All Saints of North America Orthodox Church · Phoenix, Arizona

Orthodox Church on the west side of Phoenix Arizona including Sun City, Surprise, Peoria, Glendale, Litchfield Park, Buckeye, Tonopah, and more

  • Home
  • About
    • Clergy & Leadership
    • ASONA Mission Statement
    • New Visitor Information
    • How to Become Orthodox
    • For Orthodox Visitors
    • List of Activities for Orthodox Christians Desiring to Transfer to ASONA
  • Catechesis
    • New Member Class
    • List of Activities to Complete Prior to Baptism
    • Online Catechism Lessons
    • Audio Lectures
    • Bible Survey Lessons
    • The Faith
    • The Mystery of Confession
    • Mystagogy
  • Education
    • The Correct Understanding of Being Born Again
    • Eucharist: Sacrament or Symbol?
    • Eucharistic Bread: Leavened or Unleavened?
    • Christian Names and Patron Saints
    • Welcome to the Orthodox Church! (Videos)
  • Faith
    • Statement of Faith
    • About Orthodox Christianity
    • Saints of North America
    • Welcome Home! Evangelicals Come Home to Orthodoxy
    • What happens to those who have never heard of Jesus?
    • To Sincere Converts to the Orthodox Faith, and those who are Seeking
  • Directions
  • Calendar
    • ASONA Calendar
    • Paschal Greetings from Around the World
    • When Someone Dies
  • Articles
  • Contact
    • Donate Now
    • GIVING Page
    • The Book of Needs
  • A Brief Historical Look at the Liturgy
  • Saints of North America
  • Prologue of Ohrid
  • Ecclesioclasm
  • Ready
  • Weekly Bulletin

What Happens to Those Who Have Never Heard of Jesus?

October 22, 2020 By Fr. John Peck [edit]

What happens to those who have never heard of Jesus? Will God condemn people to hell for not believing in someone they have never heard of?

First, people are not condemned to hell for not believing in Jesus whom they have never heard of. Rather they are already condemned because of their sin. Thus, the real question is not how can God send someone to hell, but how can God condescend to save any one of us? As Paul has so beautifully written in the book of Romans,

“God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:8-9).

If ignorance were a ticket to heaven, the greatest evangelistic enterprise would be a concerted cover-up campaign. Such a campaign would focus on ending evangelism, burning Bibles, and closing churches. Soon no one would have heard of Christ and everyone would be on their way to heaven. This argument, popularly referred to as the argumentum ad absurdum, or the argument to a logical absurdity, underscores the reality that a claim to ignorance is hardly a ticket to heaven. Only if one is truly blind would he or she be absolved of sin (John 9:41).

Finally, it is hard to claim genuine blindness in light of creation and conscience (Romans 1:18–20; 2:14–15). God is not capricious! If we respond to the light, he will give us more light. In the words of the apostle Paul,

“And he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us,” (Acts 17:26–27).

Source: Christian Research Institute

Share the post "What Happens to Those Who Have Never Heard of Jesus?"

  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Bookmark

Filed Under: General, Theology [post-edit]

All Saints of North America Orthodox Church

11234 W. Alabama Ave.
Youngtown, AZ 85363

(928) 910-2186

RSS Orthochristian.com

  • Orthodox Normandy. Part 3
  • Orthodox Normandy. Part 2
  • Bulgarian hierarch blesses country’s first mobile blood donation center
  • Kiev Caves Lavra chapel and holy spring desecrated with Nazi symbols

RSS LifeSite News

  • Appeals Court Denies Emergency Petition to Get Pro-Life Advocate Convicted of Rescuing Babies Out of Prison
  • Woman Who Killed Daughter’s 29-Week-Old Unborn Child, Set Baby on Fire Only Gets 2 Years in Prison
  • Abortionist Whose Shoddy Care Killed Woman in Botched Abortion Falsely Claims Abortion Bans Kill Women

A Directory of Arizona Orthodox Churches

Recent Posts

  • Weekly Bulletin for Sunday September 17, 2023
  • Weekly Bulletin for Sunday, September 10, 2023
  • September is National Preparedness Month
  • Weekly Bulletin for Sunday, September 3, 2023
  • Weekly Bulletin for Sunday, August 27, 2023

RSS Journey to Orthodoxy

  • Orthodox Academy Celebrates 5 Years of Instruction
  • Launch of Magazine to Support Orthodox Christians in the West!
  • Prayer Book Published in the Language of Madagascar
  • Dozens Baptized at New Parish in the Philippines
  • Dozens Baptized in the Nile River on Thomas Sunday

RSS Good Guys Wear Black

  • Orthodox Academy celebrates 5 years of Instruction
  • The Divine Liturgy Sustains the Cosmos
  • On the Mystery of Ordination
  • Conservative Clergy vs Liberal Clergy?
  • On the Meaning and Power of a Priest’s Blessing

Weekly Bulletin for Sunday September 17, 2023

Orthodox Calendar



Copyright © 2023 All Saints of North America Orthodox Church · All Rights Reserved
Designed by Fr. John A. Peck · Log in