Only those who didn't believe in Jesus as their Savior, you know Christians.
so then, since the bible wasnt around, how about doctrine?
what was the authority?
Not only the so-called “Christians” were saved — but also those who lived before they knew the name of Jesus, and only knew that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Creator God that Adam and Eve knew in the Garden of Eden — was sending the promised one for the salvation of mankind, and they believed God and that He was going to do exactly what He said He was going to do, and they trusted in Him to save him on that basis — they were saved also.