I’ve actually had a couple conversations with new believers and Christians alike about this question. Certainly, it’s a tough thing to think "Is God fair to punish people to hell who never heard about Jesus?"
So, here is a paper I wrote back in my undergrad days. I actually do think it’s good enough and complete enough to say… this is my position on the matter. Enjoy!
The Fairness of the Creator by Adam McLane
Romans 1: 18-20:
“The wrath of God is
being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of human
beings who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known
about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since
the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and
divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been
made, so that people are with excuse.”
Perhaps the hardest lesson to be learned in all of Calvinist theology is that a person whom never hears of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is still responsible to God for not responding to it. The long-stretching arms of Christ’s love for humanity seem nullified by the stern message of God’s wrath. The purpose of this dialogue revolves around answering the question, “Is it fair for God to condemn those people who have never heard or understood the gospel?” No question can be as relevant to our society, no question cuts more straight to the heart of Christianity. Is Christ the only way to salvation? Can man plead ignorance or indifference? Is there hope for those who have never heard?
It would be unwise to delve into this topic without first understanding the context to which Paul’s letter was written. The original recipients of this letter were the Christians in Rome. It goes without saying that Rome was the center of the Roman Empire; however the Christian church was also the epicenter for diversity within the body of Christ. In the majority of its membership were Gentile believers though undoubtedly there was also a peppering of Messianic Jews. (Johnson, p. 19) Worshipping together would have been a conglomerate of believers that were along various segments of Roman society. It is possible that a freed slave from the Germanic tribes would have worshipped next to a rich Roman native. Though one went home to the ghetto the other lived in a lavish villa on the hills overlooking Rome. More importantly to this particular theological question was the reality that this particular church would have had a large majority of people, slaves and freedmen alike, who would have had family members and friends in parts of the Roman world unexposed to the gospel. The question Paul addresses here was more than mere theology to the recipients; it spoke deeply to the heart of the believers to help them understand where family members were destined in eternity. It would go without saying that loving saved people would often have on their minds the questions of family member’s destiny. Certainly, their hearts would ache to know that they would see relatives or even children again.
With this in mind, there is also a broader scope of this question. To an American Evangelical one can rest assured that nearly every person has the opportunity at least once in their lives to be exposed to the truth found in Jesus. Unlike our Roman brothers we worry less that our friends and relatives will have the opportunity to hear the gospel and worry more that the message will have a chance to penetrate their soul. When we American Evangelicals reach this question it undoubtedly has to do with one of two debated issues. First, it speaks directly to the need for missionary activity since if we do not go than we “feel” partly to blame for others non-response. Second, it is used as a point of discussion when debating the exclusivity of Christ. So, in this regard, the question at hand is held in an entirely different context then Roman recipients would have received it.
Is God fair in judging people who have never heard of salvation through Jesus Christ? According to Scripture the answer is “yes.” It is fair because regardless of man’s knowledge of the Savior is the innate knowledge that he needs one. Romans 2:15 states, “since they (Gentiles) show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.” In God’s giving each human a conscience he provides an undeniable provision for each person to know that they are born sinful. It is a common statement in American culture that “nobody is perfect.” This implies, within each human being that there is a standard for excellence that is beyond one’s self. If there is a standard for law that each man knows he cannot attain, then it is logical to assume that each man should know that there is a Supreme Lawgiver: That is God.
Without excuse that there is a God, the Supreme Lawgiver, it must next be discerned if man is accountable for his actions to God. In Romans 1:20 we can clearly see that God’s answer is “yes.” Paul reveals that there are two clear signs that there is a God to whom all are accountable. Verse 20 proclaims that two qualities of God (attributes) revealed through nature are His eternal power and divine nature. Namely, through nature any human being can know two qualities about God. First, God is eternally powerful to create a universe as complex and complete as the one we live in. Through creation man can not only sustain his life but prosper. As active as the Roman world was to fix the “mistakes” in creation, such as rerouting waterways and building aqueducts throughout the Roman world, this also points to the perfect power and design of the earth. A person could not escape the reality that it took Roman legions of men to do what God had done in only a matter of moments in creating the world. Furthermore, two important elements are unmistakable to human kind. First, there is order in the universe. Nature does not work helter-skelter. The seasons are predictable, the stars and moon are predictable, and we know for certain that the sun will always come up. In this we can see God work. Secondly, we know that there are laws in the universe that we can depend upon. Gravity is always in play, the earth is always spinning, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, etc. In knowing this about the world we can discover that God is faithful to mankind.
Along the same lines, we also see that all of mankind can discover God’s grace through His creation. In nature are countless opportunities to learn this lesson. Certainly there are countless stories throughout history of people suffering in the wilderness due to ill-preparedness only to “stumble” upon a saving piece of nature. Whether it be an American traveler on his way west that looses his way and discovers water at the last possible moment or a relentless snow storm that eases enough for weary travelers to seek shelter before perishing. All of these are examples that point directly to God’s grace working in His creation. Though a person may never know the name of God he knows that there is a creator who smiled upon him.
And yet, even with the knowledge of God being expressed in nature man continually rebels against both his conscience and the knowledge of a Creator. According to Everett Harrison, the object of God’s wrath as mentioned in Romans 1:18 is two-fold. First, “godlessness” refers to mans lack of reverence for God. And second, “wickedness” refers to man’s gross injustice towards other men. (Harrison, p. 22) As is later expressed in this epistle, all men fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Paul indicates that because of God’s mere existence and common grace man is expected to revere He who created the earth. And yet man consistently fails to do so.
Interestingly, Paul is patient to solve the problem that is raised. In this passage Paul is pointing out that man, even a man who has never heard of Jesus Christ, is deserving of God’s holy wrath against individual men. What the general revelation of God to man allows for is God to justly punish man. The logic is simple, if man knows there is a Supreme Lawgiver, and if man knows that he has not lived up to the high standard of that Lawgiver, than he is deserving punishment by that Lawgiver. Paul is patient in that he fails to point to how man can be reconciled to God. His intent in this section of Scripture is to paint a picture that no man is without excuse. All men, even those who are completely ignorant of modern life, can know that they need a Savior.
Now, practically speaking, is this fair? How can a loving God be so harsh as to punish people who never have the opportunity to follow Jesus? The American Evangelical mind floats instantly to the jungles of some far of country or some closed Muslim nation where the Gospel is either forbidden to be shared or a Christian has never ventured to discover. Is it fair for those people to be punished when they made no tangible decision to reject Christ and face eternal separation? Is it fair! In our eyes it is crushingly harsh. It hurts to even think about it. Certainly those people are good and just doing the best that they know how. They love their children and do good things in their communities. It hardly seems fair that they would be punished simply because they knew no better. Of course, this is from man’s perspective.
There is an old joke that speaks directly to general revelations fairness. There was a very good man in a small town in Missouri. One spring there was a terrible storm brewing and all the neighbors started to pack up their families and head for higher ground. They came by the man’s house and said. “Hey, there’s a big storm coming and everybody said it’s going to flood really badly. You had better come with us and save your family.” The man told the neighbor that he heard that God wasn’t going to destroy the earth by flood again so he was trusting in God. The next day the storm had gotten very bad and the family had to move everything they owned to the second story of his house because the basement and first floor were flooded. Suddenly, a knock was heard at the window and a Red Cross person was outside in a boat. He said, “Hey buddy! You had better get in this boat because the levy is about to give and it will wash your house down the river. Get in the boat and save you family!” The man looked at the Red Cross person and told him that he believed what he heard about God, that God wouldn’t destroy the earth by a flood again. And so the Red Cross person left without the family. The next day, while the house was floating down the river, the entire family was clinging to the chimney as the water slowly crept up the roof. It wouldn’t be much longer until the entire family was going to drown. Suddenly, a coast guard helicopter appeared over the tree line. Over the loud speaker the pilot yelled, “Sir, this is the coast guard, we are here to save you and your family, get into the basket and we will save you!” The man waved wildly and screamed that he trusted what God said, that God wouldn’t destroy the earth by a flood again. So the helicopter left. A few moments later, the man drowns as did the rest of his family. Not long after that the man stands in front of St. Peter at the pearly gates. The man is mad as can be that he is dead. He walks up to Peter and says, “Hey, you had better let me in here because I believed what I heard about God to the very end… did you see that we all just drown because we believed that God wouldn’t destroy us by a flood.” Then Peter replies, “Sir I’m sorry, you were mistaken. You see God did send to you a neighbor, a Red Cross person, and a helicopter to save your life. You were just stubborn and chose to die.”
According to Romans 1:18-20, it is perfectly fair for God to punish a person who has never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ. Since man has full ability to know the holy God through general revelation he is without excuse in front on God. Though these people have never heard of Jesus Christ they are still in desperate need for a way to pay for their sins. Even though they don’t know about justification by faith or even the redemption found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ they are still deserving of eternal separation because they knowingly reject the opportunity to worship the Creator of the world and act ruthlessly with their fellow humans.
While this study is not designed to answer this question, it leaves one with the next few questions for further study. Is it loving of God to punish men who have not heard? Can those whom have not heard about Jesus somehow deserve to be in the presence of the Lord if they were to act godly and be fair with fellow men? Of course, these questions are answered later in the book of Romans, but are left for now as mere questions.
Works Cited
Harrison, Everett H. Romans: The Expositors Bible Commentary, Zondervan Press 1995
Johnson, Alan F. Romans: Everyman’s Bible Commentary, Moody Press, 2000
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