Saved by Ignorance??

[freefallife]

Question for the theists. If I had somehow lived out my days having never heard the word of God and therefore never accepted Jesus, would I still burn in hell??

[ItsDarts]

This has been discussed before but I think it was another site. Although I'm an atheist, I can say..... It depends on what denomination you talk too. I can't quote passages, but there are some that say something to the effect that those without knowledge of god can still get in. Others will site John 3:16, and say no, the only way is through Jesus. Others will argue that "God" is in everyones heart and therefore you do have knowledge of him. Obviously thats a weak argument.

Obviously, if you lack any knowledge of the christian god, and CAN get into heaven, then the better option would be to get christians to STOP preaching all over the world to those without knowledge because they stand a better chance of getting in than if they KNOW about jesus and don't accept the story. I know about Jesus, but don't accept the story, so assuming christians are right, then I'm doomed, but the native in some south american country who never heard of jesus could get in.

Apparently Kids and mentally hadicapped people who can't understand the concepts of god are also given a special pass.

Here is what Evangelicals believe... but if you ask me, the don't really answer the question very good;

What about those who have never heard the Gospel?
That is a good question. The Bible says that God is a just God. We know that whatever He does is right. When it comes to those who have never heard the Gospel, He will do what is right, whatever that is. But as for you, you have heard the Gospel and He will judge you according to how you respond. He is calling you to repentance, to turn from sin and come to Him.
Romans 2:11-16 speaks about those who have never heard the Law of God, and how they will be judged according to the law that is written in their hearts. The Law written in their hearts is the knowledge of right and wrong. Perhaps God's judgment of those without a proper knowledge of Him is included there where it says that they will be judged according to their own consciences that "bear witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them." All I know is that God will do what is right, and the only way to have your sins forgiven is through Jesus.

Source

[Zanzoken]

Many Christians will reference something along the lines of, "creation testifies to God; no one has any reason to reject Him".

And some will state that the ignorant will be saved, as well as those who fall in the category of the age of accountability.

However, I am unsure if a person should believe God (according to the Bible) exists because of creation/the world/the universe because if the world/universe was created, that would not necessitate that the creator (possibly creators) sent His only begotten Son to die for us.

This is where ideas, such as the FSM come in, if you think that the universe/the world supports anything other than a (somewhat) deist god(s).

[Humble Servant]

My take on it is that you would be judged based on the law that you lived by.

Quote by: freefallife Question for the theists. If I had somehow lived out my days having never heard the word of God and therefore never accepted Jesus, would I still burn in hell??

... and what about the many millions of people who lived and died before Jesus's time? Too bad they had no idea that the Christian God even existed--due to no fault of their own.

Regards
S.

[Luxavius]

Not to mention slaves and everything else are accepted by "God", meaning it is obviously a complete fabrication by people. "God is outside of time"... bullshit. That is a book of its time in every respect. And yeah, the guys who created it obviously didn't make enough magical rules.

[tinybear]

Quote by: freefallife Question for the theists. If I had somehow lived out my days having never heard the word of God and therefore never accepted Jesus, would I still burn in hell??

Probably yes. It's your fault you never heard of God.

[Kuldeep]

Right action is the best door for entry to Heaven. Wrong action is the door for hell. Your consciouness is the judge or God, as you may call. Hell and heaven is your own imagination. Nothing is out there, but whatever actions (good or bad) one accepts are done by him; he is bound to get back a reaction. The situation of mind while passing through that reaction, is hell or heaven for him, as the case may be !!!

[Hylife]

Only God knows what's in a person's heart; so this isn't directed towards any one individual..

But say a person had never heard of Jesus and died. Christ himself says:

"I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me."

So yeah, said person would suffer eternal damnation..

[ItsDarts]

Quote by: Humble Servant My take on it is that you would be judged based on the law that you lived by.

So even though cannibals in Africa (and other places?) who've never heard of the bible god, who find it perfectly natural to eat human flesh, will be judged based on actions they find normal? :rolleyes:

[Kuldeep]

By the way, "Is the Bible prohibiting human flesh and consider it SIN ??"

[tinybear]

You guys are forgetting that, apart from heaven and hell, there's limbo.

Limbo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term Limbo refers to two distinct concepts:

* The Limbo of the Patriarchs or Limbo of the Fathers (Latin Limbus Patrum), also the Bosom of Abraham, is the temporary state of those who, in spite of the personal sins they may have committed, died in the friendship of God, but could not enter Heaven until redemption by Jesus Christ made it possible. The term was a medieval name for the part of the abode of the dead where the patriarchs of the Old Testament were believed to be kept until Jesus descended to the dead after his crucifixion and freed them. This limbo is described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

* The Limbo of Infants refers to a hypothetical permanent status of the unbaptized who die in infancy, too young to have committed personal sins, but not having been freed from original sin. Some who hold the theory of the Limbo of Infants regard it as a state of maximum natural happiness, others as one of "mildest punishment" consisting at least of privation of the beatific vision and of any hope of obtaining it. This theory, in any of its forms, has never been dogmatically defined by the Church, and recent Catholic theological speculation stresses more the hope that these infants may attain heaven instead of the supposed state of Limbo, while the directly opposed theological opinion also exists, namely that there is no afterlife state intermediate between salvation and damnation, and that all the unbaptized are damned.

[Hylife]

That's only if you believe in this supposed "Limbo"..show me it in scripture..

[freefallife]

Quote by: tinybear Probably yes. It's your fault you never heard of God.

How in the world could it be MY fault if I was never told of his existence?

[freefallife]

Quote by: Hylife Only God knows what's in a person's heart; so this isn't directed towards any one individual.. But say a person had never heard of Jesus and died. Christ himself says: "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me." So yeah, said person would suffer eternal damnation..

So this seems fair of a supposed loving and compassionate God? This is the god you believe in that would suffer eternal damnation for innocent ignorance??

[Hylife]

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

I think these words explain more than I ever could as to what I believe. Since the beginning of time God has been giving humanity chances after chances, and time and time again we have rejected him. God knows nothing will make us choose him, our eternal enemy. But still he has implanted his nature in our hearts, giving us consciences with the law programmed in. So he's chosen us, he wants all of us, HIS ENEMIES, to be saved. So if, after all this, we reject him, it's on us, NOT him..

Quote by: Kuldeep Right action is the best door for entry to Heaven. Wrong action is the door for hell. Your consciouness is the judge or God, as you may call. Hell and heaven is your own imagination. Nothing is out there, but whatever actions (good or bad) one accepts are done by him; he is bound to get back a reaction. The situation of mind while passing through that reaction, is hell or heaven for him, as the case may be !!!

According to Christians, actions right or wrong play no role in deciding your afterlife. All that's required is that you accept Jesus as your Saviour to have everlasting life. That's it. As long as you believe this one little thing, you can whore around, murder, steal, torture, and eat people and still enjoy everlasting life in Heaven. I'm not making this up. It's quoted by Christians religiously.

Regards
S.

[Luxavius]

Obviously an easy way out so they can live like shit and not have to worry.

[freefallife]

think these words explain more than I ever could as to what I believe. Since the beginning of time God has been giving humanity chances after chances, and time and time again we have rejected him. God knows nothing will make us choose him, our eternal enemy. But still he has implanted his nature in our hearts, giving us consciences with the law programmed in. So he's chosen us, he wants all of us, HIS ENEMIES, to be saved. So if, after all this, we reject him, it's on us, NOT him..

What has this got to do with my thread? You quote the bible wonderfully, but if I never so much as heard of the bible, how would it be known to me? That's what this thread is about. I was raised by wolves and lived out my life with no other human contact(for arguments sake). By your arguments, Im still going to hell, even though I had never been exposed to the word of God. If I never knew Jesus existed, how could I possibly accept him as my savior? In other words, my innocent ignorance would condemn me to eternal damnation, yes?

[Hylife]

Yes, their ignorance is condemning them, but NOT their INNOCENT ignorance.

21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.