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To: churchillbuff

I have a sincere question, if there is a person that lived in India or somewhere and never heard the gospel of Jesus say years ago, what about that person, what kind of God would put that person in hell because that person simply lived in a remote area. thanks for your answer


2 posted on 04/25/2006 8:06:16 AM PDT by mel
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To: mel

My own personal belief is that Jesus is the Way, but he has saved even people who don't know about Him. There's a verse - don't know the cite off-hand - where he tells the disciples that he has "other flocks." People who are drawn to the good are by definition drawn to Jesus - the ultimate Good - whether they've actually heard of Him or not. At the same time, Christians have a responsibility to introduce others to Jesus because He wants to enter into relationship with all people.


4 posted on 04/25/2006 8:10:17 AM PDT by churchillbuff
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To: mel
Your question exemplifies the reasoning behind missionary work!
 
Today's Gospel also states it:
 
Gospel
Mk 16:15-20

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.





6 posted on 04/25/2006 8:14:28 AM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: mel

I can only say what my religion teaches: Those who never had a chance to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ in this life shall be given a chance in the hereafter to acknowledge the Savior and accept His saving sacrifice on their behalf. Those who have the chance in this life to know the Savior, and reject it, will not have that chance. We have an obligation to take the gospel to all the world but the Lord does not punish those who never have the chance to know it in this life.


9 posted on 04/25/2006 8:18:16 AM PDT by caseinpoint (Don't get thickly involved in thin things.)
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To: mel

You could just as easily ask what kind of God could put that person in India. But your question implies that you get to say who is God and how he should act. If you are God, then he is not.


12 posted on 04/25/2006 8:21:48 AM PDT by ClaireSolt (.)
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To: mel
. . . if there is a person that lived in India or somewhere and never heard the gospel of Jesus say years ago, what about that person. . .

Ravi Zacharias.

13 posted on 04/25/2006 8:26:57 AM PDT by William Terrell (Individuals can exist without government but government can't exist without individuals.)
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To: mel
I have a sincere question, if there is a person that lived in India or somewhere and never heard the gospel of Jesus say years ago, what about that person, what kind of God would put that person in hell because that person simply lived in a remote area. thanks for your answer

The Catholic doctrine of "Baptism of desire" covers this. It holds that if someone wants to lead a good life and would have received Baptism had they known about it, they can be saved.

The saying "Outside the Church there is no salvation" has to be interpreted as the Church interprets it. Father Feeney was excommunicated for teaching that non-Catholics couldn't be saved. What the saying means is that the only route to salvation is that preached by the Church: repentance for sin and reform of your life. The reason for being in the Church is that the Sacraments help you to repent and reform.

22 posted on 04/25/2006 8:50:12 AM PDT by JoeFromSidney (My book is out. Read excerpts at www.thejusticecooperative.com)
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To: mel
I have a sincere question, if there is a person that lived in India or somewhere and never heard the gospel of Jesus say years ago, what about that person, what kind of God would put that person in hell because that person simply lived in a remote area.

Your question is a good one.

We aren't in a position to know the answer, except that God always gets it right. However, we are certainly in a position to GUESS.

C.S. Lewis took a stab at answering this question in several ways and places. One of the most interesting was in the last book of the Chronicles of Narnia. In this book a good person who nevertheless worshiped the wrong god died. He was met by Aslan (the Narnia version of Jesus) and saw the truth. He immediately repented and asked for forgiveness, which he received.

33 posted on 04/25/2006 9:12:53 AM PDT by EternalHope (Boycott everything French forever. Including their vassal nations.)
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To: mel

As I heard once, even the people in the deepest, darkest, jungles who have never seen a preacher, know that there is a higher being than them that makes the sun rise and set. That makes the clouds and the rain,... etc.


36 posted on 04/25/2006 9:35:26 AM PDT by Texagirl4W (Wisdom has 2 parts: 1, having a lot to say and 2, not saying it.)
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To: mel

That is a good question. What does Scripture teach?

Romans 3:10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.


39 posted on 04/25/2006 9:55:41 AM PDT by Gamecock ( "I save dead people" -- God (Eph 2:5)
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To: mel; Gamecock
...what kind of God would put that person in hell because that person simply lived in a remote area.

The question is often asked (I'm not saying you are doing this) as if to put God on trial. How could a just God condemn people to eternal punishment merely for their lack of knowledge of God? The answer is that they are not sent to hell for their ignorance of God, but for their sins. That is, they already have enough knowledge of God to be justly and righteously held accountable by Him for their rebellion against Him. See Romans 1-3.

Cordially,

42 posted on 04/25/2006 10:20:13 AM PDT by Diamond
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To: mel
If you'd like to see what the Catholic Church teaches about Baptism of Desire, it's here (the numbers are paragraph numbers from the Catechism of the Catholic Church):

1257 "...God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.

1260 "Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery." Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity."

To get a fuller idea, it's best to read this in context:

http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a1.htm#1259

54 posted on 04/25/2006 11:13:41 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ("Blessed are the Merciful, for they shall obtain Mercy.")
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To: mel
I think God (the Father) would make Himself known in regular life with a tug on people's heart to seek Spirituality.
Before Christ came down to help mankind, God the Father was already making Himself known.

I can assure you God opened the front door to heaven to (for instance) Jews without Christ.

I think there are aspects of God that does come calling on man calling them.

I do believe God finds people where they are at.
83 posted on 04/25/2006 12:43:04 PM PDT by A CA Guy (God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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To: mel
I have a sincere question, if there is a person that lived in India or somewhere and never heard the gospel of Jesus say years ago, what about that person, what kind of God would put that person in hell because that person simply lived in a remote area. thanks for your answer

You ask a reasonable question and there have been some good answers given (and a few not so good). I will tell you this from experience though... most people who ask this question are either:

You see, I have met people who say "Why should I go tell others about Jesus if God is going to let those who have not heard the gospel get a free ride into heaven?" Many will use this as an excuse to get out of evangelising or get out of funding missionaries.

I don't always agree with Hank Hanagraaf (a.k.a. the Bible Answer Man), but he makes a good point that God has made sure that we are all exposed to some sort of "light" of the Gospel. It is how we respond to that "light" that will determine what happens next. We will either turn toward that light and seek it more, or turn our back to it.

Your person in India may have not heard the Gospel, but he has the evidence of creation surrounding him. How do they respond to it? Will they ask questions and start seeking God, or turn their back on it?

87 posted on 04/25/2006 1:11:45 PM PDT by The Bard (http://www.reflectupon.com/)
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To: mel

That's why we have missionaries.


90 posted on 04/25/2006 1:23:46 PM PDT by mlc9852
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To: mel

If you do not know of Jesus but lead a moral and good life, heaven is for you, iirc.


112 posted on 04/25/2006 2:56:13 PM PDT by DTwistedSisterS
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To: mel
what kind of God would put that person in hell because that person simply lived in a remote area. thanks for your answer

I don't believe God puts them in HELL. If they have never had the chance to hear about Jesus, I believe God will receive them, if they have lived a good life. They may never see God in all His Glory, as they would through a relationship with Jesus, but I don't believe they are sent to Hell.

I believe Hell is of our own making; when we turn ourselves away from the Light of Truth and keep making the choices that move us further away, unless we repent of our sins and work hard to get back, we consign ourselves to an eternal darkness, and we'll never see God. To me, that is Hell.

117 posted on 04/25/2006 3:47:21 PM PDT by SuziQ
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To: mel
I have a sincere question, if there is a person that lived in India or somewhere and never heard the gospel of Jesus say years ago, what about that person, what kind of God would put that person in hell because that person simply lived in a remote area. thanks for your answer

The bible has an answer for that question. The quick answer is that God gives everyone a chance to believe on his son. The person in India who never heard the gospel of Christ will hear it during a general resurrection, when everyone who never was called by God during their lifetime is called:

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

"Judged" is a period of judgment, a trial, a period of time when the gospel is shared and taught from the "books"...the books of the bible. Their response, their works, to the books of the bible. They will believe and act accordingly or not.

157 posted on 04/28/2006 7:07:37 PM PDT by DouglasKC
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To: mel

My way of understanding this, is that salvation is in a Person, Jesus, NOT an intellectual system. Jesus is more righteous, loving and just than we can imagine--and He will deal rightly with those who've never heard the good news of His coming.

Even though I don't understand how, I trust the character of my Lord.


163 posted on 04/29/2006 7:24:16 AM PDT by AnalogReigns
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To: mel; Diego1618; DouglasKC
I have a sincere question, if there is a person that lived in India or somewhere and never heard the gospel of Jesus say years ago, what about that person, what kind of God would put that person in hell because that person simply lived in a remote area. thanks for your answer

First text that comes to mind

Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Rom 2:15 Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

They had the law written on their hearts before it was preached to them.

Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

God's people will be called out prior to the end

Jesus' own words

Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Luk 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. Luk 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

The last two texts tie in to Diego's story.

167 posted on 04/29/2006 8:55:04 AM PDT by kerryusama04 (Isa 8:20)
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