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Draft:Fate of the unlearned
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| Preach to the choir Religion |
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| Crux of the matter |
| Speak of the devil |
| An act of faith |
“”Somewhere, and I can’t find where, I read about an Eskimo hunter who asked the local missionary priest, "If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?" "No," said the priest, "not if you did not know." "Then why," asked the Eskimo earnestly, "did you tell me?"
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| —Annie Dillard[1]:194 |
The Fate of the unlearned (or Fate of the unevangelized) is a question that is brought up in Christian theology (Though it may include other faiths), about what would happen to those who never heard of a certain ideology, and whether or not they would be punished as a result, developing the question of whether or not the God that would punish them deserves worship. Many theologians have different understandings of what would happen to those people.
Arguments[edit]
They have a chance…[edit]
Some theologians believe that God will be able to have unevangelized natives in Heaven. Parts of Christianity will use Romans 1:20[note 1] Romans 2:14-16[note 2] to claim that natives who don't know who Jesus was actually knew him through supernatural means, or what is called “natural revelation”. One example would be that of Samuel Morris, a Liberian-American who claimed a white light guided him out of a rival tribe and converted to Christianity after hearing the story of Paul’s conversion near Damascus in Acts 9:1-19.[2] Whether or not this falls into the realm of anecdotal evidence is anyone's guess.
This belief would seem to imply that it is morally wrong to evangelize those who do not know about Christianity.
…or don’t they?[edit]
There are likely other theologians that believe that those who don't hear their certain ideology end up being condemned. If that is the case, it makes you wonder whether or not that God is fair.
This belief would seem to be the dominant one among Christian theologians, based upon the massive missionary movement among Mormons, SIL International, New Tribes Mission, and missionary involvement in the Scramble for Africa.
Notes[edit]
- ↑ For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
- ↑ For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
References[edit]
- ↑ Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (2000) Thorndike Press. ISBN 0786223251.
- ↑ Samuel Morris Story Taylor University