: : Now, as for the people who have never even heard of Jesus or the bible I am not sure. I would think that they would not go to hell because it is not thier fault they live in a part of the world never ministered to or speak a language that cannot be translated by anyone else. Our God is a God of love, and I know he is not unfair, the bible tells us that, so I would imagine that those people would not be punished. Try asking another Christian, esp. a minister because I don't have all the answers. I hope this helps, and if not let me know (that is if you think I avoided answering again): Well, I don't think you "avoided" answeing at all. You gave it your best shot, so let me see if I understand you correctly.
: 1) God wants his children to enter heaven because he is loving, fair and just.
: 2) People who have never heard the gospels get into heaven because God is loving, fair and just, and God can't hold them responsible for not hearing the Gospels.
: 3) So (a) people who never hear the Gospels have a 100% chance of getting into heaven, but according to your points, (b) people who have heard the Gospels have a less than 100% chance of getting into heaven (yes if they accept, no if they don't). So statistically speaking, your odds of getting into heaven are better if you've never heard the Gospels than if you have.
: 4) Returning to point 1, since God wants his children to enter heaven, and exposure to the Gospels actually reduces one's chance of entering heaven, it would have been better for God if the Gospels had not been written (see point 3 above).
: 5) Therefore teaching the Gospels reduces the percentage of people who get into heaven (relative to not teaching the Gospels), and thus is a violation of God's will (see point 1).
: 6) To violate God's will is wrong and must be punished. The punishment God ordains for disobeying his will is eternal torment in hell.
: 7) Therefore teaching the Gospels and "witnessing" consigns one's soul to hell, Q.E.D.
: Hmmm...You know, I just don't really understand religion, I guess.
you forgot about Purgatory, Floyd. i think that many Christians would argue that the Pygmies, and other tribes who haven't read the Bible, will go to purgatory after they die, which effectively gives them another chance at getting into heaven or hell.
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McSpotlight: Purgatory is solely a Catholic doctrine, Nikhil. Also, according to the majority of Catholic doctrine (at least, until Vatican II, as far as I know), the doctrine was that no-one in Purgatory could go to Hell and no-one in Hell could go to Purgatory; the purpose of Purgatory was just to clean up the lightly-tarnished until they were fit to go to Heaven.
