Q

uestion

167

If people have to be Christians to go to

heaven, what happens to all of the people

born before Jesus or who never hear about

his ministry?

David J. Lose

A.

There are different ways of answering this question. Some who are

very strict on such matters would say that people who are born

before Jesus or never heard of him are just plain out of luck. Others,

drawing on a phrase from the Apostle’s Creed—“he descended to the dead”—

say that between his crucifi xion and resurrection, Jesus actually went to the land

of the dead to encounter those born before him to give them a chance to believe.

(Some early Christian art powerfully depicts Jesus pulling Adam and Eve out of

hell.) Still others would say that everyone will ultimately stand before the judg-

ment seat of God and at that time will have the chance to confess Jesus.

Me? I think that it’s pretty hard to know for sure and probably comes

down to a matter of trust. That is, my question would be: Do we trust the God

who has been so merciful and loving to us to take care of people who were

born before Jesus or haven’t heard of him? I, for one, do.

So maybe, in the end, it’s not the best question for us to ask. I mean,

rather than worrying about all the people who never had a chance to hear

about Jesus, maybe we should instead just get out there and tell people about

him—not so much from some fear of people not getting into heaven but rather

from a sense of wanting to share the joy, love, and courage we have in Christ.

Jarrod McKenna

A.

On that day, all who have died were raised from the dead as all of

creation gathered around the glory of his burning throne. As the

brilliance of the seraphim and cherubim circled above, human-

ity was separated into two groups. Some started asking each other, “Did you

accept Jesus?” In both groups, you could hear people saying,

I went forward at that rally!

I’ve never heard of Jesus!

I went to church and played in the band!

I was born centuries before him!

I drove out demons and did deeds of power in his name!

I hope I get to go to heaven!