Written Aug '09: My First Doubts - Saved From Hell?

The Bible is clear that those who receive Jesus Christ go to Heaven. Based on this cut-and-dry rule, we easily determine who’s headed where. But what about when children die, are they saved? If one 4 year old made a highly unintelligent decision for Christ in conformity with his parents, and another hadn’t yet done so, would their eternal fates differ should they die? Most like to believe that children are all saved. Since the idea of a strict cutoff age for salvation is absurd, we might conclude children’s salvation is granted by their lack of mental capacity for receiving Jesus, not their age. Since age is out, we must consider the many adults who also don’t have the mental capacity to receive Jesus. This could plausibly range from various syndromes to poor mental health. The root problem with mental inferiority is that the individual did not have the opportunity to receive Jesus, how about other lacks of opportunity? This gets so grey and debatable; we can probably admit we have little absolute knowledge of who is going to Heaven.

This common question lingers yet: How could a good God send good people to Hell? Our answer is, “He doesn’t, we send ourselves by rejecting Jesus.” Given the concerns listed here, it should be fair to state that Jesus is not an obvious conclusion to life. How can a person who lived and died in India, was immersed solely in Hindu beliefs, never heard much/anything about Jesus, earnestly sought the Truth as best he could, and lived as morally upstanding a life as he could, be sent to Hell? He never made a conscious decision to reject Jesus. He wasn’t given the opportunity to not send himself to Hell. The Bible says that Jesus reveals himself to all men, but I’m sure many people died without hearing about Him. And if this revelation is through nature, how would anyone reach the conclusion that a man named Jesus came and died for us? The more common conclusion is something like Gaia, the Greek god of nature.

There’s an overwhelming demand for basic answers. Series like "SHAPE" and "40 Days of Purpose" are in huge demand. This means that after 2000 years of Christianity, the masses are still unsure about basic issues. Clearly this will never change. If God were real, I would think his revelation would be more apparent amongst the Christian population.