Question: Dear Greg,

After starting to grasp the depth of Christ’s love and grace for us, I have had a hard time not believing that God has a plan for those who have never heard of the name of Christ prior to death.

Seeing God cast a person in hell after death, for the person who never heard of Jesus, seems to me to be incongruous with God’s great love for mankind. I cannot accept the typical doctrine that the unreached and unsaved in this lifetime have a quick trip to hell awaiting them.

I believe that C.S. Lewis held that God must have a good plan for the unsaved. Can you elaborate on this issue? And/or point me to other authors who may believe like me – that a loving God cannot have a swift trip to hell for the unsaved?

Thank You!

Randy

Answer: Dear Randy,

I believe that C.S. Lewis has some excellent points regarding this issue. I also believe that we should remember that the Bible does not teach universalism – that all will be saved regardless. Keeping that in mind, we should try to "work backwards" to see what God has in store. At the end of the day, we will find that we really don’t know – dogmatically and definitively. It is interesting to note that doctrines of heaven and hell evolved in Christianity long after the core doctrines of the historic and orthodox Christian church were established.

Any one specific view on heaven or hell has never been considered a priority for Christians. There is an excellent book, "Four Views of Hell", published by Zondervan, that you may find interesting.

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht