Some may consider me a "heretic" for saying this, but I don't believe it can be said with certainty that people who die *without* ever hearing of Jesus Christ (the gospel message) are going to hell.
The fate of those who haven't heard, or who can't understand (like small children) aren't spoken about in the Bible. We must have faith that God is infinitly just and merciful and will apply those qualities in such situations.
No. Some think that's the case and use it to bash Christianity, but it's not. The Bible recognizes that not everyone is going to have a chance to hear the good news, but proposes that a man who is righteous will naturally form within himself a semblence of the law even if he does not know the law. This is New Testament Epistle stuff, though I can't quote chapter and verse on it.
Respectfully, you just don't understand Christian doctrine. Consider this: Would a person who has never heard of gravity be spared if he stepped off a ten-story building?
You are not incorrect.
Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse"
God's nature is obvious. You will be fairly judged by God based on how you have accepted Him as the Creator.
No, that certainly can't be said...at all. Just hearing is a whole lot different than the response procured from hearing the Gospel. But I try to stay out of those condemning people to hell issues. Only God knows...and only God will judge that. All I can do is try to continually live out my life...in action, speech, and attiude, in a way pleasing to God.
How I usually deal with this is to say that Jesus is the only provision given by the Father so that people can be assured of eternal life. It is clearly *not* for us to declare who actually goes to heaven and who goes to hell. All we can do is preach the gospel. It is entirely God's responsibility to decide who goes where.
My personal hope is that God finds a way to redeem all of mankind, but I have nothing in the Bible that gives me reason to believe that's the case. Again, if someone wants to go to heaven, the only assurance the New Testament can give them is through faith in Christ. There's no other provision made by which a man can be saved.
How would explain what Jesus said in the gospel of John chapter 14 verse 6?
Then I suppose Christ's life was just a big waste of time.< / sarcasm>