I not sure if it did or didn't yet!some say there's more to reach and others say no!!
What about those who never heard about Jesus
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Nov 13, 2016
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Certainly was a straight view of a (very) conservative view of Protestant theology. All know that by General Revelation that God had to create a great world beyond the power of a "universe" and therefore all have seen via General Revelation the nature and Glory of God and should believe.
On rule of hermeneutics is that information closer to the time of the of Christ (within years or decades) usually is given more weight as not everything that Jesus revealed to both the Jews and his disciples was necessarily recorded in Scripture. Close to the time of Christ, infant baptism, for example, was commonplace and the salvation of the innocents was believed to happen. For example, and newborn baby who dies three after birth without the understanding of Christ or General Revelation was considered innocent and was extended everlasting life as opposed to eternal damnation.
I found you answer stiff and one that troubles non-Christians all the time. In fact, it read like a quote out of a very traditional Protestant systematic theology book, which is a far cry from an Orthodox view.
One of the most irksome ideas to Protestants from the Orthodox view (carried on by the various Orthodox faiths including the Holy Roman Catholic Church) is the idea of Purgatory or Limbo. This idea bothers Protestants because it on the surface seems to diminish the power of Christ's death on the cross. Upon closer exploration, it does not, in fact, do that.
In full disclosure, I am not Catholic. In fact, I am a graduate of Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary and have served as a pastor in the Free Methodist Church. My wife is a Presbyterian pastor. So why my pseudo defensive of an irksome Orthodox view such as Purgatory? I am a firm believer that no one denomination has the salvation process correct. Any person can step too hard in a wrong direction without giving it correct and proper thought and prayer.
I would like to look at why Purgatory is so irksome. First, as mentioned before, some believe it diminishes the power of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. That is a long, long discussion. I leave it to the reader to do their research on that aspect.
Only a few hundred years ago, the Catholic Church was extremely guilty of using the idea of buying penance by giving large sums of money to the church. Or worse yet, lavish items such as pure silver candle holders or great works of art, etc. These were items could not be sold to be used for things such as taking care of the poor. Some priests greatly disliked the idea, and some a bit more worldly made a private fortune from some of these givings. This did make the practice of giving money or riches for penance quite irksome from Martin Luther's time and before.
All of this is an argumentative exercise with any Scripture to examine. I will list some of the major ones to consider, but I remind all readers that many very large books have been written on this one theological subject alone.
1 Kings 8:50, Lamentations 1:8, Daniel 9:11, Zephaniah 1:17 all support what is said in Romans 3:23, "All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God." That is why we need God's grace and the power of Christ shedding his innocent blood. That does beg a very sticky question which also has thousand of books dedicated to it, what happened to the true Jews, God's chosen people, who lived before the time of Christ? And we know very little from the time of Adam and Eve to the time of Noah and the salvation of the individuals in that time. A healthy idea to contemplate.
Now, we ALL have sinned. We ALL need salvation. Ephesians 1:13 makes the case directly and plainly, "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit". 2 Timothy 2:10 and 2 Timothy 3:15 support this point.
Matthew 19:16-17 makes a high point. It is the story of the rich and religious Jew. He asks “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” and the answer is well known by many Christians "If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” The problem shows up later in the story that this Jew, despite be religious and pious, has a problem that is preventing him from following all the commandments. He is wealthy. He goes away sad knowing he must give up the comfort of his riches that are in his way to truly keep the commandments.
The power of this famous piece of Scripture is that Christ did not say eternal life was dependent on following Christ. Other methods of knowing Christ are available. General Revelation, keeping the commandments, etc. This is why the early church believed in the salvation of the innocents and the baptism of infants. They had kept the commands -- even if they only lived for a few weeks.
Romans 3:25-28 is a strong piece of Scripture. It reads, "God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." Take the time to read that carefully. It follows a precise order which is revealing. Many Protestants believe that by accepting Christ, you are saved, or one of the chosen (or elect). Your sins are forgiven, and eternal life is provided by Grace and Grace alone.
Looking at the most important part of Scripture related to the power of Christ's blood on the cross, we can see some things that we might have taken for granted. First, God presented is Son, Christ Almighty to pay for sins and provide atonement. To receive that atonement we must have faith. The sins of the world are not possible to be erased. A debt of sin was incurred by all. The price was paid the Son of God as a perfect man giving his life. Can we rest assured of our Salvation? Oh my, a tough question. No we cannot least we boast that we had faith to accept Christ and that is all we need. Hebrews 10:26-27 clearly states we must keep striving to be more Christ-like, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God."
Of course, I could go on. But I have set the foundation I wished to lay. The prevailing Protestant view is that you must accept Christ, by doing so and renewing your commitment to Christ through charity, worship and Holy Communion you are progressing in your life and the power of the Cross will wipe away all your sins.
But as we have seen, there are some possible alternative views. Protestants will disagree whether you can lose your Salvation (backsliding) and some will say once you accept Christ, you are saved, and can, therefore, skip church and watch football and not a lot of attention to good works and charity. Of course, that is never said, but smart people can glean that view very quickly.
The Orthodox Catholic view includes Purgatory. They hope they have rid the church of the sins of the priests a few hundred years ago and strive to do so. The argument for Purgatory starts with Matthew 5:24-25, "Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny."
Interesting that the same Greek word for prison is also translated as "holding place." I Corinthians 3:11-15 may well be the most straightforward text in all of Sacred Scripture when it comes to Purgatory: "For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble—each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire."
Fire is often used as a symbol of purification. No one doubts this passage is about after death. Catholics believe that it is a fitting symbol here for God’s judgment. Some of the “works” represented are being burned up, and some are being purified. These works survive, or burn, according to their essential quality. No one enters Heaven without purification.
First, what are sins, but bad or wicked works (see Matthew 7:21-23, John 8:40, Galatians 5:19-21)? If these “works” do not represent sins and imperfections, why would they need to be eliminated? Second, it is impossible for a “work” to be cleansed apart from the human being who performed it. We are, in a certain sense, what we do when it comes to our moral choices.
One major problem with the idea of Purgatory. And that can be seen by what Jesus says to the thief on the Cross. Luke 23:41-43 as Jesus is on the cross, "We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
This passage has strong wording -- TODAY you will be with me in paradise. That doesn't sound like that man is making a stop in Purgatory. This can mean only one of several things. His sins have been forgiven so close to his death that Purgatory is not necessary for the thief. Second, as many Protestants believe, the power of the cross is enough. Lastly, the word "today" is a metaphor.
This leads to one of the great rules of hermeneutics. The Bible is not an owner's manual. It is a spiritual guide and a record of Jesus' major teachings (along with David, Moses, Paul and many others). We do not have a complete view of things. But Protestants cannot say that Orthodox Religions such as Catholics are wrong. Catholics and Orthodox Religions, in the same way, should embrace Protestants.
This is my opinion only. I am a Seminary Graduate, and I have my Doctorate in Education. Please forgive any grammar errors, misspellings, or poor sentence structures. Even proofreading it after the fact, I find I tend to read what I meant and not what I wrote. One thing is certain. We are brothers and sisters in Christ Almighty and should treat other Christians in a manner that shows utmost respect.
Fast Facts on the Question, “What About Those Who’ve Never Heard About Jesus?”
Many people wrestle with the question of the eternal fate of those who’ve never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. For example, some ask, “What about the guy in the jungle who’s never heard the name of Jesus? How could God judge someone who by no fault of their own never had a chance to hear the good news?”
To answer this question we must be ready to address three central issues: the nature of God, the nature of humanity, and the nature of God’s plan of salvation. To unpack these issues consider the following biblical truths.
First, the Bible assures us that God will treat all people with perfect fairness, justice, and love (Dt. 32:3; 1 Tim. 2:3-4; 2 Pt. 3:9). God’s heart is for people and he doesn’t want anyone to miss out on a relationship with him. We can be sure that God will judge every person on earth fairly and justly.
Second, God’s word is clear that the guy in the jungle who’s never heard the name of Jesus is as guilty as Billy Graham (Ecc. 7:20). There are no innocent natives or evangelists. All of humanity is infected by sin and our sin separates us from our holy, Creator-God (Rom. 3:23; Rom. 6:23; Is. 64:6). Thus, all people need salvation.
Third, God has plainly revealed that his plan of salvation is “one-way” (Jn. 3:16-18, 36; Jn. 14:6; Acts 4:12; Acts 16:31). God hasn’t given us a bunch of options as to how we might be saved. He’s told us clearly that we all need Jesus.
Fourth, the Bible tells us that even those who’ve never heard the name of Jesus have been given the knowledge of God (Rom. 1:18-20; Ps. 19:1-3; Ecc. 3:11; Rom. 2:15). God has not left himself without a testimony (Acts 14:17). People aren’t condemned for what they don’t know, but for what they do know and have rejected. However, for those who respond to the light of God’s general revelation, we have to trust that more light will be given (Hebrews 11:6).
Fifth, as Christians we remain under the mandate of the Great Commission (Mt. 28:18-20; Rom. 10:13-15). People need Jesus; and God has given us the command to be his ambassadors to the world (2 Cor. 5:20). If we’re concerned about the guy in the jungle who’s never heard about Jesus, the most appropriate question we can ask is, “What am I going to do about it?”
For more helpful answers to common apologetic questions, please check out the book, Apologetics For A New Generation, available in our online store.
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