January 15, 2006
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Hell
Will people who never heard about Jesus go to Hell?
This is of course a massive issue, but I think it definitely needs to be thought-through... At least I've been thinking about it for a while. Many skeptics raise the question, implying that a God who would send people to Hell (especially if they never heard about Jesus) is unfair and thus not worth believing in, even if He existed.
Even more powerful/galvanizing is the question - are most of my friends currently headed for Hell? Many of them have heard about Jesus, but they reject the message. We all tend to breeze through life, getting our daily work or studies done, having fun, enjoying leisure, time with friends, etc. Ecclesiastes / the "rain that falls upon the just and the unjust." We tend to assume that life will continue on as it always has. But it will not... Once in a while we are rudely reawakened to that fact. Let us Christians be preoccupied - even, "fixated", "obsessed", with the eternal and with anticipation of Christ's coming - "fixing our hope completely on the grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ!"
What are your thoughts about "those who have never heard?" I posted some initial reactions of mine (in the comments below) about the article linked above. Are there any other good articles or books you'd recommend, etc?
Comments (4)
Comments on http://www.christian-thinktank.com/hnohear.html These comments will only make sense if you've read the original article. I recommend that you read it if you get a chance.
- BC1 - the phrase "every tribe and language and people and nation" might be more of a general "from all over the place" statement... like "the love of money is the root of all evil".
- BC2 - Vast multitude, yes. "not-a-minority," no... "minority" implies percentage, "multitude" implies quantity...
- BC5 is extremely important...
- BC11 - The Bible doesn't specifically say that these people were "saved"/ that if they had died they would have gone to heaven... so how can we say that God's plan of salvation did not instantly change, even though certainly not everybody 'instantly knew about it'?
- BC12 - speculative... didn't the OT pattern show "salvation is of the Jews" John 4:22, as in Rahab, Ruth, etc? But BC8 provides a more biblical argument...?
- "J.N.D. Anderson's sweet analysis" - interesting... but the context of Peter's statement is of a non-Jew who was following the Jewish Law to please God - not someone who knew nothing of the biblical God... Anderson is saying that the difference between those who "strive to be moral" vs those who "throw themselves on God's mercy" is that the former tries to "establish their own righteousness," wheras the latter gives up all hope of that, but trusts in God anyway.
It would seem that the Bible just doesn't give us enough information to say one way or the other whether this latter person would be saved...?
- The first principle is extremely important...
- The second principle seems to be a subset of the first one?
- The fourth principle is extremely important... fitting perfectly with Romans 1...
- Matt 7.13-14 - the ensuing discussion of the passage "evades" the clear meaning of the text...
1. is addressed above, 2. is simply wrong - Jesus uses the words "many" versus "few", and 3., while interesting, does not seem to get rid of the context of this passage - that we're dealing with "life" in the holistic sense, including (but not limited to) physical life (bios), true/inner/spiritual life (zoe, John 10:10), and the eternal aspect of that life, which is commonly simplified in baptist terms as "heaven." The holistic aspect of life is strongly portrayed in the Old Testament, cf. e.g. Ezekiel 18 and the Psalms...
- The fifth "final-comment" is extremely important... God knows EVERYTHING.
See also http://www.christian-thinktank.com/gr5part2.html , the author's attempt to explain what hell will be like, though unfortunately he picks and chooses too arbitrarily among the descriptive passages, in my view.
Also relevant is Luke 12:41-48, for the question of those who "have never heard" - emphasizing the perfect justice of God and His rewards/punishments. Luke 21:1-4 says the same thing... it's like a "transfer function" (from engineering) - the output divided by the input. I.e. to those who have been given much (by way of information about the gospel, for example), much will be required. Or of the widow who put her two mites into the temple treasury, Jesus said "She has put in more than all the others" - not the amount, but the percentage...
After you have answered that question. The next question to ask would be... " Do babies who die without hearing about Jesus go to hell?
I have often thought about this issue...and I feel that even those who havn't heard the gospel will go to hell. Based on some scriptures.."ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God", "The wages of sin is Death, but the gift of God is everlasting life", "There is NON righteous, no not one"! Now, as for babies this is a constant struggle for me. As much as I want to believe babies go to heaven, I have yet to find a clear scripturial reference that states they do. However, that is not to say my isn't powerful enough to make this happen. And if they do go to heaven, this could account for why the child mortailty rate is so high in third world countries. Just something to think about!
just read c.s. lewis on this and thought it was interesting (though i don't think i agree). see my site for chap. ref. love you!!
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