laws throughout the Roman empire. Christianity as we know it spread *this* way. Otherwise, there would be a multiplicity of pagan and Christian and hybrid pagan-Christian religions abounding in the Western world today.

Answer 4

God had done things this way so that we could see without a doubt that he is a God who keeps his promises. The Bible is a book that records the "Promises of God". Therefore, we begin to track the record of promises given to man and we see that God is keeping every promise.
To Adam- the promise of the Messiah.
(Adam taught his children and grandchildren this promise.)
To Abraham-the promise of many nations in his lineage.
(This so the Gentile nations like your's and mine could also have a claim to the Messiah.)
To Jacob-a Nation that God would call his own.
(This to prove to all men that God is a God who keeps his promises, good or bad, and to reveal his plan of love for men.)
To Moses-a tabernacle that was a Shadow of the True Tabernacle.
To David-a Throne that would come from his lineage that would last forever.
To Israel-a land that he would return them to after he would judge them.
To the world he gave a Savior.
He also said until the law was given a man would be judged by his conscience whether he shown to be a good man following the law naturally by what was in his conscience. (Romans 2)
So, if men were good men treating others with respect before the gospel came to them then the could have been shown mercy by God.

Answer 5

Jesus was a very important prophet of peace for his place and time. To most of the rest of the world he was not even a blip on the radar.

The problem was that at that time the Judaic religion was starting to go through a theological transition. They had been settled for a while and were losing their uniqueness and nomadic potential that gave them much of their strength.
Previously, where their god had been a god of war and concurring, many were now seeing him as a loving and just god.
Where once he had been a god for just the Jews, more and more Gentiles were joining and supporting them because of their successful business practices.

Answer 6

There is only one Son of God. He is unique and the material world does not confine Him. He prepared disciples to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth and those of us living today continue their work.

Salvation ONLY comes through Jesus Christ:

"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12

Answer 7

First of all, God has several names. This isn't a comprehensive list but here's three of the more popular ones:

Elohim
Jehovah
Yahweh

Second of all, God uses His followers to to bring Christ to the nations.

In the book of Matthew chapter 28 Jesus commanded His Apostles to "Go and make disciples of every nation baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit."


I hope this info helps you.

Answer 8

Good question. Those who have never heard of Christ will have a different judgement based on the existence of creation and their conscience. A person who never heard of Jesus is responsible to God by seeing His handy work and doing right because of the conscience that every human being posesses.

Answer 9

In the NT some of the apostles were forbidden to go into Asia. Just think, god told them NOT to preach to Asians, thus condemning untold numbers of them to hell for the last 2000 years. How is that for love and mercy?

Answer 10

Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.