Do all who reject the Bible end up in Hell? What if they've never had one?

[rightnow909]

The following is from Acts 17:22 (and thereabouts) and I wanted to focus on the highlighted parts because I have always wondered what happens to the souls of people who do not have access to a Bible (although that is rare in today's information age...) or maybe they were taught by parents or whomever to not even bother reading it...

Well, this psg seems to answer my question... have read it before but... you know how it goes: One day you overlook something in the Word and another time, depending on your mood or circumstances or what have you, you pay better attention the 2nd or 3rd time you read it..

But Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious. 23For passing by, and seeing your idols, I found an altar also, on which was written: To the unknown God. What therefore you worship, without knowing it, that I preach to you: 24God, who made the world, and all things therein; he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25Neither is he served with men's hands, as though he needed any thing; seeing it is he who giveth to all life, and breath, and all things: 26And hath made of one, all mankind, to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, determining appointed times, and the limits of their habitation. 27That they should seek God, if happily they may feel after him or find him, although he be not far from every one of us: 28For in him we live, and move, and are; as some also of your own poets said: For we are also his offspring. 29Being therefore the offspring of God, we must not suppose the divinity to be like unto gold, or silver, or stone, the graving of art, and device of man. 30And God indeed having [overlooked] at... times this ignorance, now declareth unto men, that all should every where do penance. 31Because he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in equity, by the man whom he hath appointed; giving faith to all, by raising him up from the dead.

32And when they had heard of the resurrection of the dead, some indeed mocked, but others said: We will hear thee again concerning this matter. 33So Paul went out from among them. 34But certain men adhering to him, did believe; among whom was also Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

 

[Mashmont]

The following is from Acts 17:22 (and thereabouts) and I wanted to focus on the highlighted parts because I have always wondered what happens to the souls of people who do not have access to a Bible (although that is rare in today's information age...) or maybe they were taught by parents or whomever to not even bother reading it...

Well, this psg seems to answer my question... have read it before but... you know how it goes: One day you overlook something in the Word and another time, depending on your mood or circumstances or what have you, you pay better attention better the 2nd or 3rd time you read it..

But Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious. 23For passing by, and seeing your idols, I found an altar also, on which was written: To the unknown God. What therefore you worship, without knowing it, that I preach to you: 24God, who made the world, and all things therein; he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25Neither is he served with men's hands, as though he needed any thing; seeing it is he who giveth to all life, and breath, and all things: 26And hath made of one, all mankind, to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, determining appointed times, and the limits of their habitation. 27That they should seek God, if happily they may feel after him or find him, although he be not far from every one of us: 28For in him we live, and move, and are; as some also of your own poets said: For we are also his offspring. 29Being therefore the offspring of God, we must not suppose the divinity to be like unto gold, or silver, or stone, the graving of art, and device of man. 30And God indeed having [overlooked] at... times this ignorance, now declareth unto men, that all should every where do penance. 31Because he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in equity, by the man whom he hath appointed; giving faith to all, by raising him up from the dead.

32And when they had heard of the resurrection of the dead, some indeed mocked, but others said: We will hear thee again concerning this matter. 33So Paul went out from among them. 34But certain men adhering to him, did believe; among whom was also Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

God works things out in His mercy. He will take care of those who could not learn about Him through no fault of their own.

 

[rightnow909]

God works things out in His mercy. He will take care of those who could not learn about Himi through no fault of their own.

well, i knew that in my head, but part of me was just always.. overly concerned about this.. Have u ever heard that saying The longest journey you will ever take is the one between your head and your heart?

That one was written for me... but of course it is for everyone

it's called the human condition... we learn certain things slowly..

 

[PinktheFloyd88]

How do you know Christianity is the correct religion?

Islam thinks all non-believers go to hell too. What makes you think you're better than them?

For all you know, you chose the wrong one, and are going to Hell.

 

[Calypso Jones]

Allah is capricious. God is not. He is unchanging.

 

[PinktheFloyd88]

Allah is capricious. God is not. He is unchanging.

They all worship the same God.

 

[Calypso Jones]

no they don't.

 

[Indeependent]

The following is from Acts 17:22 (and thereabouts) and I wanted to focus on the highlighted parts because I have always wondered what happens to the souls of people who do not have access to a Bible (although that is rare in today's information age...) or maybe they were taught by parents or whomever to not even bother reading it...

Well, this psg seems to answer my question... have read it before but... you know how it goes: One day you overlook something in the Word and another time, depending on your mood or circumstances or what have you, you pay better attention the 2nd or 3rd time you read it..

But Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious. 23For passing by, and seeing your idols, I found an altar also, on which was written: To the unknown God. What therefore you worship, without knowing it, that I preach to you: 24God, who made the world, and all things therein; he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25Neither is he served with men's hands, as though he needed any thing; seeing it is he who giveth to all life, and breath, and all things: 26And hath made of one, all mankind, to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, determining appointed times, and the limits of their habitation. 27That they should seek God, if happily they may feel after him or find him, although he be not far from every one of us: 28For in him we live, and move, and are; as some also of your own poets said: For we are also his offspring. 29Being therefore the offspring of God, we must not suppose the divinity to be like unto gold, or silver, or stone, the graving of art, and device of man. 30And God indeed having [overlooked] at... times this ignorance, now declareth unto men, that all should every where do penance. 31Because he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in equity, by the man whom he hath appointed; giving faith to all, by raising him up from the dead.

32And when they had heard of the resurrection of the dead, some indeed mocked, but others said: We will hear thee again concerning this matter. 33So Paul went out from among them. 34But certain men adhering to him, did believe; among whom was also Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Note verse 24 and demolish every Church on earth.

 

[Meriweather]

Note verse 24 and demolish every Church on earth.

24God, who made the world, and all things therein; he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

'Dwell' has an interesting and diverse etymology. In the verse cited, we learn that God does not stay in Church. Nor do we. We gather to worship with God in our midst. And with God with us, we go out into the world where God, as always, is still (and always) in the midst of His creation.

 

[Indeependent]

'Dwell' has an interesting and diverse etymology. In the verse cited, we learn that God does not stay in Church. Nor do we. We gather to worship with God in our midst. And with God with us, we go out into the world where God, as always, is still (and always) in the midst of His creation.

Not true.
Every reference for prayer is to avoid public gatherings.
Of course, you already knew this.

 

[Meriweather]

Not true.
Every reference for prayer is to avoid public gatherings.
Of course, you already knew this.

First, not all references. Second, gathering in church is a gathering of the community in a specific place, for a specific purpose. This is different from bringing one's purpose out into the community where other activities are also taking place (i.e. an airport or street corner).

 

[rightnow909]

How do you know Christianity is the correct religion?

Islam thinks all non-believers go to hell too. What makes you think you're better than them?

For all you know, you chose the wrong one, and are going to Hell.

as St Augustine said

Don't [figure things out (my words)] in order to believe

Believe so as to figure out...

I'll get the exact quote.. it is much better... but you get the gist.

St. Augustine: “I believe in order to understand”

Faith is simplicity on the far side of complexity. The Trinity is a complex mystery; and yet the One Triune God is apprehended through...

jimroane.blogspot.com

It's Do not seek to understand so as to believe, but believe so as to understand

works for me... I started believing certain things the Word said... things the Church taught... then as time went on I began to understand other things that I did not at first understand... If I had not gone by that truism of St A, I would not have been able to understand other things...

 

[rightnow909]

Note verse 24 and demolish every Church on earth.

no way

If it weren't for the Real PResence in the Catholic Church... you don't want to know where I myself would be... I am hesitant to share my story... not sure why. I guess it is kind of a sacred thing to me... how the RP helped me ... and no one else could help me w/ this one issue (no, more than one issue) I had... couldn't understand certain things... etc..

The Old Testament tells us about the Ark of the Covenant, which is where God met the Israelites to communicate w/ them... maybe you've heard of it? They carried this Ark with them everywhere (Exodus and Books thereby). Later, there was always a light burning in the Jewish synagogues to signify that God's presence was there... and today we have the Real PResence of Christ in our tabernacles in the Catholic Church established by Christ.. and there is still that light burning always, to signify He is there.. (Mt 2820... Jn 6:27-72)

 

[Indeependent]

First, not all references. Second, gathering in church is a gathering of the community in a specific place, for a specific purpose. This is different from bringing one's purpose out into the community where other activities are also taking place (i.e. an airport or street corner).

The NT is explicit about not gathering.

 

[rightnow909]

The NT is explicit about not gathering.

what NT do u read???

none of them say that

 

[Indeependent]

what NT do u read???

none of them say that

They all say to go to a private room in your house to avoid showing off.

 

[Meriweather]

The NT is explicit about not gathering.

That was one verse addressing people who pray in public for admiration. There was also an episode where Jesus prayed in public. Another, where he asked his disciples to join him in prayer, another where he offered the prayer blessing at a meal, he also went to local synagogues, other times he went off by himself. There are a whole range of times and issues where it is appropriate to pray. The only time we should pause and think about what we are doing is if we are showing off.

 

[Indeependent]

That was one verse addressing people who pray in public for admiration. There was also an episode where Jesus prayed in public. Another, where he asked his disciples to join him in prayer, another where he offered the prayer blessing at a meal, he also went to local synagogues, other times he went off by himself. There are a whole range of times and issues where it is appropriate to pray. The only time we should pause and think about what we are doing is if we are showing off.

First of all, it's a flat out admonition that explicitly assumes everyone prays in public due to their need for admiration.
2nd...Let's say someone prays at home showing how humble they are; that leaves everyone in Church being an egoistic arse.
Let's say everyone ignores the NT and comes to Church...well, I guess all those people are so very humble.

Try harder.

The fact is that the NT wants everything in your life to be the opposite of Judaism.

 

[Lisa558]

They all say to go to a private room in your house to avoid showing off.

More specifically, it says don’t be like the hypocrites who show off by going to synagogue.

 

[Indeependent]

More specifically, it says don’t be like the hypocrites who show off by going to synagogue.

Thanks; I wasn't in the mood for searching it out.
It's an unconditional statement.