Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: huggins@dip.eecs.umich.edu (James K. Huggins) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: A Question... Message-ID: Date: 12 Feb 90 09:40:59 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Michigan EECS Dept., Ann Arbor, MI Lines: 39 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article bitting-douglas@yale.edu (Douglas Bitting) writes: > > What about the people who have never heard of the Word of God? Do they, > too (i.e. along with the people who choose not to believe it), go to > hell? > [lengthy discussion by our wonderful moderator omitted for space] Cliffe Knechtle, in his book _Give_Me_An_Answer_ (InterVarsity Press), offers the following explanation: (paraphrased) Ultimately, of course, we don't know for certain how God will judge those who have never heard of the Word of God, or, more specifically, the person of Jesus of Nazareth. But we do know a few things: 1) We know God to be a God of justice. Whatever happens to those who do not know about Jesus will not be a chance event, but will be the just actions of a just God. 2) We know that there are people in Heaven who never heard the name of Jesus while on earth. Hebrews 11 lists a large number of Old Testament people who are described by the writer as having received their reward and being in heaven. So, there must be some way to get to heaven without hearing the specific name of Jesus of Nazareth. 3) We know that no one will end up in hell because they didn't get a chance to study for some cosmic exam, so to speak. Those who are described as going to hell are those who have consistently rejected the direction of God upon their lives. 4) We know that no one will end up in heaven because they lived a superior life. The Pharisees lived lives of legalistic perfection -- yet Jesus consistently viewed them as outside of the Kingdom of God. 5) Regardless of how God will judge those who haven't heard about Jesus, we *have* heard. God will certainly judge us on the basis of what we do know -- and we do know about Jesus. (The point here: don't use this question as a dodge to confronting the claims of Jesus.)