Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible
What about those who never heard of God?
Dear Father Paul: Where will those who have never even heard of God go when they die? Heaven or hell? It doesn’t seem fair for God to send a person to hell who has no knowledge that there even is a God. What do you say? — D.W.
Dear D.W.: Christians (especially preachers) get this question all the time, often from atheists who want to “stump the preacher,” but sometimes from genuine seekers of truth. I am going to assume that you are the latter, and that you have an open mind.
First, my answer will be Biblically based, not what some skeptic or what the New York Times says. I firmly believe that the Holy Bible is “God breathed,” that it is “God’s Word” to mankind, inspired by God himself and that it contains absolute and unchanging truth for all humans.
Second, the Bible teaches throughout that God is as a loving parent (Heavenly Father) who created us and loves us because we are his own creation. And, that he made hell, not for mankind, but for Satan and his demons. In short, the “truth” is that God is not some grumpy old man with a long, gray beard, sitting up on a cloud watching us day and night, hoping we’ll mess up so he can zap us with a lightening bolt and send us to hell.
No! God doesn’t want anyone to ever go to hell, period! II Peter 3:9 tells us, (paraphrased) “God doesn’t want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Psalm 86:15 and John 3:16 also demonstrate God’s love, mercy and compassion for all mankind.
Third, I am not God! So it is not my place to consign anyone to hell, or to heaven for that matter. For me, or anyone else, to do so is the Biblical sin of “judging others.” I can only tell you what the Bible says about your question, then give you my “take” on what it means.
Fourth, to partly answer your question, I believe that all people are accountable to God. And I believe further that there is no such thing as “a person who has never heard of God.”
Please carefully read and meditate on Romans 1:18-20 and Ecclesiastes 3:11 which are key Bible verses in answer to your question. Romans 1:18-20 clearly tells us that God, indeed, does reveal himself to every single human being through nature … his beautiful and awesome creation all around us. The Universe and everything in it didn’t just “happen.” No, it required both an architect and a “master builder” — God.
In Ecclesiastes 3:11, God, through King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, tells us that God also reveals himself in all people’s hearts. That is, our “inner person” speaks to us and tells us that there is indeed a power (God) over everything. Because of these two truths, no one can deny that God has revealed himself.
The problem is that, according to the Bible, the entire human race has been rebellious and sinful toward God from the beginning until today. God would love to simply send everyone to heaven, but he cannot allow sin into heaven to ruin and pollute heaven as it has the earth.
Fifth, God has a remedy, an “antidote for sin” … God sent his son, the Lord Jesus, to live among men and show us the way to live as God intended. Then, Jesus willingly gave up his life through death on a cross as our substitute, thus himself taking the punishment due for our sins. Basically, Jesus died in your, and my, place. A person has only to receive Jesus as God’s sacrificial lamb to cancel their sin, avoid hell and make heaven.
Lastly, Deuteronomy 4:29 plainly gives this iron-clad guarantee from God. (NIV) “But if … you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and all your soul.” Wow! God guarantees that he himself will somehow make a way for anyone who diligently seeks him to find him. God promises that if we (any of us) have a heart and a longing to know our creator, he will somehow reveal himself to us, even if it takes a miracle. So, all mankind is without excuse. Here’s Gods bottom line. All people are responsible to God for what has already been revealed to them. Then they are responsible for seeking him.
Do you have a question? Send it to me at [email protected] and I will try to answer it in the paper.
Father Paul Massey is pastor emeritus of Church of the Holy Cross in Fayetteville, Georgia. Visit www.holycrosschurch.wordpress.com for more information, service times and directions.
