Board index ‹ Heaven and Hell

[Newbie]

Do you believe that atheists or worshippers of other religions that have not heard of Christianity will go to hell?

[jimwalton]

Yes, and no, respectively. First of all, hell was created for the devil and his angels (Mt. 25.41), not for people. The fire isn't prepared for the cursed, so to speak, but for Satan and his minions.

Having said that, the cursed are going to a destiny that was not meant to be theirs. It would include anyone who knows about God but willfully turns against Him (Rom. 1.18-22ff.). The fate of the rebellious is that they don't have to spend eternity in a love relationship with a God they don't love. He allows them, by their own choice, to be separated from his love and life.

As far as worshipers of other religions that have not heard of Christianity, that's a different matter. We should establish that justice requires that people be treated fairly, taking into account all the surrounding circumstances of their situation (motives, resources, decisions, etc.) We learn from Romans 5.13 that "sin is not taken into account when there is not law." Although God sees that it's sin, and it is sin, there is no moral or spiritual accountability where there was no spiritual input. They will be judged according to the information they had, what they did with it, and their motives behind it. Every judgment will be fair based on what information people had, what they knew, what their motives were, and how they behaved given what they had access to. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair. So if someone hasn't heard of Christianity, they can't be held accountable for Christianity. But they will be held accountable for what they do know. As C.S. Lewis said, "We do know that no person can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved by Him."

[The Village Master]

"Having said that, the cursed are going to a destiny that was not meant to be theirs."

If that's the case, does that mean that God doesn't want to send us to hell, but is forced to? Or that the devil sends us to hell, and God can't keep us from there? Why would something happen that isn't in accordance with His plan?

"Every judgment will be fair based on what information people had, what they knew, what their motives were, and how they behaved given what they had access to."

If that's your logic, then shouldn't Christians stop spreading their views across the world? Telling people who have a religion to change their religion to yours rarely works, and gives them information. Doesn't that damn them then?

[jimwalton]

You're right. God doesn't want to send us to hell. People who choose against God choose to be separated from Him (after all, who'd want to spend eternity in a loving relationship with someone they don't love?). God dismisses from his presence those who have no desire to be in his presence. The Bible says that God loves everyone (Jn. 3.16) and doesn't want anyone to go to hell (Mt. 18.14). But he won't force people to be with him.

Should Christians stop spreading their views across the world, since it increases a person's accountability? Great question. The answer's no, and I'll tell you why. The message is out there. People know about Christianity. People have heard things, and many at least have some kind of awareness, even if it's minimal. At that point, hearing the truth matters a lot, and can make an eternal difference for a person. But even for the people who have never heard (people on isolated islands, for instance, let's say), they are worshipping fearful, dark gods who bring pain and breed terror. They are believing lies and walk in a great darkness of spiritual blindness. It makes all the sense in the world to bring spiritual light and truth to people who live in fear and violence.

> Telling people who have a religion to change their religion to yours rarely works

Then you don't know your history, my friend. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_ ... ute_growth), "Using data from the period 2000–2005 the 2006 Christian World Database estimated that by number of new adherents, Christianity was the fastest growing religion in the world with 30,360,000 new adherents in 2006."

CBN reports, "in 1900, there were approximately 10 million Christians in Africa. By 2000, there were 360 million. By 2025, conservative estimates see that number rising to 633 million. Those same estimates put the number of Christians in Latin America in 2025 at 640 million and in Asia at 460 million." (http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/bibles ... 20722.aspx)

And China is on course to become the world's most Christian nation (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... years.html).