Never said they knew Jesus I said they were looking for the Savior the one who was coming and were told He had come. In their belief of a savior who was coming God sent to them and told of the one who had come, their desire for the savior and knowledge through their belief brought word of Jesus who had come.
Brother Revmwc,
So let me get this straight, after Jesus resurrected, but prior to the arrival of European missionaries, there were American Indians who did not know who Jesus was, and died this way, but nevertheless went to eternal glory? Wouldn't this contradict your proof text , "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already..." (John 3:18)?
Can you give me one example from scripture of a New Testament Christian who died without ever knowing who Jesus was?
Also, I'll ask for the third post my question that went unanswered-If unbelief in the preached gospel is what damns one to Hell, wouldn't we all be better off if the gospel was not preached? Moreover, isn't the gospel then actually damning more people to Hell, then it is saving, as the majority of people don't even believe it?The World Factbook gives the population as 7,095,217,980 (July 2013 est.) and the distribution of religions as
Christian 31.50% (of which Roman Catholic 16.85%, Protestant 6.15%, Orthodox 3.96%, Anglican 1.26%), Muslim 23.20% (of which Sunni 75-90%, Shia 10-20%, Ahmadi 1%), Hindu 13.8%, Buddhist 6.77%, Sikh 0.35%, Jewish 0.22%, Baha'i 0.11%, other religions 10.95%, non-religious 9.66%, atheists 2.01% (2010 est.Thus per the statistics above and your belief that everyone on earth dies having heard the gospel, at least 68.5% of the world is damned due to unbelief in the gospel, wouldn't these folks be better off had the gospel never been preached to them? I guess the gospel saves about 30% and damns about 70% in your system, yet you still classify Jesus's mission as a "success"? I think you should just stop preaching the gospel as you are probably damning more people to Hell than you are saving due to their unbelief.
Also, for the second time I will post my other question, what about the mentally handicap, infants dying in infancy, and those aborted unable to understand and believe the gospel as preached by man, do they all go to hell? If not, how do they get to heaven, do you have a separate means of salvation outside of the gospel for these people, if so, what scriptures can you provide to support it?
Brother Joe