Who really goes to Hell?

[sandpiper22]

There's this idea that boggles my mind for quite a while and I'd like to hear your opinions about it:

First off, imagine the situation of a person A: You're born in some poor, remote part of India. You're raised fully in hinduist faith. Your all life you basically know nothing but the hindu gods, which you also worship. One day there's this white guy who comes around and starts preaching something about one God, which is actually a three at once or something, but you don't really understand him, it doesn't really catch you by the heart or anything. Few days later he wanders off. After some years, you get ill and you die.

Now: you stand before the judgement of God. You heard the word of God but you didn't accept it. Are you going to Hell?

Now, alternatively, person B: You're born to atheistic family in a very atheistic western country, let's say Norway. You're raised in a profoundly atheistic way, involving absolutely zero room for spirituality. When you grow in age, you maybe encounter some people who practice the religion, but you're lead to believe they're some kind of lunatics and to stay away from them. Maybe someone from your work tries to talk you into the Christianity, but you're provided with scientific evidence for any question you may have about the world, and since your parents didn't put a seed of the spirituality in you as you were growing up, you never get to question it. You grow old and you die.

Now: you stand before the judgement of God. You heard the word of God but you didn't accept it. Are you going to Hell?

I've been Christian my whole life and I've spent plenty of time reading Bible. Personally, the idea of either of these people going to some kind of 'eternal torment' goes completely against the idea of the righteous and merciful God that Bible preaches. I understand that there's no verse, no simple line to prove this, but both logically and spiritually I wholeheartedly believe in some kind of 'backdoor trick' (as atheists opposing this idea would've called it) of a last-second of your life revelation of Jesus who you get to freely accept and go to Heaven, regardless of where or how you lived.

What do you guys think?

Your premise is they go to hell because they 'heard the word of God' and did not accept it, therefore, I voted 'none'.
To enter heaven, one must be 'born from above' (Read about Nicodemus...John 3 kjv...that is, if you are seriously bothered by this and want to be satisified) and this New Birth is not premised on anything that man does, it is predicated on God's will for that man to be born from above (Read John 1:12-13 kjv), and the New Birth is not for every Tom, Harry, and Jane of the fallen human race. The New Birth is only for those who are God's own, His people, His chosen ones out of a sin-laden humanity (and I'm not talking about Israel, either, which is simply a picture of His elect people). It is for these, His people, that Jesus Christ came, and shed His blood for. In fact Matthew 1:21 specifically says that His Name shall be Jesus because He shall save HIS people from their sins.
The New Birth is applied to God's man by Direct Operation of the Holy Spirit and is not dependent on any Christian's obedience and ability to preach the gospel, go to far-away lands, leave heart and hearth, to 'serve' Christ. The New Birth is not dependent on a person's ability to posssess a Bible, or go to church, or obey the gospel, none that man can do. It is absolutely and uniquely the Spirit's work, none of man's.
Therefore, your premises are wrong.
None of those two will go to hell..............based on their not having accepted the gospel or the word of God. If they go to hell, it will be because they are not God's own.
Who are God's own ?
Those whose names He wrote in His book of life from the foundation of the world (read Revelation 13:8 and 17:8 paying close attention to the use of the negatives in both verses). In fact, Paul in Ephesians 1:4 goes further and says "from before the foundation of the world".
All of these elect or chosen were put IN CHRIST positionally, were IN CHRIST when He was born as a sinless infant, grew up fully obedient to God IN CHRIST, was crucified together with Christ (Galatians 2:20), died IN CHRIST, was resurrected IN CHRIST, and is now seated in heavenly places IN CHRIST JESUS (Ephesians 2:6).
I am talking of the child of God's position in Christ as his representative.
So, a cannibal never heard of Christ and lived his whole life as a cannibal and animist ?
Whose fault is that ? His ?
Most assuredly not because in his lifetime no gospel preacher came to him with the good news of a finished salvation, and most assuredly not because it is God who is pleased to choose whom He will as His own.
Is he saved ? Redeemed ?
If he is, not by his merit, but by the merits of Christ, and the relationship God established with him, in Christ Jesus, from the foundation of the world.
If he is not, then God is sovereign and does what he will in the army of heaven and of earth...a proud king named Nebuchadnezzar learned that the hard way. Look for him in the book of Daniel.
But what about all those people he slaughtered, butchered, and ate ?
What sin is not covered by the blood of Christ except the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and that blaspehmy is attributing the works of God to the works of the devil ?

 

[sparow]

There's this idea that boggles my mind for quite a while and I'd like to hear your opinions about it:

First off, imagine the situation of a person A: You're born in some poor, remote part of India. You're raised fully in hinduist faith. Your all life you basically know nothing but the hindu gods, which you also worship. One day there's this white guy who comes around and starts preaching something about one God, which is actually a three at once or something, but you don't really understand him, it doesn't really catch you by the heart or anything. Few days later he wanders off. After some years, you get ill and you die.

Now: you stand before the judgement of God. You heard the word of God but you didn't accept it. Are you going to Hell?

Now, alternatively, person B: You're born to atheistic family in a very atheistic western country, let's say Norway. You're raised in a profoundly atheistic way, involving absolutely zero room for spirituality. When you grow in age, you maybe encounter some people who practice the religion, but you're lead to believe they're some kind of lunatics and to stay away from them. Maybe someone from your work tries to talk you into the Christianity, but you're provided with scientific evidence for any question you may have about the world, and since your parents didn't put a seed of the spirituality in you as you were growing up, you never get to question it. You grow old and you die.

Now: you stand before the judgement of God. You heard the word of God but you didn't accept it. Are you going to Hell?

I've been Christian my whole life and I've spent plenty of time reading Bible. Personally, the idea of either of these people going to some kind of 'eternal torment' goes completely against the idea of the righteous and merciful God that Bible preaches. I understand that there's no verse, no simple line to prove this, but both logically and spiritually I wholeheartedly believe in some kind of 'backdoor trick' (as atheists opposing this idea would've called it) of a last-second of your life revelation of Jesus who you get to freely accept and go to Heaven, regardless of where or how you lived.

What do you guys think?

Hell is an unfortunate word that shouldn't be found in the Bible. The Bible refers to the abodes of the dead as tombs, graves or rubbish dump where the destitute are burned, translators render these "hell" for some strange reason. Some have been and will be punished but before death not after.

As to who will be saved, it should be remembered the scriptures are directed to Israel, except for the writings of Paul. I believe God has everything under control and He will achieve his objective.

 

[LadyCrosstalk]

It is more than a blessing, we believe we receive actual grace during baptism, and believe that grace should be available to children as well as adults (including adults with mental handicaps that would not be a "believer" in an intellectual sense). While I would agree that the NT doesn't give an clear example of children being baptized (there is an example of a household being baptized, which may have included children, but this is not clear), we believe that this was the practice, as it has been passed down within the Church.

Baptism is not the means of grace--it is an act of obedience by a new believer (Upon belief, believers were instructed to "repent and be baptized" as their initial act of obedience). Grace is not dispensed through any act of man.

 

[ttcmacro]

Baptism is not the means of grace--it is an act of obedience by a new believer (Upon belief, believers were instructed to "repent and be baptized" as their initial act of obedience). Grace is not dispensed through any act of man.

Obviously we disagree on this.

 

[Justatruthseeker]

There's this idea that boggles my mind for quite a while and I'd like to hear your opinions about it:

First off, imagine the situation of a person A: You're born in some poor, remote part of India. You're raised fully in hinduist faith. Your all life you basically know nothing but the hindu gods, which you also worship. One day there's this white guy who comes around and starts preaching something about one God, which is actually a three at once or something, but you don't really understand him, it doesn't really catch you by the heart or anything. Few days later he wanders off. After some years, you get ill and you die.

Now: you stand before the judgement of God. You heard the word of God but you didn't accept it. Are you going to Hell?

Now, alternatively, person B: You're born to atheistic family in a very atheistic western country, let's say Norway. You're raised in a profoundly atheistic way, involving absolutely zero room for spirituality. When you grow in age, you maybe encounter some people who practice the religion, but you're lead to believe they're some kind of lunatics and to stay away from them. Maybe someone from your work tries to talk you into the Christianity, but you're provided with scientific evidence for any question you may have about the world, and since your parents didn't put a seed of the spirituality in you as you were growing up, you never get to question it. You grow old and you die.

Now: you stand before the judgement of God. You heard the word of God but you didn't accept it. Are you going to Hell?

I've been Christian my whole life and I've spent plenty of time reading Bible. Personally, the idea of either of these people going to some kind of 'eternal torment' goes completely against the idea of the righteous and merciful God that Bible preaches. I understand that there's no verse, no simple line to prove this, but both logically and spiritually I wholeheartedly believe in some kind of 'backdoor trick' (as atheists opposing this idea would've called it) of a last-second of your life revelation of Jesus who you get to freely accept and go to Heaven, regardless of where or how you lived.

What do you guys think?

Absolutely everybody goes to hell, except any that are alive when Jesus returns. They shall be transformed in the twinkling of an eye.

The concept of hell as is commonly believed is not a Biblical teaching. The Bible teaches that all go to hades (Greek) or Sheol (Hebrew) when they die. Good or bad, rich or poor. It is the common grave of mankind, not a place of torment. In Sheol the dead have no knowledge, no thoughts, it is likened to sleep because those in it will be woken during the resurrection. At which time it itself will be cast into the lake of fire and cease to exist since death will be no more.....

 

[FatalHeart]

Obviously we disagree on this.

"And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you."

 

[ViaCrucis]

There's this idea that boggles my mind for quite a while and I'd like to hear your opinions about it:

First off, imagine the situation of a person A: You're born in some poor, remote part of India. You're raised fully in hinduist faith. Your all life you basically know nothing but the hindu gods, which you also worship. One day there's this white guy who comes around and starts preaching something about one God, which is actually a three at once or something, but you don't really understand him, it doesn't really catch you by the heart or anything. Few days later he wanders off. After some years, you get ill and you die.

Now: you stand before the judgement of God. You heard the word of God but you didn't accept it. Are you going to Hell?

Now, alternatively, person B: You're born to atheistic family in a very atheistic western country, let's say Norway. You're raised in a profoundly atheistic way, involving absolutely zero room for spirituality. When you grow in age, you maybe encounter some people who practice the religion, but you're lead to believe they're some kind of lunatics and to stay away from them. Maybe someone from your work tries to talk you into the Christianity, but you're provided with scientific evidence for any question you may have about the world, and since your parents didn't put a seed of the spirituality in you as you were growing up, you never get to question it. You grow old and you die.

Now: you stand before the judgement of God. You heard the word of God but you didn't accept it. Are you going to Hell?

I've been Christian my whole life and I've spent plenty of time reading Bible. Personally, the idea of either of these people going to some kind of 'eternal torment' goes completely against the idea of the righteous and merciful God that Bible preaches. I understand that there's no verse, no simple line to prove this, but both logically and spiritually I wholeheartedly believe in some kind of 'backdoor trick' (as atheists opposing this idea would've called it) of a last-second of your life revelation of Jesus who you get to freely accept and go to Heaven, regardless of where or how you lived.

What do you guys think?

Our ideas of "heaven" and "hell" as popularly imagined tend to have very little to do with Scripture or with a more historic Christian perspective.

It is noteworthy that over the course of the last two thousand years, and where the Church, historically, has made incredibly firm, strong stands on many matters of theology, on the subject of hell this has never been the case. There are definitely Christians with very strong positions, incredibly unwavering positions, on the subject of hell--but that is quite a different thing. Councils have met on matters such as whether Christ has one will or two wills, because such a matter of an important one to have--but the Church has never come together to make a pronouncement, to articulate a dogma on the issue of hell. And there has always been a great deal of diversity of opinion, and variety of belief, with lots of fluidity and flexibility.

I can't help but think that a big reason for this is that Scripture itself is incredibly vague on the subject.

If you were to ask me what "hell" even is, I don't know that I would so much be able to answer that question in any direct sense except to point to what we hope for, look forward to, when in the resurrection and the age to come God renews all things, restores all things, heals all things that Scripture indicates that there are people who, in the end, will refuse to partake in that. Hell is not so much a thing as it is not a thing. I'm reminded of C.S. Lewis in the Great Divorce when he writes, "The whole difficulty of understanding Hell is that the thing to be understood is so nearly Nothing."

We also know that God is unwilling that any should perish, but that all be saved. So we can never attribute hell to the working and will of God, as though should any be found there that God willed it to be so, and those there did not themselves desire it. And, of course, I say "there" but it almost seems as though such a word means nothing at all in this context.

So let's consider the two people in your scenarios. The best answer we can offer is one you didn't give, which is to say we do not, and cannot know. For all we know both of these individuals will, on account of Christ's saving work and the grace of God, be found in the resurrection of the righteous and sharing in the glorious life of the age to come.

I take the side of hope and grace in these matters, and leave judgment to God who alone is good, just, merciful, and wise.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Dan the deacon]

Yes. If the Blood of Jesus is effectual for our salvation by grace through faith, it is also effectual for those who are incapable of faith. His mercy never fails.

Do you have any scripture to support that notion? Or is this something you invented or learned from a man.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Grace is not dispensed through any act of man.

St. Paul disagrees, read Romans ch. 10, note that he says, "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" (v. 14) and let's continue, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." (v. 17).

If God doesn't use His Church through the established means He has instituted, then we preach the Gospel in vain.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Dan the deacon]

You must be a born again Christian in order to go to heaven. So in both examples these people would go to hell.

So you do not believe non-believing children go to heaven. Intetesting.

 

[Dan the deacon]

St. Paul disagrees, read Romans ch. 10, note that he says, "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" (v. 14) and let's continue, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." (v. 17).

If God doesn't use His Church through the established means He has instituted, then we preach the Gospel in vain.

-CryptoLutheran

Amen. Through God we are a part of this. We cannot save a soul but we can lead one to God so that he may be saved.

 

[Dan the deacon]

Baptism is not the means of grace--it is an act of obedience by a new believer (Upon belief, believers were instructed to "repent and be baptized" as their initial act of obedience). Grace is not dispensed through any act of man.

Baptism is not an act of man but an act of God. It is much more than you believe. I take it you are an evangelical. Jesus was baptized and The Father was involved as was the Holy Spirit.
Many evangelicals hold this odd belief that baptism is just an act of obedience. It is actually your begining into Christ's Church. It is your actual rebirth. I do not say you can't see heaven without baptism but I wouldn't try it.

 

[Dan the deacon]

My question would be why? Is it something more akin to a blessing? Jesus blessed the little children--He did not baptize them. Baptists dedicate and bless their babies and young children. Baptism is by immersion for believers only.

Scripture please. I hear this so often but it is false. One should not wait until a child claims they believe. One should baptize thier child knowing they will bring that child's belief into being. The trouble today is parents do not teach thier children the truth about Christ. Oh the teach them lies about Santa and an Easter bunny (which thier child believes wholeheartedly)But fail to teach them the truth about Christ.
When a babe is baptized, the patents take on the job of assuring the child knows the truth about Christ.
When a child is dedicated, no such vow is made. Dedication has no real meaning except to offer hope that one day the child might believe.
So I have to ask: If you can cause your child to believe in Santa, why do you doubt you can cause them to believe the truth? Is it not the parent that causes a young child to believe anything? Why should Christ be different? Is this not also a belief?
When I became a parent, I knew I would teach my child the truth concerning Christ. I also knew he would believe. Just as other children believe in untruthes like Santa and the Easter bunny. The diffetence being I taught mine the truth and mine did not later learn that I would lie to him for no real reason.

 

[Dan the deacon]

Absolutely everybody goes to hell, except any that are alive when Jesus returns. They shall be transformed in the twinkling of an eye.

The concept of hell as is commonly believed is not a Biblical teaching. The Bible teaches that all go to hades (Greek) or Sheol (Hebrew) when they die. Good or bad, rich or poor. It is the common grave of mankind, not a place of torment. In Sheol the dead have no knowledge, no thoughts, it is likened to sleep because those in it will be woken during the resurrection. At which time it itself will be cast into the lake of fire and cease to exist since death will be no more.....

Who taught you that rot. Before Christ paid for our sins everyone went to a place called Sheol. Even there there was a good side and a bad side. I got that from scripture. I do not know where you got what you posted.

 

[NW82]

There's this idea that boggles my mind for quite a while and I'd like to hear your opinions about it:

First off, imagine the situation of a person A: You're born in some poor, remote part of India. You're raised fully in hinduist faith. Your all life you basically know nothing but the hindu gods, which you also worship. One day there's this white guy who comes around and starts preaching something about one God, which is actually a three at once or something, but you don't really understand him, it doesn't really catch you by the heart or anything. Few days later he wanders off. After some years, you get ill and you die.

Now: you stand before the judgement of God. You heard the word of God but you didn't accept it. Are you going to Hell?

Now, alternatively, person B: You're born to atheistic family in a very atheistic western country, let's say Norway. You're raised in a profoundly atheistic way, involving absolutely zero room for spirituality. When you grow in age, you maybe encounter some people who practice the religion, but you're lead to believe they're some kind of lunatics and to stay away from them. Maybe someone from your work tries to talk you into the Christianity, but you're provided with scientific evidence for any question you may have about the world, and since your parents didn't put a seed of the spirituality in you as you were growing up, you never get to question it. You grow old and you die.

Now: you stand before the judgement of God. You heard the word of God but you didn't accept it. Are you going to Hell?

I've been Christian my whole life and I've spent plenty of time reading Bible. Personally, the idea of either of these people going to some kind of 'eternal torment' goes completely against the idea of the righteous and merciful God that Bible preaches. I understand that there's no verse, no simple line to prove this, but both logically and spiritually I wholeheartedly believe in some kind of 'backdoor trick' (as atheists opposing this idea would've called it) of a last-second of your life revelation of Jesus who you get to freely accept and go to Heaven, regardless of where or how you lived.

What do you guys think?

Ecclesiastes 3:11

 

[Blade]

Looking at this as man. Is it not written..said by Christ.. which heard it from the Father.. if you were BLIND you would have no sin. You say you see..your sin remains. <---MANY are blind.. never heard the truth. Kind of hard for a JUST God to hold someone accountable for something they never heard. We all have His laws in our hearts. We make the free choice to follow them.

Some not knowing Christ do the best they know how to live a good right helpful life. On and on.. Have faith.. He is the BEST as what HE IS. Take Lot. Abraham went all the way to 10 righteous. God would have spared all for just 10. GOD never told Abraham to stop. What about when God had to judge.. He looked for ONE among them to stand in the hedge.. the gab so HE would not have to. He found NONE!

MAN.. with Satans help uses the word HELL.. and who IS going there.. Not the Father. He has NEVER said those things to anyone. Any time you really wonder.. remember HE created all. He left heaven.. knowing all the sin evil in this world.. yet became what HE made. To pay a price that would have taken ALL of His creation from Him. Yet HE DIED anyway. Rose and made a fair perfect way out. One MAIN reason I see this still going on is.. HE is out there SAVING the world He loves.

I mean.. just look at all this since Adam. All the evil wrong we have done Satan has done. YET He STILL has never failed. Its still truing out the way HE planned. As I have read heard and understand NO ONE will ever be lost by mistake/not knowing why. They will KNOW the choices they made and the cost. Remember again this is the JUDGE that had to cast you away yet.. came down.. took your place and set you free. We have NO IDEA the cost of all this and the LOVE He really truly has FOR YOU!

 

[Justatruthseeker]

Scripture please. I hear this so often but it is false. One should not wait until a child claims they believe. One should baptize thier child knowing they will bring that child's belief into being. The trouble today is parents do not teach thier children the truth about Christ. Oh the teach them lies about Santa and an Easter bunny (which thier child believes wholeheartedly)But fail to teach them the truth about Christ.
When a babe is baptized, the patents take on the job of assuring the child knows the truth about Christ.
When a child is dedicated, no such vow is made. Dedication has no real meaning except to offer hope that one day the child might believe.
So I have to ask: If you can cause your child to believe in Santa, why do you doubt you can cause them to believe the truth? Is it not the parent that causes a young child to believe anything? Why should Christ be different? Is this not also a belief?
When I became a parent, I knew I would teach my child the truth concerning Christ. I also knew he would believe. Just as other children believe in untruthes like Santa and the Easter bunny. The diffetence being I taught mine the truth and mine did not later learn that I would lie to him for no real reason.

No, baptism is an expression of faith. It is for the believer to express to God that he has put faith in what Jesus said.

It is like repentance. Someone that doesn’t understand the significance of baptism or repentance makes it in reality a useless gesture. It is a conscious choice by the one accepting the faith, not just something done to make mom and pop feel better.

 

[ttcmacro]

No, baptism is an expression of faith. It is for the believer to express to God that he has put faith in what Jesus said.

It is like repentance. Someone that doesn’t understand the significance of baptism or repentance makes it in reality a useless gesture. It is a conscious choice by the one accepting the faith, not just something done to make mom and pop feel better.

I'm just curious do you/does your church not believe in baptizing those who are mentally handicapped as well?

 

[Justatruthseeker]

Who taught you that rot. Before Christ paid for our sins everyone went to a place called Sheol. Even there there was a good side and a bad side. I got that from scripture. I do not know where you got what you posted.

And yet you failed to show this scripture where you got your understanding from. Imagine that.

Jesus said the sinners would go away into everlasting punishment.

So ask yourself, what has been the punishment for sin since Adam brought that punishment into the world?

Jesus says only the righteous receive the gift of eternal life. Who is going to give sinners the gift of eternal life? Jesus? God? Is Satan going to give them eternal life? Because God sure declares He isn’t......

You make them both to be liars and evil with belief in eternal suffering. God promised His gift was only for the righteous. Not one single verse in the Bible ever promises the sinner eternal life, but only eternal death....

Hence the second death, because unlike the first death it will NEVER be broken by a resurrection.

 

[BradB]

There's this idea that boggles my mind for quite a while and I'd like to hear your opinions about it:

First off, imagine the situation of a person A: You're born in some poor, remote part of India. You're raised fully in hinduist faith. Your all life you basically know nothing but the hindu gods, which you also worship. One day there's this white guy who comes around and starts preaching something about one God, which is actually a three at once or something, but you don't really understand him, it doesn't really catch you by the heart or anything. Few days later he wanders off. After some years, you get ill and you die.

Now: you stand before the judgement of God. You heard the word of God but you didn't accept it. Are you going to Hell?

Now, alternatively, person B: You're born to atheistic family in a very atheistic western country, let's say Norway. You're raised in a profoundly atheistic way, involving absolutely zero room for spirituality. When you grow in age, you maybe encounter some people who practice the religion, but you're lead to believe they're some kind of lunatics and to stay away from them. Maybe someone from your work tries to talk you into the Christianity, but you're provided with scientific evidence for any question you may have about the world, and since your parents didn't put a seed of the spirituality in you as you were growing up, you never get to question it. You grow old and you die.

Now: you stand before the judgement of God. You heard the word of God but you didn't accept it. Are you going to Hell?

I've been Christian my whole life and I've spent plenty of time reading Bible. Personally, the idea of either of these people going to some kind of 'eternal torment' goes completely against the idea of the righteous and merciful God that Bible preaches. I understand that there's no verse, no simple line to prove this, but both logically and spiritually I wholeheartedly believe in some kind of 'backdoor trick' (as atheists opposing this idea would've called it) of a last-second of your life revelation of Jesus who you get to freely accept and go to Heaven, regardless of where or how you lived.

What do you guys think?

Your question firstly is presupposing two conditions you in your human state imagines to have existed many times in history. However you can not "know" they existed until you pass into eternity and see it from the other side and from that perspective. So from our current human perspective we can only go by what the Bible teaches on the subject. For example it tells us that God doesn't just reveal Himself to other people through "some white guy" showing up at your door. It teaches that God first reveals His existence to all men through science. (Romans 1:20) So much so that we are without excuse. Secondly it teaches that He built within each of us a moral compass that tells us right from wrong so we know when we have offended that God. (Romans 2:14-15) Finally God reveals Himself to the world through Christ which of course is carried by the missionaries to the people.

Now lets imagine your Hindu person looks at creation and agrees that there must be an all knowing all powerful God out there of some kind. He also tries his best to serve that God by trying to be morally good even though he knows he fails sometimes. He just hopes that somehow his good will out way his bad when he dies. The Bible teaches us that since this person has responded to the first two lights of creation and conscience, that God will divinely respond by sending to that person the light of Christ. Want to see this in scripture? Go and read the entire chapter of Acts 10. This man acknowledged God and did his best to serve Him, and God sent Peter (the missionary) to Cornelius' house to give him the light of Christ. Was this just a one time unique event? Notice what Peter says in verse 35. "IN EVERY NATION whoever fears God and works righteousness God will accept." So just like Cornelius, your Hindu, or Atheist, or anyone who responds to the first two lights of creation and conscience, God will send to them Christ.

Is it possible for someone to have lived and died and never heard of Christ? Absolutely! But only those who rejected God's revelation through creation and conscience. Why would God waste His time sending missionaries to someone who has already rejected what they have been shown? And yes these people will go to hell for all eternity. Did they go to hell for rejecting Christ? No because no one goes to hell because they rejected Christ. There is not a single person in hell because he rejected Christ. The day man sinned he surely died a spiritual death. We go to hell for all eternity because we have sinned against a Holy God and deserve every second in an eternal hell. Jesus came to save sinners of whom I am chief. I was headed for my just hell when I reached out and grabbed the nail scarred hand of the Rescue worker who swooped in on a lifeline to save me.

BTW, In Revelation 5:9 we are told that there will be people from EVERY nation, tribe, people, and tongue in heaven who were washed in the blood of the Lamb. So that means there is no such thing as some tribe or people somewhere who never got a chance to hear the truth of the Gospel of Christ.