I know there are some people who think that God decides when and where everyone is born etc and I wanted to get some conversation started on this topic. Mainly because it helps answer the question everyone always has about well Christianity wasn't available at this point so what happens to so and so or christianity was available and they heard it but did not believe etc but were good people and lived moral lives.
If the only way to eternal life is believing in Jesus Christ or living a righteous jewish life before christ then that leaves out maybe 99% of all who lived? Regardless, if God picks when and where you are born determined by whether or not you would believe or not in his son or live a righteous jewish lifestyle before Christ, this does answer the question of do buddhists in asian countries or africans in primitive tribes get eternal life or not. It's one that bothered me since I have a side of my family that is from japan and we all know they don't believe in christ in asian countries but most are buddhist or agnostic.
So what does the bible say on this issue? If it doesn't talk about it then what do you guys think about this topic? Does God have this world planned out in a way where everyone is born in the right place at the right time based on whether or not they would believe in Christ or not? Or is the process of birth random? If it is random it seems unfair to those who never heard christ or lived in a country like i listed above where the prevailing view is not christian. I think it is unsatisfying to take the stance that those who were to be saved would be saved regardless, especially if you have family members living in non christian countries.
If the only way to eternal life is believing in Jesus Christ or living a righteous jewish life before christ then that leaves out maybe 99% of all who lived? Regardless, if God picks when and where you are born determined by whether or not you would believe or not in his son or live a righteous jewish lifestyle before Christ, this does answer the question of do buddhists in asian countries or africans in primitive tribes get eternal life or not. It's one that bothered me since I have a side of my family that is from japan and we all know they don't believe in christ in asian countries but most are buddhist or agnostic.
So what does the bible say on this issue? If it doesn't talk about it then what do you guys think about this topic? Does God have this world planned out in a way where everyone is born in the right place at the right time based on whether or not they would believe in Christ or not? Or is the process of birth random? If it is random it seems unfair to those who never heard christ or lived in a country like i listed above where the prevailing view is not christian. I think it is unsatisfying to take the stance that those who were to be saved would be saved regardless, especially if you have family members living in non christian countries.