I honestly don't know how to answer this poll because I don't really like the way the question is worded and I don't really like a simple yes or no answer. The reason? Because I don't think it is that simple. I think that if a person is invincibly ignorant of Christ's one true Church, the Catholic Church, and it's teachings and it's truth and if they obey their God-given well-formed conscience to the best of their ability, then they may make it to Heaven. Nobody can know for sure if they will make it to Heaven or not but I'd say that such a person has a good chance of making it to Heaven. So, let's say you are a poor Muslim child living in Saudi Arabia where Christianity is illegal. You grow up knowing nothing but Islam and have little, if any education on other religions. One day, you are in a car accident and die. Note that this person has never even heard of Jesus Christ in his life. His family never thought it was important to teach about Jesus whom they believed to be nothing more than a good prophet. You know, one of the many many prophets that there are in Islam. Instead, this Muslim child grew up learning about Muhammad and the Quran and how to pray in Islam and such. This man dies without ever even hearing the name of Jesus Christ. He lives his life as best he can according to the Muslim conscience that he has. He dies and then he goes before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Christ says, "Hello Abdul, my name is Jesus Christ." Abdul says "Who?", Jesus says "I am Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Let me tell you a little bit about me since I know you never heard of me. I am the Son of God. I came down from Heaven, inhabited the womb of the immaculate Virgin Mary, was born by her, raised by her, and at about the age of 30, I began my ministry. First I was baptized by a prophet named John the Baptist. Then, I went into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. Finally, I began my public ministry. I wandered the Israeli lands healing people, curing diseases, curing blindness, deafness, and muteness. I even raised the dead! But that is not the most important thing I did. I lived a sinless life and there was no guilt in me but yet the Jews wanted me dead anyway. Well, on the night that I was betrayed, I took bread, looked up to Heaven, gave thanks, and said 'Take eat, this is my body, which will be given up for you.' and then I took the cup, looked up to Heaven, gave thanks, and said 'This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant, it will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.' While I was distributing my most sacred Body and Blood to my disciples, I said 'This night one of you will betray me.' Peter, one of my disciples said, 'Surely it is not I, Lord.' and I said 'The one who dips his bread in my cup is the one who will betray me.' Then Judas, another one of my disciples, left and betrayed me for 30 pieces of silver. That night, as I was praying in the Garden of Gethsemene, and in great agony at that knowing what was to come, the soldiers and temple guards finally came. I said 'Who are you looking for?', they said 'Jesus of Nazareth.' 'I am he.' I said. Then, Judas who was at the front of the crowd walked forward and kissed me on my cheek. I said to him, 'Judas, you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?' and then the soldiers took me away. Next, they took me to the Jewish temple where the high priest and other priests interrogated me to try and find me guilty of something. They found me guilty of nothing although they insisted that I was guilty of blasphemy. They also accused me of being guilty of being an insurrectionist to Pilate, who they took me to after they had finished interrogating me. Pilate did not want to punish me at first for fear of starting a riot. However, he eventually gave in to the majority who wanted me punished. He had me brutally flogged and whipped. After this, the soldiers placed a crown of thorns on my head. Then, they took me back to Pilate. Pilate said 'Behold the man!'. Unfortunately, the crowd began to shout 'Crucify him! Crucify him! Crucify him!' In order to placate the crowds, Pilate had me crucified and I began the long, slow, and excruciating journey to the place of the skull, where they were to crucify me. Finally, they crucified me and I died. My agony was over. But this is not the end of the story. Nope." Abdul said, "What happened next?" Jesus said, "Well, I preached to the righteous souls in Hades the Gospel and how I had come to set them free. They, being righteous, accepted this and were immediately taken into Heaven." "Then, after three long days of being in the grave, my Father resurrected me. I had arisen from the dead. I then appeared to all of my disciples and told them 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.' Shortly after that, I ascended back to Heaven to be with my Father where I am now. And that, Abdul, is how I redeemed the world. You, Abdul, were unaware of how I accomplished this but you lived a righteous life in accordance with what I taught you via your conscience. Therefore, you may now enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Enjoy it! I will wipe every tear from your eye, there will be no more pain or mourning, for behold, I make all things new." And thus, Abdul, the Muslim, who had never heard of Christ, makes it to Heaven. I truly believe that the above scenario could very well happen. So no, we are not all sinners who are doomed to Hell unless we receive Christ. We are doomed to Hell if we know about Christ and reject Him and His Gospel. We are doomed to Hell if we know the truth that the Catholic Church teaches and reject it. However, we are not necessarily doomed to Hell if we never knew of Christ or His Church and therefore never had the opportunity to reject it. As for Abdul, the Muslim man from Saudi Arabia, if he learns the truth that there is only one God through Islam and rejects that truth even though he knows it is true, he will go to Hell unless he repents. The above scenario could just as easily apply to a Buddhist, Hindu, Janist, Animist, Native American who knows only his Native American religion, Jew, or even a Satanist. (Personally, I think that a Satanist has a much more diminished chance of making it to Heaven than does a devout Muslim though.) But anyway, my point is, I can't answer the question in the poll because the question itself is invalid. Sorry, but I refuse to vote in a poll where I believe that the question is not even a valid one.
That said, the above scenario may contain doctrinal errors. I am not a theologian so I may have made some doctrinal errors in it. Hopefully none of them were major if they do exist. If you do spot a doctrinal error in my scenario (a doctrinal error according to Catholicism that is) then please do PM me and let me know. Please don't PM me if you think that I am in doctrinal error because my scenario doesn't fit well with your evangelical Christian doctrine. Remember, I am not an evangelical Christian.
Just take a look at the faith icon and you'll have proof of that.
God bless and sorry I made my post so long,
Ave Maria (aka Holly)
