Question.

[BodhiDharma]

Mods feel free to redirect this to another forum, I'm new and not sure where to post this.

What do you think happens to people who never hear about Jesus? Those people who live in the remote areas of the Amazon, the steppes of china, mountains of Nepal, etc. I think you get the idea. They never even have a chance to hear Jesus' name, how can they be expected to accept him? Scripture is welcome too, but I am very interested in your personal responses.

On top of that, what about people who live in areas that are heavily dominated by one religion. They may hear about Jesus, but how can they be expected to drop everything they know, because of hearing about this man just a little?

It's just a question I've always pondered.

[ayin jade]

The Lord tells us that for those who earnestly seek Him, then He will reveal Himself to them. I can trust that God will follow through on His promises.

Even more though important though, is what about those who have heard of Him and have not accepted Jesus? Sadly, they face a terrible eternity. The good news is that they still have time to accept Jesus, until they take their last breath. They shouldnt wait though. That is too big a risk.

[Guest thankfulone]

Hello BodhiDharma-

I would encourage you to read Romans 1:18-32 for the answer to that question.

Paul basically explains that God has revealed Himself to ALL people if not through the hearing of the good news of Jesus than by natural revelation. Therefore no one is has an excuse.

" (18)The wrath of God is being revealed from heavan against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who supress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them because God made it plain to them. (20) For 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. (21) For 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. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools (23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (24) Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. (25) They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen." Romans 1:18-25 (NIV)

Basically I understand this to mean three things

1)there is one God

2)he has revealed Himself to all-some through hearing and some throuhg natural revelation

3)although I believe that we are only held accountable for what we know-I also belive that Paul inplies that every person-regardless of their know;edge of the gospel choses sin- even when there is no knowledge of Gods law or requirements we still are given a concience which testifies to aone creator because it is almost a universal experience for all humanity (as is marriage, considering murder wrong, ect.)

So long winded answer we are accountable for what we know and we all are aware of God.

To answer your second question Jesus was a Jew and yet he expected other Jews to look beyond the cultural norms of their society regarding gentles and samaritans to something bigger. We must remember that Christianity IS NOT a western thing- It originated in the middle east and has penetrated most of the globe (east to west) many time over throughout the history of the church. Finally, Jesus trancends culture, most cultures have less difficulty accepting Christianity than we do because the name has been so abused and misrepresented in the West. I am not sure culture is the real barrier-I believe it is often misrepresentation.

I 'll end with a question, it's awesome to worry about people who have never heard but you have, so what will you do about it? :il: