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I could have answered using John Calvin: They were saved or damned from eternity. There is no free will. It doesn’t matter who or what they knew. No one then or today can actually know that they are saved. We can only have a good idea based upon or life here. That sounds a little cruel to some people. They may be of the elect of God.

Or I could have used the Great White Throne Judgement where the dead great and small pass before the risen Christ. I’ve talked to people that say this is a final offer of Grace. Beside each of those names is a stamp that says “Debit payed in full” All those resurrected souls have to do is look upon Jesus and accept his offer instead they walk of their own free will into Hell. But saying there may be a last chance of salvation at that time sounds a little to much like universalism some people.

I could also talk about Jesus after he was crucified, descending to Hell and preaching to the souls there and “leading captives free” Thus those who remain do so of their own free will. But this once again looks like universalism to some people.

By saying “I don’t know” I am free to say “The question before us is not what about them but what about you?”