Question
What happens to peoples of cultures who never knew who Jesus was, like American Indian peoples, or many African peoples? When they died did they go to hell? Were they saved?
Answer
The Bible does not address this directly. We are told that the gospel is God’s means for saving individuals all individuals from whatever culture they may come from. And, as the Christians encounter various cultures, they taught all people about the gospel, whether they were Jew or Gentile.
ROM 1:16 ¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ROM 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
ACT 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ– this Jesus whom you crucified.” ACT 2:37 ¶ Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” ACT 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
ACT 18:8 And Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.
Therefore, our goal is to reach as many as possible with the truth of the gospel. As to those that do no hear, God will righteously judge according to His will.
By Gary Hunt
