What would happen? (Gospel, dinosaur, hell, agnostic)
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I was having a discussion the other day with a friend of mine who is ultra-religious (I am an agnostic which somehow he thinks is worse than being an atheist - if anyone could fill me in on why this would be then I'd appreciate it). Essentially he was arguing that the only way to get into Heaven was to accept Christ into your heart and devote your life to God but I had a question that he had trouble answering.
If someone was born in the middle of a slum village in the middle of nowhere where nobody was educated or knew of the concept of religion then what would happen to them? If nobody ever provided them with the concept of Christ then they could not accept Him into their hearts but would this mean that they would go to hell? My friend was saying yes but I don't understand how you could go to hell for not accepting Christ and the Lord if you were never informed about them in the first place.
I'd really like to hear people's opinions on this because it's one of those questions that has really got me thinking.
-Christians that point out your friend is wrong and that the Bible states not everyone that's christian goes to heaven and not everyone that's non-Christian goes to hell
-Christians that say not everyone can go to heaven and that's why its important to spread the word of Christ
-Christians that agree with your friend
-Barney the Purple Dinosaur.
Well, first, I have no idea why an agnostic might be worse than atheist. I personally don't think either is any more 'bad' than the other. I actually don't necessarily think either is 'bad'....but that's another topic.
Regarding your question, it's a good one. I believe God is a just God. And being just means that He will deal with each person individually. I don't personally believe anyone will go to hell accidentally. I don't think anyone will go to heaven accidentally either. Thankfully all I can do is deal with the amount of information I've been blessed with.
But I do have a question for you.
To me, the most logical thing to do prior to wondering about someone else's eternal condition, is to make sure yours is OK. Is your decision about Christianity tied to the rationalization of these questions?
I ask sincerely but the words are failing me.
I was just thinking the other day about the whole evolution/creation thing and I wondered:
Might a person reject Christ on the basis that if they embrace Jesus, they must suddenly become a Creationist or suddenly try and force themselves to believe or embrace something they perceive to be 'part' of Christianity?
Jesus is all that's needed to be a Christian. That's it.
As far as the souls that have never heard of Him, he has a plan for them too. I'm just not privy to it. All I can do is trust Him, pray, and try and impact the world in a positive way that helps my fellow man and furthers the Gospel message.
I hope I didn't get too off-topic. I just think that sometimes we (Christians) tend to imply there's more to the gospel and salvation than there really is.
I was having a discussion the other day with a friend of mine who is ultra-religious (I am an agnostic which somehow he thinks is worse than being an atheist - if anyone could fill me in on why this would be then I'd appreciate it). Essentially he was arguing that the only way to get into Heaven was to accept Christ into your heart and devote your life to God but I had a question that he had trouble answering.
Quote:
If someone was born in the middle of a slum village in the middle of nowhere where nobody was educated or knew of the concept of religion then what would happen to them? If nobody ever provided them with the concept of Christ then they could not accept Him into their hearts but would this mean that they would go to hell? My friend was saying yes but I don't understand how you could go to hell for not accepting Christ and the Lord if you were never informed about them in the first place.
I'd really like to hear people's opinions on this because it's one of those questions that has really got me thinking.
To me, the most logical thing to do prior to wondering about someone else's eternal condition, is to make sure yours is OK. Is your decision about Christianity tied to the rationalization of these questions?
My question was more out of curiosity as to what other's views would be. I am currently doing a lot of research regarding Christianity because I was baptised as a baby and think that a lot of Christians' beliefs are logical. There are some others that I'm not so sure about though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpha8207
I ask sincerely but the words are failing me.
I was just thinking the other day about the whole evolution/creation thing and I wondered:
Might a person reject Christ on the basis that if they embrace Jesus, they must suddenly become a Creationist or suddenly try and force themselves to believe or embrace something they perceive to be 'part' of Christianity?
I'm not entirely sure myself as I haven't rejected Christ but neither have I fully accepted Him either. I think that a lot of the problems people have with the idea of embracing Jesus is that they believe that to be a proper Christian you have to take the Bible at face value. Science is really moving forwards at the moment and is providing new answers and ideas which can contradict the teachings of the Bible (the most obviously being the Genesis creation story). When Archbishop Ussher set out to work out the time and date the earth was created and he came up with October 23rd, 4004BC which would make the earth nowadays 6003 years old. Science howevers tells us that the earth is millions and millions of years old and a lot of people nowadays believe that scientists know all and so believe them. I also believe that the earth is millions of years old but I think it's the feeling that to be a Christian the Bible must be taken literally that puts a lot of people off.
I was having a discussion the other day with a friend of mine who is ultra-religious (I am an agnostic which somehow he thinks is worse than being an atheist - if anyone could fill me in on why this would be then I'd appreciate it). Essentially he was arguing that the only way to get into Heaven was to accept Christ into your heart and devote your life to God but I had a question that he had trouble answering.
If someone was born in the middle of a slum village in the middle of nowhere where nobody was educated or knew of the concept of religion then what would happen to them? If nobody ever provided them with the concept of Christ then they could not accept Him into their hearts but would this mean that they would go to hell? My friend was saying yes but I don't understand how you could go to hell for not accepting Christ and the Lord if you were never informed about them in the first place.
I'd really like to hear people's opinions on this because it's one of those questions that has really got me thinking.
Thanks,
boycew02
Hi Boycew02,
Some Christians believe that way that your friend does and some do not. I believe that God is bigger than that. It is saying that God created them to send them to hell for all of eternity knowing that they would never hear about Him (Jesus) when He created them. God is just, righteous, merciful, full of compassion and He described as love. I believe that the scriptures teach that Jesus died for all and that He will eventually restore all, even those who have never heard of Him. God bless.
Last edited by ShanaBrown; 11-17-2007 at 11:42 AM..
Read Romans 1:19-20 and you will see that EVERYONE has an inner sense of what God requires and no one will able to stand before God and say I didn't know.
Even the most primitive cultures have a background of belief in some sort of Supreme Being, or god. We can't say that Christians have the one and only way.
Basically, if we believe in a god, we can not set up certain rules and regulations that He has to obey. To say that He will NEVER save a person that has never heard of Jesus, is a foolish thing.
If He is supreme, then, He does what he wants to do. He isn't bound by something that humans have decided belong in a book.
Read Romans 1:19-20 and you will see that EVERYONE has an inner sense of what God requires and no one will able to stand before God and say I didn't know.
Knowing there is a God/Creator is not the same as knowing precisely who Jesus is, and the Gospel story. I've never thought that this verse from Paul's letter was a satisfactory explaination, myself. It's almost as though Paul was either trying to get God off the hook, (as though he needs it), or assuage his own guilt for not getting the word to everyone. I've not heard of too many stories of folks out in the jungle, feeling a lack in their spiritual life, and asking their Creator, to show them the "right" way, and suddenly there was Jesus, telling them how to become Christians. I wonder why that is? Don't get me wrong; I'm sure Jesus could do that, if he was of a mind to do so, but those sorts of stories don't exactly make the news. Seems to me that the typical Christian belief system leaves a bit of a gap. I'd rather trust that my Creator knows what he's doing better than the rest of us. I don't believe he "needs" us to spead any kind of a word; he's perfectly capbably of telling folks anywhere in the world, what he wants them to know. And, that being the case, how do we know that those folks in the jungle don't have a better grasp on how to worship their Creator, than many people who sit in comfortable pews every Sunday morning, Bible in hand?
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I've not heard of too many stories of folks out in the jungle, feeling a lack in their spiritual life, and asking their Creator, to show them the "right" way, and suddenly there was Jesus, telling them how to become Christians. I wonder why that is? Don't get me wrong; I'm sure Jesus could do that, if he was of a mind to do so, but those sorts of stories don't exactly make the news. Seems to me that the typical Christian belief system leaves a bit of a gap. I'd rather trust that my Creator knows what he's doing better than the rest of us. I don't believe he "needs" us to spead any kind of a word; he's perfectly capbably of telling folks anywhere in the world, what he wants them to know. And, that being the case, how do we know that those folks in the jungle don't have a better grasp on how to worship their Creator, than many people who sit in comfortable pews every Sunday morning, Bible in hand?
