Opus 2026-391: I Like That

One of the subterranean channels of thought that I always have going concerns the fate of the large part of the human population that seemed to have no opportunity to respond to the good news of Jesus and the hope that is in him.  I must confess that it doesn’t seem fair or just that people who never heard the gospel should be doomed.

The easy part of this is to answer for those who were raised in the biblical tradition before Jesus.  They did not know about the cross.  They did not know about the resurrection.  Their knowledge is very limited.  They do, however, know the God of the Bible, or at least have the opportunity to know the God of the Bible.  So I think it’s pretty easy to come up with some kind of rationale how people like Moses, Abraham and Ruth can know eternal life.

What about those who know nothing.

What becomes clear to me is that this is one of those areas where I must walk in faith.  God has not explained to me how a peasant raising rice in a remote Chinese province who has never heard of Jesus and has never heard any teaching about the afterlife other than vague, ancestral traditions is going to go to hell from a lack of knowledge.  I say I walk in faith because I believe that God has it all worked out, but hasn’t filled me in.  I can come up with all kinds of speculations.  My imagination can run wild.  I realize that that is just speculation and imagination.

There is an answer, I just don’t know what it is.  I expect that when I enter into eternity, it will either become abundantly clear to me, God will sit down and explain it to me in such a way that I nod my head and say that’s obvious, or I may just forget all about it in the glory at the moment.  I don’t like the idea of eternal damnation.  I don’t have to like it.  Last time I checked my emails God had not asked me for my approval or my recommendations.  I do believe that when I finally hear the details with my unencumbered mind, I will say, “I like that.”

homo unius libri