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Originally Posted by raytri
Thanks for the direct answer.
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You are welcome.
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1. What of people who have never even heard of Christianity?
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That’s a great question. I asked myself that same question.
There are three types of people who have never heard of Christianity: the mentally ill; children (including infants); and those who are geographically never exposed to Jesus. In other words, you weren’t told, or you couldn’t understand even if you were told.
But what kind of system would that be if all the hearer had to do was avoid the message, and therefore be declared guiltless. Right? So there must be another dimension. I submit to you, that if Quasim Ismi deep in the Congo, looked up into heaven and asked for a sign, and God deemed his heart to be authentic (having faith), God would shoot down a Christian bush pilot, and cause Quasim to hear the Gospel. (And the pilot would be happy about it.) So my point is, how can a person argue with infallibility? If God made the sun, the moon, the earth and the stars, wouldn’t even the foolish things of God, be impossible to comprehend? If Quasim wants to believe, and approaches the thrown in faith, God will in now wise turn him away.
Are there any of us who are not told? My answer is, NO. For God caused everything in this world to point to him. From creation to the inner thoughts of men. God also created the capacity to understand enough to make an informed decision to abide in him or not.
Lastly, God is a perfect Judge. If you haven’t sinned, if your heart is clean, then you have nothing to worry about.
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2. The choice is not stark and clear, because God does not make it clear that Christianity is the true religion, as opposed to Islam or Judaism or Hinduism or any of the thousands of other "isms" out there, *all* of which *also* claim to be the one true religion, and have a holy book to prove it.
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I would disagree. Lets start with Judaism. For a time, that was what God used to reach people. The Jews were to accept the stranger into their fold if he believed. Then came Jesus to fulfill what Judaism was telling us for all those years. A Messiah would come and take away the sins of the world. But Judaism stopped, not because it wasn’t true any longer, it was because it was fulfilled. It matured the relationship God has with mankind. Those who still practice it are like people running old software.
As for Hinduism and all the other *isms. The argument isn’t that there are so many, but rather, there is so many alike and only one that is unique. Show me what religion in the world, worships one whom other’s say, rose from the dead. (thus the all important question that refuses an answer, other than the obvious) Where is the body? If you need to find the one true faith, don’t compare all the ones that are the same, compare them, against the one that is completely unique. (Are you sure you read C.S. Lewis? He covers this point rather well.)
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A person can, in all good faith, examine the various religions and conclude that Hinduism (for example) seems to be the one true religion. They're wrong, according to you; but why should they be punished for all eternity simply because God didn't make his intentions clear?
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I beg to differ. God’s intensions were so clear that these “religions” you speak of are still killing Christians today. Why? Because things are very clear. Stop selling your indulgences, your idols, your temple taxes and tithes. Stop it! Many people would loose their jobs, if Christianity thrived, because their livelihood is based on the religion. When ever there is money being changed hands, in large sums, I need to wonder who’s benefiting. If it isn’t the sick, the widows, orphans, and indigent. Then I wonder and ask myself, do you really need a Bentley to drive to work?
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I simply cannot countenance a God who would send such people to eternal torment for such a thing.
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There comes a time where I have to admit I can’t see into the hearts of men. I must relinquish my right to second guess God, and start focusing on my own responsibility to him. If I go to hell because I am sure my perception of the imperceptible is correct, how tragic would that be? Rather, I trust what God has told me, and let Him worry about the details that are too great for me to consider. The Bible tells me that God is a perfect Judge, the Bible tells me there are people in hell, the Bible tells me that if I do a certain thing, I can avoid that fate. The Bible tells me that if I make that choice, then I can have fellowship with my creator. What a glory that is! Whoever is in hell, I am certain that there are things I can’t possibly know about them, but I know that God does. And for that, I am deferring to him.
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Frankly, I have a hard time countenancing a God who would use the threat of eternal torment on basically good people, even if the choice *were* clear. A choice between endless love and a bullet to the head is the sort of choice I would expect from a mafia don, not a moral being.
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I am not going to soft soap God’s wrath. But he brings up some, and he brings down others. Not until a man knows his sin, can he really know forgiveness.