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At the heart of this question (and many similar ones) is another question: Is God fair? If God requires acknowledgments of truths that people haven't had a chance to hear in order to be saved, then of course He is not fair. If we begin with the assumption that God will never act unjustly or unfairly though, then we can assume that He will make Divine ...

No. See 1 Peter 3 and 4. Starting from the death of Jesus, the Gospel has been preached to the dead as well as the living. 1 Peter 4:6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. Bringing salvation to the dead who had ...

This answer presupposes that the claims of Christianity are true. Since Christians believe this, and this site is meant to give a "Christian" view of things, that's the presupposition required to properly answer this. I realize that many people don't believe the claims of Christianity, but the Truth of the claims isn't what's being asked or what's relevant ...

I think it's important to first note that the bible teaches that everyone is convicted of sin, righteousness and judgement by the Holy Spirit (John 16:8). In other words, people have within them an intrinsic sense of whats right, wrong, and the fact that there is some ultimate accountability for the evil deeds they commit. Romans 1 and 2 indicate that ...

I think that to understand this issue, we need to question our base assumption of how salvation is "fair". We have a tendency to think about salvation like Whoever doesn't believe in Christ will be damned While that's true, it's a little misleading. We should think about it like Whoever believes in Christ will be saved The problem with the ...

It's because of The Great Commission given by Jesus Christ. Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV) 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” It's the ...

When reading the gospels there seems to be two or three main problems Jesus always encountered in terms of ministry and politics. The most deadly was the jealousy and hatred of the religious leaders. Jesus often had to move away from any opportunity where they might be overly aroused and have easy access in apprehending him (Luke 20:20) Jesus seemed to ...

Approaches First of all, some people may evangelize in ways that would be considered "aggressive", but many others are not. In fact, the situation often determines the appropriate approach, so the same person could approach the same person in completely different ways, depending on the situation. When my mother saw me as a child wandering close to the ...

I am not aware of any denominations that display such signs as an official part of their teaching or practices, so the only way of knowing why someone displays such a sign is to ask them. Beyond that, we can only speculate... There are two legitimate reasons I can think of to possibly do this: The most obvious would be simple evangelism. That is, ...

I think a proper answer to this question requires that we (re-)examine many of the verses used to form the opinion "Faith in Jesus is necessary for salvation." John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. What it says: Anyone who believes in God's son will ...

2 Corinthians 4:3 KJV: But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: For a traditional Catholic perceptive you can see how the Popes have weighed in on this: Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos (# 13), Aug. 15, 1832: “With the admonition of the apostle that ‘there is one God, one faith, one baptism’ (Eph. 4:5) may those fear who ...

A better question is, why wouldn't we? We have the truth, and the truth is that you may have eternal life by believing in Jesus Christ. Pardon me if I say so myself, and I think I speak for all Christians when I say this, but eternal life is not a bad thing. In fact, if we didn't want to convert anyone, if we just kept to ourselves, it either means 1) we ...

I always thought that this was attributable to His approach to Kings in general. Earthly kings want credit for the work that they do; it's how they maintain power. Jesus' kingdom is heaven, therefore the standard rules of earth-bound kings do not apply. Approaching the question from a faith-perspective, it really makes sense to me that Jesus wouldn't go ...

I do not think we can determine anyone’s motivation for advertising anything. It does seem strange to many to see Jesus advertised on a billboard. Even in Hong Kong where I live, it seems out of place but there are a couple skyscrapers that have a big sign saying ‘Jesus is Lord!’ At many sporting events I have seen people have signs that read ‘John 3:16.’ ...

I think the rise in Christianity is to the the economic development. Post war, Korea was broke and aid starting coming in from the West. Along with the aid came the missionaries. Think about it. All they are doing now is emulating what they saw. Korea's Christian population is mostly Protestants. Ironically the largest group of Western missionaries that came ...

David's view represents a Western, largely Protestant worldview. From an Eastern Orthodox perspective, it is because we can't help but share our loving God with you. But we don't do it by being pushy and trying to compel you to join our church. Instead we love you as God loves us. We don't believe we get people into the doors of the church, that is your ...

Many independent churches first sprang up after the partial collapse of Catholicism during the reformation possibly using the very same New Testament guidelines and principles you seek. The most illuminating case know of that sheds light on the underpinning of New Testament principles at this time is the arguments between Anglican ministers and the ...

I like to think like these verses: Rom 2:12-15 KJV For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (13) (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. (14) For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, ...

Then there is the question of "What about people who died before Jesus was crucified. I believe that the relevant standard is that everyone has to believe in God AS WAS REVEALED TO THEM. For Christians, that means believing in Jesus. For people that never had a chance to know Jesus, that is believing in God, so far as he was revealed to them.